Ice Dragon

Holy Pressure deals damage equal to 90% of Luna's damage and applies the full effect of Gravity+ when it activates. Even if staff units don't have access to many sources of Special acceleration, there's no reason to give Holy Pressure a cooldown any shorter than Luna's cooldown, and we will definitely be getting more staff units with Special acceleration in the future. Additionally, the fact that staves can almost always attack without fear of counterattack means that they can essentially charge their Special for free as long as you have a way to get them out of reach before you end your turn. (This is why Miracle was the best Special for staff units on Aether Raids defense prior to the release of Holy Pressure.) And even if you don't get a chance to land Holy Pressure, Poetic Justice is literally 75% of a Ruptured Sky on every attack. "Healer" is a fan-derived term for staff units. I have a particular dislike of the use of the term to refer to them because that's absolutely not what they are. They've done more than just heal even since before Book II. Offensive support has been one of their primary roles ever since the release of the 5-star staff weapons, with Gravity cheese being a very reliable strategy in Arena Assault and some Arena tiers around that time.

Should've offered tea instead.

Honestly, it's about time. Tier lists encompassing all units with any sort of granularity have been mostly useless for years now. The only tier lists that I think are actually worth making are ones for specialized roles that only need to consider a few dozen units. As far as analysis goes, it's pretty obviously unsustainable to update every unit every time a new skill is released, especially when many of the older units only need to consider cookie-cutter builds for their unit type due to being less specialized compared to newer units. It would make more sense to simply maintain a list of general role archetypes with a list of optimal skills and when they should be used rather than have an analysis of each individual unit. There's a reason why I usually structure my build recommendations referencing the unit's type for most of the skill slots instead of the unit in particular. There aren't many things that really depend on the unit's weapon or stats other than a few high-level properties (mostly just Spd tier and whether the weapon has the Slaying effect and/or the Brave effect) and making sure to not overlap skill effects between the weapon and passive skills.

It probably depends on your tier. I think I see Brave Hector and Brave Edelgard more often. Ascended Fjorm is only a threat due to having Null C-Disrupt on her weapon, but her lower defensive stats and lack of stats from her weapon leave her vulnerable to Brave units and Triangle Attack shenanigans, and the lack of additional Spd from her weapon makes it easy to outspeed her with traditional offensive units. I also run into Ninja Camilla a lot and Duo Askr occasionally as non-Save tanks, and Gotoh is likely to be fairly popular to use in Light season as a non-Save tank. The only real cost of running Colorless Feud is that you won't get the -4 to all stats against the tank itself. If you're running into more than one color of Far Save tank, Colorless Feud at least guarantees that the tank doesn't receive any additional damage reduction from Flayn or Elimine regardless of the tank's color.

In general, cavalry ideally run Menace or Smoke skills in the C slot. Staff cavalry have the option to run either of the Recovery skills, and Even Recovery is generally slightly better than her default Odd Recovery when under player control. Both have their merits when under AI control (mostly due to the Safety Fence making Even Recovery an option). Colorless Feud is an option for Aether Raids defense as a counter to Flayn and Elimine support.

Did a few more pulls from the Double Mythic Heroes banner, but am taking another break because my barracks is now down to fewer than 10 open slots and I really need to actually do some cleaning for real this time. Hopefully, I'll have the time and motivation to clean my barracks out before the banner ends because doing a few hundred pulls with only 10 open slots is hell. 50 more pulls: 0 Gotoh 3 Fomortiis 0 Arval Well, I guess I found where all of my Fomortiis pulls went. Current total 112 pulls: 2 Gotoh (+1 spark) 3 Fomortiis 3 Arval Currently sitting at a 7.1% focus rate, which is now below average by more than 1 full pull. Bleh. The first Arena ticket of the new SR pool gets me Sigurd.

Added Effie's weapon to the translation notes. Atk/Res Catch is pretty nice. Altina wants it for sure, and Eitri and Legendary Leaf can certainly make use of it. Fierce Breath is okay. Breath skills have fallen off somewhat, and Fierce Breath is probably the least useful of them for general use, but it's good for when you need to manipulate your stats for specific maps or for Hardy Fighter builds where defensive stats are less important.

