[What is your unpopular Fire Emblem opinion?]

Honestly not sure how many of these are actually unpopular, but they at least feel somewhat uncommon from what I've seen:

• While not my favorite Whitewing, I think Est is one of the most interesting and well-written characters in the series, let alone in Marth's games. Most of this comes from her supports in New Mystery, but some of her lines in Echoes fit perfectly with her dialogue there. Her ending in New Mystery is also perfectly reasonable given her supports, though I can't say if they intended the same in the original Mystery.
• New Mystery and Thracia have my favorite casts, thanks mainly to having more subdued personalities and designs.
• I really like that the magic stat in Thracia doubles as a unit's resistance. It gives physical units more reason to have varying magic growths than just using a magical two-range weapon. The idea of capturing and stealing from units was also cool, and helped to give a unit's con/build more purpose, though I think it could be implemented better in the future. Really, most of the unique ideas from Thracia could be great if they were tweaked in newer games, which looks unlikely at this point.
• Perhaps somewhat contradicting my last point, I prefer the simpler gameplay of games like 6, 11, and 12 compared to the more complex games. I do like the variety that things such as skills can bring, but I find that more straightforward games are just more fun to play. It's probably why I normally prefer platformers to RPGs, Fire Emblem and most Falcom games aside.
• Path of Radiance feels way slower than either Genealogy or Thracia, though it still beats out the original Shadow Dragon and Gaiden.
• Speaking of Gaiden, I like the original final map theme a bit more than the Echoes version. Both are outstanding, but the original has a more prominent percussion that gets lost in Echoes.
• One more for both Gaiden and Echoes: while the map design is clunky, I think that adds a lot of character. They feel designed to put the player at a disadvantage, forcing an uncomfortable approach in order to get past them. Games 1 through 6 all have that feeling to some extent, though the fact that they're more easily cheesed through hurts them a bit. The final map for Gaiden and Echoes is also my favorite final map because of this: the whole thing feels specifically designed to fight against and annoy the player, which is probably bad from a game design perspective, but makes perfect sense from a narrative perspective.
• I like FE6 and its cast (for the most part), but Echidna is way too cool design- and character-wise compared to everyone else, and actually feels out of place because of it. She seems more fitting in the world of Path of Radiance.

[Official Pull Topic]

Had 5 orbs left after clearing the BHB on Infernal, so I tried again for Ninian on the Tempest Trial Mini banner. One blue orb, thank goodness I didn't have to choose between multiple.

...Of course, it doesn't matter much when that one orb is a 3-star Florina. +Res/-Def, which I actually might keep over my 4-star +Def/-HP Florina. I think we're getting 5 orbs for the next couple days including the Daily maps, so getting enough for summoning shouldn't take too much longer at least.

[Bound Hero Battle: The Restoration Twins]

Ended up being a bit easier than I had thought, though I could've cleared it in one less attempt if I had remembered to reequip Goad Cavalry on Reinhardt. Here are the units I used, for posterity:

Spoiler

5-star +1 Reinhardt, +Atk/-Spd. Dire Thunder, Reposition, Luna, Death Blow 3, Lancebreaker 3, Goad Cavalry.

5-star Azura, +Spd/-Atk. Sapphire Lance+, Sing, Fortify Res 3.

5-star CYL Lyn, Neutral. Mulagir, Draconic Aura, Swift Sparrow 2, Sacae's Blessing, Atk Smoke 2 (I ran out of SP, okay?)

4-star +1 Cecilia, Neutral. Gronnraven, Drawback, Moonbow, Triangle Adept 3, Escape Route 3, Hone Cavalry.

