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1. How will Weapons be handled in FE:Warriors? Will it be a standard upgrade system (like Heroes, so Iron -> Steel -> Silver -> Falchion for Chrom), or can characters swap weapons around at will? (Chrom as a Great Lord can wield both Swords and Lances.) On that note, Weapon Durability? 2. How will Skills play a role in FE:Warriors? I wonder how they will implement stuff like Astra, Luna, and Sol. 3. Who would be the best "Lu Bu" out of the Fire Emblem cast and why? 4. Who would be the best "Nobunaga Oda" out of the Fire Emblem cast and why? 5. Do you think unpromoted classes will serve as generic soldiers, with their promoted versions serving as officers? 6. Do you think items (Elixirs, Seraph Robe, Strength Tonic, etc.) will play a role in FE: Warriors? 7. What sort of "Extra Mode" can you see for Fire Emblem Warriors? (Hyrule Warriors had its Adventure Mode, Samurai Warriors have some "custom character" modes, etc.) ...and I'll stop here.

Everything looks great, and the only suggestion I have is to highlight the threats more. Maybe even put a spotlight on common Arena characters too. So... goes to... "Against opposing sword-users with Swordbreaker, Hana with Swordbreaker will fail to kill only the following in a single round of combat (all unmentioned stats neutral): +Def Marth (3 HP), +Def Eldigan (1 HP), +Spd Ogma (1 HP), Corrin (M) (2 HP), Hinata (1 HP), +Def Selena (5 HP), Draug (8 HP)." ----- Then again, all this highlighting and bolding may make it read too much like a textbook. I suppose it is a matter of preference. I would also suggest trying to make a chart, but such things will likely have to be embedded images since I see no real way to make a chart using this forum editor. Lists can work, but they take up far too much vertical space and will have too long a title. ("Red Swords with Swordbreaker || Hana with Swordbreaker" // followed by a long vertical list) * * * * * For stat formatting, I highly recommend listing what values are what (newcomers may not know that it goes HP, ATT, SPD, DEF, and RES and see only random numbers). Then, for the Shielded Glass Cannon, include the modifiers so players can understand how they got from base stats to final stats. Here is my version of your chart if you want to use it. Infantry, Red Sword HP | ATT | SPD | DEF | RES Level 40 Base Stats: 37 | 35 | 36 | 23 | 26 Positive Nature: +4 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 Negative Nature: -3 | -3 | -3 | -3 | -4 ---------------------------------------------------- Shielded Glass Cannon HP | ATT | SPD | DEF | RES Level 40 Base Stats: 37 | 35 | 36 | 23 | 26 Boon & Bane: 0 | +3 | 0 | 0 | -4 Brave Sword: 0 | +8 | 0 | 0 | 0 Life and Death: 0 | +5 | +5 | -5 | -5 Final Stats: 37 | 51 | 36 | 18 | 17 Also, for the record, I really, really dislike this forum's editor. It always bugs out on me. (Screw it, I'll submit the post and fix it through the edit.) ---------- Super Edit (3/23/2017) ---------- Just in case you come back to this topic at a later date, I have two requests regarding Hana, @Ice Dragon. Specifically, I want to know Hana's effectiveness against Reds and Blues. (I assume Hana will naturally annihilate all Greens, so I leave them out of the equation.) 1. +ATT, -RES Hana, but with +4 ATT & SPD (from buffs) 2. +SPD, -HP Hana, but with +4 ATT & SPD (from buffs) Both run Brave Sword +, Life and Death, and Desperation. Assume Desperation is active and the enemy does not have Swordbreaker. For now, leave her Special Skill, Assist Skill, and C Passive blank. (I may try giving my newly pulled +SPD, -HP Hana Threaten DEF for C and maybe Draconic Aura for A depending on her performance against Blues.) For the most part, I am just curious how effective a +SPD Hana is compared to a +ATT Hana. I know +ATT is likely preferable, but if Hana can activate Desperation on practically everybody (save Lon'Qu and some +SPD characters, provided a SPD Hana has a +4 SPD Buff), I wonder if that will make up for her lack of damage.

