Ice Dragon

This week's free Arena ticket gets me Nah: 40 pulls from the Anniversary Special Heroes 1 banner: 1 Ayra (+1 spark) 2 Shez 1 Linde 1 Ferdinand I really wanted to spark for Fjorm, but Ayra was by far the most valuable unit in this banner due to granting Resonant Battle score. Both copies of Shez were [+Atk, -Res], which is better than my current copy. Ferdinand has an Atk Asset, which is also better than my current copy. Ayra is now +7. Shez is now +2. Ferdinand is now +1. Linde was already +10, so this is a spare copy that can be used for skill inheritance. Now that we can transfer 5 skills at a time, I can grab Remote Sparrow, S/R Far Trace 3, and Def/Res Smoke 3 off of her all at once, which is pretty cool. My budget is a bit less than usual right now due to some unexpected expenses that ended up eating into my gacha budget, so I'm pulling a bit less than usual on the desert banner. 131 pulls: 5 Igrene (+1 spark) 2 Altina 1 Juno 2 5-star Tormod 2 4-star Tormod 6 pity breakers: Celine Arthur Brave Tiki Ascended Fjorm Farina Rennac I decided from the start that I'd spark for Igrene and pull only red and green until I got one of each of the rest, but in hindsight, it would have been more efficient to pull all 3 colors and spark for whoever between Igrene and Altina that I didn't get by the time I reached the spark (and spark for Igrene if I got neither). It ended up not mattering since I got both Juno and Altina before the spark anyways, and since I was that much ahead of budget, I decided to just pull for more merges with the rest of my originally allotted budget. And got 2 copies of Igrene and 1 copy of Arthur on the next circle. 7.6% focus rate is kind of nuts. 12.2% total 5-star rate is equally nuts. The first copy of Altina was a perfect [+Atk, -Spd], and the last copy of Igrene was a perfect [+Spd, -Def]. Fewer pulls also applies to the Legendary/Mythic/Emblem banner, so only 91 pulls for the sparks and then to clear out my pity rate: 0 Marth (+1 spark) 2 Lumera (+1 spark) 1 Hinoka 0 Fir 1 Veyle 3 Plumeria I got extremely few red orbs, and getting no additional copies of Marth is a bit of a bummer, but that's made up for by getting 2 copies of Lumera and 3 copies of Plumeria. 7.7% focus rate is less than 1 pull below average, so that's nothing out of the ordinary. Both copies of Lumera have a Res Asset, which I guess is fine. Veyle is now +4. I now have a total of 4 copies of Plumeria, which is really nifty. There being no 4-star focus on the Hall of Forms banner for Owain means there's really no reason for me to bother pulling for the spark on it, as I already have Grima and Lucina fully merged, and Lucina isn't as useful as fodder anymore due to Anankos. I still haven't had the time to figure out which colors I should be pulling on the 4-star SR Special Heroes ticket banner, so I'm holding off on it until I actually figure that out.

All 3 of Brave Corrin's inheritable skills are useful, but Counter Roar 4 and Armored Floe are in higher demand, so they should definitely take priority over A/S Far Save. Brave Gullveig's only skills worth duplicating are Flared Sparrow and Atk/Spd Oath 4, so this is the most efficient way to use her for skill duplication. She's also the easiest unit to get Flared Sparrow from since she's the only one in the standard summoning pool, so she's also the most efficient unit to use for this skill pair. Winter Dimitri is currently the only source of No Quarter, so you don't really have a choice in the matter, and Atk/Spd Prime 4 is the only other skill he has that is really worth duplicating, as Panic Smoke 4 is currently on 3 units in the Legendary/Mythic/Emblem pool. Brave Robin is in a somewhat annoying situation where neither Gambit 3 or Atk/Spd Finish 3 are easily accessible, so until one of them becomes easily accessible, you're always going to be stuck transferring only one of the two skills at a time, so splitting them across 2 units isn't too big of a deal for now. In the long run, it's better to wait for more copies of Ganglot and also wait until one of Gambit 3 or Atk/Spd Finish 3 is made more accessible, but the long run doesn't help you right now. Gambit 4 is obviously significantly harder to get than Atk/Spd Finish 4, so you'll want to prioritize using Robin to pass Gambit 4 to a duplicator instead of Atk/Spd Finish 4. Alcryst sounds good. Just remember that he doesn't come with Atk/Spd Finish 4 by default, so you'll need to have a copy of it ready when you get more of him. Yeah. If you already have Canto, Alarm is typically the best C skill for fast melee cavalry if you don't have access to Incite. I say "typically" because Menace is also an option. However, you only need one unit on your team with Menace, and that job is better suited for a support unit that doesn't need the in-combat stat bonus from Alarm or Incite in the first place.

