Sire

Orbs are too precious to be saved. They must be consumed and dedicated to the RNG Goddess Anna while Kiran conducts rituals to summon heroes... I tend to always use my Orbs once obtaining 20. As I like so many different characters and want to collect practically everybody, it makes little sense for me to save them. The only time I could see myself reserving Orbs is if I had all the characters in the current Focus and they had proper Boon & Bane combos. Otherwise, I spend the orbs away~ New orbs are extremely difficult to come by for me as I already exhausted Story Mode and can only rely on handouts and events that grant new Orbs. If I won the lottery, I may join the ocean waters as a whale, but otherwise I'll make do with what I have after spending $40.

Round 15 [Family Bonds]: 3* Fir (+RES, -DEF) || 3* Lon'Qu (+RES, -HP) || 3* Azama (+SPD, -RES) || 4* Niles (+SPD, -DEF) || 4* Serra (+SPD, -DEF) Still no Erika, *cries*. However, I did end up getting some decent characters, so I can't really complain. (Someone start a "so I can't really complain" counter...) I always wanted Fir, so getting her is nice. However, her Boon and Bane are not exactly what I am looking for. The extra RES helps with her special, but I much rather have a +ATT Fir (even though her ATT is pretty low, 36 at baseline, although the extra 25 burst from her special helps). I guess the combos I would prefer is +ATT, -HP || +ATT, -DEF || or even +ATT, -SPD (I don't need Fir to be that fast, ~36 SPD is still fine for casual play). Lon'Qu Boon and Bane are also not that desirable, even if it is passable. Lon'Qu desperately wants +ATT to make his special more powerful (+50% to damage dealt). However, as I sorta like the guy, he may be leveled up for kicks while waiting for a proper Lon'Qu. Azama looks good and I don't plan on him tanking magic users. He seems like a decent "defensive tank" compared to Lissa, and Pain can be useful to set up kills. I'll have to use him in order to see if he has a proper place in my roster or if he will meditate on the bench. I may have ended up with one of the best Niles combos. He is not meant to take physical hits so the -DEF is negligible while the extra speed helps him charge up his special ability. I look forward to see how he plays out, but doesn't he have a different VA in Heroes? I also probably ended up with one of the better Serra combos as well. She kept coming back even after Matthew persuaded me to send her home each time, and I think maybe this time she can stay. If she becomes too annoying, she can join the bench and mingle with Azama. Overall, not a bad pull. I would have liked if Fir and Lon'Qu had better Boons & Banes (especially since I like them more than the others) but I'll make do for now.

I was about to yell OBJECTION! thinking the main site had an error regarding the previous focus' availability, but either it was ninja edited or I just read it wrong and jumped to conclusions. (In short, Erika, Ephraim, Jula, and Seliph are still available until the 27th. || Oddly enough, the "Battling Robin" focus [Hawkeye, Fir, Adult!Tiki, and Maria] also just lasts until the 27th. I wonder if there will be something new on the 28th.) I just got 20 Orbs, so here we go again hoping for a good Erika or 5* unit... As for how I beat Robin's map (25 & 35)...

I still haven't touched Fates since when I first started playing last year. I started with Conquest, did Birthright, and still have a incomplete Revelations file that I still need to get back to. Then there is still the DLC that looks interesting (specifically the children DLC, they seem to have it better than the main game). My opinions remain the same. Conquest has some of the best gameplay since Radiant Dawn. Birthright appeals to those who played Awakening while Revelations is gimmick city. I also highly enjoyed the music and some of the characters, but wish the fanservice was not so high in Fates. I have 109 hours clocked into Fates* using 6 save files (3 "Canon Runs" and 3 "True Runs"), with 80 of those hours being split into my two different Conquest files. I find Nohr's cast to be far more enjoyable than Hoshido's which makes running DLC missions or My Castle invasions more enjoyable, even though Birthright is technically supposed to be the "grindable game." Once upon a time I had grand plans for my ultimate file in Revelations, but playing each campaign one after the other and seeing the quality decrease burned me out. It didn't help I wanted to min-max My Castle on my "final file" to have certain materials and foods, and to create an "Avatar Army." As customizing My Castle relies on RNG or hacking while Avatar Armies in Fates are limited compared to Awakening, my enthusiasm perished. In essence, Fates was too much Fire Emblem, and in hindsight I would have prefered a single polished game (leaning towards Conquest gameplay) over three butchered ones. In contrast, I put over 200 hours into Awakening**, and I am sure I put an additional 20 more hours in that are not documented on my files. Specifically, I had my original "endgame Hard file," but after investing 100 hours and wanting more, I decided I wanted a "Lunatic+ endgame file." If the first five levels of Lunatic made me a man, the first five levels of Lunatic+ made me a legend, especially since I was going for a deathless run. (Afterwards, I "cheated" my way through using the Avatar Log as I was only interested in endgame skirmishes on Lunatic+ for replayability purposes.) The inclusion of all the Spotpass teams and replaying the DLC helped out immensely with playtime. In hindsight, I find it funny I got far more value with Awakening and it's DLC than with Fates and all three of its games. While the completionist self in me wants to go back, finish up Revelations, and properly finish my "True Runs," with other games on my radar (currently playing through God Eater 2 Rage Burst, and I have Transistor and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky in the pipeline), having Fire Emblem: Heroes to satisfy FE cravings, and Echoes out in May, I don't see myself going back to Fates any time soon. Honestly, I see myself going back to replay one of the older titles again (specifically Blazing Sword) before going back to Fates, provided I ever get around to it. Heh, now that I think about it, I never did get around to unlocking all the child characters. Oh well, most of them are forgettable anyway... * Fates Playtime by Activity Log = 160 Hours ** Awakening Playtime by Activity Log = 282 Hours

