Boon/Bane for a Physical Corrin

[Cluzo]

Since FE Fates will be released next week in my country, i'm doing the usual planning for my playthrough. My first playthrough will go for the Birthright route in Hard/Classic and i aim to make a male Corrin with Oni savage talent (in order to end as Blacksmith). The planned skillset for end game is Dragon fang, Hoshido Unity, Death blow, Aegis and Lancebreaker.

But i have trouble choosing Boon and bane : since i heard there were a lot of high DEF units in late game i can't decide myself over those 3 possibilities :

- Going all out physical with +Str - Lck and take care endgame tanks with Hammer

- Going hybrid with +Mag -Lck and tickle endgame tanks with Levin sword (note that it also helps my planned Malig knight Kana)

- Going with +Skl -Lck to improve skill activation

I'm looking forward to your advises, thanks in advance !

[eclipse]

Lessee. . .

Oni Savage into Blacksmith is pretty tanky. I agree with the +Str, because bonking things over the head is really funny. For a bane, I think you can get away with -Def. The Strength boon will also give a teensy bit of Skill.

If you really want to do hybrid, I'd go with Oni Chieftain instead.

[The DanMan]

+str/-lck is the way to go. My Corrins with -lck still tend to end up with twenty-something in the stat by end game.

[Weekender]

+Skl/-Lck isn't profitable early game unless you're willing to grind/buy skills from other My Castles, which could be a con if you're on Conquest. Some skills are expensive, which just adds fire to the fuel. But if you think you can handle the expenses, it might be prove useful.

+Mag/-Lck is good unless you screw yourself over and don't acquire a Levin Sword as soon as possible. [spoiler=Story and class promotion spoilers]Early access to Dragonstone allows you to tank hits, but it doesn't double, which could be a problem. But if you're in Conquest or Revelation, Nohr Noble is able to use tomes so it might be reliable until you get a Levin Sword. Though E rank hell might talk you out of using tomes entirely.

+Str/-Lck, I don't have any qualms with, as long as you go on a physical class.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Weekender

[Radetzky120]

+Skl/-Lck isn't profitable early game unless you're willing to grind/buy skills from other My Castles, which could be a con if you're on Conquest. Some skills are expensive, which just adds fire to the fuel. But if you think you can handle the expenses, it might be prove useful.

+Mag/-Lck is good unless you screw yourself over and don't acquire a Levin Sword as soon as possible. [spoiler=Story and class promotion spoilers]Early access to Dragonstone allows you to tank hits, but it doesn't double, which could be a problem. But if you're in Conquest or Revelation, Nohr Noble is able to use tomes so it might be reliable until you get a Levin Sword. Though E rank hell might talk you out of using tomes entirely.

+Str/-Lck, I don't have any qualms with, as long as you go on a physical class.

IIRC doesn't the Levin Sword not appear in BR? I believe it's only available in CQ/RV.

[Cluzo]

IIRC doesn't the Levin Sword not appear in BR? I believe it's only available in CQ/RV.

Well i haven't played Fates yet (release next friday for special edition preorders only, otherwise still one month to wait), so that's totally possible, that's partly why i ask. I red that +Mag -Res Paladin Corrin with Levin sword or Bolt Naginata was a popular choice. Since i do not like bandwagonning without testing first i was considering how to adapt it to my playstyle.

I guess i'll go with a +Str then since it seems to be the safest choice, plus hammers totally fit a blacksmith :)

Edited May 14, 2016 by Cluzo

[singularity]

+Str/-Def has the best mods, but +Str/-Lck is also fine(and maybe better growth-wise).

[Shadow Mir]

Personally, I'd recommend +Str/-Skill, because with Birthright's lack of defence on most of the playables, taking a Defence bane is shooting yourself in the foot big time, and I honestly think -Luck isn't a very good idea, either.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Cluzo]

Personally, I'd recommend +Str/-Skill, because with Birthright's lack of defence on most of the playables, taking a Defence bane is shooting yourself in the foot big time, and I honestly think -Luck isn't a very good idea, either.

