"Ask Fire Emblem Heroes Questions and Get Them Answered Here" Thread

[Xenomata]

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Edited September 2, 2023 by Xenomata

[Ice Dragon]

12 hours ago, Sil/phire said:

Alright, can some one convince me that goofy (Brave) Corrin is good?

She's one of a few units that has both percentage damage reduction and flat damage reduction and also has passive healing.

On top of that, she has bigger numbers than previous units in her role and also sets terrain that protects the team from AoE Specials and helps out the team's Near Save tank. Her high Spd makes her difficult to double normally, and Null Follow-Up prevents slow units from doubling with a guaranteed follow-up.

 

2 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Speaking of CYL 7, which unit do you think has the best fodder? Soren is definitely the easiest to get skills from but I still wanted to ask everyone for their opinions. Thanks in advance!

All of the new skills have pretty distinct inheritance restrictions, so it mostly just depends on what types of units you tend to use.

Corrin has Armored Floe, Counter Roar, and A/S Far Save. Armored Floe is optimal for almost all Far Save units, and Counter Roar is one of the best B skills for dragons and beasts, particularly for slow beasts like Freyr that can't run Beast Perception. A/S Far Save is a bit more niche, as there aren't that many fast armors that are viable for running Far Save.

Soren has Flare, Mag. Null Follow, and Time's Pulse, which is pretty much a one-stop shop for infantry tomes. Mag. Null Follow is also usable by infantry dragons, and Time's Pulse is usable on all infantry, but you're probably still going to be using him mostly for infantry tomes.

Gullveig only has Flared Sparrow and Atk/Spd Oath. However, Flared Sparrow is a really strong skill, so even if she doesn't have much else to offer, she'll still be amazing if you use fast cavalry or fliers often.

Robin has Atk/Spd Finish and Gambit. Gambit is pretty amazing, and it can be used on any swords, lances, or axes regardless of movement type.

[DefyingFates]

3 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

All of the new skills have pretty distinct inheritance restrictions, so it mostly just depends on what types of units you tend to use.

How would you rank them? I have two of each Brave unit except my lone Robin and I was curious who I should get as my freebie (or maybe merge? I'm not 100% on that yet though).

[Ice Dragon]

32 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

How would you rank them? I have two of each Brave unit except my lone Robin and I was curious who I should get as my freebie (or maybe merge? I'm not 100% on that yet though).

In terms of skill inheritance demand, I think Flared Sparrow and Gambit are the two that will have the most units wanting to get the skill.

Flared Sparrow can literally be put on every fast player-phase melee cavalry or flier with little opportunity cost (Surge Sparrow and Atk/Spd Clash are the primary competitors). Galeforcers in particular will love this skill since they can't run Surge Sparrow to begin with. Ranged cavalry and fliers probably still want Remote Sparrow unless they already have damage reduction on a different skill slot.

Gambit is splashable on pretty much every human melee unit that can't run a Dodge skill and is either fast enough to double reliably or has a guaranteed follow-up on their weapon. Even some units that can run Dodge skills might want to run Gambit instead, mostly those that aren't compatible with Vital Astra or Godlike Reflexes. Units without guaranteed follow-ups on their weapons obviously want Quick Riposte 4 or Brash Assault 4 instead of Gambit.

 

Counter Roar is amazing, but depends entirely on whether you actually use dragons and/or beasts. Armored Floe is also amazing, but depends entirely on whether you use additional Far Save armors. These skills are at least as valuable as the above skills, but have lower demand for most players, so it depends entirely on if you actually use those units or not.

Flare is the least valuable of the new skills since it's only slightly better than existing 3-cooldown Specials and doesn't really make or break a unit. Soren's value as skill fodder comes mostly from the fact that he has three really good skills that he can provide as long as you have the tier-3 skills to chain them off of, not because any individual skill is outstandingly powerful.

 

If you're intending to get extra copies to use the unit, Robin is my pick for general use, and Corrin is my pick if you want a pre-built state-of-the-art Far Save tank.

Gullveig looks like an incredible nuke, but we get incredible nukes with every new banner. Her primary gimmick is the fact that she has Legendary Leaf's Noba's Zeal as a passive skill, which is at least good for game modes where extra actions are particularly valuable.