I love the Ephraim and Erika stuff as it takes me back to the hype days of the Voting Gauntlet. The one near the end with Erika holding a bloodied Ephraim is my favorite out of that selection. Poor guy, he did not stand a chance against Lucina's Legion...

It pretty much depends on priorities of the user. 1. If you value time, then keep the 4* Michalis and sacrifice the 3* one (after he gets promoted to pass on Iote's Shield - it is still gonna cost 2000 feathers anyway). 2. If you want to maximize SP Gain (before getting screwed at 5* Level 40 where SP is hard to come by), then I recommend training up the 3* version of Michalis. For reference, I leveled up two Cherches, one from 4* rank and one from 3* rank. Both have the same skills and were around the same level (33). I don't remember the exact numbers, but... 3* Cherche: Had enough SP to learn Iote's Shield (300?) and Rising Flame (225?) from Skill Inheritance. She has 115 SP left. 4* Cherche: Has not learned anything from Skill Inheritance and has 373 SP.

I like practically everybody, so I always end up summoning when I get 20 Orbs. If there happens to be a Focus with characters I do not care much for or am unfamiliar with (Thracia, Genealogy - Gaiden has the Echoes remake on the horizon so I'll be familiar with them soon), then maybe I conserve some orbs. As for unreleased characters, that is a whole other wishlist (since I like almost everyone). A few off the top of my head are: Gregor, F!Morgan, Cynthia, Leila, Fargus, Seth, Duessel, Nolan, Nephenee, Flora, and Micaiah. As for Heroes already in the game, see the spoiler. It only covers character I never obtained and their "rarity level." As for favorite characters I do have without perfect IVs, that is a whole other list entirely...

Round 26 [Blazing Shadows]: 3* Florina (+DEF, -HP) || 3* Shanna (Balanced) || 3* Palla (+DEF, -SPD) || 3* Celicia (+ATT, -DEF) || 4* Beruka (+RES, -ATT) Blue = Active Duty (Good or Perfect IVs, New Desired Character) Red = Reserves (Character Merging, Skill Inheritance, Retirement) * * * * * RNG is RNG. Put another .25% on both the 5-Star Focus and 5-Star Characters for a new total of 4.75% (9%). Maybe I'll pull a 5* character from Blazing Shadows before it expires... (Watch it be the ultimate pull with like 5 different 5* characters, all with perfect IVs.) The only good one here (in terms of actual usage) is Celicia. Thing is, I'm used to "speedy units" than "one-shot nukes" (sans Cherche), so trying to figure out a strategy using her will be interesting. I can also ditch my "Free Celicia" and eventually use that one to pass Gronnraven to somebody. Otherwise, I already have my preferred Beruka (+DEF, -RES), and the other three have undesirable Boons & Banes. D!Florina: +ATT, -DEF or +ATT, -HP (5* Florina info is not yet complete, may need to reconsider this later.) D!Shanna: +ATT, -DEF D!Palla: +ATT, -RES Luckily for me, the benchwarmers have some decent skills to pass along. (Beruka: Defiant DEF, Glimmer || Palla: Moonbow, Goad Fliers || Shanna: Desperation, Iceberg || Florina: Darting Blow, Ardent Sacrifice) So, not all is lost. * * * * * As for how much effort I put into writings these pull posts, I do this stuff anyway (Boons & Banes, some decent formatting). The general layout I can copy and paste from previous posts. All that needs to change are the colors, the numbers, and the Focus Name if needed.

As an aside... For those wanting to use Michalis but also want to use the Iote's Shield, I recommend sacrificing the 4* version of him instead of the 3*. Why? If you level up the 3* version, you will get more SP overall. * * * * * Guess it's over now. I just happened to wake up and check my phone, and the times just went together almost perfectly. Anyways, I'm sure the strats will be gathered up, expanded, and clarified for the "real release" of the Grand Hero Battle. I'm half hoping we will be able to get another 2 Michalis, but I doubt it... Maybe I should go back to sleep...

