Sire's Theorycrafting Center

[Sire]

Since I make too many walls of text, theorycraft a bit, and like sharing my thoughts (instead of putting it all on lonely Notepad), I made my own thread!

Specifically, this topic will be used to post my various skill builds (since I plan on doing almost every character) and also unit stats and comparisons. Think it like Elieson's topic, but a lot less professional and in-depth. This is more of a rambling and general guide to things.

Please keep general discussion and questions regarding Skill Inheritance in it's respective thread. This includes asking for suggestions on what skills to put on a unit, unless one really wants an in-depth response from me for some reason.

* * * * *
Contents:
1. Original Post & Useful Links (You are here!)
2. Team Composition & Unit Builds - Sire's Picks (Link)
3. Team Composition & Unit Builds - MOV-Type Teams (Link)
4. Brave Weapons + Desperation: Theorycrafting (Link)
5. Brave Weapons + Desperation: Raven, The Brave Hero (Link)
6. Team Composition & Unit Builds - The Awakening Trio (Link)

B: Adult!Tiki Team Composition (Link)
B: Team Counterstrike (Link)
B. Special Skills - Nino & Damage Comparisons (Link)
B. Jaffar Builds (Link)
B. Brash Assault, Guard, Obstruct, Watersweep, and Windsweep (Link)
B. SP and Skill Inheritance: Mini Write-up (Link)

* * * * * * * * * *
Useful Links:
Sire's Character Builds for Fire Emblem Heroes (Google Spreadsheet) - More of a personal (but public) notepad, I put various character builds on this spreadsheet. This resource is likely to be more up-to-date than the detailed write-ups here and is useful to just look at the builds without the walls of text.

Fire Emblem Heroes Wiki - Max Stats Table - It also has various filters, such as Weapon or Movement Type, as well as sorting from High to Low or Low to High on various stats. (If you were looking for my original chart here, it is gone since the Wiki now has a proper system in place.)
Fire Emblem Heroes - Damage Calculator - I do not know the owner or the source for this, but it is nice when running battle calculations!

Edited May 10, 2017 by Sire
Post Update

[Ryuke]

Setsuna seems to be the best Archer option.. That huge speed --- add in distant counter and some attack

 

profit.

[Lushen]

2 minutes ago, Ryuke said:

Setsuna seems to be the best Archer option.. That huge speed --- add in distant counter and some attack

 

profit.

I thought so too.

It was pointed out, however, that her attack is so low she can't actually win fights against most units.

[Ryuke]

9 minutes ago, Lushen said:

I thought so too.

It was pointed out, however, that her attack is so low she can't actually win fights against most units.

Well.. my Setsuna 4* is at level 40... Her only issue is Armor Knight like everyone else. I have Gordin 4* (level 30~) ... even he struggles with Armor Knight

 

 

Cherche + Iote Shield + Speed => You will tank very well and hit back hard. and Hopefully fly away from mage.

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2017 by Ryuke

[MrSmokestack]

I'll throw in some of the common builds people will be using Day 1

Vantage + Distant Counter is most likely the best staple in the meta right now, with a number of units like Ryoma and Hector getting virtually free access to it

Desperation + Brash Assault is only possible with Lyn, but it opens up the opportunity to rapidly build charge for Galeforce, though Night Sky will be easier to use in most games.

Fury + Renewal has great synergy as well, and the Falchion users in particular also keep their B slot open to improve their matchup against an enemy sword unit with Sword Breaker.

Life and Death is the go-to for any Brave weapon user, if only for the +10 attack and negating the Brave penalty.

 

As for weapons to inherit...

Braves are great weapons in general to inherit, but tome users can either take a weapon advantage vs colorless or gain the ability to stack buffs for silly damage numbers. Lots of natural 5* units like Takumi would like to forgo their Prf for something more competitive; in addition, Sanaki might just be one of the best nukes in the game now, potentially gaining a 40% weapon advantage against two colors with 51 Atk.

These next few weeks are going to be quite the wild ride.

[Sire]

Team Compositions & Unit Builds - Sire's Picks

Originally taken from my post in the Skill Inheritance topic, it has been updated and revised several times since then.

Now, note that my builds may not necessarily be the "most efficient," as I do like to mess around with gimmick builds or what just looks cool. Will I ever be able to fully complete all of these teams with ideal natures and perfect skills? Heck no, but it's fun to think about (for me anyway).