Soren's gimmick is extremely cool, but also extremely easy to fuck yourself up with if you aren't careful. He has an incredible amount of potential since Assign Decoy gets stronger as your barracks gets stronger, but he requires conscious thought to actually use. Good pick if you like engineering teams. Not a good pick if you don't.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Zeo]

It's been days but I asked a very detailed question and got really good feedback so I wanted to say that I read everyone's posts and thanks a ton.

@DefyingFates I'll just put Chrom on the backburner for now. He could run the Arcane weapon from Lif well but that would remove his niche, on top of that even as a dragon slayer in todays age of DR he operates really poorly, to the tune that even as a healer he's subpar and I can just run razzle dazzle for a safer purpose. I'll figure him out, at least I know my options. Nino will wait for the arcane tome too. I will deck her out with premium skills as she is a favorite, but it will wait for now.

@Humanoid Lukas really wants that Arcane Lance so I'll have to wait until that returns. Erk is sitting pretty, he just wants a better A skill than FB4. Probably a finish skill or at least something that will give him decent offenses, I'm just hesitant to get rid of the free damage FB4 provides if he's faster unless I know I'm getting something worthwhile in return. I kind of want to make Morgan's prf work instead of just making him an objectively worse Erk, he has a niche there.

@Xenomata I missed out on that dagger sadly, but Cath will definitely get it soon without giving anything away. Matt is probably going to wait for the arcane dagger but I do have a Rennac I'll probably never use so I'll give the Vicious Dagger to Colm most likely. That green tome is actually amazing and perfect for Nino, but sadly I don't have the orbs to pull on that banner and likely won't before it leaves, so she'll probably wait for the arcane green tome.

The Guy build with Arcane Devourer is perfect but I only have half of the parts I need to make it work so I'll put him on the backburner for now. He could possibly appear in the FE7 hall of forms just like Colm or Cormag could appear in the FE8 one after, it's only a couple of months to wait so instead of burning resources I'll wait for that since I've got the souls. If the arcane weapons return and I'm not spent on orbs, I'll pull and hope for the best.

@Ice Dragon 

I'll wait to build around the Arcane Weapon for Matthew. As it stands his PRF just doesn't have the firepower anymore. I pretty much agree with just about everything else pertaining to the other units as well, I have some fodder for certain things but not all the pieces so I'll wait. However, I'll ask for your educated opinion on one last thing.

How should I build Cath? You know there is a specific reason why I'm asking but I'm probably going to +10 her in the long run. Straight out of the gate I'm going to tell you I want to run Lethality, Ruptured Sky is a great low cooldown special but it's not really what I'm interested in for her.

Weapon - She's got the Canto dagger already but no NFU dagger since I'm giving my only copy to Colm. However, I could try to get the DR dagger also, what's objectively the best option?

A Skill - Flash Sparrow seems like a really nice A skill for Lethality, but A/S Finish gives versatility and if I do want to swap out my special It'll be up basically all the time.

B Skill - Special Spiral 4 seems like a no brainer here but there are really good skills like Escape Route 4 and especially Phys. Null Followup if you run the DR Dagger.

C Skill - Time's Pulse 4 seems like a no brainer, but A/S Oath 4 is really nice for offenses if you go the Ruptured Sky route instead of Lethality.

As said in another post, you could run Quick Dagger, Lethality, A/S Finish, SS4 and TP4 and QP Seal and basically proc Lethality every combat if you double and they don't have Guard, problem is after that proc the cooldown is 1 instead of the special being ready which means in your next combat you're relying on doubling (which means NOT dying to the enemy's counter after your first hit before the proc.) and hoping they don't have guard. Flash Sparrow takes care of the guard problem, but you lose out on healing, EP functionality and the +5 damage.

Seems like a nice build would be...

• Weapon: DR Dagger+
• A Skill: Flash Sparrow
• B Skill: Special Spiral 4 / Phys. Null Follow
• C Skill: Time's Pulse 4 / Atk/Spd Oath 4
• Seal: Desperation 3

The DR Dagger is a given in most cases as it lets her survive against nukes, Flash Sparrow will allow Lethality to basically always proc if they don't have Guard, SS4 is great for damage and cooldown reduction but Phys. Null Followup will let her reliably double. Both DR nullification effects are moot regardless since Lethality will negate DR anyways, but Phys. Null Followup has an edge here because her non special attacks will cut DR in half as well, giving Lethality a higher chance for a kill.