Not reading the topic, will do later. * * * * * Beat Lunatic with... (This is a specific setup, you may want to use more of general strategy.) Ephraim +DEF, -RES (Swordbreaker 2 & Defiant DEF 1 Added) Ryoma +SPD, -ATT (Vantage 3 Added, Swap Added) Erika (Rally DEF Added, "Buff Bot" [+3 ATT, +4 SPD, +4 DEF]) Lissa (Rehabilitate Healer) [Can be swapped out for someone else] Setup - Arrange characters in the bottom right in a "T" formation, with the bottom facing left. (From Top to Bottom: Ephraim, Erika, Ryoma. // Lissa is on the left.) - Super Buff Ephraim (+3 ATT, +4 SPD, +4 DEF). Send him up one tile. - Move Ryoma to Ephraim's original location. Enemy 1 - Lance Flier attacks Ephraim. She will drag him back one tile. - Michalis attacks Ephraim. - The other three hostiles move out. For me, the Sword Flier went south. Turn 2 - Move Ephraim back one space. - Superbuff Ryoma (+3 ATT, +4 SPD, +4 DEF), kill Michalis. - Heal Ephraim with Lissa. Enemy 2 - Lance Flier and Sword Cavalier attack Ryoma. Ryoma survives with One HP. - Other two enemies move out. Ending - Mop up the remnants. Suggestions - Run Escape Route if trying to Tank. After the initial engagement, Michalis and the Lance Flier will have their specials charge (Blazing Thunder, Iceberg) and will likely kill anyone there. - If running a "Lance Tank" and going right, try bringing an Axe Flier with Lancebreaker to lure the middle "Lance Flier" and kill her in one round. - Run a sword user for Michalis (or a good Red / Green Mage) and make sure you can kill him in one round (or at least before he activates Blazing Thunder). He runs Iote's Shield, effective weapons are not good against him. - The Two Fliers run Hone Fliers & Fortify Fliers.

... ... ... ...Healers can't even equip Seals?! That was one of their saving graces to actually contribute to the team (and build up charges) when not healing! Well, I guess Healers have no utility whatsoever outside of pure heals, the Balm skills, and whatever Staff effects they have. I can see why Healers can be seen as "overpowered" since there is not many ways to replenish HP in Heroes and the smaller roster sizes, but the player that fields the healer loses out on a hero that can deal damage. The meta also highly favors burst damage, which in turn favors a character that deals damage over one that can heal or tank damage. To me, it seems far superior to run a "pseudo healer" that runs Sol or Noontime, Adent Sacrifice or Reciprocal Aid, "Passive A," Renewal, and Breath of Life than it is to run a proper staffie. Sure, the heals may not be as effective, but you have an actual combat unit that can deal damage or tank instead of whatever the Healers do. Man... Here I thought I could try to make Healers viable, but it seems IS decided to nerf Healers while opening the floodgates for Close Counter and Distant Counter. While I like those skills for aesthetic reasons ("Battle Cleric" Lissa or "Rogue" Matthew), they seem extremely powerful for what they are. If anything, I expected them to be locked and not Healers to be shafted from the Inherit Skill system. Anyways, I'll stop here, otherwise I'm going to rant up an entire wall of text. Thanks again for the information.

Man, they killed off my Azama's Poison Strike & Pain combo and then they also stop the Fury combo with Martyr and Live to Serve? Does IS really hate healers that much in Heroes? The only time I see Healers being annoying is when running the tower or doing story missions. Those "Healers," especially Troubadours, end up doubling and do lots of damage to my units (since my Team Comps tend to be low RES). Anyways, thanks for the heads up. I'll fix the post in light of this information.

