Special Heroes: Brides to Be

[Fire Emblem Fan]

This month's Special Heroes is the yearly Bride/Groom banner, and this year we're getting Embla, Lapis, Nel, a Sharena + Veronica Duo, and Alcryst as the TT+ unit.

 

[Sunwoo]

... Does Nel's dragon form actually look like that in the DLC? XD

Also, this banner is just okay. Totally skippable for me at least. Nice that Sharena finally gets a new alt. I guess the real Askr/Embla pairing was Sharena/Veronica all along

[Othin]

I don't know who Nel is, but I'll never complain about an easily accessible new character. Nice to see more availability of Scowl and Counter Roar, too.

Those skill sets are horrifying.

[Tybrosion]

Oh wow, Tormod getting Sharena’s JP voice actresses back in January actually paid off for the later.

4 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

... Does Nel's dragon form actually look like that in the DLC? XD

Yes, that is approximately what her dragon form looks like in Engage.

3 minutes ago, Othin said:

I don't know who Nel is, but I'll never complain about an easily accessible new character.

She’s one of the two completely new characters that Engage’s DLC added. The other characters added were her twin brother and good versions of Zephia, Griss and Marni.

[Sunwoo]

1 minute ago, Tybrosion said:

Yes, that is approximately what her dragon form looks like in Engage.

It kinda looks like a frilled lizard

[EricaofRenais]

Well Nel I want and her being the 4* demote is nice, plus my boy Alcryst is the TT unit so I can +10 him without orbs.  I am happy to see Sharena finally get another alt and seeing her in a duo with Veronica is nice and even better that this banner has a duo again after 3 years of harmonics (yes they counted the Roy+Eliwood as a hararmonic since it was Blazing Sword Eliwood).  

[Acacia Sgt]

I guess AlcrystxLapis was the designated couple of the banner.

Wow, Nel? That's certainly a surprise.

[Tybrosion]

10 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

It kinda looks like a frilled lizard

This is how it looks in one piece of Engage's official art:

Spoiler

 

[Sunwoo]

2 minutes ago, Tybrosion said:

This is how it looks in one piece of Engage's official art:

  Hide contents

 

Ah. The official art makes it look more like you crossed a frilled lizard with a cobra and outer space, with a little Pokemon thrown in for good measure.

Either way, I don't really have any feelings about her as a character. But counter roar 3 is pretty nice to have on here. As is atk/spd scowl 3.

[Some Jerk]

Nel's weapon is inheritable. Oh no.

[Aedan7479]

IS is either putting off hiring a new jp Alfonse voice actor, don’t want to push Alfonse x Veronica too hard, or didn't want to do a Male and female duo. Though Sharena is very overdue for an alt.

[CreeperMaster343]

Alfonse and Veronica were invalid for a duo anyway according to the way they do stuff, both of them had already been leads, Veronica with Xander, and Alfonse with Sharena

[Tybrosion]

Alfonse and Veronica already have a Duo anyways. It's called Day of Devotion Lif & Thrasir.

[Florete]

Wow, we're finally getting a true repeat duo: Wendee Lee and Julie Kliewer.

[Etrurian emperor]

Sharena murdered Alfonse and stole Veronica. Now she's gonna murder Lif and steal Tracir. Won't anyone stop her?

Since Alcryst was on the banner Lapis was a lock. They both deserve better but at least its cute IS seems to ship them as much as the fanbase does.

Embla is still the best candidate for bridal banner ever. 

[Diovani Bressan]

Disappointed... Alcryst being another Red Bow Archer. That's the 3rd one in the Grail, in less than a year. At least make him Green or Blue.

Anyway, very interesting banner. I will skip it though, since I sparked Lumera in the Fallen banner, and need to save for the Legendary banner so I can do the spark there as well.

[ARMADS!!!]

And there Sharena's both duo/harmonic options go... I mean, I'm not actually disappointed, I liked this duo a lot but I'll be mourning what a Sharena + Zacharias (wielding a lance cause it was him who teached her) or maybe a Sharena + Peony could have been, still nice choice, I loved that they have the little Askr and Embla dolls from the book VI ending movie, and that Sharena finally got an alt without Alfonse (as much as I like him). 

 Embla has a black dress!!

I loved that Lapis has 2 colors of roses on her attire! Also liked that her sword is a cake cutter knife (I know they had done it before, but I like it regardless).

 When I saw Nel's face, I mistook her for Soren for a tiny sec since I had never seen Nel before lol. (Though having that thought made me consider a groom Forrest/Rosado using a dress, it'd look pretty neat). Anyway, her dragon form is pretty badass, also I'd probably have liked it better to see either Askr, Elm or even Ash on her place, just so it'd have been someone more related to Embla but... guess Veronica is related enough.

 I wish they did less brides in boots and more in pretty high heels, seems like all of them but Sharena wear boots here (and we can't see Veronica's shoes), at least Sharena's heels are pretty nice.

 Also... Is Alcryst seriously the TT+ unit? Thought he was more popular than this. Also, a bit of a shame that he's the only groom but alas, the banner is good, so I won't complain. Only will complain about him being another red bow.

 

 

 I liked Lapis' weapon a lot, the effect that gives you an extra turn if you defeat her is pretty neat (I mean, that's what it is, right? It seems to very clearly mean this on the weapon description but then, on the little text resuming what she can do right after the weapon and skills descriptions fade, it mentions that she grants an extra action to allies who KO foes that fought Lapis and not the foes that KOed her...).

