Ice Dragon

The weapon design is Engage's Brave Lance, which is one of Emblem Sigurd's Engage Weapons.

If I recall correctly, Emblem Sigurd was shown using a lance in the pre-release media for Engage, which at least gives him an easier excuse to switch to lance for his Emblem version.

Ah, yes. Apparently, there isn't enough bullshit movement, teleportation, and Galeforce in this game, so we get even more. Wonderful. This would be slightly less stupid if Freyr didn't make counter-play against movement boosts completely worthless and if the premier teleporters didn't get Pass built in. Even if Stall weren't already worthless due to its shit target range, shit distribution, and Freyr's existence, it doesn't actually do anything against Gallop unless they update Stall's effect description to include it. We're also long overdue for a "Canto Control" skill for Galeforce effects. Anyways, here are the usual translation notes: Sigurd's epithet, "Of the Holy War", is "聖戦の紋章士" (seisen no monshō-shi), "Emblem of the Holy War". "紋章士" (monshō-shi), "emblem warrior", is the term used for Emblems. Holy-War Spear is "聖騎士の槍" (seikishi no yari), "Crusader's Lance". Gallop is "迅走" (jinsō), "Swift Run". Override is "オーバードライヴ" (ōbādoraivu), "Overdrive". Momentum is "助走" (josō), "Running Start". Canto (X) is "再移動(〇)" (sai-idō (〇)), "Move Again (X)". EDIT: On the bright side, it looks like I won't have to sacrifice one of my valuable few copies of Eitr to give Rearmed Lif Atk/Def Excel for duplication. It looks like I'll be able to just use a copy of Emblem Sigurd to give Lif Atk/Def Excel and Momentum 4.

People were fearmongering a milking of Fodlan Resplendent Heroes when Resplendent Ilyana was released. It still took them 18 releases before we got Dimitri. Tossing aside precedents and patterns is something that the developers can do, but they don't do it every chance that they get. Trends are considered trends because they are followed significantly more often than they are not. Given that Fodlan characters are typically considered to be popular by the player base, there's also the fact that they'll absolutely want to spread out the characters to maximize Feh Pass purchases. If instead they release several Fodlan characters close to each other, that starts to raise suspicions of desperation.

I can't really see that happening. Hell, I'll be surprised if we even get a single one. We only have 5 slots remaining in this calendar year, and the rate that we get Resplendent outfits for units released after CYL 2 is extremely slow. Of the 113 Resplendent Heroes currently released or announced, the only units released after CYL 2 (version 2.8) that have Resplendent outfits are: Nina (version 2.9) Ophelia (version 2.9) Aversa (version 2.10) Surtr (version 2.11) Haar (version 3.4) Dimitri (version 3.7) Ilyana (version 4.9) Of the 19 currently released or announced Resplendent Heroes for this calendar year, only 4 of them are units released after CYL 2. Assuming they don't decide to give all of the CYL 3 units Resplendent outfits this winter, it's likely that we'll get only 1 more unit from after CYL 2 with a low probability that we'll get 2, and it's unlikely that they'll be from the Fodlan banners, given how sparse their sampling of the banners from after CYL 2 is. Even accounting for the fact that Aversa, Haar, Dimitri, and Ilyana are the 4 from this calendar year, which are more recent units than the 3 released before this year, I can't really seem them doubling down on the Fodlan banners, which are the last 2 eligible banners released before CYL 3. I'd be more willing to bet on a Resplendent beast unit than on a second Resplendent Fodlan unit for the next Resplendent Hero from after CYL 2. (And if I were to pick a specific beast unit, it'd be Selkie since she's the most in need of the stat boost due to her awkward stat spread and weapon effect.)

"Almost"? How so? You realize Dimitri was released 3 months after Haar, right?