I find Fury to be best on... 1. Units that run some form of HP Replenishment, such as Sol, Noontime, or Renewal. The heals practically negate the Fury self-damage while Fury adds the +3 to ATT, SPD, DEF, and RES. (This also works on Falchion users) 2. Low HP Builds, typically relying on Reprisal, Vengeance, Desperation, or Vantage. (Defiant clashes with Fury for the A slot passive.) For Vengeance, try using Virion. If you can set it up right, Neutral!Viron can do 22 damage when on 1 HP when Vengeance procs. Why Virion? He has the largest HP pool of the ranged characters, and happens to have decent ATT and SPD. Run a Dancer with him for extra hilarity. No other 3 charge skill (save for Glimmer in the right circumstances [Effective Damage and/or WTA]) can reach that level of damage as Bonfire and Iceberg will only see up to 20 damage (if the user has 40 DEF or RES) while Draconic Aura will only reach 18 damage if the ATT is 60. Thinking about Luna? Good luck finding someone that has over 44 DEF or RES in order to beat the damage output of 22. (Moral of the story, run Iceberg/Bonfire or Ignis/Glacies if your unit has more than 30 in either DEF or RES. They will do at least 15 damage per skill activation and is fairly reliable.) * * * * * For specific units, I recommend Dancers. I give to these characters to help them with survivability as they are not really meant to see direct combat. +3 SPD can mean the difference between being doubled or not for some of these characters, and the +3 DEF & RES help too. I would also say Healers, but apparently they cannot have Fury, just like how they cannot have Poison Strike. Tis a sad day indeed...

For Sophia, on the bright side of things she has the highest stat total for mages, on par with M!Robin and F!Robin at 149. Does vanilla Sophia suck? Yes. If we learned anything from Alfonse, it is that being slow is a death sentence and makes the unit almost useless against anything outside of its WTA advantage. But his Skill Inheritance and some creativity, Sophia can transform into a very deadly character. * * * * * Name: Sophia Weapon: Rauðrraven* Special Skill: Sol* Assist Skill: Reciprocal Aid* Passive A: Close Counter* Passive B: Quick Riposte* Passive C: Threaten ATT* * * * * * With this setup, Sophia is now a deadly Red Tome Tank. While Henry can tank physical hits better than Sophia, he lacks the damage output Sophia has, and Sophia can also tank magic attacks as well. 1. With Rauðrraven, Sophia has WTA advantage over Greens and Greys, increasing her damage output further while also improving her survivability. 2. With Sol, Sophia can stay alive longer, and Sol is triggered more often due to Quick Riposte. 3. In the event Sophia has less than the Quick Riposte threshold (70% HP), she can use Reciprocal Aid to get her HP back up so she can still counter twice. 4. Close Counter allows Sophia to retaliate in melee, removing one of her weaknesses as a mage. 5. As long as Sophia stays above 70%, she can double enemies that attack her. This allows Sophia to take advantage of her high ATT power as well as help charge Sol up faster. 6. Threaten ATT helps keep Sophia alive, but you can replace it with any other C Passive of your choosing. ---------- Alternatively, if you don't want to break the bank (Close Counter and Quick Riposte are difficult to obtain) and want something a bit more simpler, try these.suggestions. Special Skill: Iceberg or Bonfire - Since Sophia has good DEF & RES, take advantage of whatever is higher. Whenever the skill procs, she will likely do at least 14 damage, and can do even more if DEF or RES is her Boon and she is buffed in that stat. (For comparison, Luna, another 3 charge skill, will only do 14 or more damage if the enemy you are fighting has 28 or more DEF/RES. For Sophia, she targets RES, so for some common Arena characters: Y!Tiki has 29, Marth 23, Lucina 19, and Takumi 18. // Moonbow, while having a charge time of 2, does even less. // Also keep in mind the general rule of thumb is to have -RES as a Bane, making Luna/Moonbow not really worth it on mages.) Passive B: Breaker Skills - Transform Sophia into a unit that can break others. Swordbreaker is a good one since common Arena swords are fairly fast, and it will help her defensively as well if they try to attack Sophia. * * * * * Look at the character stats and take advantage of them. Even characters that are the very bottom of the Tier List can be transformed into powerful heroes with the right setup.

