Not sure what skill to inherit or who to inherit it from? Read this! (Please read before posting)

[Ice Dragon]

54 minutes ago, 5PointGordin said:

You did mention a speedy build, which I am somewhat interested in. Which skills would you recommend for that?

Something like

Helm Bow+ [Spd / Def / Res] / Springy Bow+ [Spd / Def / Res] / Plegian Bow+ [Spd]
[Assist]
[Special]
Kestrel Stance 3 / Atk/Spd Unity / Atk/Spd Ideal / the Spd/Def or Spd/Res versions of any of these skills
Lull Atk/Spd 3
Atk/Spd Menace
Distant Def 3 / Spd/Res Form 3 / any of the other Spd-boosting Sacred Seals

There might also be a few other bows worth using. Keeping up with all of the seasonal inheritable weapons is a pain.

Obviously don't use Helm Bow/Plegian Bow with a Bond Sacred Seal or Springy Bow with Atk/Spd Unity.

Kestrel Stance, Steady Posture, and Swift Stance grant the Guard effect, but don't give any boosts on player phase. Unity and Ideal both grant their effects on both phases. Unity works better in game modes with more consistent debuffs (namely Aether Raids, though I don't think Norne is quite strong enough to tank in high-tier Aether Raids), whereas Ideal gives you a pretty consistent +7.

The Lull should always be Lull Atk/Spd for this build. Same with the Menace.

[Xenomata]

5 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

There might also be a few other bows worth using. Keeping up with all of the seasonal inheritable weapons is a pain.

It doesn't technically boost Spd and can't be refined, but Ninja Yumi does technically count as a "speedy" bow, albeit at the cost of defenses, by scaling additional damage with Spd comparisons.
The only unit who has it, Ninja Shinon, also carries the coveted Bow-exclusive Deadeye special, and if you can inherit up to ASsolo3 beforehand you can even grab ASsolo4 along with Ninja Yumi and Deadeye.

[Xenomata]

So... Selkie. My current +10m +10df +Spd runs refined Foxkit Fang, Glacies, Distant Counter, Lull Atk/Spd, and Even Res Wave. (along with a Res +3 seal because hey it works)

I'm thinking of giving her one of the Smoke 4 passives to improve on her ability to take hits, but I'm kind of hitting a road block as to which of the two to give her. Weighing the benefits of both:

• Atk Smoke 4 is a direct boost to her bulk (Atk -7 on enemies, Def/Res +6 for Selkie) and lets her deny the enemy follow-ups. Enemies with NFU can get through this though. As this comes from Fallen Gustav, I can also give her either Atk/Def Catch 4 or Atk/Def Near Trace.
• Spd Smoke 4 is better offensively since she would be far faster as a result, and the Dodge effect works nicely in her favor given her already high Spd. The effect can, however, be bypassed with certain skills and Prf weapon effects. As this comes from Fallen Lilith, she can also get Atk/Spd Catch 4.

Both skills, of course, can be countered with Lull effects, penalty neutralization, Unity effects, and previously mentioned specific counters, but that's still better than most Cav units not even having any better usable skill besides Menaces.

Also worth considering are, of course, other units who would be able to take advantage of Atk Smoke 4 and Spd Smoke 4 better than Selkie, but right now I'm only thinking about Selkie.

Any input?

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Xenomata said:

So... Selkie. My current +10m +10df +Spd runs refined Foxkit Fang, Glacies, Distant Counter, Lull Atk/Spd, and Even Res Wave. (along with a Res +3 seal because hey it works)

I'm thinking of giving her one of the Smoke 4 passives to improve on her ability to take hits, but I'm kind of hitting a road block as to which of the two to give her. Weighing the benefits of both:

• Atk Smoke 4 is a direct boost to her bulk (Atk -7 on enemies, Def/Res +6 for Selkie) and lets her deny the enemy follow-ups. Enemies with NFU can get through this though. As this comes from Fallen Gustav, I can also give her either Atk/Def Catch 4 or Atk/Def Near Trace.
• Spd Smoke 4 is better offensively since she would be far faster as a result, and the Dodge effect works nicely in her favor given her already high Spd. The effect can, however, be bypassed with certain skills and Prf weapon effects. As this comes from Fallen Lilith, she can also get Atk/Spd Catch 4.

Both skills, of course, can be countered with Lull effects, penalty neutralization, Unity effects, and previously mentioned specific counters, but that's still better than most Cav units not even having any better usable skill besides Menaces.

