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

[ScarletSylph]

4 minutes ago, DehNutCase said:

I honestly can't think of any notable DC users other than armors off the top of my head. (Mostly because I didn't spend much effort looking, CC is the obvious broken one of the 1-2 range counter skills, due to how utterly bonkers -blade tomes are.)

 

You have basically 3 choices on who to give DC to other than an armor: Horses, Fliers, or Infantry.

Horses: Camus and Xander exists, so it's better to run them with a stat A-slot & support with -blade tomers.

Fliers: Yeah, I sure enjoy using DC vs. archers. (It let's people like Caeda Mountain camp mages to death, but that's very map based.)

Infantry: I mean, they're basically worse Armors if you're using Infantry to DC people. They do have 2 move rather than 1, but...*

 

*You can give DC to Bartre to have a Infantry Hector, though---they have basically the same stat spread, except Bartre is even more allergic to mages than Hector. He also doesn't have a good Prf, but better and better inheritable weapons are coming along. (Melon Crusher is pretty damn good, for example, +2 all stats at the cost of 1 Atk less than Silver Sword and 2 damage after combat.) This is a total joke option, incidentally, don't actually do this unless you like Bartre.

Looking at the info you provided, I have no one currently to pass DC to. I don't have any exceptional Fliers or Armors (they have terrible IVs) If only my Effie or Cordelia wasn't -atk or -spd respectively I would have considered putting it on them so I guess this Hector will just be sitting around collecting dust until a Hero that would make good use of it appears. Thanks for all the tips.

 

[DehNutCase]

7 minutes ago, ScarletSylph said:

Looking at the info you provided, I have no one currently to pass DC to. I don't have any exceptional Fliers or Armors (they have terrible IVs) If only my Effie or Cordelia wasn't -atk or -spd respectively I would have considered putting it on them so I guess this Hector will just be sitting around collecting dust until a Hero that would make good use of it appears. Thanks for all the tips.

The 'enjoy' about fliers part is being sarcastic incidentally---DC doesn't stop archers from killing fliers.

 

 

@XRay Because you can't proc specials if you die to the counter. Peri actually has less wins after buffs* with Luna than with Escutcheon, because she gets OHKOd by so many random things.

 

*Before buffs it's a wash, you trade the ability to chip some people---the 9 or so that OHKO you if you don't have Escutcheon---for 1 extra win.

Edited July 8, 2017 by DehNutCase

[XRay]

@DehNutCase Ah. I have never considered that before. I learn something new every day. I will keep that in mind when I plan builds. I always thought damage Specials were the end all be all.

I guess I am the type of person who would go for that 1 extra win for 15 extra losses. I do not usually make my units fight against colors they are weak against unless they clearly have the upper hand like Blade mages against armor units or sword users against Linde.

[Junkhead]

Anyone feel "cheap" for using Azura? I think I kind of do. I've had her for the longest time, and I'm beggining to wonder if she's pretty much a staple. Looks like it's somewhat madatory for The Trials to have a Dancer in hand, so I'm not really complaining there.

[Lushen]

9 hours ago, XRay said:

@Lushen@DehNutCase@Ice Dragon

I do not think leaving a Player Phase unit in enemy range is a good idea though. They should be Assisted out of Enemy Range. There is no reason not to use Dancers or positioning Assists as they practically make your Player Phase units "invincible." Player Phase units should not compromise their offense just to survive a little better on Enemy Phase. Enemy Phase builds exist, and those units should be the ones in enemy range.

Maximizing kill count should be Player Phase units' primary job, not enemy phase survival. Dead enemies are always better than surviving enemies.

That's how I was playing before I added Breath of Life to my Bride!Cordelia.  I've noticed a significantly higher rate of success by letting some of my tankier units draw in other units, take minor damage, and be healed the next turn when Bride!Cordelia kills the unit.  

Obviously, I'd love to avoid the enemy attacking me ever, but that's not always possible.  There are sometimes more than four units and it's possible they all group up together when they attack you.  You can't take out all five units and to take out one of them, you may need to put someone in the range of all the others.

Additionally, you can get cramped in the corner and have no choice but to have some of your units tank.

If you have a means to heal, there's no reason to now draw out some units so you can take out the rest in one turn. 

[Personette]

So I just pulled my first five star dupe--I now have two five star Cordelias.