In regards of HP to DEF & RES, I personally believe that DEF & RES are far more valuable on lower SPD units as they tend to get doubled. +3 DEF essentially means "+6 HP" if the attacker is physical. As for speedy units, I would say HP may be a little more valuable. They are frail to begin with and tend to have weak DEF and RES, but since they have high SPD, they tend not to be doubled. Thus, having higher HP allows them to deal with physical or magic threats a little better. Now granted, everyone likes running their glass cannons (kill them before they kill you), but HP, DEF, RES, or even SPD boons can mess up the enemy calculations. For example, My +SPD, -ATT Ryoma can handle most Takumis in one round, but if the Takumi is +SPD, I will have to spend another round attacking him with somebody, costing a precious action. To fully maximize efficiency, it may be wise to build an "Offense Team" and "Defense Team," using whatever Boon & Bane best suits that team composition. Of course, we go into "I don't have that hero or I don't have that particular nature" territory thinking like this, but IS and Nintendo could always use your money...

Honestly, it depends on what you are looking for. I personally run Lissa these days, but Sakura and Clarine are also good. I have not used or obtained the other clerics to give an opinion, but I would love to have Elise on my team. Lissa (Low HP Turnabouts) - Since I love my deep heals, Rehabilitate works wonders for me. It also synergizes with units that end up taking lots of damage (like Ryoma in my case) as Lissa can immediately turn around and heal my 1-10 HP Ryoma up to full health (around 40) instantly. The ATT Balm is a nice bonus, Gravity Staff works wonders on cavalry for limited movement, and Lissa can somewhat tank due to her stats and Renewal. Sakura (Defensive Utility Healer) - My original go-to healer before I realized how useful Rehabilitate was. I used the Mend & Imbue combo for heals while taking advantage of Sakura's Fortify DEF and using the Fear staff (-6 ATT) on occasion. However, as I was more interested in big heals (Mend & Imbue was not enough at endgame), I eventually ended up dropping Sakura. Clarine (Mounted Utility Healer) - My original secondary healer who earned my respect once I learned how useful Martyr was. Her Fear Staff and +SPD Balm works wonders, but as a healer, Martyr can be a bit difficult to utilize properly. Serra (Offensive Utility Healer) - All right, I did have a Serra at some point and she does have lots of potential due to her Hone ATT, +SPD Balm, and flat +15 Heal staff. However, I could not get over her personality (It was enjoyable with just text, but with voice, I want to stay away from her), so I ended up sending Serra home.

Got inspired by BANRYU's heroes, so here are my two F!Morgans. I had plans to do some more characters such as an original wyvern knight and a take on Merlinus, but detailed character sheets take a while... [Notice: See the Master List for updated versions on my personal Morgans: Morgan - Gift From Afar (Lucina) and Renee - Star Seeker (Cherche)!]

Hinata and Subaki. I prefer Stahl or Palla for Ruby Sword usage (although arguably Hinata may be the "best" one), and anything Subaki can do Sully and Azura does it better. So, since I dislike both and have no use for their abilities on my roster, away they go! (Disclaimer: Hinata is actually okay, but but he not one of my favorites and thus is send home for useful feathers. Still don't care much for Subaki though.)

I highly dislike the Lava Map, but then again my main team is Melee based, so there you go. Also, I normally don't mind the Split Up maps, but with the latest Arena I may need to reconfigure my team slots so Ryoma can be paired with a healer. Right now I put him in the middle of my team so I can take advantage of his Spur SPD, but he is still the best unit I have and if I lose him, I tend to lose the match.