Also worth considering are, of course, other units who would be able to take advantage of Atk Smoke 4 and Spd Smoke 4 better than Selkie, but right now I'm only thinking about Selkie.

Any input?

If you really like Selkie and she is one of your favorites, sure. I personally would not give it to her though, as she got damage output issues due to her abysmal Atk. If you are adamant about giving her one of the Smokes, then I lean towards Spd Smoke, since she already got follow-up denial on player phase.

For dual phase units and super tanks, I personally lean a lot more towards Pulse Smoke to shut down Galeforcers and Edelgard: Hegemon Husk, but I guess you can use Smokes too since they are pretty decent as well.

For Spd Smoke, notable candidates off the top of my head include the usual infantry super tanks like Ike: Brave Mercenary and Yen'fay, as they got a minimum of two stacks of guaranteed damage reduction from their Weapons and Spurn, three stacks with a support unit, four stacks after one round of combat with Speed Smoke, and the occaisional fifth stack with Vital Astra. Fliers and cavalry can more easily stack damage reduction and are a bit more reliable: Maria: Sunny Smile can get percentage damage reduction on top of her flat damage reduction, and units like Freyja and Eliwood: Marquess Pherae can more easily reach over 50% damage reduction on their own.

For Atk Smoke, besides the usual slow candidates, Mia: Budding Blade would prefer that since she is basically a gimped Ike: Close-Knit Siblings with her damage reduction from her Weapon being "off loaded" to a status effect. By the same token, if you are offloading the Dodge status effect using Eirika: Twin refulgence, Atk Smoke would be worth considering on a fast tank too.

[Xenomata]

13 minutes ago, XRay said:

If you really like Selkie and she is one of your favorites, sure. I personally would not give it to her though, as she got damage output issues due to her abysmal Atk. If you are adamant about giving her one of the Smokes, then I lean towards Spd Smoke, since she already got follow-up denial on player phase.

You say "abysmal", but with the full effect of her weapon and at max investment (+Spd) she still sits at 68 Atk. I don't know what unit group you are comparing her to, but using an example of a more recent unit with offensive advantages: Valentine Chrom with just his weapons full effects, max investment, an +Atk hits 72 Atk, only 4 points ahead of Selkie. Brave Eirika, still a pretty popular Lance Cav, hits 70 Atk with max investment, +Atk, and only her weapon.
Yes her base Atk is low, but she's still only a bit short of the above two units who people REALLY like to use. But again, I don't know what units you as the baseline.

And about her default follow-up denial: it is only if initiating on player phase, but AS4 would apply its follow-up denial after she attacks, letting the FUD extend into Selkie's EP. Its the reason I'm even wondering which would be better on her.

40 minutes ago, XRay said:

For dual phase units and super tanks, I personally lean a lot more towards Pulse Smoke to shut down Galeforcers and Edelgard: Hegemon Husk, but I guess you can use Smokes too since they are pretty decent as well.

Max investment Selkie with just her weapon only has 42 Def and 45 HP. Most Galeforcers are probably killing Selkie in one round anyway (and without a Tempo effect wouldn't be able to fully charge GF from 5 cooldown, while GFers with only 4 cd need accelerated charge to fully charge it), while the most Pulse Smoke does on Selkie with Hegemon is make her get killed with a regular attack, and not do anything at all if GF is the equipped special.

[XRay]

31 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

You say "abysmal", but with the full effect of her weapon and at max investment (+Spd) she still sits at 68 Atk. I don't know what unit group you are comparing her to, but using an example of a more recent unit with offensive advantages: Valentine Chrom with just his weapons full effects, max investment, an +Atk hits 72 Atk, only 4 points ahead of Selkie. Brave Eirika, still a pretty popular Lance Cav, hits 70 Atk with max investment, +Atk, and only her weapon.

Transformed Selkie +10+15+Atk sits at 75 Atk on player phase and 71 on enemy phase, assuming she fully wins the Res check; if she does not win the stat check at all or only partially, such as against regular bulky dual phase units and tanks where she needs that Atk boost the most, then it can dip as low as 67 Atk and 63 Atk, and may even lose access to her Flow Guard. And this is basically the ceiling of her damage output as she got nothing else to pad it.

Eliwood: Marquess Pherae sits at 73 Atk, but it is not dependent on stat checks so it is always on. And against bulky foes like dragons and beasts, he got effective damage to significantly increase his damage output to help overcome their bulk.