TP 4 is for reliability, though with Flash Sparrow I'm not sure if it's 100% necessary since I think FP gives you +1 cooldown charge for both her and the opponent's attacks, if it's only for her attacks it's still necessary, but ATK/SPD Oath 4 could give her just a bit more edge for killing power. Then finally after she takes that hit she's in Desp range and with SS4 and TP4 she's proccing Lethality every combat before they can counter.... unless they have followup negation.

Overall I feel like the DR Dagger is better than the NFU or Quick Dagger since she's less likely to be OHKO'ed by tanks after her initial hit (which won't be a Lethality strike unless you go the full Quickened Pulse build) and her offensive power is still staggering. But I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Zeo

[Xenomata]

3 hours ago, Zeo said:

How should I build Cath? You know there is a specific reason why I'm asking but I'm probably going to +10 her in the long run. Straight out of the gate I'm going to tell you I want to run Lethality, Ruptured Sky is a great low cooldown special but it's not really what I'm interested in for her.

Actually just thought of it, but if you want to run Cath with SS4/TP4 Lethality triggers, there is one unit who might be able to enable her offense without forcing her to run Quick Dagger: Gerik. His new weapon triggers a support effect that grants Atk/Spd +6, unit penalty neutralization, and Null Panic to ALL allies whose HP is lower than his own. No positioning requirements, no move type limitations, but what's more notable is that on Turn 1 he will also trigger a Quickened Pulse effect to all those same allies, and when combined with his native Infantry Pulse you basically make him into a Quickened Pulse 2 for all Infantry units as long as their HP is lower than his own (not that hard to do for Cath specifically either, unless you pump merges and dragonflowers into her and give no stat boosts to Gerik)

That in mind, you can enable Cath to wield any weapon other than Quick Dagger, letting her get stat boosts, while still running the SS4/TP4 Lethality build. You could also let her use a Barb Shuriken (from Kaze, has the Slaying effect) to ensure she always has Lethality triggers prepared. Of course, this requires you actually HAVE Gerik and be willing to use him...

[DefyingFates]

19 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

If you're intending to get extra copies to use the unit, Robin is my pick for general use, and Corrin is my pick if you want a pre-built state-of-the-art Far Save tank.

Thank you for this write-up! I think I will get the second Robin, but I'll sit on it for a few days either way. Thanks for the rational take on all of the Heroes too, I really appreciate that!

[Ice Dragon]

6 hours ago, Zeo said:

How should I build Cath?

If your aim is to land Lethality as much as possible, you're looking at:

Cath [+Spd]
Bunny's Egg+ [Spd]
[Assist]
Lethality
Flash Sparrow
Special Spiral 4
Time's Pulse 4 / Atk/Spd Oath 4
Blade Session 3 / Null Follow-Up 3

or:

Cath [+Spd]
Vicious Dagger+ [Spd]
[Assist]
Lethality
Remote Sparrow
Special Spiral 4
Time's Pulse 4 / Atk/Spd Oath 4
Blade Session 3 / Flashing Blade 3

Which one is better depends on which effect you would prefer to offload onto the Sacred Seal slot or team support, i.e. which effect you want to be more easily removed from the build when it isn't necessary. Bunny's Egg + Flash Sparrow lets you remove Null Follow-Up on maps where the opponent doesn't have follow-up prevention. Vicious Dagger + Remote Sparrow lets you remove +1 Special charge rate on maps where the opponent doesn't have Guard, though it also forces you to run a source of Pulse support if you do so.

Special Spiral is a given because Null Follow-Up is more easily offloaded into a different slot, and there's nothing available from other slots or team support that anywhere near matches the reliability of Special Spiral in terms of charging Lethality. The only time you wouldn't run Special Spiral in this slot is if you're running a Dual Strike or Triangle Attack team composition, in which case you want either Phys. Null Follow or Spd/Def Tempo 3 in this slot.

Time's Pulse 4 is more reliable for charging Lethality, but it also could be a bit overly cautious of a build, as the opportunity cost of running Time's Pulse is the mobility and additional stats granted by Atk/Spd Oath 4. It's also worth noting that Time's Pulse 4 is going to be less useful when an Arcane dagger is released since the weapon will almost certainly have the Slaying effect on it.

[Zeo]

4 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Which one is better depends on which effect you would prefer to offload onto the Sacred Seal slot or team support, i.e. which effect you want to be more easily removed from the build when it isn't necessary. Bunny's Egg + Flash Sparrow lets you remove Null Follow-Up on maps where the opponent doesn't have follow-up prevention. Vicious Dagger + Remote Sparrow lets you remove +1 Special charge rate on maps where the opponent doesn't have Guard, though it also forces you to run a source of Pulse support if you do so.

