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

[Flying Shogi]

1 hour ago, MaskedAmpharos said:

Neutral nature is always serviceable since there aren't actually that many cases where a different nature makes a huge difference (some units need +Atk to get specific ORKOs or +Spd to get certain doubles they wouldn't normally, but usually it's not that big of a deal). It's especially not that big of a deal on a dancer, who shouldn't really ever be seeing much combat in the first place, so yes, your neutral Olivia is perfectly fine. 

Ruby Sword, Fury, and Wings of Mercy is the overall best set for Olivia imo, but if you're on a budget, then her default Silver Sword, Triangle Adept, and WoM should serve you just fine. 

I would train them up. Having a large collection of units to choose from is always good, and the free units we get are mostly all solid units. Neutral nature is perfectly fine on them, so I would go ahead and train them up. 

 

1 hour ago, MrSmokestack said:

@Magician Lugh If you don't have a Dancer at all then you might as well should raise the free 2* one to at least 3*. Even if she never promotes to 5* her stats won't affect her performance at all, assuming she never gets hit.

Generally, her best boon will be either +Atk or +Spd, but I prefer the latter to keep her from being a liability defensively by limiting the number of units that can double her, especially with Fury. Any defensive bane (HP, Def, or Res) is fine.

Ruby Sword / Fury / Wings of Mercy / Hone Atk is spot on for her kit. If she must have a special, take Moonbow--but she shouldn't ever be attacking if you're using her correctly.

As for your 2* freebies, save them for now. Wrys actually has a pretty neat default kit with Rehabilitate / Live to Serve / Heavenly Light. Subaki is a source of Quick Riposte 2 if bumped to 4*. If nothing else, you can upgrade them all to 3* for use in Grand Hero Battles or other lategame content, since those can be done using only free units.

@MaskedAmpharos @MrSmokestack Thanks for the feedback. I do have an Attack+/Speed- Olivia so I was debating training her since I don't like Speed banes but then I remembered that we got a free Olivia so I wanted to know which one to train. Don't think I can spare the stamina to train the neutral nature squad now but I might do it somewhere down the line. 

As for Wrys, I was actually thinking of training him as a magic tank but reconsidered after the arduous task of getting Bride Lyn to level 40. 

This might be too broad of a question but are +Speed boons preferred for units that want to go in and take out enemies and avoid getting doubled(since you can always give units damage trigger skills)? I know that a Speed+/HP- is a recommended build for male Robin and I can definitely see why given his speed stat but I was wondering that's the case for units with decent speed like Catria. Pulled a 4* Attack+/HP- a little while ago and debating if I should train her or wait for a +Speed/HP- one.  

Edited June 11, 2017 by Magician Lugh

[MrSmokestack]

@Magician Lugh Fair enough. In all honesty nearly all healers function about the same in a similar sense to dancers since their utility comes from Rehabilitate and Recover, so with enough SI you could pick whoever you wanted to fill the role, with some bias towards mounted healers because of the added movement. Wrys is the best healer objectively speaking

If you're interested in how certain boons match up against others, there's matchup calculators like this one that can give you the nitty-gritty details in evaluating how your unit's set performs against the rest of the *neutral* roster, or if you need to build a unit a certain way to address certain threats (ex. G Tomebreaker Julia). Doing your due diligence with Boon / Bane combos also gives you more experience for handling other teambuilding issues in the future.

Since you can merge units and retain all learned skills without having to grind up SP for them again, there's no reason to not train units you have on hand as opposed to waiting for newer, potentially better counterparts to come in. For example, if I trained up the free Catria to 5* and got her some skills only to pull a +Atk one in the future, I would simply go ahead and merge her into the new base. It saves time down the road.

Edited June 11, 2017 by MrSmokestack
Tense

[Zeo]

10 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Lucina is a flat out amazing unit, even when neutral. Masked Marth has the detriment that he has zero natural skills outside of his Falchion, so make sure you have skill inheritance fodder available.

You and @Bartozio are right, Marthcina is the better choice. No Marth or Chrom.

Alfonse, Cain, Chrom, Hana, Lyn.

Alfonse is 3 stars, Cain is garbage, Chrom and Hana have the worst boon and bane, respectively and I don't have Lyn. What you told me to do just now as to sit on it, got it.

Blarblade+, Life and Death, and Desperation.

Such an expensive build... I have to *5 an Odin and either Hana or somehow pull Jaffar/Minerva. She'll be on the backend then. Other characters getting LnD3 take precedence over her. B!Cordelia, Kagero, etc.

Any flier that uses Drag Back instead of a Weaponbreaker or other passive B skill can use Hit and Run.