Just to add something here, Arthur is currently the only unit with Lancebreaker players can get on a consistent basis, and he learns it a 5* rank. Yes, Narcian can pass on Lancebreaker as a 4* rank, but the player can only have up to 2 Narcians from the Grand Hero Battle. This makes a bit difficult to pass on Lancebreaker without using Narcian or leveling up Arthur. Then, if the player missed him, the only remaining option is 5* Arthur for Lancebreaker 3. I discovered this when trying to find someone to give Cherche Lancerbreaker. I dismissed my other Narcian (didn't think I would need him at the time), and I am not sacrificing my remaining Narcian. I do have an Arthur, but he is 4* rank, I like him, and he has an "okay" nature (+3 ATT, -4 DEF) I guess I have to wait until more units come out that pass the Lancebreaker skill...

Regarding the Linde "piece," my two problems with it are the over-emphasized assets and the "dead face." Yes, it is still a sensual piece, but could make the argument that is tries to capture the feeling of a classic Renaissance painting in that the subject matter is a beautiful woman (and actually clothed). Then again, I do not mind Dragon's Crown designs (50 Unlockable Artwork - Gallery) and other stuff by Vanillaware. Some of it is off-putting, sure, but most of it are rather pleasing to look at. Regarding armor, add me to the list who enjoys the Tellius designs and not so much Fates. Fanservice has its place, but it has to make sense when it is used. Aesthetically pleasing armor is nice and I what expect that in a video game. If the armor is also practical, that is a bonus. Silly armor (Knights and Generals in Awakening, Camilla's and Charlotte's designs) tend to break the immersion. * * * * * Back to Fire Emblem: Heroes, where do you think the story will go? The Main Story ended up a "To Be Continued" note, while some of the latest Paralogues (and Xenologue) have interesting developments. I also remember there being an interview that more original characters will be added to Heroes, so any ideas on who they may be? Alternatively, do you just play Heroes for the gameplay and skip past all the story sections?

Team Counterstrike I was happily playing God Eater 2: Rage Burst, took a break, found this, and ended up writing a wall of text. Essentially, I made a team that can counter from any range and focuses on sustaining themselves through Renewal and Breath of Life. They don't need a healer when they all can heal each other! (Of course, their greatest weakness is being one-shot. All the healing and regeneration is meaningless if the character is dead.) Anyways, to the spoiler! Team Composition: Hector, Nowi, Ryoma, Takumi

Considering Nintendo subverted my expectations on a 3rd "Sibling" banner, I am doing to guess Banners are rolled out in with themed pairings per month. This does not count the "Bonus Banners," such as the Princes & Princesses banners as well as the "Battling (X)" banners. If I were to condense down many words of text, I want to say they will either continue Elibe with Binding Blade ("Binding Shadows," anyone?) or use Sacred Stones as a transition to the upcoming Shadows of Valentia release since both titles have a lot in common. I do not see Tellius or Gaiden in the next focus, but IS may surprise me again. For the longer version, it's in the spoiler. As for new armor units, I would like to see Douglas, Old!Hector (please be as OP as your younger self), Oswin, and Gilliam. I could also go into the non-GBA titles, but like I said above, I expect another GBA game to be next in the focus.

I updated the OP with links to my various write-ups, including a bonus one that revolves around building a team focused on Adult!Tiki. Also, I made some updates to the Skill Builds Parts 1 & 2. New stuff will be in blue italics. So, that will be my writeup for the day. I do have Selena and company ready to present, it's just the matter of writing out all the words. For a random piece of stat comparison, here is Lucina vs Marth. Marth is better than Lucina, she is overrated! Name HP ATT SPD DEF RES Total Lucina 43 37 36 25 16 157 [+ATT, -RES] Marth 41 34 34 29 20 158 [+ATT, -RES] ----- Lucina 43 34 36 25 19 157 [Baseline] Marth 41 31 34 29 23 158 [Baseline] ----- Marth 41 31 34 29 23 158 [Baseline] Lucina 43 34 36 29 16 158 [+DEF, -RES]