The Bunny's Egg+ is the way to go for me. Remote Sparrow is rare but the DR based on percentage rather than the blow effect allows a degree of versatility that I prefer. Plus Vicious Dagger is in the normal summoning pool and the Egg will likely be locked to an event I've already missed and I probably won't otherwise be seeing it until next year. Additionally I prefer Flash Sparrow, being able to reliably charge even when Guard is present is preferable.

 

The NFU seal doesn't have a real home in my barracks currently. It doesn't even see regular use (perhaps that's not a good thing) so It can rest on Cath. I don't see a problem. The only downside is the lack of Desperation, I feel like Cath is going to blow up one tank and be done fighting unless I have a healer or the opponent can't counter, but nukes can't do everything I suppose.

4 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Special Spiral is a given because Null Follow-Up is more easily offloaded into a different slot, and there's nothing available from other slots or team support that anywhere near matches the reliability of Special Spiral in terms of charging Lethality. The only time you wouldn't run Special Spiral in this slot is if you're running a Dual Strike or Triangle Attack team composition, in which case you want either Phys. Null Follow or Spd/Def Tempo 3 in this slot.

In that case, Special Spiral 4 is an absolute given and I'll go for that. Phys. Null Followup's half DR nullification is tempting for non Lethality blows, but objectively by using that instead of SS, I will be losing out on damage with less Lethality procs in the long run. Only doing increased damage to foes with Guard.

4 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Time's Pulse 4 is more reliable for charging Lethality, but it also could be a bit overly cautious of a build, as the opportunity cost of running Time's Pulse is the mobility and additional stats granted by Atk/Spd Oath 4. It's also worth noting that Time's Pulse 4 is going to be less useful when an Arcane dagger is released since the weapon will almost certainly have the Slaying effect on it.

Perhaps not, The bonuses that ATK/SPD Oath give are fantastic, but with SS4 + TP4 Lethality is at 1 cooldown after proccing in every round of combat. This means Cath can punch through foes with Guard if she's running Flash Sparrow and still proc Lethality even if they can't counter. That is immense value. The additional stats and mobility are fantastic and it is an opportunity cost, but I'd prefer to know my target will die. The additional damage likely won't make up the difference if the skill doesn't proc.

Furthermore, the Arcane Dagger is reserved for Matthew if I get a copy of it, and if it doesn't suit him, I'll will probably be given to Colm instead since he's another +10 dagger project. So it's best to build up a reliable Cath now, rather than one waiting for the last piece of the puzzle.

[Ice Dragon]

@Zeo

As a heads up, the current Hall of Forms only has skills up through Legendary Guinevere's banner, which means Flash Sparrow won't be available this time around. You'll have to use a copy of Alcryst if you want the skill.

 

This means the following skills aren't yet available:

• Weapon
  • Seashell Bowl+
  • Wooden Tackle+
  • Defier's Sword+
  • Teatime Set+
  • Teacake Tower+
• Special
  • Flare
• Passive A
  • Fireflood Boost 3
  • Atk/Def Finish 3
  • Atk/Def Finish 4
  • Flash Sparrow
  • Remote Sturdy
  • Flared Sparrow
• Passive B
  • Spurn 4
  • Beast Sense 3
  • Beast Sense 4
  • Lull Atk/Def 4
  • Desperation 4
  • Flow Desperation
  • Counter Roar 3
  • Counter Roar 4
  • Gambit 3
  • Gambit 4
• Passive C
  • Soaring Guidance

 

Kind of a shame because Legendary Roy really wants Spurn 4.

I also just realized that I've been calling Beast Sense "Beast Perception" this whole time based on its Japanese name and wondering how they managed to fit such a long skill name on the status screen.

I also also just realized Flow Desperation has Desperation 3 as its prerequisite instead of being a brand new skill with 4 tiers.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Zeo]

@Ice Dragon

That kind of changes things massively. Flash Sparrow was pretty much the only way to consistently charge Lethality. Without it you're relying on inferior seals or A skills. I'm starting to wonder if I should just go for Remote Sparrow with either Brash Assault 4 for a triple stack of DR and reflection or Phys. Null Followup for the piercing. Then just go with ATK/SPD Oath 4 for additional damage. Special Spiral + TP4 is great, but without outside support I'm pretty much locked into Quick Dagger if I actually want to proc Lethality the first time around.