We're getting our first Fodlan Resplendent Hero next with Jotunheimr Dimitri: His design is a bit on the plain side, but it's at least less plain than his Academy uniform. This brings Dimitri's stat spread to 47-/43/36/41/25, which is pretty decent, though newer 4-star units like Kyle (high Atk/Def with middling Spd) and Mauvier (high Atk/Def/Res with low Spd) have better spreads. His weapon makes up for his less optimized stat spread and is also better than Arcane options, granting him +11/8/8/8, a guaranteed follow-up, additional damage and flat damage reduction equal to 10% of his Atk, and 50% percentage damage reduction nullification. With modern skills, he's in a weird situation where he doesn't really have good options for percentage damage reduction due to his class. His weapon gives flat damage reduction, and he can get more flat damage reduction from Excel, but he's stuck with awkward picks for percentage damage reduction, like Guard 4, Flow Refresh 4, and Gambit 4. A/D Near Trace 4 also conspicuously doesn't exist yet, which limits his Canto options to either A/D Near Trace 3 or the extremely difficult to get Alarm Atk/Def. That said, he does have the option to grab both Flow Refresh 4 and Death Blow Echo at the same time from Attuned Triandra, which is a pretty good deal. Dimitri pushes the threshold for Resplendent Heroes by 3 more banners, leaving only 1 remaining pre-CYL-3 banner outside of the threshold. (As usual, I don't count Ilyana towards the eligibility threshold.) I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to unnecessarily do the CYL 3 characters near the end of this year to mirror what they're doing unnecessarily with refines. And here's the usual list of what we've so far gotten this year: Nifl Ilyana Askr Brave Veronica Hel Soren Embla Brave Celica Embla Selena Nifl Brave Hector Jotunheimr Hana Muspell Black Knight Muspell Male Grima Dokkalfheimr Camilla Vanaheimr Ayra Ljosalfheimr Hinoka Nifl Helpful Chrom Nidavellir Seth Ljosalfheimr Tharja Nidavellir Haar Jotunheimr Rebecca Dokkalfheimr Catria Jotunheimr Dimitri I'll update the reference tables later after I sleep.

A bit late, but we have a new Hall of Forms with Legendary Nanna, Rearmed Reinhardt, Tina, and Lara. As a reminder, Forma Rearmed Heroes cannot be used for inheritance, so you're going to lose out on the ability to duplicate skills with them if you want to merge them up. The new skills this month are in my post for the previous Hall of Forms, adding skills through Eikthyrnir and Heidrun's banner. Nanna: Reinhardt: Tina: Lara:

This week's free Arena ticket gets me Luke: I did end up picking Felix as my free CYL unit. 40 pulls on the outgoing Hall of Forms banner: 3 Grima (+1 spark) 1 Tharja 1 pity breaker Rosado This is my second copy of Rosado, which means I finally have Wyvern Rift available to duplicate. I got a copy of Grima with a Res Asset, so I'm going to wait until she gets her refine to decide whether to use a Def or Res Asset. She'll be +6 once merged. Tharja is now +2. 40 pulls on the ARA rerun banner: 0 Nino (+1 spark) 3 Lucina It only took 13 copies of Lucina to finally get one with a Spd Asset. I'm also now at 6 copies of Nino. I wish I had gotten at least 1 copy of Nino from regular pulls because then I would have spend my spark on Eitr instead, but it doesn't matter all that much. Also got a copy of Asvel with a Spd Asset that I can use as a new merge base.

Added Pandreo and Marni to the translation notes.

It sounds like they want to add more weapons to the weapon series. Either "Lucrative" is too long or they wanted something that more closely matches the original weapon name, which is literally "Bonus Bow" as in the in-game term for Bonus. Or both.

This week's free Arena ticket gets me Ayra: 165 pulls on the CYL banner: 1 Felix (+1 spark) 1 Bernadetta (+1 spark) 1 Alfonse (+1 spark) 2 Robin (+1 spark) 2 pity breakers Ascended Celica Ascended Florina 3.0% focus rate is basically average. 4.2% overall 5-star rate is about 4 pulls below average. Luck with Assets was also garbage, as every copy of someone other than Alfonse had either a Def or Res Asset, and Alfonse was neutral. I'm not sure yet who I'm picking for my free unit, but I'm currently leaning towards Felix.