My first five star Cordelia was -ATK/+DEF & she's still been an MVP for me, so I was pretty excited to get a better one. New one I s -DEF/+RES... which, yes, is better but not ideal.

I've also got two four star Cordelias--one's +ATK/-DEF, the other is +SPD/-DEF. obviously both of these are better than my five stars (though I'm not sure which is best.)

Should I:

1. Merge my two five stars

2. Promote one of my four stars so I can merge the others into a better nature & maybe use one for fodder

I have the feathers but I also have a pretty limited roster of five stars so using the feathers on a hero I already have at five stars it hard to justify, especially when my -ATK Cordelia doesn't feel lacking. 

On the other hand, I already know she's a great unit I like to use so it makes sense to pour resources into that. Right now there isn't anyone else I'm sure that I want to promote. Maybe I should just wait?

[Bartozio]

14 minutes ago, Personette said:

So I just pulled my first five star dupe--I now have two five star Cordelias.

My first five star Cordelia was -ATK/+DEF & she's still been an MVP for me, so I was pretty excited to get a better one. New one I s -DEF/+RES... which, yes, is better but not ideal.

I've also got two four star Cordelias--one's +ATK/-DEF, the other is +SPD/-DEF. obviously both of these are better than my five stars (though I'm not sure which is best.)

Should I:

1. Merge my two five stars

2. Promote one of my four stars so I can merge the others into a better nature & maybe use one for fodder

I have the feathers but I also have a pretty limited roster of five stars so using the feathers on a hero I already have at five stars it hard to justify, especially when my -ATK Cordelia doesn't feel lacking. 

On the other hand, I already know she's a great unit I like to use so it makes sense to pour resources into that. Right now there isn't anyone else I'm sure that I want to promote. Maybe I should just wait?

It really depends on a few things. If you don't want to use her for inheritance, there's no reason to not merge your five stars. The most useful skill she has to offer is TA3, which is pretty good on some units (mostly dragons and -raven tome users I think). apart from that, the Brave Lance is a nice weapon but Cordelia is arguably the best user for it anyway, so no need to give it to someone else. Galeforce is only useful if you want to boost your arena score, but I'm not sure whether an extra merge or a skill that costs more is better.

I should note that merging units is only useful for the arena. There's very little a +2 Cordelia can do that a +0 Cordelia can't, apart from getting you a better score in the arena. If you're at the point where you can clear mostly anything the game can trow at you and your roster doesn't feel lacking (and you want to reach tier 20 in the arena), you can go ahead and promote a 4* Cordelia. If not, promote someone else who can do things other units on your current roster of 5* units can't if you have them, or just save the feathers for when a unit like that comes around. Remember that you can always promote a 4* Cordelia at a later date.

In terms of what nature is best, it depends on whether you want/have the resources to build a quad set for her. If you do, go with +spd, if you don't, go with +atk.

[Lushen]

53 minutes ago, Personette said:

Should I:

1. Merge my two five stars

2. Promote one of my four stars so I can merge the others into a better nature & maybe use one for fodder

(2) In my opinion. The first two merges will +1 her hp, spd, atk, and res which is really nice (especially the speed).

I have like 20 5*s and I honestly don't care about 12-15 of them.  The ones that matter are the ones I went all out on and they're so much more useful.  The same applies to SI, it's generally better to have one super team than 4 general teams.  Even in tempest, my super team will get to the last map by itself.  With option 2 not only are you getting 4 more stats (which is significant), but you are getting a preferred nature.  

As for +spd or +atk, I personally would say +spd because then you'd be looking at 39 speed which will double almost anything.  If you have Brave Lance, L&D will let you quad things.  

If you have a brave weapon and are uninterested in drastically lowering your survivabillity , +atk may be better in PVE scenarios with inflated stats because quading doesnt matter when L&D makes them kill you in one hit.  It would only be useful with daggers and bowman really.

I would disagree with @Bartozio

With inflated stats in scenarios and events, +ing units stats can help you keep up with their inflated stats (though there's sometimes go way overboard).  On the other hand, while +ing your units will improve your arena score, you will also be looking at other teams with +'d units so it's not going to get any easier.  +1 speed is huge.  +1atk, hp, and res is nice.  Not to mention this particular merge will move stats around to a more optimal position.  In this case, she'd see 7 more attack at the cost of 6 defense.  This is practically another unit at this point.