 

Pretty sure that Reinhardt needs to be +Atk to secure the kill against Eirika without a special, but the extra point in attack from the merge is not needed. Lancebreaker shouldn't be necessary as long as his special is charged before attacking Ephraim. Reposition is vital for killing the blue mage at the start, dancing him with Azura, and Repositioning her into the breakable wall (preferably broken first), though I don't think it was needed after that. Azura and Lyn are obviously just their base kits, and as long as Lyn has enough speed to double the dagger user with Reinhardt's Goad Cavalry and Cecilia's Hone Cavalry (which a neutral Spd unmerged with Mulagir can do, clearly, though not sure by how much), she should be fine. She also killed the green mage, but I'm not sure if Goad Cavalry or Draconic Aura were needed for that kill. I think Brave Bow+ could work as well, assuming she has the strength for the kills. Cecilia provided Hone Cavalry buffs to everyone, used Draw Back on Reinhardt at the start to get him out of enemy range, and tanked the green mage. She can only avoid being doubled by the green mage if she has 1 point of speed above neutral. I used Goad Cavalry, but +Spd boon, 5-star, or even just Speed +1 as her A or S skill should work fine.

 

[Bound Hero Battle: The Restoration Twins]

Hard and Lunatic went down pretty easy to Julia, Reinhardt, Azura, and Eirika (fitting), but Infernal will take a bit more thought. Have a feeling that horse buffs will be more than helpful, though.

[Official Pull Topic]

Managed to get 16 orbs from the daily orbs and the BHB, so I did a full summon on the BHB banner, fully expecting another 5-star Seth. Got three reds and two greens, so no Ephraim at least.

Free summon on a red: 4-star Ogma (+Def/-Res). Way better than my +Res/-Def one, so I'll take it.

Green orb next, avoiding the inevitable reds: 4-star Boey (+Spd/-Def). Not... great, but I got rid of my other Boey for SI, so at least I have another now?

Red orb, get it over with: 3-star Lon'qu (+Atk/-Spd). Eh. Maybe someone could use Vantage.

Last green orb, save my sanity: 4-star Fae (+HP/-Spd). Probably not terrible, but my 5-star +Atk/-Res Fae has been good to me since near launch, and I'd rather give somebody Renewal anyway.

Final red orb, end it now: 3-star Draug (+Who/-Cares).

Final verdict... I would've like a Seth.

 

Also Draug is (+Spd/-Res) which is actually decent but he's still dead to me.

 

[Fire Emblem Heroes General Discussion and Links]

Seth is in the new banner.

...I'm never getting another Eirika now.

Well, back to trying for Ninian.

[Quick Hero Battle on browser]

10 minutes ago, phineas81707 said:

Spoiler

Camilla- Lyn

 

Let's be honest, this is easily the most relevantly ironic one. Although poor Chrom losing to Lucina like always comes close.

Edit: @SageOfAnys Oh wow, that's a nice detail to put in. I'm surprised they went to the trouble to add that.

[Quick Hero Battle on browser]

That special wallpaper is pretty meh, but I wasn't expecting much anyway.

On the other hand, the artwork for those two is just... I had said before that I would be willing to pass up Black Knight if he was on a banner, but that art just made him a lot more tempting. And Nephenee looks great too, even better than I had hoped. Please, let at least one of them be a free unit...

[Who are you Supporting?]

Oh yeah, don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm Summoner Supporting Julia, at least for now. If I get Ninian sometime soon, then I may switch to her, since she'll probably take over Azura's role of my main dancer.

Just now, SatsumaFSoysoy said:

Man, did you guys burn some stamina potions or something? I'm still at A support with Celica.

I burned like three or four last night for Brave Lucina/Masked Marth, but Summoner Support and any others will be waiting until the Tempest Trial Mini. Grinding on the Training Tower is way too boring and stamina-intensive. Although, I'm not sure whether completed Chain Challenges would give any less support, so that may be the better option.

[Favorite Starting Band of Characters]

The Fiana Freeblades are a very close second, but my favorite has to be the 7th Platoon. Seeing these fresh characters train with some of the people from the previous game was a great way to introduce them, and everyone gets a bit more development and lore out of it. Not to mention, it sets up the new side plot for the rest of the game pretty nicely. And I just like the characters, with my favorite cavalry trio (mathematically superior to any mere duo), a cool if somewhat cliché story character, and... Ryan. Alright, maybe I don't care for all of them, but most of them are great.