I'm kind of disappointed that Sandstorm is probably an exclusive skill. It would've been really nice to have on Lucia for its damage reduction effect. And the usual translation notes since I'm too sleepy to read the rest of the skill descriptions tonight and should have gone to bed already: The banner name is "お供レギン＆響心ミスティラ" (otomo regin & kyōshin misutira), "Companion Reginn & Resonating Hearts Timerra". "お供" (otomo), "companion", is the name of the Aided Hero type. "響心" (kyōshin), "resonating hearts", is the name of the Attuned Hero type. Timerra's epithet, "Desert Warrior", is "闘いの熱砂" (tatakai no nessa), "Hot Sands of Battle". Desert Spear is "闘いの熱砂の槍" (tatakai no nessa no yari), "Lance of the Hot Sands of Battle". Sandstorm is "砂陣" (sajin), "Sand Gust". This appears to be a play on "砂塵" (sajin), "sandstorm", but with "塵" (jin), "dust", replaced with "陣" (jin), which typically means "battle formation", but can also refer to a gust of wind. Spd/Def Finish is "速さ守備の秘奥" (hayasa shubi no hiō), "Spd/Def Secret". As usual, "秘奥" (hiō), "secret", most likely refers to the term "秘奥義" (hiōgi), "secret secret technique", which is commonly used in video games to refer to higher-tier special attacks (e.g. Mystic Artes in the Tales of series), with "奥義" (ōgi), "secret technique", referring to the lower tier and being the name of Special skills in Heroes. Time Pulse Echo is "響・始まりの鼓動" (kyō: hajimari no kodō), "Resonance: Pulse of the Beginning". Fogado's epithet, "Affable Prince", is "みんな大好き" (minna daisuki), "Loves Everyone". Sentinel Bow is "自警団長の弓" (jikei-danchō no yumi), "Bow of the Vigilante Captain". The Sentinel class in Engage is called "ヴィジランテ" (vijirante), "Vigilante", in Japanese. S/D Far Trace is "速さ守備の遠影" (hayasa shubi no en'ei), "Spd/Def Far Trace". As usual, "影" (ei) typically means "shadow" or "image", but here it clearly means "trace", as in something that is left behind. Merrin's epithet, "Suave Knight", is "麗しの珍獣騎士" (uruwashi no chinjū kishi), "Beautiful Rare-Beast Knight". Suave Blade is "珍獣騎士の剣" (chinjū kishi no ken), "Sword of the Rare-Beast Knight". It's a sword and therefore cannot be called as such. Spd/Def Link is "速さ守備の連携" (hayasa shubi no renkei), "Spd/Def Coordination". Reginn's epithet, "Dvergr Heir", is "小人の国の後継者" (kobito no kuni no kōkeisha), "Successor to the Kingdom of Dwarves". Dvergr Wayfinder is "ニザヴェリルの理槍" (nizaveriru no risō), "Nidavellir's Principles Lance". "理槍" (risō) is a novel compound translating as "lance of reason" or "lance of principles". However, it's probably not a coincidence that it's also a homophone with "理想" (risō), "ideals". Canto (Dist. +2; Max 5) is "再移動（マス間の距離＋２、最大５）" (sai-idō (masu-kan no kyori +2, saidai 5)), "Move Again (Distance Between Spaces +2, Maximum 5)". Seiðr Burst is "連魔弾" (renmadan), "Continuous Magic Bullets". Compare with Seiðr Shell, which is "魔弾" (madan), "Magic Bullets". Shadow Rift is "影助・引き戻し" (eijo: hikimodoshi), "Trace Assist: Reposition". "引き戻し" (hikimodoshi), "bringing back", is the name of the Reposition skill. The "Shadow" in the English skill name comes from "影" (ei), which typically means "shadow" or "image", but here clearly means "trace", as in something that is left behind, in reference to the Trace skills that grant the Canto effect. "影助" (eijo), "trace assist", appears to be the name of a new skill series that allows units to use Assist skill effects after activating Canto. Aide's Essence is "お供の心" (otomo no kokoro), "Companion's Heart". Aide is "お供アクセサリー" (otomo akusesarī), "Companion Accessory". The internal name of the Aided Hero unit type is "ACCE", clearly an abbreviation of "accessory". Pandreo's epithet, "Party Priest", is "パーティー聖者" (pātī seija), "Party Saint". Marni's epithet, "Pining For Praise", is "称賛の希求" (shōsan no kikyū), "Longing For Praise". Praise-Piner Axe is "称賛の希求の大斧" (shōsan no kikyū no daifu), "Great Axe of [the One] Longing For Praise".

A bit late, but a new Hall of Forms rerun is up, and since it's a new month, this one adds skills through Eikthyrnir and Heidrun to the pool. The most notable are: Gust Fierce Beast Stronghold Atk/Def Excel Clever Fighter Spd/Def Crux Even Atk Wave N Even Res Wave D The units are Halloween Female Grima, Nah, Desert Tharja, and Awakening Anna: Grima: Nah: Tharja: Anna:

Catria finally gets her Resplendent outfit, and unlike her sisters, hers is Dokkalfheimr: With the Resplendent boost, Catria has 46-/38/41/36-/32+ with maximum Dragonflowers. Her weapon has the Slaying effect and the Brave effect and grants +3 to all stats when there are 2 fliers within 2 spaces of her. Her primary draw when her refine was released was the fact that she had a conditional Brave effect, which meant having a weapon with both the Brave effect and the full 16 Mt. Despite this, Catria has been held back by her low Atk stat, which is particularly important because Est has the same class and a nearly identical weapon, but has 4 more points of Atk. Additionally, we now have more options for activating the Brave effect, like the Triangle Attack status effect from Harmonized Catria, and modern units that have the Brave effect on their weapons with the usual penalty to Mt are still typically better off than Catria due to having higher base Atk and larger stat boosts from their weapons. That said, Catria still has a place as a budget unit for Rokkr Sieges when paired with Est, though we now have a lot more options for easily clearing the game mode, and the game mode barely even reruns. Anyways, here's what we've had so far this year: Nifl Ilyana Askr Brave Veronica Hel Soren Embla Brave Celica Embla Selena Nifl Brave Hector Jotunheimr Hana Muspell Black Knight Muspell Male Grima Dokkalfheimr Camilla Vanaheimr Ayra Ljosalfheimr Hinoka Nifl Helpful Chrom Nidavellir Seth Ljosalfheimr Tharja Nidavellir Haar Jotunheimr Rebecca Dokkalfheimr Catria Only 6 more left this year.

Remix banners are long overdue for a 4-star SR LME pool.

This version of Nils is pretty similar to Halloween Nils, but with less HP and more Def and Res. His Atk is just as low as all of the other versions of him, so it's not really recommended to use him as a combat unit. His Res isn't amazing, but it's good enough to use for Sabotage or Ploy support if you need it and can't fit it elsewhere on your team. Ice Nils [+Spd / +Res] Arcane Fellstone [Spd / Res] / Dragon's Stone [Spd / Res] Play Dragon's Roar Spd/Res Scowl 4 / Spd/Res Finish 4 / Crystalline Water [any tier-4 Dance] / A/D Cantrip 3 / Wings of Mercy 4 / [any tier-4 Sabotage] / High Dragon Wall / Spd/Res Bulwark 4 [any tier-4 Ploy] / Endless Tempest / [Spd/Res Oath 4 once it's released] / [other support skills] [any skill that boosts Spd/Res] / Still Water 3 Mercy-Wing Echo / Guard Echo As a non-combat unit, his weapon doesn't really matter that much, but Arcane Fellstone and Dragon's Stone both grant damage reduction and Null Follow-Up in case he needs to take a round of combat. For survivability, both Spd and Res refines are fine, but if you're running him with Sabotage or Ploy, you'll want a Res refine. Similarly, his Special also doesn't really matter that much, but Dragon's Roar grants damage reduction in case he needs to take around of combat. If you're running Sabotage or Ploy, he should run Crystalline Water in his A slot to maximize his visible Res. If you don't have it, the next best options are Still Water 4, Fortifications, and Fortress Def/Res 3. If you don't need the visible Res, the Spd/Res variants of Scowl 4 and Finish 4 are your best options to maximize survivability. Dance 4, Cantrip 4, and Sabotage 4 are pretty self-explanatory as support skills. Wings of Mercy 4 is self-explanatory as a mobility skill. high Dragon Wall and Spd/Res Bulwark 4 grant survivability and hinder enemy movement. The options listed for the C slot should also be pretty self-explanatory. However, as a dedicated support unit, he has a lot of alternative options depending on what your team needs. Menace is a cheap option for passive debuffs. Inf. Null Follow gives him the same teleportation as Oath 4, but grants Null Follow-Up to infantry allies. He isn't as good at using Infantry Pulse 4 compared to the other versions of him, but it's still an option depending on his teammates (and he can run HP-boosting skills in the A and Sacred Seal slots with minimal drawbacks). The Still Water Sacred Seal should be used if you're running Sabotage or Ploy to maximize his visible Res. Otherwise, any skill that boosts Spd/Res is good, with the new Spd/Res Finish currently being the strongest option.

169 pulls on the Legendary Shez banner: 2 Shez (+1 spark) 6 Ike 4 Lumera 2 Ratatoskr 8.3% focus rate is about average. Low number of copies of Shez is a bit unfortunate, but that's not at all surprise and isn't too big of an issue. My best copy of Shez has a Spd Asset, which is good enough. Ike is now +8, and I managed to get a copy with a Def Asset to use as the new merge base. I now have 9 copies of Lumera, and I finally got a copy with a Spd Asset. Ratatoskr is now +3.

Added Reginn's epithet and weapon from the Tempest Trials to the translation notes.

