Special Heroes: Ring in the Year

[Fire Emblem Fan]

The New Year's banner is giving us Male Kana, Female Kana as the TT+ reward, and...Kvasir, Nerþuz, and a Duo with Seiðr and Heiðr.

 

[Sunwoo]

Yay, it's a NY banner ... and I don't care about anyone on it. Honestly, all of the book 7 OCs were pretty uninteresting to me so I guess I wasn't going to care for them on character. Kanas are Kanas.

The skill level here looks mostly tame, or as tame as Kvasir and Seithr's prfs can get. Demote scowl and dragon wall is nice, too bad we can't get those in the regular pool.

Overall, I'm pretty happy I can skip this.

[Tybrosion]

Bruh, why did we get a Duo Hero (and the most boring one yet, as well) on the Winter banner if we were always getting Duo Seidr & Heidr? 

Anyways, I don't have any big complaints with this banner. I do appreciate F!Kana being the TT unit instead of the 4* focus since I'll probably pass on spending orbs on this one. I still have my sights set on getting Legendary F!Alear from Camilla's banner.

[Lemmy]

Guess this is what I expected, I’ll be dedicating orbs to Christmas banner, just has more skills that I like.

[Florete]

Awesome, an easy skip.

And two T&A poses. Poor Seiðr.

[Ice Dragon]

The art is pretty. I'll read the skill descriptions later when I'm not exhausted from holiday travel.

 

Somehow, doing translation notes is less mentally taxing than reading skill descriptions:

 

The banner name, "Ring In the Year", is "新春挨拶合戦" (shinshun aisatsu kassen), "New Year Greetings Contest".

Nerthuz's epithet, "New-Year Doter", is "寄り添う新年" (yorisou shinnen), "Nestling New Year".

Cute Paper Crane is "地の女神の折り鶴" (chi no megami no orizuru), "Paper Crane of the Goddess of the Land".

Atk/Spd Wild is "攻撃速さの野生" (kōgeki hayasa no yasei), "Atk/Spd Wildness".

Kvasir's epithet, "Unknown Future", is "はじめてのお正月" (hajimete no oshōgatsu), "First New Year". Ambiguously either "her first new year" or "the first new year", almost certainly intentionally.

Faded Paper Fan is "過去の女神の扇子" (kako no megami no sensu), "Folding Fan of the Goddess of the Past".

Inf. Null Follow is "歩行の見切り追撃" (hokō no mikiri tsuigeki), "Infantry Nullify Follow-Up Attack". "見切り追撃" (mikiri tsuigeki) is an abbreviation of "見切り・追撃効果" (mikiri: tsuigeki kōka), "Nullification: Follow-Up Attack Effects", which is the name of the Null Follow-Up skill.

Kana's epithet, "Rising Dragon", is "新年の昇り竜" (shinnen no nobori-ryū), "New Year's Rising Dragon".

Dragon's Stone is "辰年の御子の竜石" (tatsudoshi no miko no ryūseki), "Dragonstone of the Prince of the Year of the Dragon".

Seidr's epithet, "Time's Goddesses", is "新春の女神姉妹" (shinshun no megami shimai), "New Year's Goddess Sisters".

Goddess Temari is "女神姉妹の手毬" (megami shimai no temari), "Goddess Sisters' Temari".

Time's Grip is "時の陥穽" (toki no kansei), "Time's Trap".

Sabotage S/R is "速さ魔防の混乱" (hayasa mabō no konran), "Spd/Res Confusion".

Future-Sighted is "共に未来を変えて" (tomo ni mirai o kaete), "Together We Will Change the Future".

Kana's epithet, "Rising Sunlight", is "笑顔のご来光" (egao no goraikō), "Smiling Sunrise".

New-Sun Stone is "辰年の幼姫の竜石" (tatsudoshi no yōki no ryūseki), "Dragonstone of the Young Princess of the Year of the Dragon".