Sigrun: Command Lance Base effect is: If there is an ally within 3 spaces: +4 to all stats in combat 40% damage reduction on opponent's first attack Refine effect is: If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat Additional +2 to all stats in combat for each ally within 3 spaces (maximum +6) 7 HP regeneration after combat Total +8 to +14 to all stats based on the number of allies within 3 spaces. Also 40% damage reduction on the opponent's first attack and 7 HP regeneration after combat. Her Res isn't amazing, but she does have the fifth highest base Res of all lance fliers at 38 with max Dragonflowers, and with an 8- to 14-point boost to Res from her weapon, she can probably viably run Flow Feather and have it activate on everything except super-bulky units. If you're looking just to stack stats, Thea is better, but the damage reduction and HP regeneration are both relatively unique. Norne: Volunteer Bow Base effect is: Bow common effect If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat If opponent's range is 2 (applies even with no weapon equipped): -5 Atk/Def to opponent in combat Nullifies opponent's positive stat bonuses (i.e. Dull Ranged 3) Refine effect is: If there is an ally within 3 spaces: +4 to all stats in combat Guard effect 7 HP regeneration after combat Total +8 to all stats, boosted to a total of +13/8/13/13 against ranged opponents. Also gets Guard, 7 HP regeneration after combat, and Dull Ranged 3. Probably not enough of a boost to really make her viable as a ranged tank, especially since she didn't as much of a boost in Spd as she really needed. However, she did get both Guard and Dull Ranged, which frees up a lot of skill slots to run fancier skills, so it might still work out if you have the premium fodder for it. I'm thinking something like Norne [+Spd / +Def / +Res] Volunteer Bow [unique] [Assist] Deadeye Def/Res Finish 4 / Spd/Res Finish 4 Quick Riposte 4 Time's Pulse 4 [Any Sacred Seal that boosts Spd/Def/Res] / Deflect Missile 3 / Deflect Magic 3 If Null Follow-Up 4 comes with a good secondary effect, it could also be an option for the B slot. She can also probably run an okay dual-phase build with Atk/Spd Tempo once it's released or a more player-phase build with a Remote skill in the A slot. Not amazing, but I think it's still possible to make her work. Echoes Catria: Astra Blade Base effect is updated: Permanent +3 Atk If unit's Atk is higher than opponent's Def: Additional damage equal to 50% of the difference between unit's Atk and opponent's Def With Blow-or-Unity condition: +4 to all stats in combat (new) Refine effect: Unit can teleport within 2 spaces of an ally within 2 spaces (i.e. Grimoire teleportation) If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat Boost to Atk and reduction to opponent's Def equal to 2 times the distance between attacker's starting and ending space (maximum ±8) Lots of boosts to her damage output with a total effective +12/8/8/8 to a maximum +36/8/8/8 based on distance moved on top of what she had before her refine, including the additional damage from the built-in Glimmer effect. Grimoire teleportation also makes it extremely easy for her to move very far. No Dive-Bomb or other defensive effect on her weapon, so she's still stuck either running Dive-Bomb or just aiming for one-hit kills. I'm not too keen on her ability to land one-hit kills due to the fact that percentage damage reduction on the opponent's first attack is a pretty common effect, but it might still work out. She'll probably be a terror with Duo Catria providing Triangle Attack support where you can get the best of both worlds. We seriously need an inheritable Warp Bubble skill. Dimitri: Noble Lance Base effect is updated: Permanent +3 Atk If unit's HP is 99% or lower or opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat (changed from both 100% or both 99% or lower): +4 to all stats in combat (new) Guaranteed follow-up Refine effect is: With Blow condition or if opponent's HP is 75% or lower at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat Additional damage equal to 10% of Atk Fixed damage reduction equal to 10% of Atk (excluding AoE Specials) Reduces opponent's non-Special percentage damage reduction by 50% Total +8 to all stats on top of what he already had (just +3 Atk) plus additional damage and damage reduction based on his Atk stat. Depending on the build and bonuses, this should come out to 8 or 9 points of additional damage and damage reduction before accounting for additional team support. The condition on the base effect has been loosened to be much easier to activate. The guaranteed follow-up is still there on the easier base condition, and he also nullifies half of the opponent's percentage damage reduction. No Special charge rate boost is a bit of a bummer for anyone using him for Galeforce since it means he's stuck running Heavy Blade in a skill slot. While his weapon boosts his Atk by 11 points, it doesn't really make up for the fact that he has to lose an Atk-boosting skill slot to run Heavy Blade, and his base Atk stat isn't high enough to absorb that loss. He's probably better now as a more traditional wall breaker, given he nullifies half of the opponent's percentage damage reduction and has good physical bulk. No Guard on his weapon means he'll want to run Guard 4 (or the slightly cheaper Flow Guard) to not immediately die to an opponent's Special. Peony: Flower of Joy Base effect is updated: Permanent +3 Res Grants +4 Atk/Spd in combat to allies in orthogonal directions from unit (previously +3) If there is an ally in an orthogonal direction from unit: +4 to all stats in combat (new) Refine effect is: If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat Guaranteed follow-up 7 HP regeneration to unit and allies in orthogonal directions from unit As a reminder, Peony's remix upgrades Gentle Dream to grant +4 to all stats instead of the original +3 and now also grants penalty nullification as a status effect. Her new skill is Cross Spur Res, replacing Fortify Res 4. She only grants +4 to allies from her weapon instead of +5 like the regular skills of the Cross Spur series, which is a bit of a let-down. She also gains team HP regeneration as her only new support effect from her weapon, which is also a bit underwhelming. In exchange, she gets +8 to all stats for herself and a guaranteed follow-up, which means she still dies to anything that can counterattack because she completely lacks any defensive effects and has garbage defensive stats. She's not unusable for combat, but she'll probably want to be running both Remote Sparrow and Guard 4 just to be worth doing so. It's a bit disappointing that her team HP regeneration only activates on her engaging in combat. It would have been better to have it activate when an ally in the same range engages in combat instead or to have it activate on Dance. Thrasir: Ifingr Base effect is updated: Effective damage against dragons If there is an ally within 3 spaces: +6 to all stats in combat (previously +4) Null Follow-Up 3 (previously only the defensive half) If unit attacked in combat: Inflicts -4 to all stats as a Penalty to closest allies after combat Refine effect is: Slaying effect If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat Nullifies opponent's positive bonuses to Spd/Res As a reminder, Thrasir's remix upgrades Killing Intent to inflict Exposure at the start of the turn on the closest opponents within 5 spaces and all opponents within 2 spaces of them. Her new skill is Atk/Spd Ideal 4, replacing Flashing Blade 4. Total +6 to all stats in addition to the original +4 to all stats, the full Null Follow-Up instead of just the defensive half, and also gets the Slaying effect and nullifies bonuses to Spd/Res. The Slaying effect is obviously there because she got Atk/Spd Ideal 4 to replace Flashing Blade 4 in her A slot. This is overall amazing since she has little issue keeping both stacks of Ideal active if she has a source of Bonuses somewhere on her team since Killing Intent gives her the Desperation effect with an extremely easy condition, and the new Slaying effect ensures she can still activate a 2-cooldown Special on her follow-up attack as long as the opponent doesn't have Guard. Alternatively, she's now able to run Time's Pulse 3 to simply land a 2-cooldown Special on her first attack instead. Not particularly flashy, but an overall solid refine and remix with very clear intent and direction. Slightly disappointed she didn't get Thjalfi's partial percentage damage reduction nullification. New Year Lethe: Guardian Fang Base effect is updated: Permanent +3 Spd If unit's Spd is higher than opponent's Spd: Deals additional damage equal to 70% of the difference in Spd (maximum 7) Dodge 3 With Blow-or-Solo condition: +5 Atk/Spd in combat (new) Standard beast transformation condition with standard beast cavalry transformation effect Refine effect is: Phantom Spd 3 If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +5 Atk/Spd in combat Null Follow-Up 3 Total +10 Atk/Spd in addition to the original weapon effect plus Null Follow-Up and Phantom Spd 3. Unfortunately, the additional damage is not updated to the more modern effect of just a percentage of the unit's Spd, but the addition of Phantom Spd 3 makes it very unlikely to not be its maximum of 7 damage. Additionally, the weapon's total +13 Spd makes New Year Lethe the untied fastest beast cavalry in the game. For comparison, Selkie with the maximum +16 Spd with her Res comparison still falls short by 1 point when both units have a Spd Asset. Null Follow-Up means she doesn't need to run a Flow skill or Beast Agility and can instead run something like a more typical S/D Near Trace or Lull Spd/Def that further boosts her offensive stats. Overall thoughts Thrasir and Lethe have simple refines that basically give them everything they need to function. Catria doesn't quite get everything she wanted, but getting a comically high potential +36 effective Atk is more than enough to make up for it. It's kind of a pity she loses a good chunk of that in Rokkr Seiges since units don't tend to move very far there. Sigrun and Dimitri are good, but aren't really anything too special due to being stuck in competitive classes. Peony is underwhelming since she's supposed to be a support unit and doesn't get any usable support effects since the only one she gets is tied to her own combat. Could be made workable offensively with premium skills, but that's a lot of effort for not much gain. Norne is probably workable with premium skills. She gets a lot of good skill effects on her weapon, but she doesn't quite have the stats to make it work without even more premium skill effects and still falls considerably short of the likes of Duo Askr and Gotoh even then. Ranged tanks have it extremely rough.

