Sire

Offense Score: 4384 || Rank: 8321 I suffered two deaths using Marth (+RES, -DEF), Ryoma (+SPD, -ATT), Ephraim (+DEF, -RES), and Camilla (+RES, -DEF). My team's total stats are 682, so maybe that may be used as a comparison when being matched up against opponents. I usually seem to get 644 for max points per round, but sometimes I can earn more if the opponent fields an Armor or a Seliph. I think I could get up to 4500+ by going Deathless and maybe I can achieve that this week. My personal goal is to be within the top 10,000 consistently for those 2k feathers. Any higher (top 5000) is likely whale territory with merged units.

It looks great so far! I love the pixel art on the map and battle screens, and the music sounds pretty good! The fantasy aesthetic is also nice. However, my biggest complaint are the character designs (seen at 0:35 on the video). Everything else looks so good, but the characters are not doing it for me. I would like a new Advance Wars and this is the closest we will get to one (save for that Tiny Metal game). Another thing that I am indifferent to is the addition of "Florans" or something similar from Starbound. I know Chucklefish made Starbound, but I had a poor initial experience with Starbound making me hesitant to try something else from the company. As for Tiny Metal, the other "Advance Wars" type game, it failed its Kickstarter. I'm personally not that surprised as I did not care much for the prototype, but reading one of their recent news posts gives me some hope that they may eventually make a decent game out of it.

An interesting read! I've been wanting to make some Cavalry (and Flier and Armor) teams for some time, but I personally would probably not use them for Offensive Arena runs due to the current meta. They would be fun to mess around in the Training Tower or Story Mode though! My original team would include Cain, Gunter, Jegan, and Ursula (since I read somewhere she had Goad Cavalry* even though she is not yet available). Gunter and Jegan are present for their Hone Cavalry and Fortify Cavalry respectively. Cain would be my Red DPS with his Brave Sword, and Ursula was included because I could use a magic unit and she may have Goad Cavalry. However, with Reinhardt being present, he may end up replacing Ursula as he has confirmed skills and Brave weapons have better synergy with ATT buffs. However, in the event Ursula does have Goad Calvary, I would replace Jegan as I believe "Battle Buffs" stack (such as Spurs and Goad). So, Cain would have a whopping +14 ATT & SPD (+6 from Gunter's Hone Cavalry and +4 from Reinhardt's and Ursula's Goad Cavalry, for a total of +8 from that. 6+8=14, which is pretty high.) Alternatively, if the Cavalry team is committed to hyper offensive, try fielding a Dancer like Olivia or Azura to take advantage of the crazy buffs and go on a rampage. I personally recommend Azura over Olivia since Olivia's Hone ATT passive will be overwritten by Gunter's Hone Cavalry. So, in this situation, I would run Cain, Gunter, Reinhardt, and Azura. // To further complicate matters, when Xander is released, he may be a strong contender to replace Cain as his signature weapon, Siegfried, allows him to counter at range. To witness his weapon usage, just play Chapter 9-5 on Lunatic. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * Source: Fire Emblem Heroes Wiki - Ursula Page || However, there is a contradicting source with picture evidence, found on the FE:Heroes Reddit. || Remember, Ursula may not actually have Goad Cavalry, we will have to wait for her release to confirm (or rely on reputable data miners).

1. Grima - Give Grima Svallin Shield and be a Blue Dragon to wipe aside pesky Falchion users. Also, the map better be on the back of a flying dragon with Id (Purpose) playing in the background! 2. Black Knight - Take Radiant Dawn's version of his encounter: the team leader 1v1s the Black Knight while the other three handle generics to the south. When the generics are down or the Black Knight is defeated, the way to the other side opens. (If you are a healer or can't damage the Black Knight, you can always run for your life since I think he'll be an Armored unit with a mere 1 Move.) 3. Lyon - Give him monsters (say 2 Wights, an Arch Mogall, and a Draco Zombie), play Land of Promise, and fight on a map based off of his showdown chapter! 4. Nergal - Nergal and his morphs, Dragon's Gate, enough said. Sonia may appear with Nergal or appear with the Black Fang. 5. Sonia - The Black Fang group (Brenden Reed, Lloyd, Linus). I see Lloyd and Linus being recruitable through Focus while I am not sure how Brenden will be handled. 6. Walhart - Fight the Conqueror at his throne, which is the only terrain piece in Heroes that offers bonuses! (+3 DEF & RES, Heal 5 per Turn. Disclaimer: Throne does not exist in Heroes and this is merely a fan idea.) 7. Selena (Sacred Stones) - Give her a 3 Range Tome on that river map of hers so she snipes incoming heroes while her soldiers slow them down. 8. Fargus - Pirates Ahoy! 9. Anthos - He seems like the type of character to be recruited through a Grand Hero Battle. No idea about his map mechanics though. 10. Leila - Make it happen, IS! The Dread Isle map may work well.