I personally value SPD because I find it an easier way to defeat most enemy heroes in one round. Since I also run a healer, any heavy damage they suffer is treated to, allowing them to continue on their merry onslaught. However, SPD is not everything (and this includes Brave Weapon usage). Sometimes, enemies may have so much DEF or RES that it is far better using a "one-hit wonder" character than a speedster as even with doubling, that character does not do sufficient damage. Alternatively, the team may try to weaken foes before one-shotting them, preventing retaliation even if the team is on the slower side. Also, it comes down to personal enjoyment. Sometimes, nothing is more satisfying than seeing a speedy unit deal 2 hits of 0 damage, all the while charging your special meter. I don't know how often this occurs in the Arena, but in the Training Tower, it is a fun little distraction. There are probably ways to get a slow team to work efficiently in the Arena (with or without SPD buffs / debuffs), but it requires a lot of hero synergy and obtaining the heroes in the first place. Speedy characters are just more "generally useful" and "easier to use."

Yeah, it's the dancers. It is far too easy to become too comfortable when solely relying on "Danger Zones" to maneuver units. Players either forget or go up against a Dancer for the first time, and once a player begins to lose units, it tends to go downhill from there. Also, that is a fairly nice team composition. I can see Sharena buffing Camila while Felicia debuffs an enemy. Then, Camilla attacks, Olivia dances, and Camilla strikes again with her special, likely defeating two enemies. It is a deadly combination provided it is pulled off by the AI.

Given that the four colors are covers from Tuesday to Friday while Saturday and Sunday are Randoms, I'm willing to say that Monday will be Universal Shards and Crystals (as Universal Badges and Great Badges do not exist). Currently, the only way to obtain Universals are from the daily on weekends I think. Granted, I would love random items like Stamina Potions, Dueling Crests, and Light's Blessings (especially Light's Blessings), but I highly doubt that would happen given the low Stamina Costs of the Training Tower. I can see them maybe giving a random item based off of stamina consumed (use 25 Stamina in the Tower for a random reward!) but in terms of a random item per map, it is far too much of a loss of potential profit. I echo the sentiment that I would really love Orbs and Feathers, but grindable Orbs seem like a pipe dream (even if it is a rare drop only on Lunatic difficulty). Feathers seem a little more plausible and I would hope for that, but I wonder about the quantity of feathers that will be obtained. If the "Friend List" is anything to go by, I can see only 5-50 feathers being rewarded per run (Tower Level * 5 Feathers, likely modified for stamina usage).

Here are my updated teams. Arena Defense: Marth (+RES, -DEF), Camilla (+RES, -DEF), Ryoma (+SPD, -ATT), 4* Nowi: Lvl 37 (Balanced) Not the best setup, but these are the best characters I have at the moment. Ryoma is the best guy I have as he can generally defeat anything, but is weak against magic and being ganged up on. Marth deals with opposing Dragons while Camilla deals with opposing Blues. Nowi is my sole source of Magic damage and acts as a minor Red counter. My dream team would be Felicia, Takumi, Ryoma, and Hector, but I do not have Takumi or Hector. In addition, Felicia is not a 5* unit. The dream team is not the most efficient, but since it's leader always shows up on the Home screen, I don't mind having Felicia tend to the castle. (As an aside, I heard somewhere that Spur buffs stack, so I started wondering if Hector's Goad Armor stacks with itself. I want to make a 4 Hector Team and see how far that goes, but I highly doubt that will ever occur.) Endgame Team: Ryoma (+SPD, -ATT), 4* Lissa: Level 34 (Balanced), Marth (+RES, -DEF), Camilla (+RES, -DEF) Also serving as my primary Arena Offense team, this group of heroes take up the daily challenge of clearing the Tenth Stratum for optimal rewards. Past members include Cain, Sakura, and Felicia. Most of the above still applies: Ryoma is anti-everything, Marth is anti-Dragon, and Camilla is anti-blue. Lissa recently took over Sakura's healing duties as Rehabilitate is a superior staff to Mend, and I get to run an +ATT Balm instead of relying on Imbue. If I am doing casual runs in the Training Tower, Marth may be replaced by Cain so he can see some action or replaced by Olivia. Olivia's dance ability is extremely useful, even if she herself is a bit lacking in terms of stats. 5* Trainees: Seliph L29 (Unknown), Ephraim L 25 (+DEF, -RES), 4* Chrom L33 (+SPD, -HP), 4* Lissa: Level 34 (Balanced) Just a team I formed so I can train up Seliph and Ephraim up to Level 40. Chrom and Lissa are present as I plan on 5-starring them at some point; Chrom could use the extra SP and Lissa provides useful healing. This team is definitely on the slower side and is extremely vulnerable against mages, but Seliph can slightly cover the SPD deficiency with his Rally Speed skill. Luckily, everyone in the team is durable (Lissa is not delicate! She can tank on the front lines!), and Lissa can easily heal any heavy wounds with Rehabilitate. Askr Team: 4* Sharena L30, 4* Alfonse L28, 4* Anna L30, 4* Matthew L32 (All are balanced) Also known as the "Starter Team" I still group these guys together and do runs with them. For the most part, they are confined within the Training Tower these days, but I have a feeling if Sharena can ever unlock her full potential, she may make it into my Endgame Team. As these guys are starters, I'm sure everyone knows how they work, so I'll skip past that. Those Girls: Shanna (+DEF, -HP), Cherche (+DEF, -RES), Olivia (Balanced), 4* Lissa: Level 34 (Balanced) I plan on 4-starring Shanna, Cherche, and Olivia, so thus they banded together to form a team while "Big Sister Lissa" helps carry them through the Training Tower. This team is primarily meant to level up Olivia so I can use her in Arena runs. However, as she can't go alone and I favor Shanna and Cherche (their Boon & Bane being serviceable), I put them together on this team. It is a bit flier heavy so bow users will be a big concern and I am slightly concerned about damage output. However, I think they will do fine...