Harmonized Heroes count for additional points in Resonant Battles. The entire issue with Vantage is that modern units are typically designed to be able to survive a single hit. Altina and Ninja Camilla get around this by attacking twice before the opponent gets a chance to attack, and Brave Byleth and Desert Nino get around this by having a Special guaranteed to be already charged. Furthermore, even if the opponent fails to die before their first attack, all three of them have contingency mechanics, with Camilla having high defensive stats and Altina, Byleth, and Nino having high percentage damage reduction. One, you're better of splitting the skills. Duplicating the bonus nullification is a waste. Two, while Unbound Bow is currently the best inheritable bow in the standard summoning pool, it is outclassed by Whitecap Bow as an inheritable bow and outclassed by pretty much every recently released or recently refined exclusive bow. There's very little reason to use it over the better options.

The main use of Harmonized Heroes, specifically the attention to which games they are from, is Resonant Battles. A dual-phase build should ideally have an A skill that works on both phases since losing the stat boost entirely on the other phase kneecaps the unit on that phase. Units that run Preempt should ideally either be able to guarantee that their Special is active at the start of combat or should be able to attack twice before the opponent gets a chance to attack. If you aren't capable of doing one of those, it's not really worth running Preempt. As far as A skills to go with Spd Preempt, you're ideally looking at Atk/Spd Finish 4, Atk/Spd Ideal 4, or Atk/Spd Catch 4, depending on movement type. Atk/Spd Solo 4 and Atk/Spd Bond 4 are also options, but are generally weaker. Atk/Spd Ideal is viable in game modes where debuffs are common (Aether Raids, Arena, etc. in certain score ranges). As for Ishtar, she's most commonly used with Windsweep or Watersweep since her refined weapon nullifies their drawbacks. She has some options, though (optimal skills listed in builds, viable substitutions in descriptions): Ishtar [+Spd] Mjolnir [unique] [Assist] Ruptured Sky Atk/Spd Ideal 4 / Atk/Spd Finish 4 Windsweep 3 / Watersweep 3 Atk/Spd Oath 4 / Atk/Spd Menace / Time's Pulse 4 / Def/Res Smoke 3 [Any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd on player phase] Ruptured Sky can be replaced with Moonbow or Glimmer. This build remains viable with less optimal A and C skills, like Swift Sparrow 3 and Atk/Spd Solo 3, though Swift Sparrow 2 might be a bit too low of a stat boost against other modern units. Atk/Spd Ideal 3 is the strongest A skill for this build available from a 4-star in the standard summoning pool (Miriel). Ishtar [+Spd] Mjolnir [unique] [Assist] Ruptured Sky Atk/Spd Finish 4 Spd Preempt 3 Time's Pulse 4 [Any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd on enemy phase] Ruptured Sky can be replaced with Moonbow or Glimmer. You can get away with a less powerful A skill, but that's about it for substitutions. Ishtar [+Spd] Mjolnir [unique] [Assist] Ruptured Sky / Luna Remote Sparrow Spd/Res Tempo 3 / Lull Spd/Res 3 Atk/Spd Oath 4 / Atk/Spd Menace / Time's Pulse 4 / Def/Res Smoke 3 [Any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd on player phase] Ruptured Sky can be replaced with Moonbow or Glimmer. Weaker C skills can also be used. Ishtar is rather frail, so it isn't recommended to use anything other than Remote Sparrow with these B skills.