* * * * *
Contents (Update: 3/20/2017)
1. Askr Team (Alfonse, Sharena, Anna || Matthew, Viron || Alt Virion, Alt Anna, Alt Alfonse)
2. Sire's Arena Offense Team (Ryoma, Ephraim || Erika, Marth, Camilla)
3. Chrom's Shepherds (Chrom, Lissa, M!Robin, F!Robin)

4. Lighting Dragon Duo (Adult!Tiki, Nowi || A!Tiki 2, A!Tiki 3)
5. Carefree and Outspoken (Azama, Serra)
6. Nile's Angels (Niles, Kagero, Felicia)
7. Team Minerva (ATT Cherche, DEF Cherche)

 

Askr Team ====================

Alfonse		Fólkvangr	|| Sol, Pivot*			|| Death Blow, Quick Riposte*, Spur Atk
Sharena		Fensalir	|| Luna*, Rally Attack		|| Death Blow*, Renewal*, Fortify DEF
Anna		Nóatún		|| Pavise*, Rally Speed*	|| Life and Death*, Desperation*, Fortify RES*

Virion		Brave Bow+*	|| Sol*, Reciprocal Aid*	|| Life and Death*, Seal SPD*, Savage Blow*
Matthew		Rogue Dagger+ 	|| Galeforce*, Reciprocal Aid	|| Close Counter*, Poison Strike, Spur SPD

Virion (Alt)	Silver Bow+	|| Astra, Harsh Command*	|| Darting Blow*, Seal DEF*, Spur Atk*
Anna (Alt)	Nóatún		|| Sol*, Rally Speed*		|| Armored Blow*, Seal ATT*, Fortify RES*
Alfonse (Alt)	Fólkvangr	|| Bonfire*, Pivot*		|| Defiant SPD*, Seal DEF*, Threaten SPD*

AN: Entire section has been reformatted and rewritten. Notable changes are the original "Alt" versions of Alfonse and Anna swapping places with the previous "Mains," and there is a new Virion that takes over the "main build." The original Virion is now an Alt variant.

Alfonse: A Quick Riposte Alfonse, as well as a good "budget" Alfonse as all that is added is Pivot and Quick Riposte!

This build focuses on having Alfonse stay on high health so he can double attack with Quick Riposte, which overcomes his innate SPD weakness. Sol remains to heal Alfonse, while Death Blow helps Alfonse on the offensive and can even turn him into a mini-nuke when his health drops below 50% due to his weapon special (+5 WepSpcl + 6 DthBlw = 11 ATT Bonus)

He keeps Spur Atk to help his allies and to make Alfonse useful when it is too risky for him to engage the enemy. Pivot is inherited for mobility.

Sharena: Sharena remains somewhat of a support unit, but is also the most balanced out of the three Askr heroes. I give her Luna to help her deal more damage against DEF heavy targets, and Death Blow increases her output further (especially since Sharena can double fairly well). I also gave her Renewal to help with her survivability, and this synergizes well with her weapon that inflicts -4 ATT on enemies within 2 spaces of her.

Anna: Since Anna has low DEF, is fast, and deals respectable damage, I decided to turn her into a Berserker-type character.

I have her run the Life and Death with Desperation combo. L&D increases her ATT & SPD by 5, giving her a boost in damage and making Anna go even faster, but she does lose 5 DEF & RES. Then, if Desperation is active and Anna doubles (Anna's SPD with L&D = 43 // Anna doubles enemies with SPD 36 and below), Anna can get in two swings from her Nóatún before the opponent can even retaliate! If the situation does not look favorable for Anna and she has below 40% Health, she can simply warp away due to her weapon's special ability and wait for a new opportunity to strike.

I change Spur RES to Fortify RES to better suit my playstyle, and she is given Rally SPD to help her allies (usually Alfonse) double or not be doubled. Finally, I give Anna Pavise so she can survive better when on the battlefield - her normal attack power should be enough for most foes.

The goal with this Anna is to attack first (Strike, Counter, Strike) which builds up the Pavise proc and will likely trigger Anna's Desperation skill due to her low DEF. Afterwards, choose targets that can be one-rounded by Anna, while keeping Pavise there as an insurance policy. Additional insurance is supplied due to Nóatún's ability, which is essentially Escape Route 2. If Anna's health drops below 40%, teleport her to safety. If there are no healers, she can still support the team with her team buffs.

 

Virion: As Virion has one of the higher ATT ratings for bows (31, beaten out by Jeorge and Takumi by 1 point) and has decent speed and bulk, I decided to give him a Brave Bow.

While he runs Life and Death for the +5 damage and to cancel the Brave Weapon's speed penalty (at the cost of 5 DEF/RES), Virion is not built as a pure damage character. He keeps Seal SPD to assist allies (and himself if there is a dancer present) to double foes or prevent them from doubling, and he has Savage Blow to deal some area damage when he attacks.