I apparently completely forgot to look at the refines due to being busy. Only one new weapon for translation notes, but also a new keyword: Airborne Spear is "穢れなき白槍" (kegarenaki byakusō), "Unstained White Lance". Phantom is "虚勢" (kyosei), "Bluff". Fiora: Airborne Spear Base effect is: With a Blow-or-Unity condition: +4 to all stats in combat Null Follow-Up effect Dragon Wall 3 Refine is: If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat Tempo effect Recover 7 HP after combat If unit is equipped with a Special that activates on unit's own attacks: If unit's Spd+Res is equal to or higher than opponent's Spd+Res−5, ignoring Phantom stats: -2 Special cooldown before unit's first attack Fiora's Spd stat is falling behind at this point, and +8 Spd isn't really going to be enough to help her keep up, especially now that most recently released fast units not only have the obligatory +5 Spd, but also have a gigantic conditional boost with a stupidly easy-to-meet condition. It doesn't help that they clearly want her to run Pegasus Flight 4, but Pegasus Flight 4 doesn't grant a Spd boost. The pre-combat Pulse effect is also in a very awkward position. If she can't perform a follow-up, she's stuck only able to land Ruptured Sky. If she can perform a follow-up, she can run Glacies or Astra, which would pair well with Gambit 4, but she probably still wants Brash Assault 4 instead just to land the follow-up in the first place. But if you're confident in landing the follow-up, it might be better to run Aerial Maneuvers with No Quarter. Or maybe just Brash Assault 4 with No Quarter. It's a good weapon. It's just that Fiora's Spd isn't quite good enough to make the most of it, at least against fast units. If you build her specifically to function against slow units, I think it'll probably work. Reginn: Lyngheidr Base effect is updated: Permanent +3 Spd On turns 1-4: Canto (3) With a Blow-or-Unity condition (previously Blow condition): +6 Atk/Spd in combat +4 Def/Res in combat (new) Nullifies stat penalties to Atk/Spd (new) 40% damage reduction on opponent's non-follow-up attacks (previously 30% on opponent's first attack) Refine effect is: If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat Null Follow-Up effect Additional damage equal to 20% of Spd, excluding AoE Specials For reference, her remix fully charges her Special at the start of turn 4 and increases its damage from 15 to 20. Her new skill is Panic Smoke 4, which is an upgrade of her existing Panic Smoke 3. Overall grants +4/4/8/8 over her base weapon, about 14 points of additional damage, Null Follow-Up, stat penalty nullification to Atk/Spd, and upgrades her damage reduction from 30% to 40% and applies it against the Brave effect. Reginn was already a good candidate for Flared Sparrow, and now that she has Null Follow-Up on her weapon, her B slot is now open to run Assassin's Strike. The additional damage based on her Spd deals damage comparable to a 2-cooldown Special that activates on every attack, so she's still going to hit hard even if Seidr Shell isn't charged. Absolutely nothing to complain about here. Young Caeda: Feather Sword Base effect is updated: Effective damage against sword, lance, axe, colorless bow, and armor Permanent +3 Atk With a Stance condition or if opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat (new) Null Follow-Up effect (new) If HP is 90% or lower (previously 75%) or if opponent is sword, lance, axe, colorless bow, or armor: With a Stance condition: Vantage effect Refine effect is: Canto (2) If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: +4 to all stats in combat Increases Atk/Spd in combat by 3 times the number of allies within 3 spaces, maximum +6 40% damage reduction on opponent's non-follow-up attacks Overall gains +8 to all stats over her base weapon, an additional +6/6/0/0 if there are 2 allies within 3 spaces, Null Follow-Up, Canto (2), and 40% damage reduction on non-follow-up attacks. Interestingly, despite her weapon now granting an absolutely massive +17 to Atk, it's only really on par with other modern units, a testament both to how low Caeda's base Atk is and to how insane recent premium units' weapons have gotten. That said, par is more than sufficient when you have effective damage against a lot of common weapon types. Meanwhile, the +14 Spd essentially secures her position as the fastest sword flier currently in the game, though Legendary Elincia can still challenge it. The only real disappointment is that her weapon doesn't grant her any of its effects as status effects, as she would love to run Prime instead of the weaker Distant Solo. Less important are that she doesn't get Null C-Disrupt or percentage damage reduction nullification, both of which would make her much better against some of the more obnoxious units that were released recently. Fallen Ashnard: Gurgurant Base effect is updated: Nullifies opponent's effective damage against fliers Permanent +3 Def Inflicts the following effects on opponents within 4 spaces in combat (previously 2 spaces): -5 Atk/Def Nullifies stat bonuses to Atk/Def (new) Follow-up prevention (new) Guard effect (new) Refine effect is: With a Stance condition or if opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat: -5 Atk/Def in combat Reduces opponent's Atk/Def in combat by 15% of unit's Def at start of combat 30% damage reduction, excluding AoE Specials The refine extends the range of his Rein effect from 2 to 4 and adds stat bonus nullification to Atk/Def, follow-up prevention, and Guard to it. He also gets an additional +11~12 or so Atk/Def/Res based on his Def stat and 30% damage reduction to all attacks. The improved Rein effect is really cool and even more so due to the fact that its range was increased to 4, which is huge and makes him a really good support unit. Unfortunately, without any source of flat damage reduction, he's probably not surviving on enemy phase in the current state of the game, but he can probably function well enough on player phase with the sheer power he can get from Brash Assault 4 and the large effective Atk boost he gets from his weapon. Rinkah: Rinkah's Club Base effect is updated: Slaying effect If HP is 99% or lower at start of combat (existing), if opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat (new), or with a Stance condition (existing): +5 Atk/Def in combat +4 Spd/Res in combat (new) +1 Special charge rate (previously only on opponent's attacks) Flat damage reduction on opponent's non-follow-up attacks equal to 15% of Def (new) Refine effect is: If there is an ally within 3 spaces: +4 to all stats in combat 7 HP recovery on unit's attacks 40% damage reduction on opponent's non-follow-up attacks Ice Mirror effect on opponent's first attack Is this the first time we've had a weapon grant both flat and percentage damage reduction? I'm pretty sure all previous weapons with flat damage reduction didn't include percentage damage reduction and relied on passive skills for that effect. Rinkah is getting about 7~8 flat damage reduction on top of 40% damage reduction and has the Ice Mirror effect and heals on each of her attacks. She also has the Slaying effect with +1 Special charge rate, which makes her a perfect candidate for Godlike Reflexes, which also capitalizes on the Ice Mirror effect. Her only real issue is that her Spd stat can't quite match up against the fastest units currently in the game, and running a Dodge 4 skill to gain Phantom Spd means she can't get the benefits of Phys. Null Follow, which has 2 effects that she really wants. Basically 5-star Echidna. Triandra: Flower of Sorrow Base effect is updated: Permanent +3 Atk Inflicts the following effects on opponents in Ploy range in combat: -5 Def/Res (previously -4) If opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat or if there are no enemies within 2 spaces of opponent: -4 Atk/Spd/Res on opponent in combat (new) Refine effect is: If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat: -4 Atk/Spd/Res on opponent in combat Guaranteed follow-up If unit attacked in combat: Inflicts 10 damage to opponent and enemies within 2 spaces of opponent For reference, her remix adds Discord to the status effects inflicted by her dance skill and increases the stat penalties inflicted from -3 to -5. Her new skill is Firestorm Dance 3, replacing her existing Aerobatics 3. As she is primarily a dancer, she doesn't really need combat effects in order to function, so they are generally just icing for her. As expected, she gets a post-combat effect, and it's splash damage, though it's a bit disappointing that she doesn't also inflict Deep Wounds. Bernadetta: Persecution Bow Base effect is updated: Bow common effect Permanent +3 Atk If unit has a Penalty at start of combat or if HP is 99% or lower at start of combat: +5 Atk/Spd in combat Guaranteed follow-up (new) With a Blow condition: Desperation effect Refine effect is: With a Unity condition at start of turn: Inflicts 1 damage on unit and allies within 2 spaces of unit -1 Special cooldown With a Blow condition or if opponent's HP is 75% or higher: +5 Atk/Spd in combat Increases Atk/Spd in combat by 2 times unit's current damage taken, maximum +10 +1 Special charge rate As expected, she gets the same team damage effect that Hrist has except it's no longer restricted to when she's at full HP. Interestingly, she gets a guaranteed follow-up instead of Null Follow-Up, though given that her base Spd is starting to fall behind a bit, it's probably better this way. The -1 Special cooldown at the start of each turn and +1 Special charge rate is clearly there to let her actually run Deadeye despite having the Desperation effect. Additionally, because it's at the start of each turn, she can wait a few turns to simply have it fully charge on its own while at the same time racking up damage to fuel her refine's effect of boosting her Atk/Spd by 2 points for each point of damage she currently has. Very interesting refine overall. Given that Push 4 is now outclassed pretty heavily by newer A skills, she actually probably wants to run the Fury Sacred Seal to help her rack up recoil damage, and since this means giving up another 2-3 points of Spd from the Sacred Seal slot, it does make a bit more sense to give her a guaranteed follow-up instead of Null Follow-Up. Like with Reginn, she has her skill slots completely freed up now to run Flared Sparrow + Assassin's Strike. Overall thoughts: Fiora's weapon is really the only one that I have real apprehensions about, and this is a case where it has a lot of good skill effects, but is simply missing out on stat boosts. She'll probably be fine as a wall breaker, but have worse match-ups against fast units. It's a bit interesting that Fiora, Rinkah, and Bernadetta all have almost the same base Spd stat as each other, but Bernadetta got a guaranteed follow-up, Fiora got Null Follow-Up, and Rinkah got neither. Ashnard's is probably a bit lacking for his own combat performance since the current state of the game isn't all that nice to slow units that don't have a one-hit-kill mechanic, but its support effects are no joke. I can absolutely see running him with Aerial Maneuvers just to serve as a Rein bot. Triandra doesn't get much to help with her own combat performance, but as a dancer, the boosts to her dance skill from her remix are already good enough. The other weapons are all pretty solid.