Forgot about Tana & Innes and Tethys/Ewan. That's what I get for not having played Sacred Stones in a long while and just glancing at the character pages. (Should've recalled Tana & Innes, but I didn't use Tethys and Ewan much...) I also second @Water Mage's idea of "What Ifs" and "Evil Characters." However, I have a feeling such things are probably going to be used for events (Risen King Chrom for Halloween, maybe?) or happen waaay down the line.

I agree the Arena could use a rework, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it without discarding the "Total Stats = Score." I have some suggestions below that may help the current system, but first here are some thoughts on said system. 1. Score being solely based off of stats from the opposing team sounds fine on paper. However, as matchmaking currently only takes in account total team stats and compares them to one another (so offensive totals versus defensive totals), the system heavily biases offensive teams with high total stats. The fact that merging is also included in this does not help matters. 2. Arena, as it stands, serves as the sole method of obtaining lots of Feathers. While feather costs are generally reasonable, the cost to go from a 4* unit to a 5* unit is ridiculous at 20000 Feathers. Due to the highly competitive nature of the Arena, it can be extremely difficult for players to earn Feathers to help build a solid 5* team composition for "endgame" play. 3. Bonus Heroes are meant to mix up offensive teams a bit, but the system heavily punishes players that do not have said heroes. Then, even if they do own the hero, that particular hero may not be trained, not to the player's liking, or has poor synergy with the "Main Arena Team." * * * * * As for some suggestions that will never be implemented... 1. When choosing from Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, also show the colors and icons for the enemy team like in the Training Tower. This will lessen the likelihood of players running blind into gimmick teams such as a random leader and 3 Takumis. // It would also be helpful to showcase enemy levels as well as their merge count by character. 2. When choosing opponents, allow for a single reroll to match the player against different teams. Combined with 1, this makes it easier for players to run Advanced against teams more suited for the offensive composition or to avoid a potential Gimmick team. // Since Gimmick teams may be skipped over, players may want to build their defense team to "lure opponents in" instead of ambushing them like in the current system. 3. Include a "Tier Bonus" for being in a certain tier. Maybe start out with 500 Feathers if the player makes it to Tier 1, and granting an additional 500 Feathers per tier above that. So, if I move to rank 6, I would gain 3000 Feathers due to the "Tier Bonus." This caps out at Tier 20 with 10000 Feathers. 4. Bonus Heroes, instead of doubling scores, give a Feather Bonus that chains together and is rewarded at the end of the current run (whether it fails, manages a 7 streak, or is stopped by the Arena closing). This offers a grindable method for Feathers and gives players an incentive to buy Dueling Crests. As an example, say each round grants 100 Feathers, with a +10 chain bonus. So, if the player manages a 7-win streak using a Bonus Hero, that player will be rewarded a bonus of 860 Feathers. (100 + 110 + 120 + 130 + 140+ 150+ 160 = 860) 5. Bonus Heroes can also be fielded on Defensive Teams to double the Defense score. The Defense scoring system will be adjusted to accommodate this change, with max Defense rewards being capped at 1000 Feathers (instead of the current 500). 6. Add modifiers to the scoring system to make more characters viable. For example, Armored Units will have a -10 penalty to scores due to their high stats, while Cavalry and Grey units gain a +10 bonus due to their lower stats (does not stack, so Elise will not have a +20 to score, just a +10). Abilities and weapons that affect stats (such as Brave's -5 SPD or Fury) have no effect on score calculations. So, while Hinata may have 181 total stats, he actually just has 169 for scoring purposes because of the +12 from Fury. The goal is to have most units around "170 Total Score." Of course, there will be outliers such as Male!Robin being at 160 or Young!Tiki being at 178, but no system is perfect.

Congrats on your pull! I suppose the RNG Goddess Anna was smiling at your monetary sacrifice. Can I have some of your luck for my next pull in a week or two? I want Hector...