384 pulls on the Hoshidan festival banner, sniping blue after getting 1 of each unit: 3 Nephenee 6 Lucia (+1 spark) 3 Mia 1 5-star Leo 0 4-star Leo 15 pity breakers Letizia Ascended Eir Ascended Ishtar Noah Fallen Byleth Brave Chrom Hardin Monica Mozu Noah Faval Ascended Amelia Hardin Gilliam Caeldori This banner was clearly trying really hard to give me anything but Lucia. Every copy of Lucia other than the first one was pulled using the pity charge mechanic, and my first pity charge was broken by Nephenee and Mia on the same circle. 3.4% focus rate is basically average. 7.3% total 5-star rate is above average by about 3 pulls. It took 83 pulls to get 1 copy of everyone other than Lucia, and I got no copies of Lucia during that time. So all 6 copies of Lucia were from the 301 pulls where I was sniping, giving me a 2.0% Lucia rate, which is about 2 pulls below average, even accounting for forced off-color pulls. The silver lining is that I managed to get Spd Assets on both Lucia and Mia and a good-enough Atk Asset on Nephenee. Mozu and Ascended Amelia were my first copies of each of them. I also finally got my first copy of Awakening Anna with a Spd Asset (on my 11th copy of her). And, well, I've seen worse. And this means I can procrastinate until later this weekend for Legendary Shez and next weekend for the CYL banner. Woo.

Nils appears to be drawn by Kippu again, which is nice since I like Nils's base version's art. And I continue to be confused at what they're doing with the Sacred Seal rewards, as they have Finish as the lower-score reward yet again. We have Spd/Res Finish and Atk/Def Oath, it seems. It's a bit bothersome that they're now using the Spd Wave 4 skills as an excuse to not give units Null Follow-Up, which forces the unit to run Spd Wave 4 in the C slot over other skills since it's the only skill that grants Null Follow-Up in any slot other than the weapon and B slots. Anyways, Fjorm and Nifl are cute, though their faces in their attacking art look funny. Shield Fighter also looks really good and probably makes Ascended Fjorm finally actually worth using. It looks like it's a tier-4 branch of Hardy Fighter, which is nice for inheritance. And the usual translation notes: The name of the banner, "Icy Invitation", is "氷の国への誘い" (kōri no kuni e no sasoi), "Invitation to the Nation of Ice". Felicia's epithet, "Confidently Cold", is "寒さに挫けぬ心" (samusa ni kujikenu kokoro), "Not Disheartened By the Cold". Ice-Tribe Axe is "氷の部族の雪斧" (kōri no buzoku no setsufu), "Snow Axe of the Ice Tribe". S/R Near Trace is "速さ魔防の近影" (hayasa mabō no kin'ei), "Spd/Res Near Trace". As usual, "影" (ei), which typically means "shadow" or "image", here means "trace", as in something that is left behind. Thea's epithet, "Wings of Winter", is "風雪に舞う翼" (fūsetsu ni mau tsubasa), "Wings Dancing In the Wind and Snow". "舞う" (mau), "to dance", traditionally refers to dances with a focus on spinning, as opposed to "踊る" (odoru), which is used for dances with a focus on jumping, and as a result is commonly used to describe wind-related motion. Ilian Frost Blade is "イリアの吹雪の剣" (iria no fubuki no ken), "Ilian Blizzard Sword". Because only non-sword weapons can be called "swords". Air Orders is "先導の伝令・天" (sendō no denrei: ten), "Guidance Orders: Sky". Flora's epithet, "Polar-Perfect", is "寒くても完璧" (samukute mo kanpeki), "Perfect Despite the Cold". Ice Dagger is "氷の暗器" (kōri no anki), "Ice Dagger". As usual, "暗器" (anki), literally "hidden weapon", is the name of the dagger weapon type. Fjorm's epithet, "Gleaming Ice Pair", is "煌めく双氷" (kirameku sōhyō), "Sparkling Paired Ice". Ice-Crystal Spear is "ニフルの氷晶の槍" (nifuru no hyōshō no yari), "Nifl's Ice-Crystal Spear". Dual Ice Mirrors is "双氷の聖鏡" (sōhyō no seikyō), "Holy Mirror of Paired Ice". Deluge Boost is "生命の疾風静水" (seimei no shippū seisui), "Gale/Clear Water of Lifeblood". As usual, the Boost skill series strangely reverses the relationship of the stat indicators and the series name in Japanese. Shield Fighter is "連盾隊形" (renjun taikei), "Shield-Wall Formation". "連盾" (renjun) literally translates as "linked shields". As usual, "隊形" (taikei), "formation", is the name of the Fighter skill series, hence why the skill icons are are formation of units represented by dots. Nils's epithet, "Snowflake Melody", is "氷晶の調べ" (hyōshō no shirabe), "Melody of Ice Crystals". Ice Dragonstone is "氷竜の竜石" (hyōryū no ryūseki), "Ice Dragon Dragonstone". Reginn's epithet, "Dvergr Heir", is "小人の国の後継者" (kobito no kuni no kōkeisha), "Successor to the Kingdom of Dwarves". Dvergr Wayfinder is "ニザヴェリルの理槍" (nizaveriru no risō), "Nidavellir's Principles Lance". "理槍" (risō) is a novel compound translating as "lance of reason" or "lance of principles". However, it's probably not a coincidence that it's also a homophone with "理想" (risō), "ideals".