I've been busy for the past few days and hadn't had the time to take a look at this banner until now, so here are my later-than-usual translation notes: The name of the banner, "May This Last", is "私たちはずっと" (watashi-tachi wa zutto), "We Will Always..." Myrrh's epithet, "Adored Dragon", is "愛しの竜人さま" (itoshi no ryūjin-sama), "Beloved Lady Mamkute". "竜人" (ryūjin) literally translates as "dragon-person", which I'm translating here as the in-universe "mamkute". I refuse to acknowledge the existence of the officially localized terminology. Loving Breath is "無垢なる愛のブレス" (muku-naru ai no buresu), "Breath of Innocent Love". Def/Res Scowl is "守備魔防の竜眼" (shubi mabō no ryūgan), "Def/Res Dragon Eye". Canny Fighter is "魔の守備隊形" (ma no shubi taikei), "Magical Defensive Formation". Compare with Weaving Fighter, "理の守備隊形" (ri no shubi taikei, "Physical Defensive Formation"), and Wary Fighter, "守備隊形" (shubi taikei, "Defensive Formation"). Darkling Dragon is "闇の樹海の竜神" (yami no jukai no ryūjin), "Dragon God of the Forest of Darkness". "闇の樹海" (yami no jukai), "forest of darkness" is the name of the Darkling Woods. "樹海" (jukai), here being translated as "forest", literally translates as "sea of trees". Ephraim's epithet, "Ardent Prince", is "仁義に燃える王子" (jingi ni moeru ōji), "Prince Burning With Virtue". "仁義" (jingi), "benevolence and justice", are the first two of the five Confucian virtues and can be used to refer to "virtue" in general. Righteous Lance is "強く気高き魂の槍" (tsuyoku kedakaki tamashii no yari), "Lance of a Strongly Noble Soul". Earthfire Boost is "生命の業火大地" (seimei no gōka daichi), "Hellfire/Earth of Lifeblood". The Boost skills in Japanese use the same stat indicators as the Balm and Dance skills, but is the one skill series where the name of the series precedes the stat indicators. Sunlit Bangle D is "華日の腕輪・護" (kajitsu no udewa: go), "Bracelet of Brilliant Sun: Protection". Compare with Solar Bangle, "太陽の腕輪" (taiyō no udewa, "Bracelet of Sun") and Sunlight Bangle, "華日の腕輪" (kajitsu no udewa), "Bracelet of Brilliant Sun". Selena's epithet, "Admiring General" is "愛秘めし夜光の将" (ai-himeshi yakō no shō), "Love-Hiding General of Night Luminescence". "夜光" (yakō), "night luminescence", is a reference to her title "Fluorspar", which is "蛍石" (hotaruishi) in Japanese. "蛍石" (hotaruishi), "fluorite" or "fluorspar", literally translates as "firefly stone". Devoted Basket is "愛の祭の花籠" (ai no matsuri no hanakago), "Flower Basket of the Festival of Love". Lyon's epithet, "Esteemed Royals", is "穏やかな皇子王女" (odayaka na ōji ōjo), "Peaceful Prince and Princess". "皇子" (ōji) specifically refers to a prince of an empire, as opposed to the more common "王子" (ōji) with the same pronunciation, which refers to a prince of a kingdom. Tender Vessel is "儚く優しい心の器" (hakanaku yasashii kokoro no utsuwa), "Vessel of the Ephemeral Kind Heart". ...That's depressing. Gray Illusion is "鈍色の迷夢" (nibiiro no meimu), "Dark-Gray Illusion". Incite Atk/Res is "攻撃魔防の奮激" (kōgeki mabō no fungeki), "Atk/Res Inspiration". Vigarde's epithet, "Warmhearted Sire", is "慈愛の皇帝" (jiai no kōtei), "Emperor of Parental Love". Axe of Devotion is "愛の祭の斧" (ai no matsuri no ono), "Axe of the Festival of Love".