I just don't know what unit would benefit from it. I'm never going to use her so it's just a free skill.

 

10 hours ago, phineas81707 said:

I hear Brave Sword Hana is very lovely, though that -SPD sounds unpleasant. You have +ATK, though, which has the makings of a deadly unit.

I know the +ATK is great but -SPD hurts so bad. The point of the build is quadding with massive firepower but with 33 speed she can't even double neutral Y!Tiki.

[MrSmokestack]

@Zeo Cain has 3 less base Atk than Hana assuming neutral. Far from "horrible" if you're giving him cavalry buffs like you should. To be fair, yours in particular is -Atk though.

-Spd definitely isn't ideal for Hana, but she's perfectly serviceable with +Atk since most things will just die on the first two hits anyway. Source: Me, I used a Brave Sword Hana in Arena with the exact same Boon/Bane combo. It works.

[Flying Shogi]

20 minutes ago, MrSmokestack said:

@Magician Lugh Fair enough. In all honesty nearly all healers function about the same in a similar sense to dancers since their utility comes from Rehabilitate and Recover, so with enough SI you could pick whoever you wanted to fill the role, with some bias towards mounted healers because of the added movement. Wrys is the best healer objectively speaking

If you're interested in how certain boons match up against others, there's matchup calculators like this one that can give you the nitty-gritty details in evaluating how your unit's set performs against the rest of the *neutral* roster, or if you need to build a unit a certain way to address certain threats (ex. G Tomebreaker Julia). Doing your due diligence with Boon / Bane combos also gives you more experience for handling other teambuilding issues in the future.

Since you can merge units and retain all learned skills without having to grind up SP for them again, there's no reason to not train units you have on hand as opposed to waiting for newer, potentially better counterparts to come in. For example, if I trained up the free Catria to 5* and got her some skills only to pull a +Atk one in the future, I would simply go ahead and merge her into the new base. It saves time down the road.

Not sure if you're serious about Wrys but I'll take it at face value. The main reason why I wanted to train him is because of his massive Res and good HP stat for a unit.  But that Atk though. Training him is gonna be a pain if I get around to it. Time to use those crystals and shards I guess. 

Thanks for sharing the matchup calculator. I played a little in the beginning and only recently got back into the game so I missed out on the resources like these. 

Thanks for the tip. I'm a little cautious when it comes to merging since I haven't done it yet so I'm trying to get as most info as I can.

[Ice Dragon]

49 minutes ago, Zeo said:

I just don't know what unit would benefit from it. I'm never going to use her so it's just a free skill.

Cordelia, Hinoka, Cherche, Minerva, etc.

[Zeo]

8 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Cordelia, Hinoka, Cherche, Minerva, etc.

...I have a +ATK/-RES Cherche that I'm going to turn into a ball of death. Since Drag Back is part of her build I'm going to ask the question.

With Hit and Run after you attack can you move in any of the 4 directions of your choosing or is it essentially the same as Drag Back with the one direction except without your opponent? It'll probably go on Cherche either way.

[Ice Dragon]

6 minutes ago, Zeo said:

...I have a +ATK/-RES Cherche that I'm going to turn into a ball of death. Since Drag Back is part of her build I'm going to ask the question.

With Hit and Run after you attack can you move in any of the 4 directions of your choosing or is it essentially the same as Drag Back with the one direction except without your opponent? It'll probably go on Cherche either way.

Hit and Run is identical to Drag Back, but without moving the opponent with you.

[BurgundyBirb]

In a Cecilia/Xander/Camus team, is there any reason for a specific one of them to get specifically Hone/Fortify Calvary, or even Goad/Ward? Xander has Fortify, while Camus has Hone, but I'm not sure what to give Cecilia, or any 4th horse unit I may end up adding to the team

[MrSmokestack]

@BurgundyBirb The more bulky units on a cavalier team should not be carrying Fortify or Ward buffs; their allies should so they can buff their defenses. Giving Xander Hone Cavalry would have been better than giving him Fortify Cavalry, in other words.

For horse teams specifically, I prefer a ratio of 2 Hone / 2 Fort without using any Goads or Wards, especially if you run -Blade units.