Distant Counter (M) is "遠反・剣槍斧専用" (enhan: ken yari ono senyō), "Long-Range Counterattack: Sword, Lance, Axe Exclusive Use". "遠反" (enhan) is an abbreviation of "遠距離反撃" (enkyori hangeki), "Long-Range Counterattack", which is the name of the Distant Counter skill.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Humanoid]

Hoodless Kvasir looks nice, but is an infantry mage. Nothing particularly worth commenting on with the other units.

[vikingsfan92]

So summer Gullveig confirmed? Every other main book charcter got an alt on this banner so its looking more likely that her first non-Brave alt is going to be summer.

 

Also the art of the animations of the attacks are really good and some of the best imo.

Edited December 28, 2023 by vikingsfan92

[DefyingFates]

2 hours ago, vikingsfan92 said:

So summer Gullveig confirmed?

That was my first thought too. I'm sure she'll powercreep her Mythic version at that point too.

As for this banner, I'm skipping it and saving for AHR. It's dumb Kana brings Tier 3 versions of coveted skills but they're not in the main pool yet, as is tradition. Also, I forget who said it but it seems NY being "the dragon banner" was true!

[Diovani Bressan]

That's an easy skip. No one here screams "you must have" for me. I would be more tempted if Heidr was her own unit with Gold Serpent assist skill, because I would like that for Light seasons in AR

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

That was my first thought too. I'm sure she'll powercreep her Mythic version at that point too.

 

Summer Gullveig will have both Time Is Light (from Mythic) and Gold Unwinding (from Brave), on top of having the "another action" effect on the weapon, for a total of 4 actions in the same turn.

[Etrurian emperor]

Not the most exiting lineup but then its also not the most exiting theme. Speaking of that. How well do New Year banners typically sell? Because I struggle to imagine most people outside of Japan would be very hyped for it.

6 hours ago, vikingsfan92 said:

So summer Gullveig confirmed?

If so I hope we get to see Summer Njordr too. After all he is the sea got and her dad. 

[ARMADS!!!]

What? isn't it a bit unusual for the trailers to drop 4 days before the banner, or am I missing something?

 

 About the actual banner, I'm not exactly happy with the lineup but Im a bit more safistied than I thought I'd be (at least Heidr is here, Gullveig is ausent, M!Kana is not shoved as the TT unit, the female dragon is Kana instead of corrin as I thought it'd be).

 Kvasir is basically the same as her Mythic (but green and infantry), or did I miss something? I'll probably try for the Duo on my free pull and leave my orbs for when the Mythic Kvasir comes back (since I didn't manager to get her when her banner was on) instead of trying to ger this Kvasir now, if we get tickets they'll all to to the Duo too. They both look like pretty good units actually but nothing I wanna spend my orbs on right now.

 

4 hours ago, Diovani Bressan said:

Summer Gullveig will have both Time Is Light (from Mythic) and Gold Unwinding (from Brave), on top of having the "another action" effect on the weapon, for a total of 4 actions in the same turn.

For some reason I think they're never gonna surpass 3 self conceded actions per turn as that's already crazy but I'm sure they'll give less conditions or restrictions for Gullveig's extra actions, thus making her more annoying.

 

 EDIT: WHAT? ONE OF THE TT SEALS IS DC?! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! (thought it's called "Distant Counter (M)", probably M from "meelee", I wonder if It'll exclude beasts...)

Edited December 28, 2023 by ARMADS!!!

[Diovani Bressan]

2 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

EDIT: WHAT? ONE OF THE TT SEALS IS DC?! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! (thought it's called "Distant Counter (M)", probably M from "meelee", I wonder if It'll exclude beasts...)

Exclusive to Sword, Lance and Axe users.

[Tybrosion]

Stats and skill info [SPOILERS]:

Spoiler

Seidr & Heidr
Super Asset(s): Atk
Super Flaw(s): literally everything else

Kvasir
Super Asset(s): Spd
Super Flaw(s): HP, Def, Res

Nerbuz
Super Asset(s): Spd
Super Flaw(s): HP, Atk

Both Kanas (they share the same ones)
Super Asset(s): HP, Spd
Super Flaw(s): Atk, Def, Res
*And no, they still don't get the trainee BST bump like their papa / mama (at least, whenever they're a dragon unit) gets.