This week's free Arena ticket gets me Catherine: My free 5-star Special Hero was Summer Larchel. I haven't done any pulls from the 4-star SR Special Heroes banner yet since I haven't had the time to calculate which colors I should be going for yet. 41 pulls on the Forging Bonds rerun banner: 0 Chrom (+1 spark) 2 Byleth 1 Anankos Finally got a copy of Fallen Byleth with a Spd Asset. Still don't have a copy of Anankos with a Spd Asset.

"[T]his effect is not affected by effects that prevent follow-ups or 'attacks twice' effects". Five times. "Special damage" refers only to Specials that activate on the unit's attack or before combat and only to the damage of that attack. All other sources of damage from Special skills are considered to be passive effects. There are no sources of the Brave effect that are dependent on the opponent's HP at start of combat, so there is no way for an AoE Special activation to change whether or not a conditional Brave effect activates. As such, whether the Brave effect is active in combat is always already known before combat.

Distant D/R Solo and Spd/Res Finish 4 are both decent options for second best. Each monthly version update adds skills released through one more Legendary/Mythic/Emblem Hero banner. January's update added skills through Gullveig and Kvasir's banner, so Potent 4 will be added in the March update. Grima Grima is currently our only armored skill duplicator and has a lot of value from that alone. A/S Near Save is decently valuable (and will continue to be valuable as long as we keep getting fast armors that don't already have the skill by default). Hardy Fighter is good, but has a lot of competition, especially now that the armor-exclusive Special skills are stealing a bit of its thunder. Lif Unlike Atk/Spd Clash 4, Atk/Def Clash 4 is a bit more valuable since units that run Def are typically intended to be able to hold their own on enemy phase to begin with, so the dual-phase nature of Clash is not wasted. That said, its value is currently undermined by the fact that we don't have a good source of Atk/Def Clash 3 yet. Atk/Def Menace is a bit outdated, but it's not a bad skill; however, its value will decrease when we start getting Atk/Def versions of the better C skill series. Lif is a unit you probably want to hang onto for later when Flared Sturdy and Incite Atk/Def and an easier source of Atk/Def Clash 3 are eventually released. Triandra Triandra's most valuable skill by far is Death Blow Echo. Basically every slow player-phase unit a Brave weapon and even a few fast ones will want that. Atk/Spd Clash 4 is a bit less valuable of a skill compared to Atk/Def Clash 4 since fast cavalry and fliers are less likely to have strong enemy-phase performance (and infantry have better dual-phase skills like Finish 4), but it's not bad. Well, except for the fact that, again, we don't have an easy source of Atk/Spd Clash 3. Flow Refresh 4 is decent, but much more niche. It's mostly for units that already have Canto in a different slot, but are missing Null Follow-Up. Spd/Def Hold is mostly outclassed by S/D Rein Snap on melee units and Atk/Spd Oath 4 and Deadly Miasma on ranged units. Chrom Chrom's most valuable skill by far is Arcane Devourer. Spd/Def Snag 4 and Infantry Spd Tactic are both a bit too niche. Atk/Spd Clash 4 is in the same situation as it is for Triandra. Ophelia Atk/Res Finish 4 and Special Spiral 4 are both really good skills. Peony Atk Oath Echo is easily Peony's most valuable skill. Thankfully, its value also increases as more C skills are released that don't provide stat bonuses, like Time's Pulse 4, Infantry Pulse 4, Rein Snap, Deadly Miasma, etc. Rockslide Dance 3 is actually not bad, but it's obviously restricted to dancers. The stat boost is less useful compared to Firestorm Dance 3, but granting Dodge is arguably better than granting Desperation most of the time (but not all of the time). Atk/Spd Unity is very niche, but has its uses. However, it's probably better to use Brave Marianne for it instead. Ganglot Somehow still the only melee infantry skill duplicator and is therefore somehow still the only way to duplicate Vital Astra, Godlike Reflexes, and Dodge skills. Quick Riposte 4 is good. Its value has been slightly dampened by every new slow unit having a guaranteed follow-up already, but there are still some that slip through the cracks. Distant Stance is okay, but its value will decrease as we get more sources of Prime 4 and Distant Solo. Sonya Atk/Res Ploy 3 is really good. Escape Route 4 is good, but is going to lose value as we get more sources of Far Trace 4. Plumeria Def/Res Ploy 3 is also really good. Arcane Euphoria having percentage damage reduction makes it arguably better than the other Arcane tomes simply because it opens up the A slot to not need to run Remote. Wings of Mercy 4 is okay, but is also losing value as we continue to get better B skills. Alfred Arcane Qiang is his most valuable skill. Flow Near Trace 3 is less niche than Flow Refresh 4, but its lack of a tier-4 version (and Alfred therefore not having it) holds it back significantly for the time being. Lucina Exact same comments as for Chrom. Nino Fleeting Echo is a god-tier skill in terms of value. Spd/Def Tempo 4 is good, but has significant competition from Dodge 4 on melee units and Phys. Null Follow and Assassin's Strike on ranged units. Flash Sparrow isn't in particularly high demand on optimized builds due to the existence of Atk/Spd Pledge. Ginnungagap Has Lethality. Fatal Smoke 4 is niche, but there are definitely more uses for it than for most other niche skills. However, its value is held back by the fact that there aren't any easy sources of Fatal Smoke 3. Fireflood Boost 3 is in a weird position where pretty much every unit that would want the skill would prefer to have Atk/Spd or Def/Res instead of Atk/Res.