Oh. There's a calculator somewhere, but I don't have the link. Anyone? There probably should be a sticky for FE resources. Here they are again, in a better format without all the fluffy words. Stat Calculators Gamepress' FE:H Calculator* FEH Wiki Stat Calculator* * Notice: Stat Calculators currently rely on characters being either Level 1 or Level 40 to determine Boon & Bane. In addition, they are a work in progress and may not be 100% accurate. An alternative way to determine Boon & Bane (or if the character has balanced stats) is to simply refer to specific character pages on the Fire Emblem Heroes Wiki. It is a little more work, but it is an alternative. Other Resources Serenes Forest: Resource Center - General and miscellaneous information, including scripts. Other info such as hero stats are still being implemented. FEH Wiki Tier List - The Tier List shifts over time, so check back regularly for updates. FEH Wiki Max Stat Table - There may be inaccuracies, please see the above Notice for more information.

I know the Falchion isn't an exception if we count it from a "Special Weapon (+16 ATT)" standpoint, but from an "Effective Weapon" standpoint, it clearly outclasses them. That was the point I was trying to make. I will not deny how effective the Falchion is in Arena, but if we had a generic "Wyrmslayer" with just 12 MT and no healing bonus, I'm sure players would be a little more hard pressed to bring those characters to the Arena instead of an alternative. So, say if Lucina was equipped with a Wrymslayer instead of a Falchion and her sole purpose was to counter Dragons, I may be better off fielding Linde instead to take advantage of Linde's high SPD and Magic ATT to exploit the lower speeds and resistances of Dragons. Of course, as this situation does not exist (nor does a generic "Wyrmslayer" in Heroes) Lucina is a solid choice since the Falchion deals high damage (16 MT) with the dragon effectiveness and healing bonus. As for effective weapons, I did not cover Bows specifically as an "Effective Weapon" as I consider them to be a "ranged physical" instead of a "flier effective" weapon. That, and Bows have almost always been anti-flier, so I did not put them in that category. When I say "Effective Weapon," I usually mean granting bonuses against armored, mounted, dragon, or beast (laguz in Tellius) units. In Heroes we also have "Triangle Weapons," which are the gem weapons as well as the Raven series to cover Grey units. Also, I didn't cover the (weapon)breaker skills, which are useful in their own right. In addition, I'm not trying to bash effective weaponry as they do their job extremely well, but outside of that, their performance is a little weak. This "weakness" is expanded upon when the player does not know what is coming and thus the player will usually field a more generic team instead of a specific one. In Story Mode, I'll happily use Armorslayers against Zephiel and his walking wall of death because I know it is coming. Elsewhere, like in the Training Tower or Arena, I rather use a mage to cover more roles. In classic Fire Emblem, this would not be so much a concern because we had an inventory and can swap weapons as needed. In Heroes, we are restricted on a per character basis, and if one's favorite character is dedicated to a particular niche, it can be difficult to use that character all of the time. In short, what I am trying to say is that I feel that Armorslayer heroes may be underperforming. One reason is not always knowing what the enemy composition is, prompting players to build a more general team instead of a specific build. Another is that the character wielding an Armorslayer may not do enough damage for the effective modifier to do anything (such as Caeda and Florina). As these characters are already specialized to be anti-armor, unless there is a high chance of encountering an armored unit, they will not often be used elsewhere. The Falchion and Naga are Special Weapons that happen to be effective against dragons. I do not count them as "true Effective Weapons." Bows are fine. The Raven series is fine (if not superior to Gem Weapons). I did not cover (weaponbreaker) skills as I was focusing solely on weapons. "Triangle Weapons," especially the Gem Weapons, are situationally useful, gaining bonuses when they are effective but getting penalized when they are not.