Edited June 12, 2017 by MrSmokestack
Tense

[Eridras]

59 minutes ago, BurgundyBirb said:

In a Cecilia/Xander/Camus team, is there any reason for a specific one of them to get specifically Hone/Fortify Calvary, or even Goad/Ward? Xander has Fortify, while Camus has Hone, but I'm not sure what to give Cecilia, or any 4th horse unit I may end up adding to the team

I'd second what @MrSmokestack says. I don't run any -blade tomes on my team, so I run Xander with Hone, Cecilia with Fortify, and Reinhardt/Camus with Goad. Xander needs the Fortify to bait and tank, while Reinhardt and Raven Cecilia appreciate the Hone to kill even harder.  Without -blade tomes, I find having double Goads more useful since this adds a total of +14 attack and speed to Cecilia and Camus, who are my bait-and-killers. 

Edited June 12, 2017 by Eridras

[MaskedAmpharos]

1 hour ago, BurgundyBirb said:

In a Cecilia/Xander/Camus team, is there any reason for a specific one of them to get specifically Hone/Fortify Calvary, or even Goad/Ward? Xander has Fortify, while Camus has Hone, but I'm not sure what to give Cecilia, or any 4th horse unit I may end up adding to the team

Give Hone/Fortify to the one who needs it least. 

Xander, for example, mostly relies on a defensive baiting playstyle with Quick Riposte, so he appreciates the Fortify Cavalry buff more than Hone. As such, he should be the one to carry Hone Cavalry. 

Cecilia, on the other hand, is much more offensive, so she appreciates receiving the Hone Cavalry buff more. As such, she should carry Fortify Cavalry. 

That said, it's not super important who has what since an optimal cavalry team would have two each of Hone/Fortify, allowing you to give both buffs to everyone (or at least to whomever I want to receive both buffs) depending on positioning. 

Edited June 12, 2017 by MaskedAmpharos

[Eridras]

How useful is Kagero these days?  I have a 4* +Atk, -Def one that I'm considering promoting. However, these days there's a wider variety of units in the arena, so I wonder if she's a worthwhile use of 20,000 feathers. 

Of course, I don't really need her, I'd just like to have a 5* colorless unit who isn't Rebecca. An alternative I am considering would be starting work on a Flier Emblem team by giving a neutral Spring Camila either a -blade or -raven tome. 

[BurgundyBirb]

Huh. Oops. Well it's not a big deal, I can fix that

I'll give Cecilia Fortify as well, and later I can replace Camus's Hone with Fortify too. I used my only Jagen on Xander though, so she'll be stuck without Fortify atm. 

Sucks that I messed up like that but it's not the end of the world. This team was mostly focused on Gronnblade Cecilia, anyways, and I don't mind waiting for my SP to build up again

Now that I think about it, I was already considering making a Blarblade Ursula later down the line. Or using a Rein, should I ever get him. So Camus can keep Hone, and I'll give Cecilia and Ursula/Rein Fortify. The only one who really needs fixing is Xander, I guess. Not as bad as I thought, then

Edited June 12, 2017 by BurgundyBirb

[Xenomata]

52 minutes ago, Eridras said:

How useful is Kagero these days?  I have a 4* +Atk, -Def one that I'm considering promoting. However, these days there's a wider variety of units in the arena, so I wonder if she's a worthwhile use of 20,000 feathers. 

Of course, I don't really need her, I'd just like to have a 5* colorless unit who isn't Rebecca. An alternative I am considering would be starting work on a Flier Emblem team by giving a neutral Spring Camila either a -blade or -raven tome. 

Kagero is great for a Dagger user. Having the highest attack stat of all the Dagger users AND Poison Dagger+ is no laughing matter, she can almost certainly take down any Infantry unit she comes across in one round, save for Triangle Adept -raven users.

The only problem with her is that she doesn't do much against any other unit type, especially Armors.

[MaskedAmpharos]

1 hour ago, Eridras said:

How useful is Kagero these days?  I have a 4* +Atk, -Def one that I'm considering promoting. However, these days there's a wider variety of units in the arena, so I wonder if she's a worthwhile use of 20,000 feathers. 

Of course, I don't really need her, I'd just like to have a 5* colorless unit who isn't Rebecca. An alternative I am considering would be starting work on a Flier Emblem team by giving a neutral Spring Camila either a -blade or -raven tome. 

As a colorless attacker, she's still one of the best. 

She isn't nearly as powerful as the likes of Brave Bow Cordelia, but if you don't have other good colorless units I'd still consider her worth using. 

[StarSeraphim]

So I've managed to pull 2 Bride Cordelias (-Atk/+HP & -Spd/+Res). Planning to merge them and run Brave Bow+, L&D3, Desperation 3 and Luna. I'm guessing that I should be merging -Atk Cordy into -Spd Cordy? Or is there any setup that potentially makes -Atk Cordy outshine -Spd Cordy?

Or perhaps I could try to pull for another Cordy with only 13 orbs remaining?

