Tree

Not all refines are really worth 200 dew (unless you really like the unit), but Celica's special refine is a good one that has worked well for me. Inheritable weapons that can be refined use stones instead of dew. Nearly all seasonal weapons are inheritable and refine using stones.

I don't really care for most seasonal units, but I also don't mind saving orbs. If they plan to tie TTs to seasonal units, then I'd really appreciate them giving out less polarizing characters. If they really want to gift a divisive character, then they can at least offer a few non-seasonal bonus units. I have a decent chance of having a non-seasonal version of one of the units, but the only way I'd have a relevant seasonal unit is if I pulled on one of the related seasonal banners at some point.

@Lanko The first unit (leftmost) on the very first team will appear at the very top of your home screen. This is your friend unit. When you view your friends list, it will also show you what unit you are currently sharing. When you are making brigades for Rival Domains, etc., friend units are locked in their current state. This means that even if the owner makes changes to their friend unit or swaps out the unit for a different one, you will still have an unchanged copy of the original unit present in the friend section of brigade creation (represented by green heart icons). You can choose to update friend units on the brigade screen, and this will update all friend units to their current state (which often means that some units have been replaced for others). I think Voting Gauntlet uses updated versions of friend units automatically though. I usually offer Dorcas or Naesala, but can provide Reinhardt, Caeda, or Cherche as merged units if you are interested. If you don't update friends, you can keep whichever unit you want even if it is changed later. Of course, you can always make specific requests too.

Great work on clearing some infernal difficulties! New Blessed Gardens/Grounds and Tactics Drills are released weekly, but they do not expire so you can clear them anytime. Rival Domains is weekly, and does expire so it's really good to complete it. If you want, you can provide your friend code here. Early on it's really good to get some extra friend units that will make Rival Domains/Grand Conquest/Voting Gauntlet easier. There is also a new mode coming later this month that requires using the new Pair Up mechanic with one of your friend units for a higher score. The Weapon Refinery is a place where you can upgrade weapons. The stats and effects stay active as long as the weapon is equipped. Some weapons have no refinements available. Most refinable weapons have two or five refine options. Regular weapons: Some effect + 3 HP +2 attack ( +1 for ranged weapons) + 5 HP +3 speed (+2 for ranged weapons) + 5 HP +4 defense (+3 for ranged weapons) + 5 HP +4 resistance (+3 for ranged weapons) + 5 HP Staffs: Dazzling effect: Prevent counter-attacks (Really useful effect) Wrathful effect: Remove staff damage penalty (Staffs normally only do half the damage they would appear to do. It's a hidden penalty.) (Both of these staff effects are also available as B Skills, but are rare. If you happen to have a staff unit with one of these B Skills, then you can choose the other refine option and have both effects simultaneously.) You can refine weapons multiple times depending on the options available, and swap between the refine options using the Equip Skills menu. Generally it's better to spread refines out to different units since the resources are limited. Regular inheritable weapons require fifty Refining Stones (golden) to refine. After they are used, the fifty Refining Stones will turn into fifty Divine Dew (golden) as a bonus. Divine Dew is used to refine non-inheritable weapons which are the most powerful. These weapons generally require 200 Divine Dew to refine, so choose upgrades carefully.