Right. Atk/Spd Finish 4 is better than Atk/Res Scowl 4 for her, but she already has Atk/Spd Finish 4 by default, so there's no reason to get it from Hall of Forms. Since Prime 4 isn't an option, I think Distant A/S Solo is the next best thing to grab for the A slot.

I feel like there are too many good units that were released in the last few months for troll votes to have much of a chance to really break through. All 4 of the Winter banner units are insanely good (and I absolutely expect to see Duo Byleth, Winter Dimitri, and Winter Edelgard making it into the Voting Gauntlet), and we have a bunch of other recently released powerhouses like Wind Claude, Duo Sanaki, Legendary Camilla, Rearmed Reinhardt, and Desert Altina that all have a good chance of making it in.

The next set of remixes were announced in the Feh Channel: Reginn: Seidr Shell+ Cooldown 3 At start of turns 1 and 4 (previously only turn 1): -3 Special cooldown When Special activates: Deals 20 damage (previously 15) Calculates damage using the lower of opponent's Def/Res New skill is Panic Smoke 4, which is an upgrade of her existing Panic Smoke 3. The upgrade to Seidr Shell increases its damage by 5 and has the skill fully charge itself again on turn 4, which was an effect on New Year Reginn's weapon. This is apparently the second most minor change for a remixed skill so far (Radiant Aether is the only one with a smaller change), and it tells us almost nothing about what to expect on Reginn's refine, but I expect the refine to be stronger than average to make up for having fewer effects on the remixed skill. The effects I want her to get are percentage damage reduction nullification when her Special activates, nullification of the opponent's defensive Specials, and Disarm Trap 4. Triandra: Frightful Dream+ Range 1 When used: Dance effect Inflicts the following effects as status effects on enemies with Ploy targeting from unit and target: -5 to all stats (previously -3) Guard Discord (new) New skill is Firestorm Dance 3, replacing Aerobatics 3. All of the fairies so far have gotten a post-combat effect on their refine, and I don't think Triandra will be any different in that regard. I'm expecting Deep Wounds and post-combat damage since Attuned Triandra deals pre-combat damage, and Peony's refine gave her post-combat healing. Firestorm Dance 3 would be really nice to have as skill fodder, but Triandra never showed up sharing a color with a new unit, and therefore I never actually got merges for her, so she's still stuck at +2, and I won't have spare copies to use as fodder for a while.

These are the most bad-guy-est bad guys that he's drawn for Heroes so far. Fomortiis, Resplendent Surtr, and Validar are his 3 most recently drawn units, with Surtr and Validar being released since the previous anniversary and Fomortiis being released just barely before the previous anniversary.

It mostly just depends on how much support you're able to reliably able to get from her team, as stronger debuffs like the tier-4 Sabotage and Ploy skills and the Discord status can more easily swing a Spd check in your favor. I've had Chrom handing out Flared Sparrow and Distant A/S Solo for a while now. Clash is good for units that are able to hold their own on enemy phase, like Brave Seliph, but Flared Sparrow is useful on more units because most units are significantly better on player phase than enemy phase, and it's also much cheaper to inherit since its prerequisite is just Luthier's Swift Sparrow 2. Speaking of which, Distant A/S Solo is a slightly weaker, but cheaper, alternative to Atk/Spd Prime 4 if you need the Distant Counter effect, as it only requires Distant Counter as a prerequisite instead of the entire Prime 1/2/3 series. Ganglot. Honestly, it's kind of crazy how she's still the only one. Honestly, any Rearmed or Attuned Hero that you expect to pull a lot of copies of is good for duplicating skills. I would lean towards Atk/Spd Prime 4 in the A slot over Atk/Res Scowl 4 since her Res isn't particularly noteworthy. Counter Roar 4 is definitely the best option for the B slot. Mag. Null Follow and Null C-Disrupt 4 are also viable alternatives, but are significantly easier to get. Atk/Spd Oath 4 and Incite Atk/Spd are definitely the best options for the C slot. It's your pick which secondary effect you find more useful.