Unsure how to proceed now...

Edited August 22, 2023 by Zeo

[Ice Dragon]

3 hours ago, Zeo said:

That kind of changes things massively. Flash Sparrow was pretty much the only way to consistently charge Lethality. Without it you're relying on inferior seals or A skills. I'm starting to wonder if I should just go for Remote Sparrow with either Brash Assault 4 for a triple stack of DR and reflection or Phys. Null Followup for the piercing. Then just go with ATK/SPD Oath 4 for additional damage. Special Spiral + TP4 is great, but without outside support I'm pretty much locked into Quick Dagger if I actually want to proc Lethality the first time around.

Unsure how to proceed now...

If you can provide +1 Special charge rate using a teammate, you can run the Vicious Dagger set instead (though it's probably still worth it to grab Bunny's Egg from Hall of Forms and get Vicious Dagger normally from Rennac). Legendary Hinoka grants the effect as a status effect at the start of the turn. Thorr and Duo Thorr grant the effect as a Drive effect.

Alternatively, if you have Legendary Female Byleth, she grants Tempo as a Drive effect, which functionally does the same thing after Special Spiral activates the first time (or if you have 2 stacks of Pulse support).

 

Null Follow-Up is also available from Inf. Spd Tactic, which can let you run Quick Dagger instead of Vicious Dagger.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Xenomata]

So interesting choice I can make for Cath right now.

I just rolled Special Spiral 4 in HoF for her. Thing is, I have Brash Assault 4 on her right now.

Now the dilemma I'm having is that Cath is in a unique position since if she can get Bunny's Egg and Remote Sparrow, she'd be a Ranged G.Inf Dagger unit with 3 layers of damage reduction on the foe's first attack, and would be adding a lot of reduced damage to her next attack because of such.
Special Spiral 4, on the other hand, is tried and true as a good tool, especially when combined with Time's Pulse 4 and a powerful special like Lethality. It's also kind of boring in my mind, since basically any Infantry unit can have it, and basically anyone can make it good.

So... thoughts? I thought I would be going for the standard SS4/TP4 build with Cath, but now that I see what she can have I'm feeling tempted to go a more damage-reduction-y route...

[Ether]

1 hour ago, Xenomata said:

So interesting choice I can make for Cath right now.

I just rolled Special Spiral 4 in HoF for her. Thing is, I have Brash Assault 4 on her right now.

Now the dilemma I'm having is that Cath is in a unique position since if she can get Bunny's Egg and Remote Sparrow, she'd be a Ranged G.Inf Dagger unit with 3 layers of damage reduction on the foe's first attack, and would be adding a lot of reduced damage to her next attack because of such.
Special Spiral 4, on the other hand, is tried and true as a good tool, especially when combined with Time's Pulse 4 and a powerful special like Lethality. It's also kind of boring in my mind, since basically any Infantry unit can have it, and basically anyone can make it good.

So... thoughts? I thought I would be going for the standard SS4/TP4 build with Cath, but now that I see what she can have I'm feeling tempted to go a more damage-reduction-y route...

For what it's worth, most of the strength of spiral 4(the DR pierce) is wasted with lethality, and you can replicate most of the effectiveness by inheriting spiral 3 onto the forma later if you want to use that build, which is way more accessible. If it were me, i'd keep Brash since it's much harder to come by and enables a second playstyle.

[Ice Dragon]

On 8/26/2023 at 10:52 AM, Xenomata said:

So interesting choice I can make for Cath right now.

I just rolled Special Spiral 4 in HoF for her. Thing is, I have Brash Assault 4 on her right now.

Now the dilemma I'm having is that Cath is in a unique position since if she can get Bunny's Egg and Remote Sparrow, she'd be a Ranged G.Inf Dagger unit with 3 layers of damage reduction on the foe's first attack, and would be adding a lot of reduced damage to her next attack because of such.
Special Spiral 4, on the other hand, is tried and true as a good tool, especially when combined with Time's Pulse 4 and a powerful special like Lethality. It's also kind of boring in my mind, since basically any Infantry unit can have it, and basically anyone can make it good.

So... thoughts? I thought I would be going for the standard SS4/TP4 build with Cath, but now that I see what she can have I'm feeling tempted to go a more damage-reduction-y route...