If Nino is serving you well and you love the character, go for it. Also, if she is a mainstay on your offensive Arena team, the stat boost from 4* to 5* will help in obtaining better scores for improved ranking. As for other scenarios... - You pull a 5* Nino from the new focus with a more preferable Boon & Bane. || Guess who now has a 5* +1 Nino with a good Boon and Bane? - You pull a 4* unit with favorable Boon and Bane that can serve you well in the Arena. || One cannot predict the future and RNG is RNG. One could play it safe, but it may be more beneficial to promote now to "help" with feather production. - FE: Heroes does something crazy and adds your favorite character of all time to the roster (sometime soon), and is actually viable in the Arena. || Unless you have a character that is already in the current roster or in the current Focus, I can see there being a period of "no new heroes" (besides Grand Hero Battles) until March 14. During that time frame, it is possible to get at least 4k-8k Feathers from the Arena (assuming a successful defense and max offense score for minimum, then assuming at least the 2k feather ranking for maximum). // If IS decides to do a Feather event or reward Feathers, then it may be possible to get 20k before March 14. However, this does not consider if there will be any new heroes you really like on March 14, granting even more time to build up a feather stockpile for that "one desired hero." In short, just do it. Unless you really need to be hyper efficient about feather usage and do not have a solid 5* Arena team, then go ahead and promote your Nino.

If they continue the Sibling route... I'm personally hoping to see Priscilla and Guinevere. Although, Ninian, Nils, Rolf, Boyd, and Oscar would be nice to see too. Now, as for Ike & Mist, I see them being saved for later since they are Lord characters, and may be introduced in the "big Tellius Focus," whenever that is. * * * * * I also would like to see a "Parent & Child" focus, such as Brom & Meg, Garcia & Ross, Pent & Louise (since their kids are in Heroes), and so on. Other ideas are the "Christmas Cavalier" focus (Cain & Abel as well as all of their "descendants" such as Stahl & Sully, Kaze & Saizo, etc.) or a "Villain" focus (who doesn't want to play as the bad guys every now and then?) I'm also waiting for Awakening Trio focus, featuring the them as their Awakening and Fates counterparts.

I initially used Feathers and went on a promoting spree to get characters up to 4* status. The cost from 1* -> 2* and 2* -> 3* are practically insignificant, but 3* -> 4* is a bit expensive at 2000 Feathers. Then, there is that dreaded milestone of getting a 4* unit to 5* status, costing 20k... Right now, I have a fair amount of characters I can mess around with and train, so currently I am saving my feathers so I can finally upgrade somebody to 5* status. I'm currently planning on 5-starring Nino (Balanced), but other contenders are Sharena, Lissa, and Olivia (all balanced). Of course, I would love to 5* everybody and begin working on "endgame merging" since I am getting a fair amount of duplicates, but unlocking potential to 5* status is extremely expensive. 20000 Feathers is way too much and I would say 10000 Feathers would be far more reasonable. Alas, consumer-friendly practices are probably not that common in Gacha games as the business practice likely prefers to make as much money as possible by making things difficult to achieve. Who needs the small fishies when one can catch whales? Also, to save on character management and look forward to the endgame, make sure you know your character's natures (IV Values, Boon & Bane). This can help when dealing with duplicate characters on who to promote, to merge, or send home. I'm personally keeping duplicates so I can merge people at 5* rank, but it is a long and lonely road...

I use Gamepress less and less these days, preferring to use the Fire Emblem Heroes Wiki and their version of the Calculator. So far, I have seen zero evidence of having more than one Boon & Bane. I have seen some odd adjustments (normal stat gain & loss are 3, but sometimes there are 4 instead), but otherwise all the character I have are either Neutral or have one Boon and one Bane.