Yes, it appears that Engage's Divine Speed and Heroes's Potent have the same name in Japanese. They also have the same icon.

The best thing that was announced in this Feh Channel for me was 5 skills in Skill Inheritance. That makes it significantly less awkward to use Rearmed and Attuned Heroes since they all have a single-tier skill (Arcane weapon or Echo skill) that they want to give out in addition to 4-tier passive skills. The second best thing was very obviously this:

To my understanding, it's not clarified in any language. Based on the wording of the Japanese description, it's most likely only in-combat damage, but that's not at all definitive. With Resplendent boosts, Eirika has 43 base Spd with maximum Dragonflowers. It puts her 7 points short of the current lead for her unit class (Fallen Byleth with 49 and a superboon), which isn't amazing, but I think is still borderline usable with Arcane Devourer. The trade-off of running Arcane Devourer, however, is that you need to use a Floret to make up for her awful Atk stat. Lapis can run any Arcane Devourer build. The standard Arcane sword infantry builds look like this: Sword Infantry [+Spd] Arcane Devourer [Spd] [Assist] Vital Astra / No Quarter / Ruptured Sky Atk/Spd Finish 4 / Atk/Spd Prime 4 Spurn 4 / Spd/Def Tempo 4 / Potent 4 Atk/Spd Oath 4 / Incite Atk/Spd / Time's Pulse 4 [any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd] / Distant Counter (M) Spurn 4 is the preferred B skill for units that aren't as close to the top in Spd so that the Phantom Spd effect can help activate Dodge. Tempo 4 should not be used at the same time as Time's Pulse 4. Time's Pulse 4 should only be used with Vital Astra, and even then, it's probably still worse than the other options due to the lack of an in-combat Spd boost. I wouldn't run Distant Counter (M) unless you're confident you don't need a Spd boost from the Sacred Seal slot. Sword Infantry [+Spd] Arcane Devourer [Spd] [Assist] Godlike Reflexes Atk/Spd Finish 4 / Atk/Spd Prime 4 Spurn 4 / Buffer 4 / Spd/Def Tempo 4 / Potent 4 Atk/Spd Oath 4 / Incite Atk/Spd / Pulse Up: Blades [any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd] / Distant Counter (M) Oath 4 and Incite are both more optimal than Pulse Up, but Pulse Up is an option as a backup for dealing with opponents with Guard, Tempo, or post-combat Special drain. Same comments as the above build for the other skills, where applicable. Sword Infantry [+Spd] Arcane Devourer [Spd] [Assist] Aether Atk/Spd Finish 4 / Atk/Spd Prime 4 Gambit 4 Atk/Spd Oath 4 / Incite Atk/Spd / Pulse Up: Blades [any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd] / Distant Counter (M) Same comments as the above builds, where applicable. This can also be run with Arcane Eljudnir [Atk / Def] with Pledge in the C slot and the Spd skills swapped for Def versions were possible. Sword Infantry [+Atk] Arcane Eljudnir [Atk / Def] [Assist] Ruptured Sky / No Quarter Atk/* Finish 4 / Atk/* Prime 4 Null C-Disrupt 4 / */Def Tempo 4 / Phys. Null Follow / Spurn 4 / Potent 4 Atk/* Pledge / Atk/* Oath 4 / Incite Atk/* [any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/*] / Distant Counter (M) / Null Follow-Up 3 Despite not running Spd, the Spd-based B skills are still usable on Arcane Eljudnir builds because of their secondary effects. And for units with middling Spd, you can still activate the Dodge effect from Spurn 4 against slower units. If you're giving her No Quarter from Dimitri directly instead of through a Rearmed skill duplicator, then you might as well grab Prime 4 at the same time as No Quarter since Dimitri doesn't have anything else worth grabbing. However, unless you actually use her on enemy phase for anything more than clean-up (or baiting enemies with strong enemy phases, but weak player phases), I don't think she actually needs the stat boost from Prime 4 on enemy phase. Her refined weapon already gives her a comically high +15 Spd at minimum, so she can afford to have an ineffective A skill on enemy phase against the things you're probably using her against. If you're grabbing No Quarter off of a Rearmed skill duplicator, then there are better things to prioritize over Prime 4. Flared Sparrow and Surge Sparrow are both significantly better than Prime 4 on player phase, where you're probably using her more.