And the usual translation notes: The banner name, "A Special Gift", is "特別な贈り物" (tokubetsu na okurimono), "A Special Gift". Takumi's epithet, "Troubled Heart", is "不和葛藤の親愛" (fuwa kattō no shin'ai), "Troubled and Conflicted Deep Affection". Dawnsweet Box is "白夜の王子の菓子箱" (byakuya no ōji no kashi-bako), "Hoshido's Prince's Confectionary Box". A/S Far Save is "刃の護り手・遠間" (yaiba no mamorite: tōma), "Guardian of the Blade: Distant". As usual, the Japanese names of the Save skills use pieces of equipment to represent each combination of stats and shown in the skill icon, with "刃" (yaiba), "blade", used for Atk/Spd. Leo's epithet, "Shrouded Heart", is "闇の奥に潜みし愛" (yami no oku ni hisomishi ai), "Love Hidden Within the Darkness". Duskbloom Bow is "暗夜の王子の花弓" (an'ya no ōji no kakyū), "Nohr's Prince's Flower Bow". Remote Mirror is "鬼神明鏡の離撃" (kishin meikyō no rigeki), "Distant Attack of Fierce Deity and Clear Mirror". As usual for Blow- and Stance-based skills, "鬼神" (kishin), "fierce deity", is used for Atk-boosting skills and "明鏡" (meikyō), "clear mirror", is used for Res-boosting skills. Hana's epithet, "Striving Heart", is "全力で駆ける愛" (zenryoku de kakeru ai), "Love Dashing at Full Strength". Petalfall Blade is "桜と薔薇の刀" (sakura to bara no katana), "Katana of Cherry Blossoms and Roses". Elise's epithet, "Sweetheart Royals", is "純真なる双姫の愛" (junshin naru sōki no ai), "Pure-Hearted Paired Princesses' Love". Dusk-Dawn Staff is "白夜暗夜の姫の花杖" (byakuya an'ya no hime no kajō), "Hoshido and Nohr's Princesses' Flower Staff" Holy Pressure is "重圧の聖光" (jūatsu no seikō), "Holy Light of Heavy Pressure". Poetic Justice is "神罰・因果応報" (shinbatsu: inga ōhō), "Divine Punishment: Poetic Justice". "神罰" (shinbatsu), "divine punishment", comes from Wrathful Staff's name, "神罰の杖" (shinbatsu no tsue), "Staff of Divine Punishment". It's likely we'll get a corresponding skill for Dazzling Staff, likely "幻惑・因果応報" (genwaku: inga ōhō), "Dazzlement: Poetic Justice". Sounds like they're going to have to come up with a brand new name for it. Effie's epithet, "Dedicated Heart", is "心友として示す愛" (shin'yū to shite shimesu ai), "Love Demonstrated as a Close Friend". You've been friendzoned. Petalfall Vase is "桜と薔薇の花瓶" (sakura to bara no kabin), "Flower Vase of Cherry Blossoms and Roses".

Elise looks annoying as all fuck to deal with. Flash is a pain in the ass, and she has a million skill effects that boost her damage. Takumi has a Special charge drain at start of combat that specifically targets Duo Chrom to prevent immediately dying to Deadeye. That's nice. And also pretty funny. Now if only they'd release all of the good armor skills into the standard summoning pool already. It's taken them a full year just to give a second unit Savvy Fighter, and it's literally on the exact same banner. And we still only have three of the eight Save skills in the standard summoning pool. Hana's weapon looks really good. +10/+8 offenses and Null Follow-Up is solid. This is probably now strictly the best inheritable weapon for non-infantry swords (sword infantry probably still want Arcane Eljudnir if running Vital Astra to get the Slaying effect). Effie's weapon is presumably identical, but Arcane Downfall is a much more competitive weapon for fast axe units. However, granting Null Follow-Up without needing to use a Flow skill is a huge advantage over Arcane Downfall for cavalry and fliers. Leo exists and doesn't suck for once. But did they have to make him yet another green bow cavalry? He's the seventh green bow cavalry in the game when we still don't have a single red or blue bow cavalry unit. As much as I want to pull for more copies of Takumi and Elise, I think I'll go for only one copy each of Leo and Elise, two copies of Takumi to give A/S Far Save to Rearmed Grima for duplication, and only go for a +10 on Hana. I'll probably spark Elise so that I have one fewer color I need to pull while getting a guaranteed neutral Elise.

I'm left-eye dominant, but still shoot right-handed. I don't have the musculature in my left arm and shoulder to repeatedly draw a bow anywhere near the same weight and the same number of times I can with my right. (I fenced back in high school and college, and so my right arm has noticeably more strength and stamina than my left.)

Bows can have a handedness, and even if you're left-handed, if your bow is right-handed, you should use it in a right-handed configuration (arrow in right hand, bow in left). Since Luna Arc isn't made specifically for Alm and is rather fancy (making it unlikely to be ambi-handed), it's likely to be a right-handed bow.

Not everyone who wants to use a character has the character, even if they've tried to pull for them. For units in the standard pool, if you miss the release banner, you're usually SoL for another chance at a spark and are subject to the whims of the gacha gods. I still think it's silly to vote for anyone in the standard pool, but at least Fallen Edelgard is probably still the best unit in the standard pool to actually vote for.