@Lanko Do you plan on spending much money? That will determine how you invest in units. I bought the $4 Black Knight starter set, but other than that, I'm limited to free-to-play options. I think the Corrin suggestion was related to very high AR Tiers (well over Tier 21). Depending on how you like to play the game, Corrin can work well in other areas too. I don't have any 5* Corrins or Robins (except the green dragon armor Robin/Grima) because I don't care for them. If you like Corrin, then you can 5* them, but there are other units that can get the job done too. Really depends on what you want to use. I'm going to merge up Haar because I like the unit. I wouldn't recommend you do that, because there are much better and accessible options for axe fliers. You can reach AR Tier 21 with reasonable effort if you get the bonus provided by using two Eirs on light season which occurs every other week. Do not merge the Eirs or the light season bonus drops dramatically. Since you got one Eir for free, you would just need to get one off of a Legendary banner when she returns in a couple of months. (Would have to look at the schedule to confirm exactly when.) I just got my second Eir recently and got to AR Tier 21 without too much trouble. My defense team was a single 1* Wrys, so you can do it without even having an AR defense. AR Tier 21 is special because everyone in AR Tiers 21-27 is reset down to AR Tier 21 at the start of the season. Unrelated to AR: I would keep a decent amount of spare Sacred coins in case you need to upgrade a seal in order to follow a guide. Quick Riposte, Close Def, Distant Def are some of the seals that everyone upgrades early. Ares: excellent at 5* --- [+atk] is best, but [+spd] or [+def] are very good too Klein: very good at 5* --- [+spd, -hp] is a very good IV ([+atk] is better in some cases) L'Arachel: great at 5* even without merges --- [+spd, -def] is an excellent IV Lilina: great at 5* --- [+hp, -speed] is only an average IV, you really want [+atk] Soleil: very good at 5* --- [+spd, -hp] is a good IV Effie: very good at 5* --- [+def, -hp] is a decent IV Fae: good at 5* with merges --- [-def, +hp] is a below average IV Ares is good even without Distance Counter. He's better with it of course, but it's an expensive skill. Celica (Red Mage) [+atk] is excellent, but [-spd] is unfortunate. She will still be a good unit though, and you can always fix it later with a merge. The downside to the bonus experience upgrades is that your units won't have to defeat as many units to gain a level, so they won't get as much SP while they are training up. You only get SP from units that are somewhat close to your unit's level. Once you reach level 40, you'll have to defeat enemies around level 34 or higher to continue receiving SP. Higher level enemies require more effort to defeat, and are usually on maps that have a higher stamina cost. This isn't as much of an issue as it was at one time now that we have daily rotating training maps that provide 25 enemies for 15 stamina cost, a weekend SP bonus (2x), blessings (all kinds - 2x), and Valor skills (2x, but rare). All methods of increasing SP gain do stack, so with bonuses active, it's very common to get 6 or 12 per enemy. Personally, I prefer the faster training and accept the SP trade off. I upgraded mine all the way a long time ago; it really helps get units to level 40 quickly. It can create extra work in some cases like when you plan to add a lot of skills to a new unit right away. You can change the castle style at any time after upgrading, but that won't turn off the bonus experience, so take your time deciding. Yes, Brave Lyn and Veronica are the two most common choices. That's correct, but the quests will give a fresh reward. Usually a 3* copy and four orbs or so. I don't think it takes a full year for GHB reruns. Probably is closer to six months, but I don't remember.

Spent the tickets and sixteen orbs to grab all the colorless stones, but got nothing of note except a 3* Klein and 4* Kaze. Will save orbs for later.

That's great! You can upgrade the star rarity of combat manuals at any time, so they're great for both merges or skills later. Each time a GHB is rerun, you get another try to beat the various difficulties and collect the rewards. You cannot collect the rewards for any difficulty you have already completed even on a rerun. GHB Quests are different; any rewards that expire there are lost, but each rerun comes with new quests that can be collected even if you completed all the quests on a previous rerun. Normally, GHBs are only rerun once or twice. There were two sets of year-long rotating GHBs (seven GHBs per set); the first already expired and the second one is expiring shortly. This was something new introduced in the second year to help players collect those units if they had missed them. That was before they introduced grails though, so they might not create a new set of year-long rotating GHBs. There is new GHB tomorrow featuring Haar. Because this one is new, he will likely be rerun at least once, so don't worry if you can't beat all difficulties. Legendary Hero Battles are a little different and are rerun every time that particular legendary unit appears on a legendary banner, so you usually get a another try to complete those difficulties every few months. Collect as many refreshers (units with sing or dance) as you can get because they are useful in all modes. Some guides use two Olivias, so it's good to have two 4* neutral ones. Using multiple refreshers at the same time is great for quickly training units and for completing difficult maps. Some modes like Squad Assault, Arena Assault, Blessed Grounds, etc. require new units each battle, so you can't use the same refresher unit for multiple battles there. Young Azura (singer) was a Tempest Trial (TT) reward awhile back. Tempest Trials are not rerun. If you want another refresher unit, she is a good one to get. She is available to everyone now for 100 grails, so she appears in guides very often. She's incredibly useful outside of guides too.