[Who are you Supporting?]

Gah, this is a much harder decision than I had expected. I've got Brave Lucina/Masked Marth, Cordelia/Bride Cordelia, and Seliph/Julia (not for THAT reason) so far, but otherwise I'm not sure. If I ever pull Linde, then a Linde/Merric duo could be fun, maybe? Pulling Athena or Lachesis would also be nice, and then I could start some supports on my hypothetical BlazBlue VA team. So many ideas, and all for units I don't have yet...

Edit: Oh yeah, I started Marth/Catria as well. I wanted to do Marth/Caeda for obvious reasons, but the irony and the weapon triangle coverage (but mostly the irony) of Marth and Catria won me over.

[September event Schedule]

5 hours ago, Charmeleonbrah said:

That's a pretty good setup.  If you pull a 5-star Klein, though, you have Brave Bow+ and DB3 preloaded.  As a Nietzschean, I am more prone to support the aristocracy (Klein) over a lowly yet intriguing assassin (ClarClar).

If I ever get a 5-star Klein, then he will be immediately and viciously sacrificed, as payback for being more optimal than the original and best Noble Blonde Archer, Jeorge. I will find a way to make you shine someday, my +Res/-Spd Parthia baby.

[Who are you Supporting?]

1 minute ago, Sunwoo said:

... What the fuck?! That really happens in the S-support?

It's definitely made me much more hesitant about doing supports between siblings.

[Who are you Supporting?]

2 minutes ago, mcsilas said:

Oh wow, they do the whole blushing thing.

Bride!Lucina when?

Also I like how it looks like Masked Marth has the Great Lord Butterfly shield. Satisied my curiosity of what she would look like in that costume.

Huh, I didn't even notice how perfectly that lines up. Maybe IS was more aware of what would happen than we realized...

...Oh no, I just realized that I have both Cordelia and Bride Cordelia. Not spending any more stamina pots tonight, but when the Tempest Trial Mini starts, my barracks are gonna be bursting with brides and grooms.

[Who are you Supporting?]

9 minutes ago, mampfoid said:

Wow, that was fast, congratulations. How many fights did it take? Did they actually have to do the kills, or is it enough to have them in the victorious team? 

B rank took just a handful of Training Tower fights, S rank took around two stamina pots worth, and A rank was somewhere between the two, I forgot to keep track for that one. I'm not 100% sure, but based on the wording in the description for Ally Support, it should increase from the two units fighting (maybe only killing? It just says fighting) one or two spaces apart. Just in case, I had them be the only ones to kill the units. I mostly did 5 enemy battles, so 4 enemies might take longer. Summoner Support is probably just by surviving the battle, since I don't know how else it would work. I also don't know if both units have to survive the battle, or if it counts when they die as well. I definitely would've appreciated a bit more clarity from the game in the instructions, but hopefully this helps.

7 minutes ago, Zangetsu said:

God bless you & your effort for making it so.

It was my pleasure, both for the results and for the excuse to get Brave Lucina more SP.

[Who are you Supporting?]

33 minutes ago, Falcom said:

I'm proud of you. Can't wait to see the Lucinas' reach s-rank.

Some people say that a Lucina should not love another Lucina. I say that those people are wrong:

Spoiler

I'm suddenly regretting starting a support between Seliph and Julia.

[Who are you Supporting?]

14 minutes ago, Michelaar said:

How do you up support lvl? I am confused.

I did a couple of the 9 stamina Training Towers and had the units fight within two spaces of each other, and the unit supports leveled up. I don't remember how many it took though, and I'm not sure if it works the same for the Summoner Support, though I assume it does.

Edit: The Summoner Support works the same way, though it took about twice as long to reach B rank compared to the Ally Support.

[Fire Emblem Heroes General Discussion and Links]

On another note for the update, the Skill Search feature is incredibly nice. I've been wishing for something like this for quite a while, and it's so convenient now that it's here.