Harmonized Edelgard has the issue that she can't really be built to function on both player and enemy phase simultaneously due to Distant Storm eating her bulk extremely quickly and Distant Ferocity significantly weakening her player-phase performance. She's also significantly easier to wear down on enemy phase due to having much fewer defensive skill effects. Which subsequently gets reduced to "only after the enemy is already dead" in Aether Raids due to Duo's Hindrance preventing you from using Duo skills. Aether Raids is the main game mode where Isolation is relevant, though I suppose it can be used in the Arena if you're running into too many dancers or Chroms. I'm also surprised, though I'm blaming myself in jest for it because I'm alternating voting for Corrin and Lyn, but started with a vote for Corrin on the first day. Lyn is also significantly further down the list. Corrin is 29th. Lyn is 42nd.

Yeah, but the game mode that Isolation is most relevant to is Aether Raids, where Duo's Hindrance makes their Duo skill unusable.

Everyone that uses Edelgard for Galeforce shenanigans, perhaps, considering Edelgard is still one of the best Galeforcers in the game? I find it silly to compare two units that have completely different roles. Like, Duo Hilda is better at everything compared to Bride Fjorm except for inflicting Isolation (and inheritable skills with HP comparisons, but those are rarely ever used), but the entire point of using Bride Fjorm is to inflict Isolation, and Hilda literally can't do that. The fact that Hilda is better at everything else is entirely pointless because Fjorm isn't used for anything else. The only real argument involving Fomortiis and Fallen Edelgard is that Edelgard should stop running Savior builds in any situation where Fomortiis can also be used, with that condition existing because being a defense Mythic Hero does limit his usability pretty significantly. My only complaint about Fallen Edelgard being here is the fact that she's in the standard summoning pool, which is the same complaint I have with Alear.

Do you mean "character" or "unit"? Because those are very different in the context of Heroes. My favorite units right now are Valentine Lucina, Rearmed Grima, Valentine Robin, and Duo Askr. All super-bulky units that actually have a chance at dealing with the bullshittingly strong offensive units currently in the game. I'm sure anyone can guess my favorite character.