Round 14 [Family Bonds]: 3* Subaki || 3* Barst (+ATT, - DEF) || 3* Serra || 3* Arthur || 5* Ephraim (+DEF, -RES) Managed to scrap together enough orbs for another pull. Most of the characters I got were crap, but I managed to pull a 5* Ephraim (a good blue, woo!) with a decent Boon & Bane! Originally, I would have prefered +HP and -SPD, but a part of me is reconsidering that notion (see my notes below). Now, I just need Erika from the current focus, but I don't think I'll get enough Orbs before it ends. Now, I posted this in the main topic, but I find it useful enough to repost again here. The Fire Emblem Heroes Wiki has their own Stat Calculator. While incomplete and probably containing errors like the GamePress Calculator (the one normally linked around here), the FEH Wiki one has stats for 3* and 4* units. That's right, if you pull a Level 1 3* or 4* unit, you can check FEH's Stat Calculator to check their Boon & Bane. Just remember it may contain errors and be may inaccurate! Edit: Yeah, there are some errors and inaccuracies. I was checking some other 3* hero stats and some of the numbers do not add up. Remember that you are checking the right star rank as well, it defaults to 5*! Edit 2: Just talked on their Discord, use the Wiki stats on the individual hero pages for more accurate results instead of the calculator for the time being. Using that tool, I found that my Serra and Arthur have -SPD, so out they go. Subaki I don't care for, so he also gets sent home. Barst has +ATT, and has he has a Brave Weapon, that is a useful boon. The -DEF hurts, but I'll take it. However, I already have a 3* Barst that is level 20, but I can't calculate its Boon & Bane yet as the calculators only use Level 1 or Level 40 as of present. Then, if I compare him against other Brave Axe users (Camilla and Raven), they outclass him immediately. However, I sorta like the guy and he's voiced by DC Douglas, so Barst can stay. Also, going off of Fire Emblem: Heroes || Wiki Stats Table, I personally recommend having a character that has at least 33 max SPD for optimal Arena play. I set the 33 SPD threshold as Lyn (one of the highest speed characters) has 37 base SPD and 33 SPD prevents the character from being doubled by a baseline Lyn. There are characters faster than Lyn (Anna, Linde, Lon'Qu, and Hana) but their appearance in the Arena are a bit more rarer and may be easier to deal with compared to Lyn. So, for my Ephraim, if he had +SPD, he would only have 29 SPD. For comparison, Marth has 34, Ryoma 35, Lucina 36, and Lyn 37. Now, Takumi has 33 SPD, Adult Tiki has 31 SPD while Young Tiki has 30 SPD, so it would help against them, but it becomes more important to "only pick fights you know you can win" when having lower SPD. Ephraim's 25 (or 26) SPD is in the lower half of the current documented characters. M!Robin has 29 SPD, but with Defiant SPD, he can change the tides by temporarily having 36 SPD when below half health! So, just watch the speed limits if you are concerned about doubling or being doubled. It can help bringing SPD buffs or debuffs to manipulate that stat. Just remember that 5 is the magic number (within 4, there is no double. if 5 or more, a unit will attack twice). * * * * * Edit 3: Did some reorganizing since I can check the Boons and Banes of some more of my units. It's time for mass retirement! So, who all got sent home or merged? (a * means I trained that unit, normally to 20 or so) 4 Star Units: Jegan (+RES, -HP), Odin* (+ATT, -SPD), Roy* (+DEF, -SPD) 3 Star Units: Viron (+ATT, -SPD), Frederick (+HP, -DEF), Barst* (+DEF, -SPD), Saizo* (+DEF, -SPD) Other Notes M!Robin: +ATT, -SPD (Not my favored variation, so I'll leave him as a 3* at the moment. He may come in handy down the line.) Sakura: +HP, -SPD (Granted, Boons and Banes for Healers are a bit irrelevant, but having -SPD sucks as Sakura can be sniped on occasion, even with the extra HP.) Clarine: +ATT, -RES (Now why would a Healer ever want +ATT and -RES? I guess I could try and use this to my advantage due to Martyr and trying to attack with Clarine, but still.)