Refines are out. It's been a long time since we've last gotten refines where the base effect is unchanged, but with weapons this recent, it's not surprising that we get some in this batch. Brave Seliph: Holytide Tyrfing Base effect is unchanged: Canto (2) Slaying effect With a Clash condition: +5 to all stats in combat Additional damage equal to 10% of opponent's Def times the number of spaces moved by attacking unit, maximum 4 spaces counted If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: Miracle effect Refine effect is: If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +5 to all stats in combat Boost to all stats in combat equal to 2 times the number of enemies in Ploy 4 range, maximum +6 50% percentage damage reduction nullification Flat damage reduction on opponent's non-follow-up attacks equal to 3 times the number of spaces moved by attacking unit, maximum 4 spaces counted Flat damage reduction when opponent activates Special equal to 3 times the number of spaces moved by attacking unit, maximum 4 spaces counted 7 HP recovery after combat For reference, his exclusive C skill grants him +6 Atk/Spd, +1 movement, and Null Follow-Up as status effects. Seliph gets an additional boost to all stats based on the number of enemies in Ploy 4 range, partial damage reduction nullification, Excel's damage reduction effect, and post-combat healing. As expected, Seliph gets damage reduction, which he didn't previously have, and the nice thing is that it's the same damage reduction effect as Excel, which reduces the need to switch his base Clash 4 with Excel, allowing him to get both Excel's damage reduction and Clash 4's penalty nullification. Alternatively, you can get a huge amount of damage reduction by stacking Excel. The only thing he wanted that he didn't get is Tempo, though it wasn't a high priority. Brave Chrom: Geirdriful Base effect is updated: Effective damage against armor Slaying effect With a Blow-or-Unity condition: +5 to all stats in combat Boost to all stats in combat equal to 2 times the number of non-stat Bonuses and Penalties on unit 40% damage reduction on opponent's non-follow-up attacks (previously only first attack) If unit has a Bonus: Pledge effect Refine effect is: Grants the following status effects to unit after using a movement Assist or being the target of a movement Assist: 50% percentage damage reduction nullification Dull If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +5 to all stats in combat Additional damage equal to 4 times the number of non-stat Bonuses on unit, maximum +16, excludes AoE Specials 7 HP recovery after combat For reference, his exclusive Assist skill is Reposition, grants himself all Bonuses on the target, and inflicts Isolation on himself. Chrom now gets partial damage reduction nullification and Dull when he uses or is targeted by an Assist skill, additional stats based on the number of Bonuses he has, and post-combat healing. The damage reduction on the base effect has been upgraded to also apply to the first Brave attack. They've doubled down on Chrom needing to use his Assist skill each turn before combat, which, while good for his identity as a unit, unfortunately still makes it difficult to use him unless you have a team specifically designed around him. Additionally, he gets neither Canto nor Null Follow-Up on his weapon, which means the effects are still competing for his B and C slots or needs to be copied from a teammate. I did forget that Link 4 grants Canto (1) in my original analysis, but that still leaves him needing to get Null Follow-Up from a teammate. It's not the end of the world, as the ability to copy Bonuses from allies is still stupidly strong, but it is still disappointing since he's one of the few units that can actually afford to run Link 4 or Snag 4. Legendary Female Byleth: Professorial Guide Base effect is updated: Slaying effect With a Blow condition or if there is an ally within Ploy 4 range (previously Blow-or-Unity condition): +5 to all stats in combat 30% damage reduction on opponent's non-follow-up attacks (new) Tempo effect Grants the following effects to allies within Ploy 4 range (previously within 2 spaces): +4 to all stats in combat (new) Tempo effect Refine effect is: If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +5 to all stats in combat Boost to all stats equal to 2 times the number of allies in Ploy 4 range, maximum +6 Additional damage equal to 20% of Spd, excludes AoE Specials When Special activates: Percentage damage reduction nullification For reference, her remix gives gives her pre-combat Pulse, Scowl, and increases the condition from a Unity condition to Ploy 4 range. Her new skill is Atk/Spd Finish 4, replacing Atk/Spd Ideal 4. It looks like the main difference between Legendary Female Byleth and Legendary Male Byleth is that Female Byleth gets Scowl and Male Byleth gets penalty nullification. The smaller differences that aren't just simple numbers are that Female Byleth's Pulse effect occurs at start of combat, whereas Male Byleth's occurs at start of turn. Male Byleth's stat boost also scales infinitely whereas Female Byleth's caps at 3 allies. Eitri: Grim Brokkr Base effect is updated: Permanent +3 Atk On turns 1-4: Canto (2) With a Blow-or-Alarm condition (previously Blow-or-Solo condition): -6 Atk/Res on opponent in combat -5 Spd on opponent in combat (new) Guaranteed follow-up Additional damage equal to 15% of Atk, excludes AoE Specials (new) 7 HP recovery after combat (new) Refine effect is: At start of turn, if HP is 25% or higher, inflicts the following status effects on closest enemies and enemies within 2 spaces of them: -7 Atk/Res Sabotage Schism (the effect that nullifies Triangle Attack, Dual Strike, and Pathfinder) If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: -5 Atk/Spd/Res to opponent in combat Reduction to opponent's Atk/Spd/Res equal to number of enemies within 3 spaces of opponent, including opponent Flat damage reduction equal to 3 times the number of non-stat Bonuses on unit and non-stat Penalties on opponent, maximum -12 damage, excludes AoE Specials Flat damage reduction when opponent activates Special equal to 3 times the number of non-stat