The usual translation notes: Command Lance is "神使親衛隊隊長の槍" (shinshi shin'eitai taichō no yari), "Lance of the Captain of the Apostle's Elite Guard". "神使親衛隊隊長" (shinshi shin'eitai taichō), "Captain of the Apostle's Elite Guard", is localized as "Commander of the Holy Guard". Volunteer Bow is "義勇兵の弓" (giyūhei no yumi), "Volunteer Soldier's Bow". And my hopes, predictions, and other analysis: Sigrun: Command Lance Currently has Reprisal Lance, which grants Fierce Stance 3. Sigrun has a fairly typical stat spread for an older pegasus knight, having less Atk and Spd than modern pegasus knights, but more Def, while having a more typical Res stat. Four-star fast lance fliers are a very saturated unit archetype, so she'll likely get something unique to set her apart from the others, but I won't bother trying to predict it. Norne: Volunteer Bow Currently has Guard Bow, which grants Distant Def 3. Norne is a moderately fast infantry bow with less Atk in exchange for more HP and Def. She was originally released as a fast version of Faye, but never really caught on because ranged attackers have always needed too many skill effects to actually tank, and units that can't get access to enough of those effects at once with a combination of their weapon and passive skills are simply not viable. If they want to have Norne actually be a fast ranged tank, she needs a sizable boost to her Spd to catch up to modern units and additional sources of bulk, like Dodge or flat damage reduction, like Duo Askr or Gotoh, though I wouldn't expect her to actually get those as a 4-star unit. Bulwark would also be nice to have since she can't get the effect normally. Echoes Catria: Astra Blade Current effect is: Permanent +3 Atk If unit's Atk is higher than opponent's Def: Deals additional damage equal to 50% of the difference between unit's Atk and opponent's Def Catria really just wants more Atk and Spd. It would also be nice to get something like Dive Bomb on her weapon to open up her B slot for Seal Def 4 or a Flow or Trace skill. Dimitri: Noble Lance Current effect is: Permanent +3 Atk If unit's HP and opponent's HP are 100% at start of combat or unit's HP and opponent's HP are 99% or lower at start of combat: Guaranteed follow-up If they choose to keep the base effect's condition intact, all they really need to make it reliable is to give it Savage Blow and Push. On release, Dimitri was a decent Galeforce unit with Heavy Blade and Savage Blow, and it would be nice if they would also give his weapon a Special charge rate boost so that he isn't reliant on the Heavy Blade Sacred Seal and trying to satisfy a condition that is much harder to win with how high Atk stats can get now. Furthermore, having too high of an Atk stat to try to win the stat comparison can be a detriment for Galeforce units simply because it makes it more difficult to leave the opponent alive to actually land the follow-up attack to charge Galeforce. Peony: Flower of Joy Current effect is: Permanent +3 Res Grants +3 Atk/Spd in combat to allies in orthogonal directions from unit Peony's remix upgrades Gentle Dream to grant +4 to all stats instead of the original +3 and now also grants penalty nullification as a status effect. The penalty nullification status effect presumably only applies to stat penalties, as it uses the same wording in Japanese as skills like Asura Blades. Her new skill is Cross Spur Res, replacing Fortify Res 4. It's likely that Flower of Joy's base effect will be boosted to +5 to match Cross Spur's effect. As a support unit, there is any number of effects that could be added onto her weapon, either as start-of-turn effects or on-Dance effects, with a slight limitation that Peony focuses on applying buffs and not debuffs. Currently, the biggest threat in her Aether Raids season is Embla, who inflicts two extremely devastating debuffs that cannot be nullified by Gentle Dream+'s effect. While it would go against her theming to inflict debuffs, inflicting False Start would be the most useful effect she could have. However, if we explore novel effects, the ability to shield nearby units from being hit with debuffs in the first place would also be just as useful, even if it steps on Gentle Dreams+'s toes a bit. Thrasir: Ifingr Current effect is: Effective damage against dragons If there is an ally within 3 spaces: +4 to all stats in combat The defensive half of Null Follow-Up If unit attacked in combat: Inflicts -4 to all stats as a Penalty to closest allies after combat Thrasir's remix upgrades Killing Intent to inflict Exposure at the start of the turn on the closest opponents within 5 spaces and all opponents within 2 spaces of them. Her new skill is Atk/Spd Ideal 4, replacing Flashing Blade 4. Thrasir notably gets only the defensive half of Null Follow-Up despite really wanting the offensive half to pair with Killing Intent granting her the Desperation effect with a very lenient condition. Given that Killing Intent is a passive B skill, her only option right now to get the offensive half of Null Follow-Up is to use the Null Follow-Up Sacred Seal, which is not ideal. She should really get the offensive half of Null Follow-Up, too. They removed the demerits from Lyfjaberg, but it's unclear if they intend to do so for the characters that remain affiliated with Hel (the location), as they left the "distributed recoil" effect of Kriemhild intact during its refine and recently added a new one with Morph Fimbulvetr. I don't think they would remove the effect, but if they wanted to, they could have her grant Grand Strategy to the units that receive her weapon's recoil effect. And due to the fact that they are replacing Thrasir's Flashing Blade 4, she'll probably get some form of Special acceleration on her refine to make up for it and allow her to activate a 2-cooldown Special on her follow-up attack. I'd also like to see her get the 50% reduction to the opponent's percentage damage reduction that Thjalfi has, especially since she has effective damage against dragons and modern dragons have a tendency to have percentage damage reduction effects. New Year Lethe: Guardian Fang Current effect is: Permanent +3 Spd If unit's Spd is higher than opponent's Spd: Deals additional damage equal to 70% of the difference in Spd (maximum 7) Dodge 3 Standard beast transformation condition with standard beast cavalry transformation effect Guardian Fang already has really good skill effects and really just wants more stats and one more skill effect to bring it up to par with more recent weapons. For comparison, Lumera's Monarch Blade has the same permanent +3 Spd and Dodge 3, deals damage equal to 15% of the user's Spd, has the Guard effect, and grants +5 to all stats. Replacing the additional damage based on a stat difference with additional damage based on the stat itself has been a thing ever since Nino's Gigascalibur refine, so it's pretty likely Guardian Fang will get the same treatment. The offensive half of Null Follow-Up would be nice to have so that she can run something other than Beast Agility or a Flow skill in her B slot, given that those are quite expensive and don't grant additional stats like Trace skills do. More damage reduction for even stronger sustain would also be nice. Fixed damage reduction equal to a percentage of Lethe's Spd would be really nice to have since it is functionally boosted by the Dodge effect already on the weapon. Extremely unlikely, but it's not outside of the realm of possibility to give her a conditional Distant Counter (probably based off of a Spd comparison) to reference the Beast-Tribe-exclusive Quickclaw skill. In Radiant Dawn, Kyza has the skill by default, but it's a Spd-based skill, so their Heroes version doesn't work particularly well for it even though it works fine for them in their source game. And my overall thoughts: There are a lot of refines that I'm looking forward to in this batch. Peony and Thrasir are a given since they're bound to be good and are on units that I use often enough. I have New Year Lethe at +10 merge from her most recent rerun and the copy of her from one of the holiday orb packs and have been waiting for her upcoming refine before attempting to build her. Catria and Dimitri are both units that were good on release, but have fallen off, and I'd like to be able to use them again.