F!Kana's kit and skill restrictions / rarities: https://imgur.com/a/s1TJ5zf

 

[Mercakete]

Wow.

...

Well, the Kanas are the demote and the TT+ prize respectively. They feel kind of like an afterthought, honestly... And it's a bit weird not to have NY!F!Corrin but have her son being so focused on her. At least F!Kana could have some new years interactions with her dad since he got a New Years version already.

M!Kana is cute. I'll see if I can't pull him.

Disappointed with the Book 7 character representation, but that's just personal opinion, not something objective. Man... And after I saved up orbs to try to get Njordr... Well. Guess I'll just hope he gets a summer version, being a sea god (and since his kids both already have summer versions.) I feel like the chances are a lot slimmer than they were for him to show up on this banner, though...

At least the odds are good that I'll have more orbs to spend on other banners.

[Tybrosion]

As far as Njordr is concerned, the fact that IS didn't think he was worth a slot on this banner (even as the 4* Focus unit or TT unit) should tell us all we need to know about how they view him.

Unless if Njordr puts up huge results in any future CYL, I can definitely see IS passing on ever making him playable. At this point, I have to legitimately wonder if IS has even made any assets (like a beast form or any voice lines) for the guy beyond his story art / potraits and that 3D model from the Book VII Midpoint video.

[ARMADS!!!]

3 hours ago, Tybrosion said:

As far as Njordr is concerned, the fact that IS didn't think he was worth a slot on this banner (even as the 4* Focus unit or TT unit) should tell us all we need to know about how they view him.

Unless if Njordr puts up huge results in any future CYL, I can definitely see IS passing on ever making him playable. At this point, I have to legitimately wonder if IS has even made any assets (like a beast form or any voice lines) for the guy beyond his story art / potraits and that 3D model from the Book VII Midpoint video.

I wouldn't say it like this, maybe they just left him out because they already had 4 OCs on the banner and wanted 2 spots for dragons (since it's the year of the dragon). I still think he'll be on the summer banner, just like they did with Freyr.

 I really wonder if he does have more arts though, I think they always comission the 4 arts for each character just in case they'll need it, I remember Freyr had his attack and special art back on book IV (when he couldn't even atack you), also a bunch of OCs have sprites with faces they never made during the story (Letizia has one crying, Bruno has 2 more faces while on the verge of death, Fafnir has one or two more, I think OG Veronica has one smiling with closed eyes to something like this...), I wonder if OG Henriette has the other 3 arts too but on principle I think yes.

[Tybrosion]

50 minutes ago, ARMADS!!! said:

I wouldn't say it like this, maybe they just left him out because they already had 4 OCs on the banner and wanted 2 spots for dragons (since it's the year of the dragon). I still think he'll be on the summer banner, just like they did with Freyr.

Freyr was at least "fought" in Book IV though. If we are to get Njordr anytime soon, you'd think he'd at least be fought once in Book VII.

Njordr also isn't even on FEH's own website. If you look at the "Meet some of the Heroes" section of the website's main page, you won't find Njordr anywhere. The rest of the Book VII OCs, however, are all present.

[DefyingFates]

18 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

What? isn't it a bit unusual for the trailers to drop 4 days before the banner, or am I missing something?

The NY banner trailer and update always go up early, probably so the devs can take the NY's week (or weekend) off.

