Favorite Skills

[Hunter Nightblood]

Alright, so there are a lot of skills in Awakening. A LOT of them. Some of them are good. Others... not so much.

Here I will list my top 5 skills.

#5: Astra. Astra allows for a unit to strike 5 times at half damage. That puts your overall damage output at 2.5X the normal amount. Combine that with criticals and this skill means death. Of course, this skill only works if you can actually deal decent damage, not to mention the Counter suicides, so it's here at the bottom of the list.

#4: Iote's Shield. Flying units are nice until their weaknesses come to play. Sadly, their two main weaknesses also have some of the highest hit rates in the game. Iote's shield fixes that so now your Griffon Rider can be one-shotted by a magic tome due to it's resistance rather than a weakness.

#3: Vengence. This skill is evil. The more damage you take, the more damage you deal, not to mention if you have over 50 skill it will always activate. Of course, this skill is only useful on the higher difficulties because you need to be hit in order for this to work.

#2: Galeforce. Oh Galeforce, how broken are ye. Galeforce allows a unit to act again if he or she defeats an enemy. I could list all the ways this completly breaks the game, but that would probably be beating a dead horse.

#1: Limit Breaker. Increase my stat caps by 10. Make me virtually invincible on lower difficulites? Yes please!

And that's it. Now do you agree with my picks or not. Also what are your top skills?

Edited August 11, 2014 by Hunter Nightblood

[Bloo]

Ehhhh Limit Breaker is really kinda dumb in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, it's the best skill in the game, but IS forcing us to shell out however much it is (can't remember) for 10 points extra stats, it seems a bit money grabbing.

1. Armsthrift, because I like naming weapons and having them as their personal weapons which never break etc.

2. Ignis because pretty flower petals.

3. Luna simply because the animations it puts on classes (namely Swordmaster and Dread Fighter) look awesome.

[NinjaMonkey]

I don't have any of the skills DLC, so I'm not going to count them.

1) Ignis

2) Luna

3) Galeforce

4) Tomefaire

5) Shadowgift

[Hunter Nightblood]

Oh dang it. Luna is much better than Astra. Especially on Lunatic.

So...

#5: Iote's Shield

#4: Vengence

#3: Galeforce

#2: Luna

#1: Limit Breaker

1) Ignis

5) Shadowgift

I agree that Ignis and Shadowgift are awesome skills. I didn't put them on my list because there are very few units who can learn them. Same reason why I wouldn't put Aether here, despite it being an awesome skill.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Hunter Nightblood

[Roflolxp54]

1. Limit Break: Great for almost any unit (barring most units that try to abuse Vantage+Vengeance)

2. Armsthrift: Limit Break + Armsthrift for almost all units that can have the combination -- can't break their own weapons

3. Galeforce: For sweeping Golden Gaffe in 2 turns using Auto-Blitz as well as using hit-and-run tactics on Counter enemies

4. Renewal: A big life saver in most situations -- trollish healing when stacked with standing on a fort and has some synergy with Counter

5. Luna, Ignis and Sol (3-way tie): Luna is basically a way to troll defensive units as well as those enemy units with Pavise(+)/Aegis(+). Ignis has a somewhat similar effect via the boost provided by the unused offensive stat. Sol's a lifesaver on Lunatic/Lunatic+.

[Gaia]

5 - Luna/Ignis: Both are relatively similar procs, and are the best at their job, so here they are.

4 - Any -Faire: Adds reliable damage.

3 - Aggressor: ^

2 - Aether: Half the proc rate, but when stacked with Luna gives a relatively high chance of a Luna proc, as well as giving yourself 2 hits, and healing yourself ever so slightly.

1 - Limit Breaker: self-explanatory.

[DancingDanny]

Astra and Armsthrift are probably my two favorite skills...

Astra is really useful (except against Counter... ^_^;), and I get really excited when it activates! :)
Armsthrift is nice because I don't have to worry about my weapons durability as much...

[Czar_Yoshi]

5: Veteran

4: Vantage

3: All+2

2: Hit+20

1: DS+

That's funny. Nobody's mentioned any of mine yet. Veteran and DS+ are self-explanatory, one is the source fo Avatar's gamebreaking power and the other is the no-contest most potent skill in any sort of challenge run and is the only way for Morgan's mother to be better than her. Hit+20 is an excellent anti-RNG skill, Vantage makes it possible to sweep in Apo with proper setups and All+2 is the universal filler skill (LB is mandatory outside of challenge runs so it doesn't have this utility).