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

22 minutes ago, StarSeraphim said:

So I've managed to pull 2 Bride Cordelias (-Atk/+HP & -Spd/+Res). Planning to merge them and run Brave Bow+, L&D3, Desperation 3 and Luna. I'm guessing that I should be merging -Atk Cordy into -Spd Cordy? Or is there any setup that potentially makes -Atk Cordy outshine -Spd Cordy?

Or perhaps I could try to pull for another Cordy with only 13 orbs remaining?

With the same L&D Brave Bow set, the -Spd one wins a few more matches compared to the -Atk one (vanilla skillsets for enemies). -Atk seems to do better when running Firesweep Bow, though I'm not sure how much you'd want to run that.

Edited June 12, 2017 by SatsumaFSoysoy

[StarSeraphim]

1 hour ago, SatsumaFSoysoy said:

With the same L&D Brave Bow set, the -Spd one wins a few more matches compared to the -Atk one (vanilla skillsets for enemies). -Atk seems to do better when running Firesweep Bow, though I'm not sure how much you'd want to run that.

-Atk does better with Firesweep Bow? That's interesting. Unfortunately I have had no luck with the Valentian banners. Welp, looks like I should be merging into the -Spd one then.

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

1 minute ago, StarSeraphim said:

-Atk does better with Firesweep Bow? That's interesting. Unfortunately I have had no luck with the Valentian banners. Welp, looks like I should be merging into the -Spd one then.

Spd is usually more important than Atk for non-Brave weapons, since they have higher Might and doubling is more valuable. Brave Bow sort of auto-doubles but has low Might, so every point of Atk counts.

[Rafiel's Aria]

This is just kind of a general question, and i'm not sure it really needs a topic (even though I think it might generate some interesting conversation). 

When it comes to rare units with rare skills do you think it's better to pass on their skills or merge them? For example, let's say you get two Hectors. Distant Counter is a pretty great skill. But Merged Hector means slightly better Arena runs. I know it kind of comes down to your priorities, but I'd like to hear some varying thoughts.

[StarSeraphim]

9 minutes ago, SatsumaFSoysoy said:

Spd is usually more important than Atk for non-Brave weapons, since they have higher Might and doubling is more valuable. Brave Bow sort of auto-doubles but has low Might, so every point of Atk counts.

Of course...somehow my mind was too focused on Brave Bow to properly register how non-Brave weapons work. I need to sleep...

What would be the build for Firesweep Cordelia then? A breaker skill with Moonbow/Draconic Aura?

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

4 minutes ago, StarSeraphim said:

Of course...somehow my mind was too focused on Brave Bow to properly register how non-Brave weapons work. I need to sleep...

What would be the build for Firesweep Cordelia then? A breaker skill with Moonbow/Draconic Aura?

She's already so fast that a Breaker wouldn't be super meaningful, honestly. Some kind of Seal or Poison Strike is cool I guess. Your A skill should still be Life and Death.

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

4 minutes ago, StarSeraphim said:

Of course...somehow my mind was too focused on Brave Bow to properly register how non-Brave weapons work. I need to sleep...

What would be the build for Firesweep Cordelia then? A breaker skill with Moonbow/Draconic Aura?

She's already so fast that a Breaker wouldn't be super meaningful, honestly. Some kind of Seal or Poison Strike is cool I guess. Your A skill should still be Life and Death.

[MaskedAmpharos]

47 minutes ago, Rafiel's Aria said:

This is just kind of a general question, and i'm not sure it really needs a topic (even though I think it might generate some interesting conversation). 

When it comes to rare units with rare skills do you think it's better to pass on their skills or merge them? For example, let's say you get two Hectors. Distant Counter is a pretty great skill. But Merged Hector means slightly better Arena runs. I know it kind of comes down to your priorities, but I'd like to hear some varying thoughts.

I take those on a case-by-case basis. 

For example, I have several armored units that I want to put Distant Counter on, so I would prioritize inheritance over merging in those cases. However, with something like Close Counter, where there aren't any immediate units that I want to put it on, I would merge. 

Another factor I take into consideration is how often I actually use those units in Arena. I suppose that sounds like a no-brainer, but basically I really only see merging as a method of boosting Arena score since the stat increase usually doesn't make a significant difference in single player (such as GHBs and Tempest) unless you have a bunch of merge levels. If I barely even use Hector in Arena, then I would much rather have the option of running both Hector and Zephiel with Distant Counter for monthly Armor quests or for Tempest than just a +1 Hector. If, however, Hector is a unit that regularly sees use on my Arena team, then I would consider merging for points if I'm close to the promotion cutoff.