I've been messing around a bit with FE: Heroes resources. While we have some located right here in Serenes Forest, I mostly been relying on Gamepress' FE:H Calculator and FEH Wiki Tier List (not to be confused with the Fire Emblem Wikia or the other FE wiki). Specifically, I want to share two additional resources. Apparently FE: Wiki now now has their own Stat Calculator and even have a handy 5* Max Stat Table. Of course, both are still incomplete and could use more information, and the latter only uses "average" stats and does not take stat variances into account. The Stat Calculator may be useful in cross referencing the one at GamePress, or one calculator may have information the other does not. Of course, as time goes on and with further research / datamining, these resource sites will mostly become a place of preference instead of looking around for different sources. Still, for now, doing research on multiple sites can be useful if one is min-maxing. * * * * * As for some fun random trivia... (Stats taken from the 5* Max Stat Table, still incomplete.) HP: Hector and Seliph have the most HP at 52, with Effie having 50 and Merric (of all people) having 48. Chrom and Ogma take up fourth with 47 HP. P ATT: Effie annihilates things with her mighty 55 ATT while Chrom breaks things at 53 ATT. Hector & Hana share a 52 ATT rating. As for fourth place, Ephraim and Alfonse deal 51 ATT. M ATT: Lilina invites her opponents to a BBQ with 53 ATT while Julia, Linde, and Nino showcase their magical prowess at 49 ATT. Fae, both Tikis, and Cecilia round out third place with 46 ATT. Next up is girl with wonderful hair, Tharja! (Wait, what do you mean Nowi wanted to know about her boingy bits?) Sharing 4th place with Tharja is everyone's favorite budding flower, Elise! (Wait, how does a staffie make 4th place in Magic ATT?) SPD: Running around at speed of sound, got places to go, and gotta follow her rainbow, it is Hana with 44 SPD! Lon'Qu has 42 SPD while Linde has 39. As a bonus, Heroes!Anna makes it fourth place at 38 SPD. DEF: Showcasing he is still the unstoppable Juggernaut with 37 DEF is the man, the legend, Hector. He also shares 37 DEF with Snake Eater Beruka. In second place is Sheena, the princess of Gra, with 36 DEF. The surprising third "tank" is the "pat pat" girl, F!Corrin! Like SPD, DEF has a bonus round, showcasing Effie, Nowi, and Saizo having 33 DEF! ...One of these is not like the others. Must be the ninjas, or maybe Kellam. I mean, he's right next to Azura on the Tier List, but no one notices him... RES: Earning first place is Corrin's clumsy maid, Felicia with 38 RES! Elise also takes up another spot by having the 2nd highest RES at 35. If you believe in love, then you will certainly believe that Caeda swoops in at third with 34 RES. Lastly, we have the humble Wyrs and the bloodthirsty Peri taking fourth with 33 RES. Totals: You cannot stop him. If he had a horse, he certainly would be one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Nay, he has but his armor and self-taught skill with his axe, and Hector takes the total rankings with 184 points! // She eats, and eats, and eats some more. She trains by simply standing in place, weighed down by not just heavy armor, but plenty of stones. She has the STR to rival Hercules, and that is Effie with 183 points! // Skipping past Sheena (with 180), Adult!Tiki is better than her younger self by one point, being 179 vs 178. // Finally, sharing 177 points, are Nowi and Sharena! Nowi shows that with age does come wisdom, despite her childish demeanor, but Sharena rises to the occasion by being the highest ranked Story character. (Granted, Anna is at 174 and Alfonse is at 173, but still.)

I didn't send starter Viron and Raigh home because they sucked, but because of their 2* ranking. I actually like Viron (Don't care much for Raigh though, sorry), but my logic at the time was that I would pull a 3* or 4* version of their characters later. So, why should I keep the 2* versions around? My little prediction did come to pass, at least for Viron (I pulled a 3* Viron fairly recently). I haven't trained him yet though, my "min-max" nature is getting the better of me and I don't particularly want to train characters that may end up having unwanted Boons & Banes. So, most characters I just train to 20, with only "good characters" and the occasional favorite going past that. As for why I trained Matthew, he was a personal favorite of mine and I loved using him as a debuffer when I first started. Now being Level 23 at 4* rank, he performs fairly well as a "thief tank" due to his Rogue Dagger. I see Florina as a support unit instead of a damage one (yet the ones in the Training Tower seem to say otherwise. I met plenty of TT Florinas that nearly ruined my runs, but I do tend to run primarily red teams). Consider her a "flying battle cleric armed with a Heavy Spear" instead of a "Pegasus Knight that is effective against armor with healing abilities." My reasoning for this is her Ardent Sacrifice and Breath of Life skills, both which are used to heal allies. Darting Blow will help Florina double fast enemies (some mages are fairly quick and it can be useful against physical Reds) while the Heavy Spear is used to finish off units. I don't think Florina is an initiator, but instead is a finisher character after foes are weakened. This goes against the current meta as units that can one-round enemies are far more valuable than simply weakening them. Now, for your particular case, I am unsure if your Florina happens to have -ATT as a bane or if Florina naturally has lower ATT. As there is no proper documentation on Florina's stats, I'll use Caeda as a comparison since she has an Armorslayer. 5* Caeda's max average ATT is 37. Using that as a basis, subtract 4 due to weapon (Armorslayer+ versus a normal armorslayer) and say another 2 for star rank differences. If Florina has a similar allocation, her max average ATT at 4* may be around 31. Considering 5* characters such as Hector, Effie, and Draug have average DEF values around 35... TLDR: Florina probably sucks. Unless one really like Florina, there is no real reason to bring her instead of an alternative which is similar to the Tier List's conclusion (Florina is currently ranked #4 from the bottom of Blue Lance users). I find it somewhat funny in Heroes she has a Heavy Lance whereas in Blazing Sword she started out with a Slim Lance, but I digress. * * * * * As an aside, I find Armorslayers (and to a lesser extent other effective weapons) suffer from a lack of battle information before the battles start. Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, +WTA Grey, and Dragonslayer weapons have their uses and can easily be used to their full potential by a simple glance at the map selection before battle (excluding Arenas). To my knowledge, there is no way to determine if there will be enemy Cavalry, Fliers, or Armored units until the battle has started or the map is a Story mission. Silver Weapons and Brave Weapons will always outclass effective weapons because of how general they are. Special Weapons (typically weapons of main lords, such as Lyn's Sol Katti or the Falchion) are just plain "overpowered" compared to their "normal" counterparts. Effective weapons are only situationally good, and while they shine during those situations, they are subpar everywhere else. Even then, in the case of Armorslayer units, just bring a mage instead as Armored units tend to have low RES and normally cannot retaliate at range. (Watch as they introduce "Bow" and "Magic" armors next. Heck, even have a "Staff" armor too! Actually, this may be a decent method to "buff" melee Armorslayers and not always rely on magic or ranged chip damage to defeat armored units...) The Falchion is an exception to the rule as it has high MT, a self heal, and is effective against Dragons. A 16 MT Falchion is far superior to a mere 12 MT Armorslayer+ or even the classic 15 MT Silver Sword+. Even though the effective target is different (Dragon vs Armor), it is still a little ridiculous. Killer weapons have their own niche and I think they are pretty useful, but it seems the Tier List and overall meta does not put much emphasis on skill activation versus general stat and skill allocation. TLDR: I really need to stop writing essays. I've been on this post for over an hour, maybe two...