 Does anyone know if Embla's weapon's effect of granting "if Special CD count is at max value, grants CD count - 2; if Special CD count is at max value - 1, grants CD count- 1" to allies is cumulative with similar effects?

 

 Well, I'm in need of more good lance units so Sharena came at a good time. Nel has great a inheritable weapon and fodder too but I'm not sure if I'll want to spend my orbs on her, still don't know if I'll got for Lapis and Embla you or just the duo.

 

 

9 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I guess AlcrystxLapis was the designated couple of the banner.

 ̶N̶o̶,̶ ̶I̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶V̶e̶r̶o̶n̶i̶c̶a̶ ̶s̶t̶e̶a̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶'̶s̶ ̶g̶i̶r̶l̶f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶ ̶A̶s̶k̶r̶/̶E̶m̶b̶l̶a̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶e̶e̶d̶.̶

8 hours ago, Aedan7479 said:

IS is either putting off hiring a new jp Alfonse voice actor, don’t want to push Alfonse x Veronica too hard, or didn't want to do a Male and female duo. Though Sharena is very overdue for an alt.

 I think the first two reasons are the most likely (since they did male/female duos before like Sothe/Micaiah) but of course that also what the others said about both having been leads and the Líf+Thrasir alt too (it'd feel like a waste to do it again). Alfonse hasn't won the CYL yet when they started planning this banner so they couldn't have known that they'd have to hire someone new either way (although, I guess they'd have to do it someday, I mean Legendary Alfonse seems unavoidable, but maybe they didn't think they would have to think about it too soon), in any case I like it that they don't push Alfonse/Veronica too hard even though it seems likely that they'll be endgame, also it's nice that Sharena gets an alt without Alfonse (she deserves it for how dirty they did her on that Valentines banner).

[DefyingFates]

I said this on Reddit too, but I'm honestly shocked Nel is the demote and not Lapis, given how important the two are in their respective stories. That said, as someone who likes Nel I'm tempted to try and get her, but with no spark on the banner (and no guarantee of ever getting the 4* focus either)...

The Sharena + Veronica duo is adorable and I look forward to Lapis and Alcryst interacting in the Paralogue, but the star has to be Embla for the sheer hilarity of... well, everything about her being here. Her VA must have had a lot of fun recording her lines~

[Tybrosion]

The Sacred Seals for the Tempest Trials this time are Atk/Def Finish at 10,000 points and Chill Spd/Def at 20,000 points.

Groom Alcryst's skill kit is Harp Bow+, Draw Back, Bonus Doubler 3, Atk/Spd Oath 3.

Harp Bow+: Effective against flying foes. If unit initiates combat or if foe's Range = 2, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 to unit, deals damage = 15% of unit's Spd (excluding area-of-effect Specials), and reduces damage from foe's first attack by X% during combat (if it is unit's first combat initiated by unit or first combat initiated by foe that turn, X = 60; otherwise, X = 30; "first attack" normally means only the first strike; for effects that grant "unit attacks twice," it means the first and second strikes).

[Ether]

I'm not surprised to see Lapis get the premium treatment considering the buzz around her initial banner where she wasn't even available as a focus. It feels like she was even more of a talking point than Diamant or Alcryst were at the time, and considering folk went so far as rolling to +10 an off-focus demote on her debut(iirc one guy got 30+ Diamants along the way) they clearly showed demand for her. She did very well in the latest CYL for a non-royal who was already in the game as well. They very heavily underestimated the demand for Lapis the first time around and are correcting.

[Humanoid]

My cunning plan to bait IS into releasing a Palla alt has unfortunately failed.

[Tybrosion]

Yeah, Lapis did place higher than Nel did in CYL8 despite Lapis already being in FEH at that point. 

Embla is the least popular character here if you go off of CYL8 results, but FEH OCs, regardless of their popularity, get premium treatment on seasonal banners a vast majority of the time. Even in the most recent instance where that wasn't the case (Spring Mirabilis), she still got a Prf weapon and a Prf assist as the 4 star focus unit.

[Sunwoo]

I'm more surprised by Alcryst being the freebie. Sure, he's a dude, but isn't he more popular than anyone else not named Veronica on this banner? (I'm pretty murky on the placement on Engage characters, correct me if Lapis outranked Alcryst.) Either way, guess IS prioritizes less popular boobs over more popular dudes.

[Etrurian emperor]

Its funny that in the Askr valentine banner the family locked Sharena in the basement so they could celebrate with Veronica. This time around Sharena has her revenge by locking Alfonse in the basement. 

[Ether]

Alcryst placed slightly higher than Lapis did(17th overall vs 28th overall), but I think that when you account for the last time they shared a banner together, Alcryst was a rare asset hero and Lapis was a 3-4 instant demote, them flipping them with Lapis being a rarer seasonal 5 and Alcryst being a f2p grail unit makes sense. The gap between them isn't large enough that one should always be a higher rarity than the other, and the third engage character on the banner was also a demote(and 43rd overall is still a very high placement). All 3 of them were more than popular enough to be premium options, but they chose to give the premium slots to Heroes originals, and since Lapis was already available as a f2p friendly option they gave her the nod for the remaining premium slot.

They also likely devised this banner before they had access to CYL results containing Engage characters, and based a lot of it on how Lapis was viewed on her debut banner. Like I said, her insta demote status(esp with no free copies) got folk riled up and she made a big splash for that unit category in regards to folk trying to pull for her. Alcryst didn't get as much fanfare that I can recall.