Stackable Slaying effect is pretty fancy. I am super sleepy right now, so I'll just do translation notes now and maybe take a closer look at everything going on tomorrow morning: Lumera's epithet, "In Distant Skies", is "遥空の神竜" (yōkū no shinryū), "Divine Dragon of the Distant Skies". Monarch's Stone is "白き神竜王のブレス" (shiroki shinryū-ō no buresu), "Breath of the White Divine Dragon King". Atk/Spd Scowl is "攻撃速さの竜眼" (kōgeki hayasa no ryūgan), "Atk/Spd Dragon Eye". Atk/Spd Ruse is "攻撃速さの大共謀" (kōgeki hayasa no dai-kyōbō), "Atk/Spd Great Conspiracy". "共謀" (kyōbō), "conspiracy", is the name of the Feint skill series. Dragon Monarch is "リトスの神竜王" (ritosu no shinryū-ō), "Lythos's Divine Dragon King". Marth's epithet, "Of Beginnings", is "始まりの紋章士" (hajimari no monshō-shi), "The First Emblem". "紋章士" (monshō-shi), literally "emblem warrior", is the term used for Engage's Emblems. Hero-King Sword is "英雄王の剣" (eiyū-ō no ken), "Sword of the Hero King". Lodestar Rush is "スターラッシュ" (sutā rasshu), "Star Rush". The name of this skill in both languages is a reference to Marth's promoted class name, "スターロード" (sutā rōdo), "Star Lord", in Japanese and "Lodestar" in English. Potent is "神速" (shinsoku), "Extreme Speed". "神速" (shinsoku) literally translates as "divine speed". It's also the Japanese name of the move Extreme Speed from Pokémon, and I'm using it here over alternative options because the translation is more than accurate. Potent Follow X% is "神速追撃：ダメージ〇％" (shinsoku tsuigeki: damēji 〇%), "Extreme Speed Follow-Up Attack: X% Damage". Emblem Effect is "紋章士効果" (monshō-shi kōka), "Emblem Effect". And since I forgot about Hraesvelgr in the previous New Heroes banner, I'll put her here: Hraesvelgr's epithet, "Quieting Blade", is "刃の葬り手" (yaiba no hōmuri-te), "The Burying Hand, the Blade". I'm interpreting "刃の" (yaiba no), "(of) the blade", to be the appositive use of "の" (no) instead of the usual "of". Including omitted words that can be inferred from context, this interpretation would read as "The 'Burying Hand', the 'Blade' of the Healing Hands". "葬る" (hōmuru) more specifically means "to bury the dead" (the character itself is an ideogram of burying a dead person (死) in grass (茻)) and can be used figuratively to mean "to cover something up" or "to hush someone up". Quieting Claw is "刃の葬り手の爪" (yaiba no hōmuri-te no tsume), "Claws of the Burying Hand, the Blade".

Hel Soren is next: Nifl Ilyana Askr Brave Veronica Hel Soren Prior to this outfit, Hel was the theme to least recently get a new outfit, with the last unit being Female Robin in June. Radiance now ties with Dawn for the origin mark with the highest percentage of units with Resplendent outfits. Hel now ties Muspell for the second highest number of outfits.

Last week's free Arena ticket got me Lene. This week's gets me Elincia: 158 pulls on the New Year banner: 0 Seidr (+1 spark) 2 Nerthuz 1 Kvasir 0 5-star Kana 1 4-star Kana 2 pity breakers: Fallen Edelgard Fallen Gustav This is probably the worst luck I've ever had on a banner in this game. No 5-stars at all until I was pity-broken by Fallen Edelgard on pull 56 with a 5.5% pity rate. Then pity-broken by Fallen Gustav on pull 75 with a 5.5% pity rate again. And then finally got Nerthuz as my first focus unit on pull 110 with a 6.25% pity rate. Kvasir finally came home on pull 155 with a 5.0% pity rate, but was immediately followed by another Nerthuz in the came session. None of them have an Asset better than neutral. 1.9% focus rate. 3.2% total 5-star rate. In other words, half of the expected value for both, and that's despite getting a second Nerthuz while cleaning out Kvasir's session. 49 pulls on the Reinhardt banner: 1 Reinhardt (+1 spark) 1 Tina 1 pity breaker: Mycen Both Reinhardt and Tina are [+Spd, -Atk] for some reason, though I'm not complaining. Mycen also seems to be showing up a lot recently for some reason. He would be +2 now, but I'm keeping the extra copies as manuals for now. Again, not complaining. 40 pulls on the Ascended / Rearmed banner: 1 Lif 2 Mareeta 0 Ingrid (+1 spark) This copy of Lif would get him to +10 if it weren't for the fact that I can't merge him without spending his skill fodder first. These copies of Mareeta also get her to +10 if it weren't for the fact that I'm keeping a few copies as manuals in case I need Vital Astra for something. I decided to spark for Ingrid since I need more copies of her than of Lif, but she was sharing a color with Idunn, who I don't need more copies of. 41 pulls on the first New Year rerun: 2 Ash (+1 spark) 1 Reginn 1 pity breaker: Ingrid Ash is now +7. Reginn would be +12 now if that were possible. Ingrid would be +6 if I had a better merge base. 51 pulls on the second New Year rerun: 2 Plumeria (+1 spark) 0 Selkie 1 Velouria Plumeria is now +3. Velouria is now +1. I was originally going to pull for the spark on the Akaneia Hall of Forms banner, but after the New Year banner turned into a budget sink, I just pulled the free pull and called it a day. The Remix banners I was already only going to stop with the free pull since none of the colors on either banner were such that I wanted copies of both units. Didn't end up getting anything of note from those pulls.

The next Resplendent Hero is Hel Soren: This brings him up to 41/41 offenses with maximum Dragonflowers, which isn't amazing, but at least brings his stats barely above Luthier's. That said, Nino has always had base stats higher than his, so he's still behind Resplendent Nino, and he's also beaten among free-to-play units by Bastian for Atk/Res builds and Tea Party Tailtiu for Atk/Spd builds.