Bonuses on unit and non-stat Penalties on opponent, maximum -12 damage, excludes AoE Specials For reference, her remix grants her half percentage damage reduction nullification and boosts her damage reduction from 30% to 50% and applies it to the opponent's non-follow-up attacks instead of just the first attack. Her new skill is Deadly Miasma, replacing Rein Atk/Res 3. Eitri gets start-of-turn debuffs, flat damage reduction, additional flat damage reduction against Special activations, post-combat healing, and a bunch of debuffs with an extremely lenient target range. A maximum of 12 flat damage reduction against normal attacks and 24 flat damage reduction against Specials is really big and should help a lot with her survivability, though she still has to deal with percentage damage reduction nullification effects that can break through her 50% damage reduction. Additionally, she still needs to be careful of enemies that can perform a follow-up against her before she can kill them, as she has no percentage damage reduction on follow-up attacks. That said, she hits opponents with a pretty hefty -19/11/0/19 if they are alone and don't nullify her stat penalties, with the amount increasing if the opponent has teammates nearby. It's also worth noting that her weapon is currently the only way to inflict Schism on an opponent without needing to run Ruse 4 in the B slot. Brave Tiki: Remote Breath Base effect is unchanged: Effective damage against dragons Dragonstone common effect Slaying effect With a Finish condition: +5 to all stats in combat Guaranteed follow-up If unit is equipped with an offensive Special: -1 Special cooldown before unit's first attack If opponent is equipped with an offensive Special and unit's Res is at least 5 higher than opponent's Res: Scowl effect Refine effect is: Distant Counter If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +5 to all stats in combat Boost to all stats in combat equal to 10% of Res at start of combat Flat damage reduction equal to 20% of Res, excludes AoE Specials 50% percentage damage reduction nullification For reference, her exclusive B skill grants her Dragon Wall and follow-up prevention. Holy shit, they actually gave her Distant Counter. She also gets flat damage reduction and partial damage reduction nullification. Unfortunately, she's still stuck needing to run Emblem Marth to activate Dragon's Roar on her first attack on player phase, though with her Sacred Seal now freed from Distant Counter (D), she can run a Tempo skill in her Sacred Seal slot for enemy phase. Alternatively, she can run Creation Pulse instead of Emblem Marth, but then it's competing with other strong skills in her C slot. Her total stat boost of +14~15 to all stats and 8~10 flat damage reduction is also solid in terms of pure numbers. New Year Keaton: Resolved Fang Base effect is updated: Permanent +3 Def With a Stance condition (new) or if opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat (existing): +5 Spd/Def/Res in combat (previously only Def) -5 Def to opponent in combat Additional damage equal to 20% of Def, includes AoE Specials (previously equal to 70% of the difference in Def) Guaranteed follow-up (new) Penalty nullification to Atk/Def (new) With standard transformation condition: New infantry beast transformation effect (previously old effect) Refine effect is: With a Finish condition: +5 Spd/Def/Res in combat -5 Def to opponent in combat Flat damage reduction equal to 15% of Def, excludes AoE Specials 50% nullification of Deep Wounds At start of combat after start-of-combat damage: If unit's Def is higher than opponent's Def: HP recovery equal to 20% of max HP + 4 times the difference in Def, maximum 40% of max HP + damage taken at start of combat, does not stack Otherwise: HP recovery equal to 20% of max HP, maximum 40% of max HP + damage taken at start of combat, does not stack Keaton gets a guaranteed follow-up, penalty nullification, flat damage reduction based on his Def, and Breath of Life 4 for himself. His stat boost is also tailored for Breath of Life 4's effect and his gigantic Def stat, giving him +10 to all stats on top of the permanent +3 Def, but the effective boost to his Atk is implemented as a reduction to the opponent's Def, resulting in a total +23 Def for use in comparisons (counting the permanent Def). Flat damage reduction is pretty nice, as it means he isn't forced to run Laguz Friend 4 or Reopening and has his choice from the greater variety of percentage damage reduction skills. Brave Byleth: Inner Wellspring Base effect is updated: Slaying effect At start of turn, with a Unity condition: Grants the following status effect to unit: Null Follow-Up If Special cooldown is at maximum: -1 Special cooldown With a Blow-or-Unity condition: +5 to all stats in combat Flat damage reduction equal to 20% of Spd on opponent's non-follow-up attacks (new) If unit activated Special in combat or before combat: -1 Special cooldown after combat Refine effect is: Canto (1) If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +5 to all stats in combat Boost to all stats in combat equal to 10% of Spd at start of combat +7 additional damage Offensive Tempo effect When Special activates: Percentage damage reduction nullification For reference, her exclusive Special skill deal damage based on Spd, reduces damage dealt by the opponent's next attack, and increases the damage dealt by the unit's next attack based on Spd. Byleth gets Canto, flat damage reduction, the offensive Tempo effect, and percentage damage reduction nullification when her Special activates. No Close Counter and no Vantage against melee opponents means she's stuck only able to be used properly against ranged opponents on enemy phase, which is a bit of a bummer. No Null C-Disrupt also means she's vulnerable to Sweep effects. No Phantom Spd is a bit of a bummer, as while she does get a huge boost in Spd, it's only a similar amount to other contemporary refines, though that probably shouldn't be too much of an issue. Flat damage reduction, though, is extremely appreciated, as her Special grants her percentage damage reduction that can't be nullified, which should help with her survivability.