Round 15 [Sibling Bonds]: 3* Hana (+SPD, -ATT) || 4* Marth (+SPD, -ATT) || 4* Palla (+RES, -HP) || 4* Cherche (+ATT, -RES) || 4* Kagero (+ATT, -DEF) Pulled this shortly after the update, using whatever Orb scraps I had combined with the new influx of Orbs due to Quests, Paralogues, and the Weekly Celebration. Anyways, went into Sibling Bonds not expecting much as I really don't know any of the characters save for Sanaki. Klein seems awesome all round with voice, artwork, and skills. Reinhardt and Olwen also look interesting and I would love to give them a whirl since they are "Brave Tome Cavalry." Lachesis is to add to my healer collection as they are always useful in leveling up alts, and her artwork and voice look good. Eldigan has an "eh" skillset and would look okay if his hands and fingers were not so weird. Lastly, Sanaki, who I do know, seems subpar in skillset and I am not sold on her voice. As for my actual pull, Hana and Marth will be used as merging fodder for their "better" selves. Palla I did want, but her Boon and Bane are nothing extraordinary as I would have prefered an +ATT version with -HP, -DEF, or -RES instead. As for Cherche, I am debating if I should also keep my current 3* Cherche (+DEF, -RES) or just pick one as a main and merge the other. A part of me is leaning towards keeping both, but this will greatly slow down "maximum caps" due to merging since I'll need to do both versions. She is slow, which makes the +DEF valuable against enemies who double her, but the +ATT can be useful in making her a "one-shot" character. I also really love Cherche as a character (main avatar's spouse in Awakening), so yeah... The biggest win of this pull is pulling the almighty Kagero with +ATT, -DEF. Now, I have not run the numbers to see if having her on -DEF is a poor choice, but I do know her +ATT will help her immensely to deal effective damage against infantry and maybe even chip damage against other targets. I've been on the receiving end of many a Kagero, so it is nice to tip the scales in my favor and see how powerful Kagero truly is.

Now for some Character stuff... Klein - Brave Bow (Glacies, Death Blow, Quick Riposte) I seriously wonder what his stats are. Brave Bow, Death Blow, and Glacies? This guy has so much damage potential... Sanaki - Cymbeline [Grants +4 ATT to adjacent allies after any combat with this unit] (Harsh Command, Triangle Adept, Hone ATT) Eh, not really seeing Sanaki's potential here. Unless she has amazing stats or I simply misjudged her, I don't see Sanaki being that useful... Reinhardt - Dire Thunder ["Brave Tome"] (Blazing Thunder, Vantage, Goad Cavalry) This guy looks interesting, especially since he is a mounted, blue tome user. Cavalry teams are looking better and better! Olwen - Dire Thunder (Reposition, Warding Blow, Ward Cavalry) If Reinhardt is offensive, Olwen is defensive. Offensive is typically more valued than defense, so I'll have to see how this plays out myself. Eldigan - Mystletainn ["Killing Edge"] (Growing Light, Fury, Lunge) Seems to highly rely on his special for damage. He looks interesting, but having Lunge is a bit lackluster in my opinion. Lachesis - Absorb (Physic, Solid-Earth Balm, Spur RES) Eh, not so sure about this one. Actually, she seems like a reverse Sakura (+RES Balm, Fortify DEF). but Lachesis has Spur RES instead of Fortify RES and Absorb instead of Fear. Sire's Glance Tier List: Klein > Reinhardt > Olwen > Eldigan > Sanaki > Lachesis

Why am I up late... Update is live! We have... New Paralogue: Sibling Bonds (3 Chapters - Brothers and Sisters, Siblings of Thunder, Courage and Devotion) Also has special quests! Sibling Bonds Focus: Eligan, Sanaki, Olwen, Reinhardt, Klein, Lachesis (Lasts until March 14th) * * * * * Honestly, I did not see this coming. Sanaki as the first Tellius character? If they keep up this theme, I wonder if Micaiah is gonna be somewhere in the next Focus...

Well, when I play games with a customizable avatar, I tend to create a "character" instead of always projecting my "fictional self" into the game. In terms of what I consider a good system, I personally loved Xenoblade Chronicles X's protagonist. He/She is a bad*** rookie, but the main story actually revolves around the characters surrounding the Protagonist and not the Protagonist. Yes, there are story moments where the Protagonist does cool stuff and side content that explores the Protagonist's relationship with other characters. In terms of a poor system, Fire Emblem Fates. We are not making an avatar character, we are simply giving Corrin a makeover to look and sound different. At the end of the day, it is Corrin who we are controlling and not an "Avatar." It does not help that I dislike Corrin as a character and Fate's story in general, but that topic has been discussed to death. * * * * * Other games that did the Avatar fairly well, in my opinion, are... - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - God Eater: Resurrection - God Eater 2: Rage Burst

Did some impromptu creating in a different topic, so I decided to post those heroes here. Specifically, I made Male version and Female version of Grima, the final boss of Awakening.