If you plan on spending resources on her, Special Spiral 4 is a lot easier to get than Brash Assault 4 at the moment. Special Spiral 4 is currently on Citrinne, who is in the standard summoning pool, and Rearmed Ophelia, who is limited, but gets reruns more often than Special Heroes do. Meanwhile, Brash Assault 4 is currently only available from Duo Shamir.

If you aren't planning on spending resources on her, it depends on what you're planning on doing with her. Because Flash Sparrow isn't in the Hall of Forms skill pool yet, Special Spiral is the only way to reliably activate Lethality. However, Special Spiral 4 is not necessary to do so, as the only thing you lose by running Special Spiral 3 instead is 5 damage on the Special activation. For general use, it would likely be more worth it to grab Brash Assault 4 from Hall of Forms and then get Special Spiral 3 normally.

[DefyingFates]

What is og!F!Shez's best asset, Spd because it's a superboon? I have enough copies to merge up now so wanted to ask. Also, does she have the speed to run a Dodge skill or is something like:

Spd Ideal/ Spd Bulwark/ some Spd boosting C skill better for her?

And in a similar vein, I mentioned this a few months ago too but am considering building Lumera with pretty much Fallen Byleth's kit save for the Special. Is Ruptured Sky still an optimal choice for her (or at least equal to Vital Astra/ GLR)?

Also, is she even worth building for Arena, or are there better Red F2P candidates now, i.e. Cyril (who's in a higher bin despite being ranged, that amazes me) or funniky enough Zephia?

Thanks in advance!

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

What is og!F!Shez's best asset, Spd because it's a superboon? I have enough copies to merge up now so wanted to ask. Also, does she have the speed to run a Dodge skill or is something like:

The existence of a superboon is never a consideration when determining an optimal Asset. The extra 1 point is never worth it unless the original 3 points were already worth it.

That said, Female Shez's optimal Asset is still Spd because every fast unit's optimal Asset is Spd unless they have a specific mechanic that wants a different stat (Brave weapon, one-hit kill mechanic, etc.) or have an abysmally low Atk stat. Shez doesn't have any of these, so Spd is her best Asset.

An optimized set for her looks something like this:

Female Shez [+Spd]
Crimson War-Axe
[Assist]
Ruptured Sky / Vital Astra / Astra / Dragon Fang
Atk/Spd Finish 4 / Distant A/S Solo / Surge Sparrow
Spurn 4 / Gambit 4 / Brash Assault 4 / Phys. Null Follow / Special Spiral 4
Atk/Spd Oath 4 / Def/Res Smoke 3 / Spd Smoke 4
[any Sacred Seal that boosts Atk/Spd]

Vital Astra deals more consistent damage and will probably hit harder against humans, but Ruptured Sky hits harder against dragons and beasts and is easier to get. The damage reduction effect from Vital Astra isn't reliable enough to really be a consideration in this comparison unless you run Special Spiral.

Special Spiral 4 is specifically an option when running Vital Astra and specifically because losing a bit of damage reduction and Spd is potentially a worthwhile trade for being able to nullify the opponent's percentage damage reduction. It is, however, less useful for general use compared to Spurn or Gambit builds, and Phys. Null Follow is a bit more generally useful.

Astra and Dragon Fang are specifically options that can be used with Gambit 4 or Brash Assault 4, but they are less reliable because they can be countered by either one of Guard or Tempo.

As always, Atk/Spd Unity is an option, but only specifically for game modes where you can reliably be inflicted with stat penalties or if you're using Grand Strategy.

 

While you can switch her weapon to Arcane Downfall to make use of Godlike Reflexes or Vital Astra + Time's Pulse 4, it's not really worth it because her default weapon already grants 40% damage reduction. There's very little advantage to running Vital Astra + Time's Pulse 4, but Godlike Reflexes at least has the one advantage of not instantly dying against Diamant and other units that nullify percentage damage reduction.

 

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

And in a similar vein, I mentioned this a few months ago too but am considering building Lumera with pretty much Fallen Byleth's kit save for the Special. Is Ruptured Sky still an optimal choice for her (or at least equal to Vital Astra/ GLR)?

Lumera has no source of Special acceleration on her weapon, so she can't run Godlike Reflexes unless she switches her weapon to Arcane Devourer. However, Arcane Devourer is a viable option for her, as it's much more comparable to her default weapon compared to Arcane Downfall and Shez's.

Ruptured Sky and Vital Astra have the exact same considerations as Shez above.