I agree for the defense part, looks like tanks are rare thing in Birthright. As for luck, I might be wrong, but from the informations i gathered, it only affects crit avoid and you can find a +4 luck item in the first few chapters to compensate the low base.

While i agree overall -Skl isn't bad, it doesn't mesh well with this build since it's quite reliant on skill proc.

[Roflolxp54]

+STR/-LCK is very good if you don't intend to grind much during the playthrough.

+STR/-DEF is only good if you intend to grind to your stat caps, and even then, you'd have to be careful early on in the story.

+SPD/-LCK isn't a bad choice and doesn't lean Corrin towards physical or magical classes in terms of stat mods, though Corrin's growths still lean towards physical classes (before Boon/Bane are applied, his personal STR growth rate is 45% compared to the 30% he has in MAG)

+SPD/-DEF is similar, just only good if you grind and are careful early in the story.

[Shadow Mir]

I agree for the defense part, looks like tanks are rare thing in Birthright. As for luck, I might be wrong, but from the informations i gathered, it only affects crit avoid and you can find a +4 luck item in the first few chapters to compensate the low base.

While i agree overall -Skl isn't bad, it doesn't mesh well with this build since it's quite reliant on skill proc.

Maybe, but I wouldn't trust a Luck flaw avatar to get enough luck to ward off the threat of critical hits.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[avengerfive]

I've used -Luck multiple times for my Lunatic runs. My Corrin rarely faced crit chances. You just need to use the chapter 4 Goodess Icon on your MU and your set. Later on, you get more Goddess Icons too. There's no reason to not use -Luck, really. As for the boon, I'd go +Str. +Mag is also really good, but I often dump the Spirit Dust you get on Hinoka so she can use the Bolt Naginata effectively.

[Shadow Mir]

I've used -Luck multiple times for my Lunatic runs. My Corrin rarely faced crit chances. You just need to use the chapter 4 Goodess Icon on your MU and your set. Later on, you get more Goddess Icons too. There's no reason to not use -Luck, really. As for the boon, I'd go +Str. +Mag is also really good, but I often dump the Spirit Dust you get on Hinoka so she can use the Bolt Naginata effectively.

I think it's just a Very Bad Thing^TM when you need two points of luck to get one point of crit evade, and second, I think there's no reason not to go -Skill instead. What's more, I think low luck is even more damning than Stealth Rock weakness. Let that sink in for a while.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[eclipse]

Goddess Icons give +4 Luck on use, Luck Tonics exist, and Rally Luck is fairly easy to get. If you're facing five or more crit, you might want to reconsider how you bait units with Killer weapons.

[Shadow Mir]

Goddess Icons give +4 Luck on use, Luck Tonics exist, and Rally Luck is fairly easy to get. If you're facing five or more crit, you might want to reconsider how you bait units with Killer weapons.

The issue is, I'd rather use those Goddess Icons on other units who have low Luck than have to use them on my main character just to prevent him/her from being a liability, Luck Tonics might not be enough in particularly bad cases, and Rally Luck is learned by healers, who generally have more productive things to do than waste their turns just to use Rally. Killer weapons don't really have much to do with it, but nonetheless, they still add fuel to the fire.

Edited May 15, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[eclipse]

The issue is, I'd rather use those Goddess Icons on other units who have low Luck than have to use them on my main character just to prevent him/her from being a liability, Luck Tonics might not be enough in particularly bad cases, and Rally Luck is learned by healers, who generally have more productive things to do than waste their turns just to use Rally. Killer weapons don't really have much to do with it, but nonetheless, they still add fuel to the fire.

So, since you're under some weird impression that everything in Birthright has enough crit to matter, here's some math:

- Base Luck with Luck bane: 3

- Luck growth: 25%

- Luck Tonic: 4

Corrin should have at least four levels before the route split, so on average, he/she should have 4 Luck by the time Birthright rolls around. With a Luck tonic, that's 8 Luck. If you decide that pairing up is A Thing, your servant will give another 3 Luck. That's 11 Luck, which means that the enemy will need a minimum of 6 crit to actually land one.