Eirika: Pledged Restorer sits at 70 Atk, but that is always on too, and she gets a massive boost in damage output from Slaying, Tempo, and true damage from her Weapon and Moonlight Bangle. And she got effective damage on top of that against armor units.

1 hour ago, Xenomata said:

You say "abysmal", but with the full effect of her weapon and at max investment (+Spd) she still sits at 68 Atk. I don't know what unit group you are comparing her to, but using an example of a more recent unit with offensive advantages: Valentine Chrom with just his weapons full effects, max investment, an +Atk hits 72 Atk, only 4 points ahead of Selkie. Brave Eirika, still a pretty popular Lance Cav, hits 70 Atk with max investment, +Atk, and only her weapon.

Dodge works on both phases, so I like that better, and you are not having redundant effects. I guess technically you are not having redundant effects with two stacks of follow-up denial on player phase since they do stack, but not many tanks are going to run two stacks of guaranteed follow-ups either.

Atk Smoke should help her win the Res check more easily though. As for the follow-up denial part, I guess it depends on your access to the relevant support units. In my opinion, getting Dodge as a status effect is slightly more difficult since I do not think guaranteed summons was a thing yet when Eirika: Twin Refulgence was released, but you can simulate follow-up denial with Byleth: The Fódlan Star and he can be guaranteed summon a few months ago.

1 hour ago, Xenomata said:

Max investment Selkie with just her weapon only has 42 Def and 45 HP. Most Galeforcers are probably killing Selkie in one round anyway (and without a Tempo effect wouldn't be able to fully charge GF from 5 cooldown, while GFers with only 4 cd need accelerated charge to fully charge it), while the most Pulse Smoke does on Selkie with Hegemon is make her get killed with a regular attack, and not do anything at all if GF is the equipped special.

As a super tank with support she should be able tank Galeforcers, unless they Lunge her out of support range or something. I am not sure about killing Edelgard: Hegemon Husk, but she should be able to withstand her attacks for at least two turns with Atk/Def Solo 6 and two Elimines.

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, Xenomata said:

You say "abysmal", but with the full effect of her weapon and at max investment (+Spd) she still sits at 68 Atk. I don't know what unit group you are comparing her to, but using an example of a more recent unit with offensive advantages: Valentine Chrom with just his weapons full effects, max investment, an +Atk hits 72 Atk, only 4 points ahead of Selkie. Brave Eirika, still a pretty popular Lance Cav, hits 70 Atk with max investment, +Atk, and only her weapon.
Yes her base Atk is low, but she's still only a bit short of the above two units who people REALLY like to use. But again, I don't know what units you as the baseline.

Selkie has 72 effective Atk on player phase, but the problem is that 12 of those points rely on a visible Res comparison, which will give her a lot of trouble against bulkier units like all of the recent bulky dragons and Fallen Edelgard.

Fallen Edelgard has the same visible Res as Selkie (45 with maximum investment and no Asset), meaning Selkie is stuck with only 60 Atk before passive skills if you cannot use visible buffs or debuffs to make Selkie's Res higher. For comparison, a fully invested Duo Dagr (she's on my Arena core and is "good enough, but sometimes doesn't cut it", so can serve as a benchmark) with no Asset has 65 Atk before passive skills.

 

Despite Chrom's high Atk, he relies heavily on effective damage to break tanks, and that leaves him easily tanked by high-Def units that don't take effective damage. His effectiveness against bulky opponents is also hindered by the fact that he typically runs Deadeye, which scales negatively with the opponent's Def. Chrom can overcome this by running Bonfire instead of Deadeye like Thorr, but this costs him the ability to break through percentage damage reduction.

Despite Eirika's lower Atk, she is much harder to wall even if she doesn't get effective damage due to having a Special that scales extremely positively with the opponent's Def. The combination of Moonlight Bangle and Luna results in nullifying 90% of the opponent's Def, and Moonlight Bangle having the offensive half of Tempo prevents the opponent from stopping the Special activation.

 

As far as what C skill to give to Selkie, I'm not really sold on either Atk Smoke or Spd Smoke mostly because I don't think Selkie really has any business fighting on enemy phase in the first place. I'd personally run Def/Res Menace and have a teammate supply Atk and Spd buffs.

[Dylan Corona]

So I'm unsure of who to give the new arcane bow to.