 

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

Also, is she even worth building for Arena, or are there better Red F2P candidates now, i.e. Cyril (who's in a higher bin despite being ranged, that amazes me) or funniky enough Zephia?

It depends on how much the 0.5 Arena points per match really matters to you, as that's the difference for a single score bin.

Cyril is a better offensive unit, being ranged, having a ton of stats from his weapon, and nullifying his stat penalties, which are common enough in the Arena. However, he's pretty one-dimensional and is only 1 score bin above Lumera.

The other real free-to-play red Arena scoring candidates are Lapis and Valentine Hana.

Lapis is in the same stat bin as Lumera, but doesn't have an exclusive weapon and therefore will be 50 SP behind. This doesn't matter if you're running 150-SP Assist skills, but will put her 1 score bin behind if you're running 400-SP Assist skills. Her main advantage over Lumera is her higher Spd stat (by 2 points) and the fact that you don't have to use Trait Fruits for an Asset (at the cost of actually having to pull 11 copies of her from the 3- and 4-star pools).

Valentine Hana is in the same stat bin as Cyril unless she has a Def or Res Asset, in which case she's 1 stat bin above Cyril. If you do this, you'll likely want to run her with a a Spd Ascended Asset to make up for not having it as her normal Asset. However, she also doesn't have an exclusive weapon, so she'll drop back down to Cyril's bin if you're running 400-SP Assist skills.

Zephia is 3 stat bins below Lumera, so if you're a stickler for Arena score, you probably don't want to use her.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Zeo]

@Ice Dragon @Xenomata I actually had a similar dilemma with Cath. I was pretty comitted to my SS4+TP4 Build. Even to the point that TP4 showed up and I finally replaced ATK/SPD Oath 4 on my Cath. But then Brash Assualt 4 showed up and the idea that 3 layers of DR can block someone with DC and I can fire it back is amazing. SS3 seems easier to get and in the worst case I can sacrifice my only seasonal corrin for SS3 who I'll probably never use anyway.

Also, I seem to have randomly come into the possesion of not only an additional B!Chrom but also a 2nd Gregor. So I have both Inf. Spd Tactic and Inf. Null Followup fodder. I have absolutely no idea who I would give either of those two skills to, but it is something that Cath could potentially benefit from.

Question is, is Phys. Null Followup worth getting over BA4? With Phys, Null Followup and Oath 4 Cath can consistently double and punch through units with DR and followup denial while retaining high offenses and two layers of DR. Which... is honestly pretty nice.

My build in HOF looks like this right now.

• Bunny's Egg+ [ATK]
• Harsh Command+
• Lethality
• Remote Sparrow
• Brash Assault 4
• Time's Pulse 4

This feels like a pretty solid build I can branch in many directions if I want. I have BA4 for 3 layers of DR, but If I give her SS3 from fodder, I can turn her into a Lethality looper with Quick Dagger+ and the QP Seal. Otherwise I can slap the Null Followup 3 seal on her with BA4 and get through follow up negation. Only issue with this build is that with TP4 instead of the Oath Skill, I lose damage and mobility while also struggling to charge lethality and get through follow up negation. Only one of these things can be patched with a seal. Suggestions on where to go from here or is this a good foundation for her to build from?

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Zeo

[Ice Dragon]

31 minutes ago, Zeo said:

Question is, is Phys. Null Followup worth getting over BA4? With Phys, Null Followup and Oath 4 Cath can consistently double and punch through units with DR and followup denial while retaining high offenses and two layers of DR. Which... is honestly pretty nice.

I'd personally lean towards Brash Assault 4 over Phys. Null Follow, especially on a dagger unit. Lethality overlaps the biggest benefit from Phys. Null Follow, and it's an effect that doesn't stack, whereas Brash Assault's damage reduction and additional damage all stack with similar effects.

The offensive Null Follow-Up effect and guaranteed follow-up are pretty much equivalent to each other for fast units, so there's not too much reason to pick over differences there. The main advantage of the offensive Null Follow-Up effect is that it breaks slow units that have both the defensive Null Follow-Up effect and follow-up prevention (which is a rare combination outside of Hardy Fighter builds), and the main advantage of a guaranteed follow-up is that it gets a follow-up against units that are fast enough to block a natural follow-up, but lack the defensive Null Follow-Up effect (which is less common than the offensive Null Follow-Up effect on weapons).