Let's see... 6th Stratum - Need to use a Blue Unit to clear 5 more times. Thing is, I need to level up a different Blue character (currently working on 4* Odin who is Level 20), but it is definitely doable. There's no need for overkill when I can use the Training Tower properly and complete quests at the same time! 8th Stratum - Need to use any Grey on the starting Lunatic level. Actually, I could just run any 3 characters with a healer now that I think about it... 10, Infantry - Much harder than originally anticipated, mostly in trying to keep everyone alive. I've been hoping to make small progress as I do my dailies, but I keep losing one unit (usually Kagero). I may just need to re-think my Lunatic composition. 10, Cavalry - I think I got this one. I have a Cain ready to go, so I just need to level up 4* Jeigan, 4* Stahl, and 4* Ursula (all around level 30). I do have a good Gunter, but he is 3* rank and does not have Hone Cavalry. I'll need to unlock his potential to 4-Star rank and train him up again before I can field him. Gunter will be my fallback plan if the current team fails. 10, Fliers - This one is going to be rough. All I have is Camilla and 2 4* Cherches around level 33. Then, for optimized units, I can field either Narcian or Beruka, but they are 3* rank and are still around level 20 (and are also Green). // I could field some of my unoptimized fliers (Caeda, Palla, Shanna), but I don't really want to use my time training unoptimized units. Maybe I can get away with training Caeda "just enough" for Fortify Fliers and hope I get all lances against my all axe team. 10, Armor - 3 Level 1 Draugs & Level 20 Sheena? I don't think this is happening...

@BANRYU Right when I thought I was done theorycrafting for the night... * * * * * So, you want a team build around Adult!Tiki? It would be helpful to know her Boon & Bane to maximize efficiency, as well as tailor her to the desired playstyle. But anyways, here we go. (Click on the Spoiler, this is gonna take a while.)

Dark Breath does -5 ATT & -5 SPD to enemies after combat. I assume it also affects the enemy you just attacked, but I don't have a F!Corrin to check. So, if Dark Breath does affect that enemy, then I would replace Threaten Atk with a different skill (as Threaten Atk is also -5 ATT, and debuffs do not stack). Instead of Threaten Atk, I recommend... Threaten DEF - Make F!Corrin the ultimate debuff unit. She debuffs ATT and SPD after combat in an area, she seals the target's RES, and at the start of every turn, she lowers the DEF of nearby enemies by 5. // Of course, if you are not using physical units, then there is no need to run this skill. Savage Blow - In addition to debuffing foes in an area, deal up to 7 damage to them as well after attacking. Breath of Life - If you are focused on being defensive, Breath of Life allows F!Corrin to heal adjacent allies for up to 7 HP. This may not seem much, but it can help. Of course, you can always run the buff skills (Hone & Fortify) as well for the C Passive.