This week's free Arena ticket gets me Igrene: 91 pulls on the double Special Heroes banner, pulling green: 3 Altina 3 Kvasir (+1 spark) 1 5-star Kana Altina is now +6. Kvasir is now +4. I also got a copy of Kvasir with a Spd Asset as a new merge base. I'll pull on the festival banner tomorrow.

This week's free Arena ticket gets me Saber: 265 pulls on the Hero Fest banner, pulling for 3 copies of Triandra, 3 copies of Gullveig, and as many copies of Lyon as the game gives me while doing so, but then I got greedy and decided to +10 Lyon, too: 3 Triandra (+1 spark) 9 Lyon (+1 spark) 3 Gullveig (+1 spark) 0 Edelgard (+1 spark) 4 pity breakers Yukimura Arthur Fallen Lilith Rennac 5.7% focus rate is basically average. 7.2% overall 5-star rate is about 3 pulls below average. While my luck with merges was pretty good, my luck with Assets was not, as despite Triandra and Gullveig both now being +10 (once I find units to give Death Blow Echo to), I still haven't pulled a single copy of either with a Spd Asset. I also haven't pulled a single copy of Lyon with an Atk Asset, but I'm pretty sure Res is a bit better since his Sweep effect is a Res comparison. The new copy of Yukimura has a Res Asset, though, which is nice.

We already have to pull for the newest Legendary Hero because that unit is guaranteed to be the Arena Legendary bonus unit for the next 4 weeks. This change is 100% a QoL improvement for whales. There is basically no downside for us. Now that old Legendary Heroes are out of the rotation, we no longer have to waste resources trying to keep old Legendary Heroes up to date with the latest skills just for a single Arena season. Pulling for merges is also not an issue because you can stay in Tier 21 even with a +0 Legendary bonus unit, so just pulling for the Feh Pass spark is already enough.