L. Lyn, B. Lyn, Rath or Bow Florina. 

I can show stats, but if one shines more than the others let me know and I'll share. I can't have more than one screenshot haha 

Edited March 22, 2023 by Dylan Corona

[Ice Dragon]

10 hours ago, Dylan Corona said:

So I'm unsure of who to give the new arcane bow to.

L. Lyn, B. Lyn, Rath or Bow Florina. 

I can show stats, but if one shines more than the others let me know and I'll share. I can't have more than one screenshot haha 

Legendary Lyn and Brave Lyn both lose access to their Sweep effect because equipping an Arcane weapon prevents the unit from equipping exclusive skills.

Swift Mulagir grants around +17-20/+10 offenses and Feud compared to Arcane Nastrond's +13-15/+8 offenses, Slaying effect, and first-hit damage reduction. Even when considering that Laws of Sacae II grants fewer stats than tier-4 A skills, Arcane Nastrond is at best only a side-grade. Arcane Nastrond is really only worth running over Swift Mulagir if you're also running Deadeye + Atk/Spd Finish 4 or some similar build.

Brave Lyn and Rath have nearly identical offensive stats with maximum Dragonflowers (unless you have Resplendent Brave Lyn) with the only notable difference between them being their color and Brave Lyn's access to Sacae's Blessing. The only major advantage Arcane Nastrond has over Whitecap Bow on fast units is the fact that it has first-hit damage reduction, but that becomes irrelevant if the opponent cannot counterattack at all. I'd lean towards Whitecap Bow on Brave Lyn if you're sticking with Sacae's Blessing.

Rath is expected to get a refine around the end of this year or the beginning of next year, which is still a ways off, and Rath being a 4-star unit means he'll likely get a refine that is less powerful. However, it's probably going to come with at least +8/+8 in offenses and another couple effects and will probably be at least competitive. It's up to you whether you care to wait.

Ascended Florina's weapon is slightly weaker than Arcane Nastrond, but is intended to be used in a support role, as it has the same teleportation effect as Ash's Opening Retainer. If you want Florina to be used more offensively, Arcane Nastrond should work on her, though you'll probably want to switch out her A skill for either Atk/Spd Catch 4 or Remote Sparrow.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

So, the game was unusually kind and gave me not only the free Fomortiis from winning AHR, but also a SECOND free one with my free summon. The only fodder I'd be interesting in giving to summon from him is his B skill, but I'm not sure anyone really wants it? Caineghis is the beast unit I use the most, but I'm not sure it would be better than any of the other high-tier B skills he can have. I already have Caineghis running Special Fighter 4 in his B slot.

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

So, the game was unusually kind and gave me not only the free Fomortiis from winning AHR, but also a SECOND free one with my free summon. The only fodder I'd be interesting in giving to summon from him is his B skill, but I'm not sure anyone really wants it? Caineghis is the beast unit I use the most, but I'm not sure it would be better than any of the other high-tier B skills he can have. I already have Caineghis running Special Fighter 4 in his B slot.

Unless you absolutely need the guaranteed transformation, it's typically better to run armor-exclusive skills or other tier-4 skills over Beast Follow-Up on armored units because Beast Follow-Up lacks any of the other nice skill effects that those skills have.

Beast Follow-Up is fairly unique in that it's one of the few skills that grants a reliable guaranteed follow-up on player phase, and I think it's best used for that purpose. If you're just running it for enemy phase, you're better off running Quick Riposte 4 or the Quick Riposte Sacred Seal, after all. Units like Keaton, New Year Kyza, and Flame Mordecai are probably good options.

[Dylan Corona]

Felt like this was the wrong thread 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Dylan Corona
Delete please

[Lemmy]

Any suggestions on how to build the newer version of Nils?

If relevant I do plan to max merge him. I don't have any particular use in mind.

[XRay]

8 hours ago, Lemmy said:

Any suggestions on how to build the newer version of Nils?

If relevant I do plan to max merge him. I don't have any particular use in mind.

You kind of need to know how you want to use a character before you can determine how to build them. Different builds have different purposes.

As a Dancer/Singer, Nils: Snowflake Melody is pretty easy to build. Just slap Wings of Mercy on B or X, and you are mostly done. If you want him to buff teammates, I would have him run Even Atk Wave N, and Firestorm Dance as well if you have Mercy-Wing Echo. If you want him to inflict debuffs, he can run Crystaline Water, Def/Res Ploy (or any Ploy), and Still; Sabotage is also an option if you have Mercy-Wing Echo.