If you're keeping his Golden Dagger, then there are a few options, but all of the better ones require a complete rework of his build. Note that even with a premium build, an unmerged Saber is still outclassed by pretty much every modern unit that can fill the same role, even if you're running them with Distant Counter (M) instead of Distant A/S Solo to get the Distant Counter effect. If you can spare an Arcane Devourer, you're better of giving the exact same skills to Lapis or Inigo instead of Saber. If you're still intent on building Saber, his Spd stat isn't amazing, so I would only go with the Spd-based options if you have a Spd Asset, his Resplendent outfit, can give him maximum Dragonflower boosts, and have some team support to help boost his Spd a bit on top. Otherwise, you're probably better off with the slower options. Vital Astra: Saber [+Spd] Golden Dagger [unique] [Assist] Vital Astra Atk/Spd Finish 4 Spurn 4 / Phys. Null Follow / Spd/Def Bulwark 3 Time's Pulse 4 [any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd] Spurn 4 is the B skill I'd most recommend due to the fact that it grants Phantom Spd to help with his Spd stat just a bit. Godlike Reflexes: Saber [+Spd] Golden Dagger [unique] [Assist] Godlike Reflexes Atk/Spd Finish 4 [Velocity 4] / Spurn 4 / Buffer 4 / Phys. Null Follow / Spd/Def Tempo 4 / Spd/Def Bulwark 3 Atk/Spd Pledge / Atk/Spd Oath 4 / Incite Atk/Spd [any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd] / Darting Breath Saber needs some source of +1 Special charge rate to run Godlike Reflexes, so you're looking at one of Pledge, Breath, or team support. Velocity 4 would be the best B skill on this build, but it doesn't exist yet. As with the Vital Astra build, I recommend a Dodge 4 skill over the other options due to the Phantom Spd effect. Ruptured Sky / Moonbow: Saber [+Atk / +Def] Golden Dagger [unique] [Assist] Ruptured Sky / Moonbow Atk/Def Finish 4 / Atk/Spd Finish 4 Quick Riposte 4 / Null C-Disrupt 4 Time's Pulse 4 [any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd, Atk/Def, or Spd/Def] / Null Follow-Up 3 / Quick Riposte 3 No Quarter / Luna / Bonfire: Saber [+Atk / +Def] Golden Dagger [unique] [Assist] No Quarter / Luna / Bonfire Atk/Def Finish 4 / Atk/Spd Finish 4 Special Spiral 3 / Special Spiral 4 Atk/Spd Pledge / Atk/Def Oath 4 / Atk/Spd Oath 4 [any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd, Atk/Def, or Spd/Def] / Null Follow-Up 3 / Quick Riposte 3 / Steady Breath Aegis: Saber [+Atk / +Def] Golden Dagger [unique] [Assist] Aegis Atk/Spd Finish 4 / Atk/Def Finish 4 Shield Pulse 3 / Buffer 4 Atk/Spd Pledge / Atk/Def Oath 4 / Atk/Spd Oath 4 Quick Riposte 3 / Steady Breath / [any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd, Atk/Def, or Spd/Def] / Null Follow-Up 3

Added Hawkeye's weapon to the translation notes.

Both have a gap of 2-3 years, but Akaneia has basically only one character that changes their appearance between its two games (Hardin), whereas Tellius has enough characters where you can tell which of the two games the character's design is from.

I'm never going to get used to Igrene having Hara Yumi as her voice actor. And the usual translation notes: The banner name, "Nabata's Shield", is "理想郷の守護者" (risōkyō no shugosha), "Guardians of Utopia". Altina's epithet, "Unrivaled Dawn", is "無双なる暁光" (musō-naru gyōkō), "Peerless Light of Dawn". Arcadian Axes is "永遠の理想郷の双斧" (eien no risōkyō no sōfu), "Dual Axes of the Eternal Utopia". Arms of the Three is "三雄の双刃" (san'yū no sōjin), "Dual Blades of the Three Heroes". Atk/Def Bulwark is "攻撃守備の防壁" (kōgeki shubi no bōheki), "Atk/Def Bulwark". Juno's epithet, "Nimble Grace", is "優美なる天馬騎士" (yūmi-naru tenba kishi), "Graceful Pegasus Knight". Blade of Sands is "砂漠の天馬騎士の剣" (sabaku no tenba kishi no ken), "Sword of the Desert's Pegasus Knight". Anything but a "sword". Atk/Def Oath is "攻撃守備の信義" (kōgeki shubi no shingi), "Atk/Def Faith". Tormod's epithet, "Indomitable Will", is "不屈なる壮志" (fukutsu-naru sōshi), "Indomitable Ambition". Nabata Beacon is "ナバタの燭台" (nabata no shokudai), "Nabatan Candle Holder". Igrene's epithet, "Sworn Protectors", is "愛と護りの神射手" (ai to mamori no shin-shashu), "Sagittaries of Love and Protection". "神射手" (unsure if pronounced "shin-shashu" or "kami-ite"), literally "divine archer", is the name of the Sagittary class from Radiant Dawn, localized as "Marksman". Sandglass Bow is "悠久の黄砂の絆弓" (yūkyū no kōsa no hankyū), "Linking Bow of the Eternal Yellow Sands". Pulse Up: Blades is "鍛錬の鼓動・刃" (tanren no kodō: jin), "Pulse of Training: Blade". Hawkeye's epithet, "Taciturn Guardian", is "寡黙なる守護戦士" (kamoku-naru shugo senshi), "Taciturn Guardian Warrior". Nabata Lance is "ナバタの槍" (nabata no yari), "Lance of Nabata".

The only thing edgier than dual wielding is dual wielding katanas.

Danger noodles are very cute. Very deserving of headpats.