Edited July 8, 2017 by Lushen

[r_n]

I recently got a second Ninian. I don't want to destroy her for Escape Route or her Dragon stone and since I already have an Azura and Olivia I don't have a need for a 4th dancer, so I want to merge her with my other Ninian. Both are -HP, new one is +attack and the original is +speed.

Her attack, even with a positive nature, seems pretty low so would keeping the speed for defensive purposes be better? Ideally she shouldn't be near other units, but somtimes i take a risky strat that leaves her stranded.

[r_n]

e: double glitch

Edited July 8, 2017 by r_n

[Bartozio]

14 minutes ago, Lushen said:

(2) In my opinion. The first two merges will +1 her hp, spd, atk, and res which is really nice (especially the speed).

I have like 20 5*s and I honestly don't care about 12-15 of them.  The ones that matter are the ones I went all out on and they're so much more useful.  The same applies to SI, it's generally better to have one super team than 4 general teams.  Even in tempest, my super team will get to the last map by itself.  With option 2 not only are you getting 4 more stats (which is significant), but you are getting a preferred nature.  

I mostly agree with the fact that having a few really good units is better then more good units. There's a few things you need to keep in mind though:

1) You actually need to have 4 units that complement one another well enough and are worth investing in.

2) One team can't handle every map, so it's nice to have a few options to swap in and out when neccecary. It's also more fun to be able to use different strategies in my opinion.

3) You're right about the Tempest Trial, but it's stil useful to have some good units left for when you make a mistake and lose your super team (just in case). There's also Squad Assault.

14 minutes ago, Lushen said:

As for +spd or +atk, I personally would say +spd because then you'd be looking at 39 speed which will double almost anything.  If you have Brave Lance, L&D will let you quad things.  

If you have a brave weapon and are uninterested in drastically lowering your survivabillity , +atk may be better in PVE scenarios with inflated stats because quading doesnt matter when L&D makes them kill you in one hit.  It would only be useful with daggers and bowman really.

Running Desperation is an option to remedy the survival problem a bit. It's not perfect, and it means you're not running a breaker skill, but I thought I should still mention it.

14 minutes ago, Lushen said:

I would disagree with @Bartozio

With inflated stats in scenarios and events, +ing units stats can help you keep up with their inflated stats (though there's sometimes go way overboard).  On the other hand, while +ing your units will improve your arena score, you will also be looking at other teams with +'d units so it's not going to get any easier.  +1 speed is huge.  +1atk, hp, and res is nice.

getting a +1 to some stats isn't going to help you keep up with inflated stats. With the boosts those units are getting, you're not outspeeding the units they want you to outspeed (at least not unless you take more drastic measures) and you'll still outspeed units that don't care to much about their speed. It might of course make a difference, but most of the time it won't.

[XRay]

@Soul~! Azura/Ninian/Olivia are staple. I usually switch between Azura and Olivia depending on my team composition.

@Lushen Arena matches are really short, so healing is irrelevant in my experience. Outside of facing against pony teams on the map with parallel bridges in rotation 1, I do not find lack of space to be a problem to Assist units around. My glass cannons have no problem deleting units, so using a tank to soften things up is unnecessary. My Enemy Phase Olivia is the closest thing you would call a tank on my current team since she is designed to take out Bonfire-Vantage Hector and Gronnraven Cecilia, as Reinhardt and B!Cordelia cannot. She can only handle 4 rounds of combat at most, but she does not need any more than that until I see Hector Emblem.

In the Tempest Trials, I find dedicated tanking units to be even less useful. Enemies are so spread out in some maps that I can take down one or two enemies in turn one, Dance and Reposition my team, and annihilate the rest in turn two. The fact that Doctor Falchion can heal up any damage my glass cannons sustain when they initiate combat gives me no reason to use Enemy Phase units, as letting the enemy dictate the terms of engagement is the opposite of what I want. Enemies have skill sets that are practically vanilla that B!Cordelia can safely take out pretty much everyone besides Hector, Raven tomes, and the final boss.

@Personette I am going to disagree with the others and recommend going with +Atk no matter the build. +Atk still gives her more knockouts than +Spd against +Spd opponents.