@ILikeKirbys Hmm, a Grima character... I'll think I'll take a shot at it too, making a Male and Female version of the Fell Dragon. (This is totally getting copied over to my Create-A-Hero Thread) Anyways, back to the topic at hand, I do believe the Awakening Trio will eventually make an appearance. We have two different Tikis (Young and Adult), and there are plenty of other characters who have differing versions of themselves (PoR Sothe vs RD Sothe, Hector in Blazing Sword vs Binding Blade, Marth in Shadow Dragon vs New Mystery, etc.). Tiki was released first because it is obvious that they are different. "Clones" are likely to take lower priority compared to brand new heroes or event characters (Christmas Robin, "Choose Your Legends" Winners, and so on). As for the next story installment, I can see a "proper expansion" exploring the world of Sacred Stones and Genealogy (with characters from those games being added) or another "Paralogue," perhaps featuring characters from Tellius. I'm personally hoping for an expansion so I can get my hands on some Sacred Stones characters as well as figure out how the Heroes storyline is progressing, but I'll take a Paralogue because it'll likely have Ike and Micaiah (maybe even Elincia) available. I can see "expansion, paralogue, expansion, paralogue, etc." being the norm for new content, with normal and Grand Hero Battles slowly giving players heroes to mess around with. I wonder what the "5th" icon is for on the Battle Menu and what Voting Gauntlets are.

@ILikeKirbys I'll be waiting for "Back to Awakening Again" (for Gen 2 characters) to be localized as "Back to the Future!" ...Okay, okay, it's not original and probably not clever as I thought. Still, I wonder if they may add some sort of "Future-Past" thing with Awakening's Gen 2 or if they will simply be a part of the normal Awakening world like the Chrom and Lucina arcs. If the kids get their own arc, I wonder who will be the "finale boss" since Chrom and Lucina are already used. A part of me would bet on the Awakening Trio (Indigo, Owain, and Severa), unless they go the Villain route and use Old Hubba, Aversa, Validar or someone else instead.

Regarding "counter" weapons, yeah, there are already characters like Xander and Camus who will be able to retaliate at range. I personally wonder how powerful Camus will be since he is a Blue and the current meta has a decent amount of Reds and Blues. (Cavalry teams are looking good once Camus, Xander, and Ursula are available...) Now for Ike, I can see his Radiant Dawn counterpart having stats similar to Chrom and his Path of Radiance self having stats similar to Lucina (since they all have Aether, but PoR Ike will probably bit a little slower but more bulkier than Lucina - think Ryoma). The biggest difference will be Ragnell and its special ability versus the Falchion. Ragnell may keep it's 1-2 range as its weapon special, but a part of me would love to see the Ragnell act as an "upgraded Killing Edge" so Ike can spam Aether more often. As for skills, I personally would love to see Defiant Attack and Vantage for his passives as a callback to the Wrath+Vantage combo. I would also like to see Ike have a "Great Aether" of sorts since he is so commonly associated with it, and because he has a "Great Aether" in Smash. Alternatively, they may go full crazy on us and give PoR Ike Ragnell and RD Ike Urvan because why not. An Aether Axe User would be interesting to see, and I wonder what they will do to make Urvan special (please don't just be a RES buff. I'll take simply higher damage with no specials than a RES buff).

Q1: Does Tharja's Darting Blow "buff" grant extra damage due to Rauðrblade? I don't have one to test, but if so, that can potentially be a huge output of extra damage. Q2: Going off of Q1, does "Battle Buffs" (such as Spur ATT and not "Action Buffs" like Hone ATT) apply additional bonuses to (color)blade weapons? Or, does the (color)blade weapons only take in normal buffs and not combat-only ones?