Ice Dragonstone [Res]
(Any Special) [Celica]
Play
(Any A) — Crystaline Water
Wings of Mercy — (Firestorm Dance, with Mercy-Wing Echo) — (Any Sabotage, with Mercy-Wing Echo)
Even Atk Wave N — (Any Ploy)
(Any S) — Still Water
Mercy-Wing Echo — Soaring Echo

If you want to use him as a combat unit (and I assume dual phase), I think active players can give you better recommendations relevant to the current meta, but here is a rough idea.

Ice Dragonstone [Res]
Luna [Celica] — Iceberg [Celica] — Glacies [Marth]
Reposition
Atk/Res Scowl — (Any A that boosts Atk/Res)
Laguz Friend
(Any C that boosts Atk/Res)
(Any S that boosts Atk/Res) — Dist. Counter (D)
Guard Echo

Ice Dragonstone [Spd]
Moonbow [Celica/Marth]
Reposition
(Any A that boosts Atk/Spd)
Mag. Null Follow-Up
(Any C that boosts Atk/Spd)
(Any S that boosts Atk/Spd) — Dist. Counter (D)
Guard Echo

Edited September 9 by XRay

[Ice Dragon]

10 hours ago, Lemmy said:

Any suggestions on how to build the newer version of Nils?

If relevant I do plan to max merge him. I don't have any particular use in mind.

This version of Nils is pretty similar to Halloween Nils, but with less HP and more Def and Res. His Atk is just as low as all of the other versions of him, so it's not really recommended to use him as a combat unit. His Res isn't amazing, but it's good enough to use for Sabotage or Ploy support if you need it and can't fit it elsewhere on your team.

 

Ice Nils [+Spd / +Res]
Arcane Fellstone [Spd / Res] / Dragon's Stone [Spd / Res]
Play
Dragon's Roar
Spd/Res Scowl 4 / Spd/Res Finish 4 / Crystalline Water
[any tier-4 Dance] / A/D Cantrip 3 / Wings of Mercy 4 / [any tier-4 Sabotage] / High Dragon Wall / Spd/Res Bulwark 4
[any tier-4 Ploy] / Endless Tempest / [Spd/Res Oath 4 once it's released] / [other support skills]
[any skill that boosts Spd/Res] / Still Water 3
Mercy-Wing Echo / Guard Echo

As a non-combat unit, his weapon doesn't really matter that much, but Arcane Fellstone and Dragon's Stone both grant damage reduction and Null Follow-Up in case he needs to take a round of combat. For survivability, both Spd and Res refines are fine, but if you're running him with Sabotage or Ploy, you'll want a Res refine.

Similarly, his Special also doesn't really matter that much, but Dragon's Roar grants damage reduction in case he needs to take around of combat.

If you're running Sabotage or Ploy, he should run Crystalline Water in his A slot to maximize his visible Res. If you don't have it, the next best options are Still Water 4, Fortifications, and Fortress Def/Res 3. If you don't need the visible Res, the Spd/Res variants of Scowl 4 and Finish 4 are your best options to maximize survivability.

Dance 4, Cantrip 4, and Sabotage 4 are pretty self-explanatory as support skills. Wings of Mercy 4 is self-explanatory as a mobility skill. high Dragon Wall and Spd/Res Bulwark 4 grant survivability and hinder enemy movement.

The options listed for the C slot should also be pretty self-explanatory. However, as a dedicated support unit, he has a lot of alternative options depending on what your team needs. Menace is a cheap option for passive debuffs. Inf. Null Follow gives him the same teleportation as Oath 4, but grants Null Follow-Up to infantry allies. He isn't as good at using Infantry Pulse 4 compared to the other versions of him, but it's still an option depending on his teammates (and he can run HP-boosting skills in the A and Sacred Seal slots with minimal drawbacks).

The Still Water Sacred Seal should be used if you're running Sabotage or Ploy to maximize his visible Res. Otherwise, any skill that boosts Spd/Res is good, with the new Spd/Res Finish currently being the strongest option.

[Jotari]

I've ended up picking up a second copy of CYL Female Robin by sheer chance and I'm not sure what to do with her. Despite being a recent premium unit her inheritance fodder doesn't seem that good. Are there any units out there who really need Flare or Creation Pulse? They both seem like fun skills but ultimately still a bit underwhelming in today's meta. Maybe I should just keep her and train her up so I have two Robins spamming ice walls. That actually seems like it disrupt the AI in a lot of ways. Though I think most modes where it'd be useful don't allow double units??