Edited December 29, 2023 by DefyingFates

[Mercakete]

The one thing Njordr has going for him is his connection to several other characters. He's (very likely) Freyr and Freyja's dad, he raised Seidr and Heidr (even if it was only for Gullveig's scheme), and he's Nerpuz's brother. He may even have more connections to other gods, but there's for sure those five. That's not an insignificant amount. Plus, some of these connections were only hinted at, and there's still a lot more they could do with it. (For example, if they want to do more with Freyja (which I find the most likely of his connections that IS would want to explore), they could bring Njordr in to explore her relationship with him, even if it's only in flashbacks, or via another banner (like how FEH explored Gustav and Henriette's relationship by using both Gustav's fallen version and the Day of Devotion banner.) After all, Freyja said that only her brother was kind to her. That would automatically exclude Njordr (unless that was unintentional implication) and I'm sure IS would love to use whatever they can to be all "look at poor Freyja; don't you guys feel sorry for her yet in spite of all the evil she's done and is?" Daddy issues for Freyja seem to fir their MO here.)

Also, IS likes making their FEH characters playable (which I am happy about since this is their home game.)

But, yeah, other than all that, I'm concerned that he may never make it as a playable character. Which is annoying. I want to know what he transforms into. (As I said before, he has 3 options, as I see it: a sea serpent, a goat, or a capricorn.)

[Ice Dragon]

On 12/27/2023 at 10:49 PM, Ice Dragon said:

New-Sun Stone is "辰年の幼姫の竜石" (tatsudoshi no yōki no ryūseki), "Dragonstone of the Young Princess of the Year of the Dragon".

Distant Counter (M) is "遠反・剣槍斧専用" (enhan: ken yari ono senyō), "Long-Range Counterattack: Sword, Lance, Axe Exclusive Use". "遠反" (enhan) is an abbreviation of "遠距離反撃" (enkyori hangeki), "Long-Range Counterattack", which is the name of the Distant Counter skill.

Added Female Kana's weapon and the new Sacred Seal.

New-Sun Stone's effect is:

• Dragonstone common effect
• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Reduces damage from non-follow-up attacks by 15% of Atk
  • Guard effect

Compare with Dragon's Stone's effect:

• Dragonstone common effect
• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Reduces damage from non-follow-up attacks by 20% of Spd
  • If unit's Spd is higher than opponent's Spd:
    • Null Follow-Up effect

 

The other Sacred Seal is Spd/Res Catch.

[Etrurian emperor]

Okay I have no idea how to fight Nerputz. She reduces even the strongest attacks to a mere 3 points of damage, heals herself after every action and does a ton of damage while also reducing the movebrnt of your units so your mages can’t reach her. Powercreep is fun.

[ARMADS!!!]

2 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Okay I have no idea how to fight Nerputz. She reduces even the strongest attacks to a mere 3 points of damage, heals herself after every action and does a ton of damage while also reducing the movebrnt of your units so your mages can’t reach her. Powercreep is fun.

Hm, I didn't fight her yet so I'm not 100% sure this will work (I might comeback to report, if and after I beat her) but try using someone that has reduction of DR and/or Deep Wounds. Also someone that can end her actions (like Seidr, Formortiis) or reduce her movement instantly (like Valentines Leo) might help a ton.

 Are these maps harder than the Christmas one? I didn't manage to beat the last Christmas paralogue map without losing any unit (because yeah, powercreep is fun..., you know it's serious when spamming Ninja Camilla stops workings).

[Mercakete]

Oh look, more "Seidr/Kvasir are hitting on the summoner but Seidr's in denial and Kvasir may not realize she's into the summoner yet, but Heidr is still trying to ship Seidr with the summoner." Yay. Also, Nerpuz being all "Maybe I'll look for the summoner too, hehe." Ugh, it's so blatant... At least the Kanas were being cute, though kind of in a way where I had trouble connecting to the characters. Oh well. I got some orbs.

I also did manage to summon M!Kana (at 5* even) so good. That's done.

I noticed that there were tickets for the banner, but I don't know how to get them. If/when they become available, I'm undecided as to whether to go for Nerpuz (I started collecting goats and she's a goat), or Kvasir (her dark kimono is pretty.) Hmmm maybe Nerpuz, for the sake of the herd. Pretty sure I'm done spending orbs on this, though.

[Etrurian emperor]

The story being all about the oc girls going ''I...I like avatar-kun'' felt kinda cringe. I think that could easily be fixed by having them crush over Alfonse or literally anyone who's an actual character.