Gonna run some numbers on Linde... Ryoma || HP (Neutral): 41 || SPD (High): 38 || RES (Neutral): 21 Linde || ATT (Neutral) 49 [59] (49*.20 = 9.8 -> 10) || SPD (High): 42 59 - 21 = 38 || 41 HP - 38 Damage = 3 HP Provided I did my math correctly (WTA gives 20% or .2 bonus to attack, right?), a Neutral Linde will come close to OHKO Ryoma, but not exactly. Linde needs 43 or more SPD to double my Ryoma (I tested thresholds on 9-5 Xander Lunatic. He had 27 SPD. In my notes, I needed 23 or more to prevent being doubled and used a 23 SPD Nowi without a problem. It is within 4 stat points, the same with +SPD Ryoma versus +SPD Linde.) However, a +ATT Linde will OHKO Ryoma. Now for Lissa vs Serra... (Stats are incomplete and may be off. I personally suspect Lissa's listed SPD is her Boon and not the average.) HP ATT SPD DEF RES Serra 36 40 31 18 33 Lissa 39 33 29 28 30 I could use Serra to bait mages due to her higher RES. However, if I am running Nino, having two characters with Hone ATT may be redundant. In addition, Lissa has better "overall" usability and can be used to bait other (physical) units. My team will still be weak against Lindes (and offensive Tharja, curse that Darting Blow), but I do not recall ever encountering a Linde in Arena during my runs. I may have run into a Tharja once or twice, I do not remember. Then of course there is the fact these are 4* characters and not 5*, so their stats are going to be a little lower compared to their 5* versions. * * * * * In short, I'll probably end up prioritizing Nino over Sharena, but I like Lissa too much (and Rehabilitate) to replace her with Serra. Gravity has its uses and I can make up for Ephraim's speed with Ryoma's Hone SPD (which is the same +4 as +SPD Balm). Nino's Hone ATT makes Serra's Hone ATT somewhat redundant as well (although the same could be said for Lissa's +ATT Balm). Ryoma can generally handle Tikis 1v1, but he will need Lissa's healing. As for +DEF Lilina, she will no doubt be annoying, but I'll handle him the same way I handle +SPD Takumis, we fall back and reset the fight or charge forward and finish them off. One rounding opponents is nice for "action efficiency," but I don't go out of my way to make sure that happens.

Most of my problems are due to being overwhelmed. My units can typically handle 1 on 1 without much hassle, but as soon as another unit joins in the mix, such as a ranged unit backing up a melee, my units tend to perish. I believe it is mainly due to being caught out of position or being out maneuvered by the enemy. If they have Swap, Pivot, Reposition, or Draw Back, it can mess up my battlefield calculations. I tend to do poorly on the Lava Map and the Forest Map (Forest map sucks when they have a Dancer). It may be wise for me to have a Dancer of my own (for extra heals, movement, or damage - their versatility is amazing but leveling one up sucks.) Character Problems: Ryoma (+SPD, -ATT) - Azura & Effie are the worst matchups against Ryoma. While he can eventually win with Lissa support, Ryoma practically has to have near Max HP each time or risk perishing. This is one of the reasons I keep Camilla around so she can handle this threat (and easily defeat M!Robins). - Dragons (Tiki, Nowi, etc.) are also a problem with Ryoma due to his low RES. Like with Azura and Effie, Ryoma can handle Dragons (sans maybe blues) with healing support, but if there is another unit backing up the Dragon, Ryoma is screwed. (I once lost a match because a Young!Tiki was either +SPD or Lyn's Spur SPD managed to push Tiki past the threshold so Ryoma could not double.) - Kagero is troublesome for Ryoma as she does insane damage and will likely kill Ryoma if not on max HP. I have not checked to see if an +ATT Kagero can one-shot Ryoma, but if she doesn't one-shot, Ryoma can typically retaliate and finish her off. - Outnumbered: While a common problem innate to most characters, Ryoma definitely struggles with taking multiple hits per turn. Let's say I am trying to bait a Takumi, but there is also a Lyn or Lucina that can reach Ryoma. I do not think my Ryoma can survive that encounter. While most of the time I can get good positioning, every now and then I get screwed over (such as in the Lava map) due to hostile ranged units and melee coming in. || Another example is taking on two Melee units at once, such as Marth and Lucina. Say on the enemy phase Marth charges at Ryoma and dies. Then, Lucina comes in and finishes off Ryoma as he has about half health left. Lissa (Balanced) - She is a tanky healer, but only a 4* unit. Lissa is always paired up with Ryoma as I know he will suffer heavy damage for the tasks I set him to. In addition to healing, I can try using Lissa as a meatshield on rare occasions due to her not-so-delicate nature. For the most part, I worry about speedy units for Lissa. Ephraim (+DEF, -RES) - As I am just using Ephraim for the bonus for the Arena and recently got him, I do not know of any innate weaknesses besides simple magic and Kagero. I found him effective against red sword users such as Erika and Lyn, and Ephraim can hold his own if going up against Nowi. - He is also weak to Camilla, should the enemy team field one. I have not seen any other greens in the Arena worthy of note. Camilla (+RES, -DEF) - Red Sword users (Who are almost guaranteed in the Arena - Lyn, Lucina, Marth, etc.) - Takumi , or any Archer (One-shots Camilla) - Camilla (If she gets to my Camilla first - Darting Blow works wonders for both sides)