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

I've ended up picking up a second copy of CYL Female Robin by sheer chance and I'm not sure what to do with her. Despite being a recent premium unit her inheritance fodder doesn't seem that good. Are there any units out there who really need Flare or Creation Pulse? They both seem like fun skills but ultimately still a bit underwhelming in today's meta. Maybe I should just keep her and train her up so I have two Robins spamming ice walls. That actually seems like it disrupt the AI in a lot of ways. Though I think most modes where it'd be useful don't allow double units??

Mark: Winds of Hope inflicts Sabotage and Stall with Total War Tome, and he does not have Flare.

Validar: Fell Architect is another option, and Grimleal Text inflicts Panic and Discord.

Julia: Heart Usurped got Dark Scripture that inflicts Sabotage, Deep Wounds, and Miracle nullification.

There might be more infantry mages that can inflict two or more debuffs with their Weapon and/or non-C exclusive skills , but those are the only ones I recall from looking at the list: https://feheroes.fandom.com/wiki/Level_40_stats_table.

[Ice Dragon]

6 hours ago, Jotari said:

I've ended up picking up a second copy of CYL Female Robin by sheer chance and I'm not sure what to do with her. Despite being a recent premium unit her inheritance fodder doesn't seem that good. Are there any units out there who really need Flare or Creation Pulse? They both seem like fun skills but ultimately still a bit underwhelming in today's meta. Maybe I should just keep her and train her up so I have two Robins spamming ice walls. That actually seems like it disrupt the AI in a lot of ways. Though I think most modes where it'd be useful don't allow double units??

Flare is currently the best Special for any infantry tome unit that can reliably activate it on their follow-up. Typically, these are units that have the Slaying effect and are expecting a counterattack or have the Slaying and Pledge effects and are not expecting a counterattack.

Creation Pulse is a relatively niche skill since infantry typically don't have much trouble activating their preferred offensive Specials due to the sheer number of options they have. Even if they do need help, Pledge is typically a better option due to the more lenient conditions and the higher stat boost, and Pledge will eventually have more stat combination options instead of being locked to Creation Pulse's Atk/Spd.

I think the best use of Creation Pulse is on ranged units that want to run a 3-cooldown Special (Flare or Deadeye without the Slaying effect or Lethality with the Slaying effect) and don't want to be reliant on Emblem Marth. The unit doesn't have to inflict Penalties on their own, as those can easily be offloaded to a support unit, but it obviously doesn't hurt if they can.

[Jotari]

7 hours ago, XRay said:

Mark: Winds of Hope inflicts Sabotage and Stall with Total War Tome, and he does not have Flare.

Validar: Fell Architect is another option, and Grimleal Text inflicts Panic and Discord.

Julia: Heart Usurped got Dark Scripture that inflicts Sabotage, Deep Wounds, and Miracle nullification.

There might be more infantry mages that can inflict two or more debuffs with their Weapon and/or non-C exclusive skills , but those are the only ones I recall from looking at the list: https://feheroes.fandom.com/wiki/Level_40_stats_table.

 

5 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Flare is currently the best Special for any infantry tome unit that can reliably activate it on their follow-up. Typically, these are units that have the Slaying effect and are expecting a counterattack or have the Slaying and Pledge effects and are not expecting a counterattack.

Creation Pulse is a relatively niche skill since infantry typically don't have much trouble activating their preferred offensive Specials due to the sheer number of options they have. Even if they do need help, Pledge is typically a better option due to the more lenient conditions and the higher stat boost, and Pledge will eventually have more stat combination options instead of being locked to Creation Pulse's Atk/Spd.

I think the best use of Creation Pulse is on ranged units that want to run a 3-cooldown Special (Flare or Deadeye without the Slaying effect or Lethality with the Slaying effect) and don't want to be reliant on Emblem Marth. The unit doesn't have to inflict Penalties on their own, as those can easily be offloaded to a support unit, but it obviously doesn't hurt if they can.

Gave it to Alvis because, what the hell, I still like him. It did mean also sacrificing his Valtome build, which I guess was a long time coming

Feels like he has a pretty generic res Tome unit build now. I did inherit creation pulse onto him along with Flare, but I feel like Def/Rea Ploy is probably better than Creation Pulse. He shouldn't have too much trouble activation Flare with Arcane Eclipse and Special Spiral 4 working in tandem, so Ploy's+10 damage would go further. Speed ploy is on his seal slot due to his old Valflame build, should probably be replaced by something else.