Edited August 11, 2014 by Czar_Yoshi

[LTwerewolf]

Love Armsthrift and Astra, with ignis coming in 3rd. After that, probably sol or renewal (depending on the character.) Combination of those i try to put on everyone

[Shadow Mir]

Leaving out Limit Breaker...

Luna

Renewal

Aether

Iote's Shield

Dual Support+

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

For practicality:

Veteran and Galeforce - all I ever need to take on any difficulty. Veteran embarrasses anything Lunatic and lower on its own.

For style:

Lethality - can be either epic or ridiculous looking, depending on the character's chosen weapon. Good for a laugh, even if it's not worth seriously deploying.

[euklyd]

Armsthrift and Galeforce and Vantage and Vengeance

nothing else comes particularly close

Sol has a special place in my heart as well, I guess

[Refa]

1. Galeforce- Because FE13 doesn't have Warp.

2. Veteran- Because FE13 doesn't have Sigurd as your main lord.

3. Armsthrift- Because FE13 doesn't have repairable weapons.

4. Paragon- Because FE13 doesn't have an Elite Mode.

5. Aggressor- Because FE13 doesn't have shit enemies at endgame like FE7/FE8/FE9 did.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Refa

[Tables]

Best or favourite? Because there's a big difference. For now I'll go with best, assuming in-game lunatic no grind and not low-manning:

1) Veteran. Lets Robin become broken. In addition to a crazy stat lead on everyone else - enough to be one of the best skills on it's own - Veteran gives access to other skills more quickly, AND once you get late into the game, you can remove it and still be benefitting from the huge stat and skill lead you already have - i.e., it's effect is somewhat more permanent than most other skills.

2) Galeforce. There's so many things Galeforce can do. Killing a dangerous Counter Warrior before they can reach you, and retreating back. Rushing and killing a boss from possibly over 20 spaces away. Clearing up a larger group of enemies breathing down your neck than you'd be able to otherwise kill with your army. There's so many possibilities, and all of them are powerful. The two big downsides are, firstly you have to be able to kill something, but if my Sumia with only 23 STR and 19 MAG is still consistently killing stuff come endgame, then well it's clearly not much of a downside. And secondly, being a 20/15 skill which only females can access makes it not too easy to get earlier in the game. The Pegasus starting characters might get it around chapter 15ish, others (except Robin) are probably looking at more like chapter 18 or later, which is pretty late into the game.

3) Vengeance. Easily the best in-game proc, mainly because of it's incredible Nosferatanking synergy. The more damage you've taken, the more you heal. And with it's high proc rate, it's fairly reliable at it to boot. Nosferatu is really quite incredible, and Vengeance just pushes it up to a higher level. Even outside of Nosferatu, Vengeance can be handy. Good examples of it's use are on archers, who you can let take a hit or two and then keep them safe, due to accurate and powerful 2 range and high skill, and of course the Vengeance+Vantage combo, which while tough to pull off, can be devastating - although risky.

4) Rally Spectrum. This one can be a little tough to place. It's a level 15 promoted skill, BUT it's Robin's, so he/she can get it easily. It does mean promoting and not Second Sealing as a Tactician, though, which is bad, or perhaps switching back into Grandmaster, but the skill is extremely valuable. +4 to all stats for almost your entire team is not something to sneer at. It does mean you aren't attacking that turn, but that's fine - defensive play can be better anyway, and you can still counter. +4 to all stats means you're hitting quite a bit harder, doubling a lot more, taking far less damage from hits (if you get hit anyway, with 8 extra avoid), have boosted accuracy, crit, proc and dual strike rates and so on. It's a huge bonus. I can't justify putting it higher and in fact I'm tempted to put it lower, because Robin often has better things they could be doing, but also they can pass it on to Morgan or another child, and they can use it easily with no training at all, so there are options at least.