To be fair, Corrin's spark availability competes with 10 other really good spark options (and 1 Byleth).

The best use of Vital Astra is to wait until you have Time's Pulse 4 available and then give it to the fastest unit you have (and plan to use) that can inherit it, has a Slaying weapon, and doesn't want Godlike Reflexes (Godlike Reflexes is usually better than Vital Astra on fast units that have the Slaying effect and Special charge rate +1). Since you don't have Time's Pulse 4, the next best option is to do the exact same thing, but use Time's Pulse 3 instead. You'll lose the ability to use the Dodge effect after the first round of combat on each turn, but getting it for one round of combat per turn is already pretty good.

Tried my luck on either Flame Lyn or Halloween Corrin on the free Special Heroes banner so that I could lower the number of things to pull on the Engage AHR banner, but I got Duo Laegjarn instead, which is still quite good as a consolation prize. She's already +10, so that's a free Seal Def 4 that I can give to someone with a Brave weapon. Now just to figure out who.

The game currently doesn't have any "good" users of Lethality other than Volke and Kaze due to how long its cooldown is. Ideally, you're looking for a unit that has both the Slaying effect and Special charge rate +1 on their weapon and can run Time's Pulse in their C slot, and Volke and Kaze are the only units that can do so. Alternatively, a unit with the Brave effect and any form of Special acceleration can function decently, though Legendary Shez and Duo Lyn have trouble taking counterattacks, so it's really just Summer Claude that can pull this one off consistently, and the other two would rather run Ruptured Sky for more consistent performance. Any infantry dagger with the Slaying effect on their weapon can also run both Special Spiral and Time's Pulse 4 to have Lethality fully charged at the start of combat, though you'll have to use Pulse support effects to get it charged for the first round of combat. In general, skill banners are less efficient to pull on than other banners due to having only a 3% focus rate and no spark. You're usually better off pulling from banners that either have a boosted focus rate or have a spark or have both. However, this really depends on your own priorities. It is entirely possible for it to be worth pulling on such banners if the focus units are that valuable to you. However, that's usually reserved for players that are saving orbs specifically for a certain character or players that are willing to purchase orbs. And if you're looking for specific skills, it's generally more worth your resources to grab them from Divine Codes first, if they are there. Shinon is currently available from Divine Codes 2, and Volke is currently available from Divine Codes 3. We're also expecting to get a new set of manuals next month. Duo Chrom does three things that make him really good: To Change Fate! has the same effect as Reposition, but gives Chrom the ability to act again afterwards. This makes him extremely versatile, as this can be used either to give himself additional movement range or to Reposition an ally out of danger and then move himself out of danger without the need for a dancer. Destiny's Bow has effective damage against armor and has effects that allow him to fully charge his default Deadeye, which makes him extremely good at killing a lot of the popular bulky armored units. Destiny's Bow also grants its Pulse effect to the target of To Change Fate!, which allows him to function as a Special battery for his allies for the first 4 turns. In addition to these points, Chrom also has a good Duo skill, which intentionally inflicts -5 to all stats on himself and allies within 2 spaces while also granting them the Grand Strategy status effect, which grants the same effect as the Unity skills, reversing all penalties. Timing his Duo skill can give you huge returns, especially against opponents that inflict penalties. If you play Aether Raids, Gotoh is more useful due to being an offense Mythic. If you don't, then it depends on what role you want more: Fomortiis is one of the best Far Save units in the game, though he has trouble with effective damage like the rest of them and can't run Svalinn Shield to compensate. Nightmare being able to end an opposing unit's turn before they act is very strong, though. Gotoh is basically Brave Ike on crack, but with no investment needed to build.

Mark has never been eligible for CYL, presumably because they lack any form of artwork of the front of their head that could be used for them in the voting page. It's also heavily implied that Mark is the same person as Morgan (as they share a name in Japanese along with their profession and cloaked appearance).