Cordelia
Brave Lance+, Dragon Fang
Life and Death, Lancebreaker
Player Phase (+Atk -Def) 125:17:4
Player Phase (+Spd -Def) 120:18:8
Player Phase (+Atk -Def, enemy +Spd) 122:17:7
Player Phase (+Spd -Def, enemy +Spd) 118:18:10

Cordelia
Brave Lance+, Ardent Sacrifice, Luna
Life and Death, Desperation
Player Phase (+Atk -Def 30/40HP) 125:18:3
Player Phase (+Spd -Def 30/40HP) 119:21:6
Player Phase (+Atk -Def 30/40HP, enemy +Spd) 121:20:5
Player Phase (+Spd -Def 30/40HP, enemy +Spd) 114:23:9

There is no need to increase a unit's Speed beyond a certain point (around 35±2), since increasing it further gets you less and less additional doubles. Units with 35+ base speed need Attack boon to make their Speed useful.

Edited July 8, 2017 by XRay

[Cute Chao]

2 hours ago, r_n said:

I recently got a second Ninian. I don't want to destroy her for Escape Route or her Dragon stone and since I already have an Azura and Olivia I don't have a need for a 4th dancer, so I want to merge her with my other Ninian. Both are -HP, new one is +attack and the original is +speed.

Her attack, even with a positive nature, seems pretty low so would keeping the speed for defensive purposes be better? Ideally she shouldn't be near other units, but somtimes i take a risky strat that leaves her stranded.

I would definitely go +Spd. I don't think Ninian is designed to be an offensive unit, although I think I remember someone saying on here she has to be merged several times before she becomes really good. And, as you said, there is always the risk of being attacked. 

My two pence, anyway ^.^''

[Carter]

I pulled a +Spd/-Atk Faye. I know Faye in general isn't that great of a unit to begin with, and with an attack bane, she's probably even worse. But due to my favoritism, and as a F2P player, I'm going to take what I can get and use Faye.

Any good skill combinations to make the most of her? I've been thinking about choosing Fury or Life and Death for her A Slot skill, but I'm not really sure.

[Carter]

edit: oh wrong topic :/

Edited July 8, 2017 by Carter

[Xenomata]

So... is there anything explicitly WRONG with having more than one unit of similar builds? Not anything like "4 Nino's with Gronnblade+, Fury, Desperation, and Moonbow", more like Brave Axe+ builds of Frederick, Cherche, and Summer Tiki, or Triangle Adept builds of Nowi and Fae, things like that.

I'm not at such a point yet (well, not with Freddy and Cherche at least), though I am wondering if I'm starting to go down such a path.

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Carter said:

I pulled a +Spd/-Atk Faye. I know Faye in general isn't that great of a unit to begin with, and with an attack bane, she's probably even worse. But due to my favoritism, and as a F2P player, I'm going to take what I can get and use Faye.

Any good skill combinations to make the most of her? I've been thinking about choosing Fury or Life and Death for her A Slot skill, but I'm not really sure.

Using that nature as a glass cannon is terrible. This is the build you want for Faye as a glass cannon:

Faye +Atk -Res
Brave Bow, Luna
Death Blow, Swordbreaker
Player Phase 96:5:45

I gave her Swordbreaker since that gives her the most kills. You can give her whatever Breaker you want to tackle enemies you have the most trouble dealing with.

— — — — — — —

The copy that you have now serves a different purpose. She can be a great debuffer. Just use her as you would use a dagger unit.

Faye +Spd -Atk
Firesweep Bow, Iceberg
Close Defense, Poison Strike/Seal Stat, Savage Blow

Close Defense allows her to survive the most, as she primarily dies to melee attacks. However, you can also give her Distant Defense instead if you find her getting attacked from a distance more often.

Poison Strike is her primary method of damage, and it allows allied physical or magical glass cannons to finish off the weakened unit. Using Seal Defense or Seal Resistance is more preferable, but it depends on her teammates. If she has primarily physical teammates, go with Seal Defense; magical teammates, Seal Resistance; mixed teammates, all three work fine. I have not found Seal Attack or Seal Speed particularly useful, but you can use them if it suits your play style more.

Savage Blow is there to weaken groups of enemies. You can also use Panic Ploy if that is more your thing.

— — — — — — —

This is a better version of the debuffer since she can deal damage too. Just do not let her get attacked.