Welp, I started trying to run some actual numbers using Heroes!Anna and trying to break the WTA. Long story short, she will not get the "overkill" required in order to reliably defeat Red units. Of course, she only has a ATT rating of 42. In the spoiler was my original musings before I realized my folly. Brave Weapons + Desperation: Raven, The Brave Hero However, because I am stubborn and want to push the limit, I'll try using Raven instead of Anna. Some Calculations are within the spoiler, with my results and predictions following after the spoiler. (For those looking for Selena and other skill builds, they'll come later. I got sidetracked, okay?! Poor attempt at joke is poor.) Conditions: 1. Neutral Raven has 47 ATT with Life and Death and has 34 SPD. 2. He will be using Draconic Aura for the +14 ATT. 3. For purposes of this calculation, he has Desperation active. 3A. If Neutral Raven had "39" Effective SPD due to Threaten SPD (34+5), he can double Marth and Tharja who have 34 SPD. Results: 1. Neutral Raven will annihilate any Blue unit that stands in his way. // He can beat Gwendolyn, the highest DEF Blue Unit, even with her Escutcheon being triggered. - Exception: Effie, because screw you, Wary Fighter. 2. Neutral Raven can almost annihilate any Green unit that stands in his way, but he will need an ATT Buff to finish off the hardiest of foes (Hector, Beruka, Sheena) - Exception: F!Robin & Merric, because of their SPD and DEF. (Run ATT Buff to defeat them.) 3. Neutral Raven can handle most Red Units that are at or below 29 DEF. // Raven beats Neutral Marth, who has 29 DEF and 44 HP. - So, Neutral Raven can not handle due to DEF... Stahl, Seliph, Laslow, Chrom, Selena, Alfonse, Eldigan, Hinata, Draug, Adult!Tiki, Young!Tiki, and Henry - Units N!Raven can not handle due to SPD... Erika, Ryoma, Selena, Lucina, Lyn, Caeda, Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.) Predictions 1. +ATT Raven slaughters any Blue unit that stands in his way, even Neutral Effie! (Run a +ATT Buff to handle +DEF Effies.) 2. +ATT Raven should annihilate any Green unit that stands in his way, unless that unit is +DEF. (Run a +ATT Buff to handle +DEF units.) 3. +ATT Raven should be able to handle Red Units that are at or below 32 DEF. - This narrows his DEF list to... Eldigan, Hinata, Draug, Adult!Tiki - However, there are Red Units Raven can not handle due to SPD... Erika, Ryoma, Selena, Lucina, Lyn, Caeda, Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.) 3A. If +ATT Raven is using a +4 ATT Buff, he should be able to handle Red Units below 36 DEF. - Doing this will only leave Draug being unable to be destroyed in one round. (Unless of course Draug is debuffed and his DEF is lowered, but that is technically covered under "Red Unit Below [x] Defense.") - However, there are Red Units Raven can not handle due to SPD... Erika, Ryoma, Selena, Lucina, Lyn, Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.) 4. +SPD Raven, with Threaten SPD (34 Base + 3 Boon + 5 Threaten = 42 SPD) should be able to handle units 37 SPD or lower. - This narrows the SPD list to... Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.) - However, this keeps the expanded DEF list... Stahl, Seliph, Laslow, Chrom, Selena, Alfonse, Eldigan, Hinata, Draug, Adult!Tiki, Young!Tiki, and Henry 4A. +SPD Raven, with Threaten SPD and an +4 ATT Buff, should be able to handle Red units below 37 SPD and with DEF values of 33 or lower. - This narrows his DEF list to... Eldigan, Hinata, Draug, Adult!Tiki - This narrows the SPD list to... Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.) * * * * * So, was all of this worth it? Well, if one is willing to run a +SPD Raven (Brave Axe+ // Draconic Aura, Reciprocal Aid // Life and Death, Desperation, Threaten SPD) and someone that can buff ATT (Rally Attack or Hone Atk), then +SPD Raven can handle almost anyone in the game save for three main threats: Eldigan, Adult!Tiki, and Hana. However, in actual practice? Just run a normal team and take proper advantage of the Weapon Triangle. Most players may be better off with Ice Dragon's Escutcheon suggestion, but I am tempted to run Pavise instead (trigger the Desperation using an assist skill instead of combat), to ensure better protection when it activates. Now a part of me wants to see if there is a Sword User (Hana) or a Lance User (Cordelia) that may be able to defeat every single unit in the game. But I think I did enough number crunching for a while... - - - - - Also, as an aside, @Ice Dragon. If you are using Desperation 3, it is 75% or lower, not 50% (that is Desperation 2 and Lyn's Sol Katti). So a Neutral Hana will get Desperation at 27 Health, not 18.