[Zeo]

5 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I'd personally lean towards Brash Assault 4 over Phys. Null Follow, especially on a dagger unit. Lethality overlaps the biggest benefit from Phys. Null Follow, and it's an effect that doesn't stack, whereas Brash Assault's damage reduction and additional damage all stack with similar effects.

The offensive Null Follow-Up effect and guaranteed follow-up are pretty much equivalent to each other for fast units, so there's not too much reason to pick over differences there. The main advantage of the offensive Null Follow-Up effect is that it breaks slow units that have both the defensive Null Follow-Up effect and follow-up prevention (which is a rare combination outside of Hardy Fighter builds), and the main advantage of a guaranteed follow-up is that it gets a follow-up against units that are fast enough to block a natural follow-up, but lack the defensive Null Follow-Up effect (which is less common than the offensive Null Follow-Up effect on weapons).

Every point is stellar. Brash Assault 4 it is then.

A better question is perhaps TP4 or ATK/SPD Oath 4. But for my purposes, TP4 is probably a better skill. Perhaps an Arcane Dagger will invalidate the need for it, but considering I'm also going to +10 a Colm (FE8 Hall of Forms, Perhaps?) and I have my Matthew fully invested, either one of them are in a better position to get it than Cath. Also Flash Sparrow is still the best A skill here, but since it's not an option, Remote Sparrow is a lock.

Guess the build is done. Hope she performs well as a +10.

Now all we need is an easily mergable red dagger and I can get the full color spectrum.

[Mercakete]

So, question about DR and stat penalty/bonus stacking: does Spd Smoke 4 stack with Beast Sense 4? Spd Smoke specifically says it grants Dodge, but Beast Sense just describes Dodge's effect without calling it that. If they activate separately, which activates first? Or do they just not interact at all?

[Ether]

They stack multiplicatively. If you have two stacks of 40%, the first one reduces damage by 40%, and then the second reduces the remaining 60% of damage by another 40%(or 24% of the original damage, for a total of 64% reduction). The only difference between Dodge as a status and other sources is that you can't stack two visible Dodge statuses. As an example, YMia's prf weapon grants Dodge as a status, so she gains no benefit from Spd Smoke 4, but her weapon's Dodge status can stack with say, Spurn or Close call in the B slot just fine.

[Othin]

It's worth keeping in mind that while increasing the total damage reduction from 40% to 64% might sound like a smaller increase than 0% to 40%, but it actually works out to a bigger benefit. If a character has, say, 50 HP, 40% damage reduction means that 50 HP effectively corresponds to about 83 damage, but 64% corresponds to 138 damage. So you're effectively getting +33 HP from the first stack and +55 from the second stack. (And a third 40% stack, increasing to 78.4%, effectively increases to 231 HP, for +93.)

[Mercakete]

17 hours ago, Ether said:

They stack multiplicatively. If you have two stacks of 40%, the first one reduces damage by 40%, and then the second reduces the remaining 60% of damage by another 40%(or 24% of the original damage, for a total of 64% reduction). The only difference between Dodge as a status and other sources is that you can't stack two visible Dodge statuses. As an example, YMia's prf weapon grants Dodge as a status, so she gains no benefit from Spd Smoke 4, but her weapon's Dodge status can stack with say, Spurn or Close call in the B slot just fine.

6 hours ago, Othin said:

It's worth keeping in mind that while increasing the total damage reduction from 40% to 64% might sound like a smaller increase than 0% to 40%, but it actually works out to a bigger benefit. If a character has, say, 50 HP, 40% damage reduction means that 50 HP effectively corresponds to about 83 damage, but 64% corresponds to 138 damage. So you're effectively getting +33 HP from the first stack and +55 from the second stack. (And a third 40% stack, increasing to 78.4%, effectively increases to 231 HP, for +93.)

Thanks, guys! ^_^

[Zeo]

So I just pulled a 2nd Brave Robin and I didn't hesitate for a second.

He's ridiculous now. 24 true damage on top of a nonsensical attack stat and further buffs from his weapon and C skill and a flat 50% damage reduction against literally everything that can't pierce DR. But I know this is not his peak. He'll get a resplendent some day and I'll also summoner support him. 

But anyways, how do I take him to the next level, skill wise? The extra HP, ATK and SPD from the seal is fantastic, but perhaps a breath seal, mystic boost or something of that nature would be better? What about his A and C skills as well? And who's a good support for him because Lute is his support partner but she's a bit outdated now.