Not sure if you meant it's a hard hit to your feathers for a +10, or if you mean he takes out enemies with ease, but both are true so it doesn't really matter. It will be much easier to make it when Eir is a bonus unit again due to both the increased stats for Eir, and not having to fit a separate bonus unit into the team. Double Eir also gives +10 HP and +10 res to everyone, so that helps a lot. The team I used to get to Tier 21 all have reposition (or sing). The alternate teams mostly contain different configurations of Alfonse replacing Reinhardt, Bow Lyn, or Leanne. Brave Bow on Brave Lyn made speed mostly irrelevant. Leanne could be replaced with a different flying singer, and you can use any Surtr counter you like although it's nice if they can one-shot him. If you don't want to upgrade two Attack +3 seals, Distant Defense seal is good on Eir too. Eir (+0) Speed Smoke 3 seal Eir [+atk, -def] (+0) Attack +3 seal Reinhardt [+atk] (+10) (2 flowers) Moonbow, Death Blow 3, Hone Cavalry, Quickened Pulse seal Brave Lyn [+atk] (+6) (3 flowers) Brave Bow+, Luna, Hone Cavalry, Attack +3 seal (alternate copy) Leanne [+res] (+2) Fortify Res, Warding Stance 3 seal Alfonse (Surtr counter) Triangle Adept refine, Axe Breaker 3, Brazen Attack Defense seal Aether structures used this last season: Maxed Fountain and Pots Level 4 Fortress Level 4 Panic Manor Level 4 Infantry School Level 3 Escape Ladder Level 1 Healing Tower (Bonus building) Defense team was just a 1* wrys (No Yune yet)

You didn't miss anything. Only Fjorm was free. [edit] @Lanko Thought someone else would have posted by now. Your five star list: (Armor) Brave Hector (Armor) Brave Ephraim (Armor) Surtr (Infantry) Legendary Ike (Cavalry) Brave Lyn (Flying) Eir Surtr and Axe Ephraim are both excellent armor units. Axe Ephraim has Special Fighter; it is an awesome skill and very rare. Wary Fighter is common and available on 4* units. Axe Ephraim automatically attacks twice if certain skills are used (like Armor March), so he doesn't need speed for that. Axe Ephraim has Armor March (C skill) which allows nearby armor units to move two spaces, so remember to bring Axe Ephraim every time you want to use any armor units. The daily Grand Hero Battle quests (GHB) are just about to expire, so you'll probably miss out on those. It might just be too hard for any of your current teams though, so don't feel too bad if you can't get the rewards. The orbs and blessing aren't important at all as they are common, but you'll probably have to spend 100 grails for each of those GHB units you happen to want in the future. There are daily maps that rotate and provide a 1* and 2* copy of common units. These are probably the only 1* and 2* units you will ever have. If you promote them, then you will never have them at 1* or 2* ever again. It's not really important from a gameplay perspective, but just wanted to mention it in case you care about that sort of thing. I promoted a couple of mine because I needed a copy with neutral IVs. As of right now, there is no way to properly promote merged 4* units because all merges are lost on promotion. If you want more details, read further: You will not be able to complete any Abyssal maps for awhile, but those only give golden accessories and are repeatedly rerun later. Infernal maps will probably be too hard, but you can always try guides. Definitely keep training your units up to level 40, including any 4* ones you might use. Weekends (Friday/Saturday) are good for training because all units get double SP from enemies. Advice: Even though grails are very rare, I'd spend 100 grails right away and get a copy of young Azura (green infantry mage) from the grail shop. She is a refresher unit (like Olivia), so even at 4* she will help make all content dramatically easier. Avoid merging units or using Skill inheritance until you are very comfortable with the game and understand the consequences. Avoid sending units home, even ones you think are completely useless. Instead, make them into Combat Manuals to save barracks space if needed. Hold on to at least one copy of any neutral units you get because guides use the neutral IV for standardization. If the IVs are different, the AI may respond differently making a guide useless. Avoid merging into free units like Fjorm, Ike, Brave Lyn etc. since merges will interfere with guides even if the IVs are neutral. If you want to merge a character like Ike for example, then start a separate merge project, and keep the original neutral IV version separate. Always participate in all arenas (Arena, Arena Assault, Aether Raids (AR), etc.) and events because you'll get great rewards just from participating. You can never fall below Tier 11 in AR, so you want to reach that as soon as possible to start collecting grails. Upgrade Aether resource structures as soon as you can - Aether Fountain and Aether Amphorae (both are often collectively called aether pots). Upgrading Aether resource structures requires Heavenly Dew which is generated whenever you spend Aether stones. I'd save orbs and feathers for now. The monthly Legendary banners might prove good for you since you don't have many units yet, and they have a slightly higher rate for 5* units. Don't forget to complete the limited time quests for each new story chapter for five extra orbs. (I think there is a new chapter on April 10th.