Furthermore, investing in Corrin in terms of Goddess Icons isn't necessarily a bad thing if he/she will be up front taking a lot of hits. If you don't want to use the tools to mitigate the -Luck bane, that's up to you, but it makes your argument fall flat.

[Shadow Mir]

So, since you're under some weird impression that everything in Birthright has enough crit to matter, here's some math:

- Base Luck with Luck bane: 3

- Luck growth: 25%

- Luck Tonic: 4

Corrin should have at least four levels before the route split, so on average, he/she should have 4 Luck by the time Birthright rolls around. With a Luck tonic, that's 8 Luck. If you decide that pairing up is A Thing, your servant will give another 3 Luck. That's 11 Luck, which means that the enemy will need a minimum of 6 crit to actually land one.

Furthermore, investing in Corrin in terms of Goddess Icons isn't necessarily a bad thing if he/she will be up front taking a lot of hits. If you don't want to use the tools to mitigate the -Luck bane, that's up to you, but it makes your argument fall flat.

That's the same growth as FE9 Stefan, and I have zero qualms denouncing him because of his crappy luck. Sorry, but this is one thing I'm not willing to yield on, even to you.

Edited May 15, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[eclipse]

That's the same growth as FE9 Stefan, and I have zero qualms denouncing him because of his crappy luck. Sorry, but this is one thing I'm not willing to yield on, even to you.

So you'd rather ignore actual numbers just to hold your view? Again, that's fine, but don't bother giving others advice if that's how you look at things.

[Shadow Mir]

So you'd rather ignore actual numbers just to hold your view? Again, that's fine, but don't bother giving others advice if that's how you look at things.

I'm not ignoring it to hold my view. I'm ignoring it because I don't trust you, or the fanbase at large, on this matter. I think luck is more important a stat than everyone and their grandma is willing to admit.

[Ownagepuffs]

Why suggest -Lck instead of -Mag.

[singularity]

Why suggest -Lck instead of -Mag.

-Mag reduces Speed modwise.

[Roxachronc]

For Boon SPD and STR are the superior options

For Bane it would be either -LCK or -DEF.

Seriosly would someone pick -SKL as a bane? It is much more detrimental than -LCK, being able to hit is much more important than having a bit more of critical evade, that is without adding that it basically lowers all the other relevant stats bar SPD.

[TheWerdna]

I have found +SPD -MAG to work out well for me. Being able to consistently double early in the game is good, plus it improved skill for better hit and activations.

Edited May 15, 2016 by TheWerdna

[Shadow Mir]

Seriosly would someone pick -SKL as a bane? It is much more detrimental than -LCK, being able to hit is much more important than having a bit more of critical evade, that is without adding that it basically lowers all the other relevant stats bar SPD.

*Raises hand* My BR avatar tended to not have issues hitting despite the Skill bane, so I'm not seeing what makes it more detrimental than -Luck, which might leave me vulnerable to critical hits from enemies that I'd otherwise not have to worry about.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Roflolxp54]

The whole point of -DEF is to maximize offenses, which is the biggest reason that it's so popular. In Awakening, dodgetanking can't be relied on anyways due to the existence of Hawkeye, which makes your Avoid rate pointless so the point of +SPD is to maximize your ability to double or at least prevent yourself from being doubled by faster enemies.

In fact, some players doing challenge runs in Apotheosis don't even bother maxing Defense/Resistance for several units

-Support bots, staff bots, Rallybots: they're not going to be attacked at all, so what's the point?

-Vantage+Vengeance units: they only need just enough to not get OHKO'd or ORKO'd as well as to be able to get to ORKO range. With Vantage in play, defenses mean nothing as that unit gets the first hit in and will most likely ORKO the enemy. Having great offenses, movement options, and getting the first hit in are king