For me... 1. Cecilia: I brought her along for my "Cavalry" Team to fulfill magic damage, but she is a bit slow for my liking. However, I may just be used to speedy characters since I use a +SPD Ryoma extensively and use Marth on a regular basis. Cecilia may be able to outmaneuver units and act as a nuke character, but I prefer two mini-nukes instead of one giant one. 2. Saizo: Mostly this is due to trying to level a 3* Saizo and the fact I am far too used to fielding Felicia to handle mages. Saizo is better off handling physical units and needs to have his Smoke Dagger in order to showcase his true potential. I see he can do great things when he has his full arsenal, but until then, Saizo sucks. Currently, I find Matthew to be better than Saizo, but that may be personal bias and I been training Matthew as he was my "sole starter" character. (I sent Viron and Raigh home.) 3. Sophia: Looks like a character I would actually care about, but she is far too slow and for some reason specializes highly in Resistance. Mages typically do not fight other mages, it is better to send in the physicals to rip apart their poor defenses. Also, having a special skill is somewhat muted because Sophia is slow, meaning it won't be activating as often. I tried leveling her during the Hero Rotation, but she was just not performing well for me. 4. 1* or 2* Characters: So I thought it might be a good idea to try leveling a 1* or 2* character to save up on Shards (I plan on using them for 5* merging later waaay down the line.) Leveling these guys are a nightmare, and this includes trying to level up Olivia (who doesn't even gain EXP when dancing!). The characters themselves may not really be that bad, but the subpar stats and limited options definitely do not help their case. --------------- Otherwise, with the roster I have so far, I won't say anyone sucks outright. It's more about the manner of team composition and using characters that exaggerate each other's strengths or mitigate their weaknesses. For example, Nowi and Adult!Tiki are slow, but when backed up by a healer (and a character that can buff their speed) they perform fairly well as tanks. Ryoma can solo entire teams with the right support, even when against unfavorable odds. Every character has their place and niche. The problem is that their particular speciality may not be needed or is not general enough to be worth using. Knock Back, as a passive, has its uses, but in most scenarios players want their opponent defeated, not moved around.

Oh boy, I'm gonna have to make another wishlist, aren't I? I'm going to try and refrain from saying "bring everybody," but "bring everybody." I like far too many characters in Fire Emblem and have far too many dream teams, but for the time being, here is my current wishlist. I left out Shadow Dragon despite having played it.