That's a different kind of broken than implied by the current thread title.

If you merge him to +10, give him Death Blow 3 and Moonbow, add the Quickened Pulse seal, and Hone Cavalry buffs, you probably wouldn't miss the three attack points very often. You could spend flowers to get one extra attack point if needed.

By average or common, I meant non-unique and inheritable. These common weapons aren't necessarily bad, but they are usually inferior to special weapons. (Bladetomes and Lightning Breath are some exceptions.) Slaying weapons are still good, but there are so many units that have special versions of them that the standard slaying weapons are starting to fall behind a bit. Definitely. I don't see why they can't just add those weapons to new units in the regular pools and have them serve as the demote unit. The weapons are already inheritable and are not so good as to be 5* exclusive (20,000 feathers should be an adequate cost). They really shouldn't stay grail exclusive even if introduced on a limited unit. Honestly, I'd have been happy if they had given Haar the Tomahawk from Dorcas even though Haar probably wouldn't be able to use it all that well with his low resistance. They really didn't give Haar much of anything except a wave skill.

That would have given him something interesting to use that aligns with his stats. They gave him slightly more defense than most axe fliers yet paired that with a brave axe without the attack to really make good use of it. As a launch unit, his attack might have been OK for a brave axe, but he's not a good choice for it now. Giving him Gerome's Poleaxe or even just a Hammer would have been more useful. As it is, there is an extra 20,000 feather cost just to give him an average weapon.

I thought they might give her a lance instead of an axe?

Didn't get a single Yune or Bow Lyn, but got two Lewyns, two Mias, a Kagero, and an Eir on the Legendary banner. Tier 21 wasn't too hard to reach with two Eirs even with a 1* Wrys defending. Have double Duma and relevant legendaries defending this week, but I don't think anyone in Tier 21 should have trouble with that. (Have to decide who to give Kagero's Bold Fighter to since it's my first spare copy of the skill.)