5) Dual Strike+. Dual Strikes are obviously valuable, and this skill boosts your rate significantly. It doesn't take long in the game before Chrom hits S support with Robin/Sully/Sumia (or occasionally another), and with DS+, his Dual Strike rate will probably be around 80% as soon as that happens. That means you have a 96% chance of DSing once, compared to a 91% chance without the skill, and a 65% chance to DS twice compared to 49% without it. Pretty significant shifts, especially when it's worth taking the risky move. And a lot of the time you won't be ORKOing without something activating - be it a DS, a skill or a crit, and sometimes two of those, so boosting your odds is great. Later in the game, you're looking at 90%+ DS rates with this skill compared to 80% without - now it's a 99% chance of getting at least one, and an 81% chance of getting two, compared to 96% and 64% without. It should of course also be noted, this skill works perfectly well from the back, and of course Lucina will also have it, making training her somewhat easier.

I think that's my list. I actually have sitting in a spreadsheet a partially made Skills tier list which I've been contemplating posting to SF, but there's a few issues with doing that. Still if people are curious I guess there it is for a look.

[Ownagepuffs]

In no specific order.

Luna

Hit +20

Galeforce

Vantage + Vengeance (it's a package)

[Interceptor]

I wouldn't put them on my Mount Rushmore above heavy-hitters like Veteran, but I happen to like the aura-based skills in this game.

They have a lot of hidden power that goes unnoticed by many people. Charm and Solidarity aren't flashy, for example, but are part of hundreds of battles in a playthrough. Together they are responsible for all sorts of "miracle" crits/hits/dodges, for which they get no credit.

See also: Hex, Anathema, Demoiselle.

[Hoshino Sora]

Keeping out DLC,

5. Armsthrift(saving weapons)

4. Astra(because it's fun to hit multiple times)

3. Dual Support +

2. Galeforce(my must have)

1. Ignis(because it's so pretty)

[Dijon Mustard]

1. Ignis (it's the best-looking one to me, and most of my favorite classes happen to have balanced Str and Mag)
2. Aggressor (Insta Hard Support for any male, which helps some units I like actually contribute)

3. Deliverer (in tandem with boots, rallies, and a +1 Mov pair up, I like having Wyverns of Death that cover the map with blue-tiled range)
4. Armsthrift (naming unbreakable weapons is fun)
5. Sol (I just like the idea of leeching an enemy's health, plus it makes training units much simpler)

[Anacybele]

Aether is my favorite skill, of course! Although it's partly because of Ike and his badass animation for it. But I also really like it's effects which are still the same in Awakening. Big damage + healing? Hell yeah. :D

Lethality is my other favorite in this game. That shit is just BADASS.

[Hunter Nightblood]

3. Armsthrift- Because FE13 doesn't have repairable weapons.

You can buy Hammerne staves when Merchants show up. I have 8 of them.

Aether is my favorite skill, of course! Although it's partly because of Ike and his badass animation for it. But I also really like it's effects which are still the same in Awakening. Big damage + healing? Hell yeah. :D

Lethality is my other favorite in this game. That shit is just BADASS.

You like Ike? Gee, never would have guesses *sarcasm*

I do like Lethality; however it's abysmal activation rate and uselessness on units with Dragonskin make it not one of my faves.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Hunter Nightblood

[NinjaMonkey]

and uselessness on units with Dragonskin make it not one of my faves.

All two of them...

[Anacybele]

You like Ike? Gee, never would have guesses *sarcasm*

I do like Lethality; however it's abysmal activation rate and uselessness on units with Dragonskin make it not one of my faves.

I...never mentioned anything about my love for him in that post. But anyway.

Lethality doesn't have a great activation rate on its own, but you forget that Rightful King exists.

[MeteoSage]

There are so many useful skills and combinations in Fire Emblem Awakening.

I like having counter along with vengeance and wrath. Add tomebreaker and bowbreaker and people are forced to come close to you. Too bad few can even acquire these skills with ease in the first place.

The res+10, limit breaker and tomebreaker makes magic nothing to worry about, especially for my avatar that seems to never get resistance even if that is his asset.

I'd probably pick in ascending order w/o DLC skills: counter, vengeance, lifetaker, aether, galeforce.

I've never been a huge fan of Lethality, as it's just a little too inconsistent for my taste.

[Buttocksinator]

Vantage, Vengeange, Hit Rate +20, Armsthrift, Limit Breaker forged Aversa's Night.

Nnnnngh, so good girl.

Early game Hex and Anathema compensate for Tharja's low skill and makes nearly invincible.

[Icon of Sin]

Armsthrift to spend less money on forges

Despoil for loads of money

Lucky Seven for great bonuses if you go fast

Galeforce because Galeforce

Anathema for ranged utility that anyone can use