I find Camilla to be much more useful on offensive teams (player controlled) than defensive ones (AI). Every now and then the player may be caught out of position in Arena and a flier (Camilla) can go for a kill, but that could be said of any flying unit. She is easily taken out by any Red unit or bow user. I primarily field Camilla to deal with any Blues that may show up and she works wonders against Robins, Nowis, and Effies. If there are no Blues around, I'll send Camilla in an attempt to go after Greys or manipulate the AI movement. (I noticed a trend where the AI will move units to "counter" their color and avoid being "countered" if targets are out of attack distance. I managed to use this to my advantage on a mountain map where Lyn and Robin were always paired up. I moved Camilla to the other side of the mountain and just out of range of their attack. Robin went for my Reds and Lyn went for Camilla, offering me the opportunity to take them both seperately.) However, I will say Camilla is not the best choice and others can fulfill her role, but if the player has her she is fairly good at what she does. As for Takumi, I handle him with my +SPD -ATT Ryoma which can reliably kill most Takumis. However, should Takumi have +SPD or +DEF as a boon (or any buffs that increase SPD or DEF), then my Ryoma cannot effectively counter him. I lost a good Arena Run on the 6th round by running into a +SPD Takumi on that accursed Lava map. Not having any ranged units and also going up against Kagero did not help my cause. With proper counters, Takumi is but a minor inconvenience (or even a boon). However, without a counter, Takumi will make sure he takes down at least one other person with him, and in terms of Arena ranking, that is a really big deal.

@ILikeKirbys On Lunatic, almost everything is situational and one will want to have intensive map knowledge to bring the appropriate counters. This is especially the case in Chapter 9, facing an armored wall (9-2), dealing with ranged mayhem (9-4) and Veronica's map (9-5) are pretty rough. It doesn't help that the player can no longer "outlevel" the content to gain an edge. You will also be facing 4* enemy units most of the time, and I think the finale (9-5) is where the enemy fields 5* units. As for your team composition, I personally would use either Marth or Lyn over Roy (Triangle Adept can backfire, and on Lunatic, that 20% modifier is a big deal), but if Roy is your boy, keep using him. I just find having higher SPD helps immensely, the player will typically want to double his opponent while avoiding getting doubled himself. M!Robin is a solid choice as a magic user and will help you immensely against armor units and Xander when the time comes. A 5* version of him will be better, but if you are min-maxing, check his boon and bane before committing to an upgrade. He starts off a bit slow, but can easily tip the scales when his Defiant SPD activates. Clarine is a healbot, but with Martyr, you may want to use her to take some hits to take full advantage of the Staff's effect. Sakura is okay and she served me well with Mend+Imbue, but endgame Lunatic I found myself using a 4* Level 23 Lissa for her Rehabilitate staff since it was far more effective and I get the bonus of a Balm skill instead of constantly relying on Imbue. As for Jeorge, he seems more like a support archer instead of a straight DPS one. If you want to kill things, I would suggest Gordin with his Brave Bow. He should be able to even take on ranged units defensively when he learns Vantage (and when combined with a Brave weapon, makes him fairly deadly). * * * * * However, an alternative is to field your best two units (I used 5* Ryoma and then either 4* Nowi or 5* Camilla) and have a healer and a dancer (I used Lissa and Olivia, both are obtainable from the free hero rotation). This strategy requires units that can reliably kill others in one round of combat, but successfully pulling it off means that the player only needs to raise 2 good units to Level 40 (more are welcome) instead of a full party of 4. I recently cleared 9-4 and 9-5 Lunatic this way (although I did have to use a Light's Blessing on 9-5, 9-4 was a deathless run). The biggest hurdle for me is that enemy forces like to field lots of high DEF units (9-2, 9-5) and my team was mostly physical based, forcing me to level up other characters so I can target their RES instead. Another problem is I really didn't have any reliable ranged units (I don't have many mages or archers, and the ones I do have are not leveled), so dealing with 9-4 was a bit difficult for me due to their terrain advantage and that accursed Armor Knight. With your team comp, I would try using Marth or Lyn combined with Robin and see how that works out, but classic strategies can work as well. Either way, I hope this helps. Best of luck on your Lunatic run!

Not particularly. I am fairly satisfied with "Kiran" being a new "Mark" save for the fact that character worshipping goes too far again (5* 40, all of a sudden Kiran is the best person ever!). Mark in Blazing Sword had his moments, but I don't think they went as far that "everybody loves Mark!" for no good reason. I remember Lyn (and Eliwood and Hector) addressing Mark directly on occasions and also have their "special moments" with the Avatar, but this happens at the end of their respective stories where it makes sense considering Mark is the tactician of the group and they are parting ways. I also remember Matthew and a few other characters talking to Mark, but (unless my red-tinted glasses are blinding me), most of their dialogue made sense in the context of the setting instead of professing how much Mark means to them all the time. I even got sidetracked while writing this post reading some of the script of Blazing Sword again and how much I enjoyed its writing compared to the modern installments. I should give it another playthrough... Back on topic, I wouldn't mind seeing some customizable options for a profile picture of some sort or simple options such as gender and birthday, but I'm fine that Kiran is not a playable character. I would prefer if Kiran remains unplayable, I had enough playable Avatars for a while.

As long as it is a 5* unit that reaches level 40, you will receive the special dialogue. Ryoma was the first one I got, but I also read Marth's, Cain's, and Camilla's on my own file. Now for repeats (if I leveled up another 5* Ryoma to 40), I am unsure. But for different characters, you will get the special dialogue.