[Who are you Supporting?]

Spoiler

That's it, this is the best feature. All the hours in Tempest Trial, all the orbs spent on CYL... it was all worth it.

[Who are you Supporting?]

Choosing who to Summoner Support is going to be... difficult. I appreciate the ability to change it later on, even at the cost of resetting it, in case a more desirable character is summoned.

1 hour ago, Falcom said:

For me, Lucina and Minerva.

Both of them end up in the same team no matter what. So screw it.

Though if anyone has Lucina and Masked Marth/Bunny Lucina, etc. Please pair them up. I'm interested to see how that goes. XD

Not sure who I'll have everyone else support with, but I will gladly do this for my Masked Marth and Brave Lucina, and if I get a regular Lucina, I will save her for a possible Bunny Lucina rerun. Thank you for this perfect idea.

[Sakura and Male Corrin Confirmed]

I'd prefer her to use swords, since she's pretty much the only one that can at this point, but I'd be happy if she made it in at all. It would be interesting if they made her exclusively use lances, but still keep the sword in her design; taking after Ganondorf in Smash, I suppose. We'll know one way or another within a few weeks either way, though.

I'm glad Sakura uses bows, and it makes sense given the other healers so far. I'm definitely in the camp that wants to see the Shadow Dragon characters more, but I'm happy enough with the characters that have been shown from Awakening and Fates. Probably won't grab the special edition, but I'll gladly get the standard at least.

[Fire Emblem Heroes General Discussion and Links]

1 minute ago, mcsilas said:

Well there's a stat increase for each level (Starting with Res for C support).

I guess it's just unfortunate naming in some cases

Yeah, it's not like it actually means anything besides the number of stats that get bonuses. Well, other than people getting new material for Eirika and Ephraim jokes. I just hope everyone gets those jokes out of their system now and move on, before it gets even more overused.

[Fire Emblem Heroes General Discussion and Links]

This support thing seems pretty great (especially to help those favorite units that aren't quite amazing), but... did it really have to go to S support? It's not quite the same, but considering what it means in some earlier games, it's gonna get a bit awkward depending on what units get there. I just wanted to make Seliph and Julia work better on a team, I didn't mean to further the narrative.

[Voting Gauntlet: Choose Your Legends!]

Hey, Ike won! A little bittersweet for someone who started on team Roy, but I didn't really expect him to make it anyway, so I'm still happy. I'm looking forward to the next gauntlet, which hopefully will have a bit less... intensity.

[September event Schedule]

35 minutes ago, Charmeleonbrah said:

What setup do you run for Clarisse?  I just fought one in arena with 35 attack...

I'm hoping they'll bring back Ursula.  I always liked her character design in Blaze-it Sword. 

I'm planning to go the Brave Bow+/Life and Death 3 route eventually, but that's a 40,000 feather investment (20,000 or even 0 if I somehow pull a Minerva, Jaffar, or Klein at 5-star), and promoting for skills is lower on my priority list than promoting units outright. Her offensive stats are pretty solid, with speed right between CYL Lyn and Bride Cordelia, and only a few less points in attack, but she takes a lot of work for slightly worse results. Her attack at 5-star with her own bow is 42, which is okay; I assume that the 35 attack is either from a 4-star with a Steel Bow, or a 5-star with a basic Brave Bow, which shows why the + and LaD3 is practically required. Alternatively, her 25 defense is decent for an archer, and Swift Sparrow could keep that slight bulk for a point less in attack and speed, but that would require pulling Katarina or CYL Lyn, and I'd rather give it to Olwen first to keep her own 30 Resistence intact. Merging and fully building Clarisse is mainly going to be a personal project once I get more important units promoted.

Ursula is a pretty solid unit. She doesn't have the personal tome of Reinhardt and Olwen, but her offensive and defensive stats are nearly equal to Olwen, trading a couple points of speed for three more attack (although she would have more speed as well if Olwen keeps her tome). The others are arguably better, but Ursula is still a great choice, and she served me well for quite a while.