Faye +Atk -Def/-Res
Firesweep Bow, Moonbow/Luna/Iceberg
Death Blow, Poison Strike/Seal Stat, Savage Blow

This build is similar to the one above, but you can use it to kite armor units and kill Hector in about 3 turns. Just do not let her get hit.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

2 hours ago, Xenomata said:

So... is there anything explicitly WRONG with having more than one unit of similar builds? Not anything like "4 Nino's with Gronnblade+, Fury, Desperation, and Moonbow", more like Brave Axe+ builds of Frederick, Cherche, and Summer Tiki, or Triangle Adept builds of Nowi and Fae, things like that.

I'm not at such a point yet (well, not with Freddy and Cherche at least), though I am wondering if I'm starting to go down such a path.

There is nothing wrong with having 4 Ninos with the same build either. I have 3 Reinhardts with the same build; I may make a fourth since I accidentally gave an extra fodder lots of skills.

Spoiler

After triple Reinhardts are done, I am going to work on triple Hectors next.

Spoiler

Anyways, back to answer your question. There is nothing wrong with having infantry, cavalry, and flier units using the same build. You need cavalry for pony teams, you need infantry to get higher Arena scores, and you need fliers for mobility. Having two or more different infantry (or cavalry/flier) using the same build is encouraged as well since Squad Assault requires 20 different characters split into five teams.

You also need them all to complete the monthly infantry/cavalry/flier/armor quests.

Edited July 8, 2017 by XRay

[SniperGYS]

Smol question again!

is worth to keep 4*LuciMask and 4*Tobin if I got/get the 5* version?

I have both LuciMask and maybe I can get 5*Tobin, so... Is worth to keep the 4* too?

[XRay]

21 minutes ago, SniperGYS said:

Smol question again!

is worth to keep 4*LuciMask and 4*Tobin if I got/get the 5* version?

I have both LuciMask and maybe I can get 5*Tobin, so... Is worth to keep the 4* too?

I keep them. I plan to promote all copies of the free neutral limited units to 5* and merge them all someday.

[wizzard of soz]

just to confirm...healer damage is calculated as follows...Healer Atk - Opponents Res, then divide that by 2 and round down?

[MrSmokestack]

6 minutes ago, wizzard of soz said:

just to confirm...healer damage is calculated as follows...Healer Atk - Opponents Res, then divide that by 2 and round down?

Yep. Wrathful Staff removes the 1/2 penalty as well.

If it halved before subtracting Res most attacks from healers would do straight 0 damage.

[wizzard of soz]

4 minutes ago, MrSmokestack said:

Yep. Wrathful Staff removes the 1/2 penalty as well.

If it halved before subtracting Res most attacks from healers would do straight 0 damage.

lol that's a good point, thank ya.

[Personette]

7 hours ago, Carter said:

I pulled a +Spd/-Atk Faye. I know Faye in general isn't that great of a unit to begin with, and with an attack bane, she's probably even worse. But due to my favoritism, and as a F2P player, I'm going to take what I can get and use Faye.

Any good skill combinations to make the most of her? I've been thinking about choosing Fury or Life and Death for her A Slot skill, but I'm not really sure.

The first or second five star I got was a -ATK/+SPD Faye & I had the same attitude: surely I can make something of her! She's got to be useful with some effort!

Turns out: not really. I abandoned her for other, better four stars pretty quickly. 

She's been reasonably useful in these Tempest Trials, with a (five star, kitted out) Eirika buffing her. She's bulky and every once and a while she manages to kill someone in one shot.

But just look at her five star level 40 stats and compare them to other, silver units you've got. She's a five star unit for her bow & I don't have the heart to sacrifice her for it. Maybe you will.

PS--thanks for the advice about Cordelia, everyone. I'm still undecided, but I'm a more informed undecided.

[GuiltyLove]

I should take taken a picture of this. In TT, my Catria was in the range of a Katarina and got doubled and was killed. They both had 37 speed though, so Swift Sparrow shouldn't have been enough to double. What happened? The Mae next to her didn't have a Spur skill either. Was it the Owl tome or something?

[Vaximillian]

4 minutes ago, GuiltyLove said:

Was it the Owl tome or something?

Exactly. In combat, Owl tomes give +2 to each stat per adjacent ally. With Swift Sparrow’s +4 and Mae’s +2 it was enough for Katarina to double Catria.

Edited July 9, 2017 by Vaximillian