Yeah, Cherche (and Gerome) with a regular Brave Axe+ and neutral IVs would still be better than Haar due to the extra point of attack (38 vs. 37). They consider even a single attack stat point significant on brave weapons because Cherche's Axe attack refine only adds one point instead of the normal two that most melee weapons offer. The fact that she's a original 3*-4* unit and has an upgraded brave weapon only makes the comparison worse. The discrepancy would be more justifiable if she were a recent 5*. I agree. Although I'm a little surprised that they gave him both mediocre stats and a weapon that doesn't really work that well with them, considering that Haar is a very popular character. The other units in his class have areas of specialization (e.g. [+def] Beruka). Due to lack of IVs, a poorly matched weapon, and no notable skills, he isn't really worth the grail cost. Requiring Dew and a long wait for a "potential" weapon upgrade is disappointing. His art is good though. It is rather sad. There were complaints about Rutger, but he got very good stats for his class and an average weapon that is at least somewhat complementary to them. If Idunn had been released as a GHB infantry unit with Dark Breath and Garon's stats, I imagine that there would have been a lot of disappointment even though she'd still be a decent unit after a lot of investment. She wouldn't really be worth grails though, as Garon or Adult Tiki would be a far better investment. I like Haar, so I'll probably still spend the grails. Not sure what skills to give him though. I think Mordecai might demote since Beast Exp isn't considered as valuable as the Valor skills. His weapon and stats are very good though.

Definitely. Applying crystals up to level 30 and pairing with Legendary Azura results in an easy 40 flowers. I made that mistake with Camilla before flowers were announced. It cost 100 grails to fix, but at least provided an extra copy of Hone Fliers.

Free colorless (1+): no Bruno Free green (1): no Alfonse 5 orbs green (1): no Sharena Free Blue (1): Spring Lucina... good for filling out Gardens/Grounds teams I guess. That's just the way it is sometimes.

If someone sends feedback that they liked particular artwork, or didn't like it for whatever reason, that's their choice. The company might incorporate the feedback or just ignore it, but that's up to them. Honestly, some of the voice acting dialogue is as annoying and awkward as the art (or even worse). Animations off, sound off, phew...

I don't care for the current way they include new characters in story chapters, but don't really integrate them into the story. For the way it currently works, I don't see much difference between adding new heroes through story chapters or paralogues. If anything, paralogues seem to avoid the contract nonsense.

I saw that example as a passive comment to IS even though I'm sure they know IS will never see it. I guess it could be interpreted differently. I also never considered 0 HM as a real way to communicate with IS. Sure, it's a way, "to let them know," but I also understand that they aren't really going to check it or realistically take it into consideration. Maybe I didn't word it well. That's what I've often done previously, since that last map often finishes my team off. The fresh team gets full HM for each member, rather than just the survivor or two of the previous team. @Baldrick [edit] Wait, I didn't understand you at first. That makes much more sense than my poor suggestion of sacrificing the unit on the first round. Especially since the final match often clears out my current team anyway.

Obviously, most players either like or at least don't mind the character, so that's the feedback they will use. They are not going to consider HM over other more direct metrics. (Feather farming interfered with that too.) My personal reasons are that I don't want certain characters getting in the way in my Hero Merit list since I use that to see who I want to use next. As long as they're near the bottom that's OK for me, but TT units tend to get a lot of HM. (Strangely enough, there was even a thread recently about 0 HM units.) Sometimes people want to send messages outside of the feedback system (because they know it will be ignored anyway). I've seen a player spell out I$ in Aether Raids structures which is a terrible design choice for defense. I really doubt IS ever got that message either.

Don't really understand why anyone would care that much about how others play the game? People artificially increase the difficultly in ways that I think are strange. I know one person that played through TTs to very high rankings manually. I thought that was kind of crazy, but didn't fell compelled to tell them. (Well, I guess I kind of did now. Oops. ) Anyway, it's still much better than old TTs that were 100,000 points and only provided a (potentially mediocre) 20% unit at best (after 6,000 points). As for IS, I'm sure they don't really care about HM. But they might query the results someday and laugh at the ten people that have 0 HM TT units.

I don't know anything about the Fire Emblem Iago. I think the parrot in Disney's Aladdin was named Iago as well. The name is often reused for villains because Shakespeare's Iago was just so devious.

I was a few points short of top 10,000 last season (due to four losses in a row). I think it's time to just settle for top 20,000 which will be significantly easier.