So... I am wanting to optimize my Arena team and would like some second opinions. Currently, I run.. Ryoma (+SPD, -ATT) || 4* Lissa, Level 37 (Balanced) || Ephraim (+DEF, -RES) || Camilla (+RES, -DEF) It has served me decently thus far, however my current Arena High Score is just 4200 and I am at rank 22,615. I would like to make it at least in the top 10,000 (so I can get 2000 Feathers) and had managed to do so previously. However, there are likely more people playing FE: Heroes than at launch and now there has been time to improve team compositions, so I too need to adapt. The major problem I have is that it is difficult to go for a pure 7-streak Deathless run as Ephraim is slow and has low RES while Camilla dies to almost anything in the Arena (but I need her to handle Robins, Effies, other Blues, and magic units. She can also lure in Kagero and finish her off since Camilla is not Infantry.). In addition, I tend to over-rely on Ryoma for everything, using only Ephraim and Camilla to handle their respective counters. * * * * * So, I am thinking of prioritizing 5-starring 4* Sharena (Balanced) to replace Ephraim (+DEF, -RES). She is faster and offers far more utility than him, and even with the DEF loss, Lissa can easily heal Sharena. Provided the "max stat chart" on the FE:Heroes Wiki is right, she also has 4 more stat points than Ephraim (177 vs 174). A part of me also wants to replace Camilla (+RES, -DEF), but the only option I have that may work is 4* Nino (Balanced). I am in desperate need of a ranged unit as well as someone who can use magic, and with Ryoma (and Sharena) I have enough buffs to help Nino nuke foes. However, I am concerned about her survivability as my playstyle is more "outlast the enemy" than "blitz and annihilate the enemy." There is also the fact I plan on 5-starring Sharena first, so also getting Nino to 5* will take a long, long time... My dream team would have Ryoma, Takumi (+ATT, -HP), Lissa, and a random, but I don't have Takumi. I originally had Elise down instead of Lissa, but I do not have Elise and Lissa's Rehabilitate it too good to pass up for my playstyle. As for the random, I would choose Sharena or even Olivia. If I had Azura or Hector, they would also be solid choices. Anyways, here is my current roster. Also included are some misc information such as Boons and Banes.

Going off my current team, if I can inherit passives for empty slots I can see.. Ryoma (Defense) - Give him Vantage so even when on low HP and enemies try to attack him, he can still deal damage. Synergies with Defiant Attack and is probably best on Defensive teams. Ryoma (Offense) - Desperation for kicks and landing 2 hits before the enemy has a chance to retaliate. This combines well with Defiant Attack. Alternatively, I could give him one of the Seal skills since he is my main tank & DPS. Camilla - Swordbreaker to mitigate sword users killing Camilla easily. Seal skills can work (especially when countering Effie) but Wings of Mercy can be fun to surprise people. Sharena - Desperation to land her hits before the enemy can retaliate when below 75% HP. Ephraim - Distant Counter so ranged units can think twice before attacking Ephraim. Death Blow sounds good for him. Debuff the enemy with Seal or Threaten DEF, finish them off with Death Blow. Nowi - Wary Fighter so she can tank better. Takumi - I don't have him, but he has an empty "B" slot. Guess what's in B? Vantage, Quick Riposte, Desperation, Daggerbreaker, B Tome Breaker... * * * * * Of course, if it allows changing of skills for Specials, Assists, Passives, heck, even weapons, then things will become become insane very quickly. Soon, it will be less about individual heroes and simply "who has the best total stats and do we want an Infantry, Flier, or Cavalry unit?" Honestly, I just see the Passives being inheritable and perhaps being restricted to empty slots. If inheritance is more free-form and even allows Specials and Assists, then I am somewhat worried about the overall meta and Arena play. Arena is especially concerning considering it is the primary source of Feathers for players.

Well then, this looks interesting... While I am thrilled at the prospect, this somewhat throws my current "min-maxing" plans out the window as I now need to make adjustments to accommodate this new addition. I also wonder how this will impact Arena play.