Thanks for all the comments! - I fixed Jagen's name. I always end up spelling it Jegan because I pronounce it that way ("Gee-gan" instead of "Jay-gen," or however the correct sounds are.) - Hector has earned his special snowflake status and gained a Unique marker (I forgot about him, sorry!) - Huh, I didn't know Swordbreaker on Reinhardt was that much overkill. I'm glad we got people running the numbers! So, instead of Swordbreaker, I'll give him Lancebreaker instead so he can annihilate lances too. This does overlap a bit with Frederick, but aside from Takumi*, I don't see that many bow users in the Arena. - The various incorrect stats (Lucius, Rebecca, Priscilla, Florina, Donnel, Viron, and Gunter) I'll list as incorrect in the OP soon(tm). I find the best way to contact the wiki guys is through their Discord in the #wiki channel. I used it a couple times when I noticed errors in their system and they were quick to reply. ---------- * Tried to run some numbers. Neutral Reinhart ATT: 41 x 2 (32 Base, +9 from Dire Thunder || No Death Blow) RES Boon Takumi: 21 RES, 40 HP 41 - 21 = 20 (ATT - RES) 20 x 2 = 40 (Damage) 40 - 40 = 0 (HP - Damage) If we start factoring in Hone Cavalry, Goad Calvary, and Death Blow, I'm pretty sure Takumi will be dead. The only troublesome archer would be Niles (34 base RES), but I don't think I ever saw him in the Arena. =================================================================================================================== Brave Weapons + Desperation: Theorycrafting So I got inspired by one of Elieson's posts about "Brave Weapons, Darting Blow, and Desperation." While I did run the combo on my theoretical Camilla (and Niles), he suggested trying to use Heroes!Anna for that role. This got me thinking of alternative units that may want to run the Brave Weapon + Desperation Combo. Why Brave + Desperation? If the unit is fast enough, the Brave Weapon will do 4 attacks, instead of the normal 2. Combined with Desperation, then all four of those attacks occur before the target even has a chance to retaliate. Now, we just need to find people that are fast enough but also strong enough to do lasting damage. I was also going to include some extra skill builds including builds for Selena, but this theorycraft write-up took far more time than originally anticipated. They will be in my next major post in this thread.

They got preorders open already? Then again, I was not big into pre-ordering. As much as I love my physical cartridges and having a box version, I'm probably going to go digital with Echoes, just like I did with Fates. It makes more sense to me carrying just my 3DS around instead of also needing a whole compartment for all of my game cards. (Granted, carrying the compartment around and showcasing one's library is somewhat cool for novelty, but in practice the digital version is better for me.) So yeah, while I voted "On the fence," I'll just pick it up digitally either at release or shortly thereafter. However, I may end up trying to pick up the Alm and Celica amiibo (and possibly even the other FE amiibo if possible). It just sucks that amiibo are so expensive...

Round 24 [Blazing Shadows]: 3* Setsuna (+DEF, -SPD) || 3* Selena (+SPD, -HP) || 4* Cain (+DEF, -ATT) || 4* Chrom (Balanced) || 4* Jeorge (+HP, -SPD) Round 25 [Blazing Shadows]: 3* A!Tiki (+HP, -RES) || 3* Azama (+SPD, -DEF) || 3* Serra (+RES, -HP) || 4* Maria (+RES, -HP) || 4* Matthew (+DEF, -ATT) Black = 3* Unit || Blue = 4* Unit || Orange = 5* Unit || Red = Reserves (Character Merging, Skill Inheritance, Retirement) What happened to pulls? Anyone pulling? Man, I decided to do two more pulls using the "free!" Orbs. Luck is not on my side, and my 5-star rate is now 4.5% (9%). I suppose after getting a decent patch of pulls before may have ruined my my luck streak. Long story short, I either... A - Already have an optimized version of that unit (Chrom, Cain, Azama, Serra, Matthew, Jeorge, Adult!Tiki) B - It is a new unit, and I either don't care much for it or have a poor IV (Setsuna, Maria) However, Selena is salvageable from the lot. While I would prefer +ATT, -DEF, this Selena (+SPD, -HP) can be useful as a "defensive Selena," using her high SPD and decent DEF & RES to outlast her foes. I'll make a build for her in my theorycrafting topic at a later date.

If all else fails, remember you can use Poison Dagger as a "Dragon Counter" since Dragons are also counted as Infantry. This is useful if the team is not fielding Falchion users. * * * * * Offense Score: 4336 Score Update!Current Ranking: 21,156 Rank Update!...Team: Ephraim (173), Ryoma (174), 4* F!Robin (143), Marth (173) || Total Rating: 663 * * * * * Oh come on... I get a higher score, and end up with less rank than I had previously. At this rate, I'll be lucky if I'm still in the top 30k. I suppose Arena quests, Skill Inheritance, and the Voting Gauntlet being over means much more stiff competition... Not only that, my Defense Team (Erika, Ephraim, Ryoma, 4* Kagero) is not getting any wins either. If this trend continues, I'll not have any Defense wins for two weeks. Any suggestions for my Defense Team?