His Special and Assist skill are a bit different, focusing more on support. He has Reciprocal Aid to "heal" allies by swapping his higher Health pool with theirs, and then he can replenish his health when Sol activities.

I think this Virion build would work extremely well with a Dancer on the team, since he will be able to easily double (so x4 strikes) enemies affected by Seal SPD. Since he also has Savage Blow, he weakens the other hostiles in an area. To top it all off, Virion can even "replenish" the health of his allies due to Sol and Reciprocal Aid. Truely, he is the Archest of Archers.

Matthew: Matthew serves as a fill-in character of the Askr team, and for Sire, is still in active service and is awaiting his 5* promotion.

This particular build focuses on giving Matthew Close Counter and acting as an "off-tank" due to the effects of Rogue Dagger (Weakens Enemy, Buffs Self || 5 DEF/RES). So, Matthew attacks, debuffs the enemy (with the Poison Strike proc), and when the enemy attacks Matthew, he deals more damage due to the debuff and takes less due to the Rogue Dagger.

Other than that, I gave Matthew Galeforce so he can debuff more enemies or apply another Poison Strike. He keeps Hone SPD to buff allies so Anna doesn't have to.
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Virion (Alt): The Alt version of Virion is more of a debuffer, sealing the enemy's DEF and then supporting allies to come to finish off the foe with Spur Atk. He has Darting Blow to help him double foes and to charge Astra a little faster. Lastly, he is given Harsh Command as he comments on how your tactical skills are lacking.

Anna (Alt): We are somewhat turning Anna into Catria, but with an Axe and more RES instead of a Lance and more DEF. Anna needs Armored Blow as her defenses suck, and this is also why Anna has Sol. Seal ATT is for utility and also to help Anna stay alive. Spur RES is replaced by Fortify RES to better suit my playstyle, and I give Anna Rally SPD in case an ally needs it.

Alfonse (Alt): The alternative version of Alfonse transforms him into a gimmick character that relies on intense SPD manipulation. Specifically, I rely on Alfonse to proc Defiant SPD as well as his weapon (+5 ATT when below 50% health), with Threaten SPD helping Alfonse even the odds against his foes. Then, he has Seal DEF to act as a "replacement" for Death Blow and to act as utlity for allies.

For his special skill, I decided to run Bonfire as it will add "16 ATT" per proc, and stays fairly constant (save for buffs & debuffs) which may affect its damage output. // You could alternatively run Ignis for 25 extra damage per proc, but as Alfonse is normally slow, I prefer using Bonfire so he can proc the skill more often. This way, it does not matter as much if he is in "Speed Manipulation Mode" or not. (Ignis may be better for Alfonse if running Quick Riposte with him, unless you want to keep Sol.)

 

For some special skill calculations, see the spoiler below. (Glimmer, Bonfire, Draconic Aura, Ignis)

Spoiler

Alfonse Skill Calculations

Note: This particular Alfonse does not use Death Blow. I just put it here for reference. (Also, I am unsure if Death Blow affects the calculations or not.)
Note 2: With Glimmer, the effectiveness of the skill sharply decreases as the opponents have more DEF. So, when fighting Marth, who has 29 DEF, Glimmer will deal less damage against him compared to Lucina who has 25 DEF.

32 DEF -> 16 +ATT (Bonfire)
51 ATT -> 15 +ATT (Draconic Aura)
51 ATT -> 17 +ATT (Draconic Aura, with Death Blow?)
32 DEF -> 25 +ATT (Ignis)

Glimmer Calculations - No Death Blow
[25 DEF Benchmark - Lucina, Takumi]

Neutral WTA
51 ATT - 25 DEF -> 26 Damage
26 DAM * .5 MOD = 13 +ATT

Advantage WTA
51 ATT * 1.2 WTA -> 61 ATT
61 ATT - 25 DEF -> 36 Damage
36 DAM * .5 MOD = 18 +ATT

Disadvantage WTA
51 ATT * 0.8 WTA -> 40 ATT
40 ATT - 25 DEF -> 15 Damage
15 DAM * .5 MOD = 7 +ATT

Glimmer Calculations - With Death Blow
[25 DEF Benchmark - Lucina, Takumi]

Neutral WTA
57 ATT - 25 DEF -> 31 Damage
31 DAM * .5 MOD = 15 +ATT

Advantage WTA
57 ATT * 1.2 WTA -> 68 ATT
68 ATT - 25 DEF -> 43 Damage
43 DAM * .5 MOD = 21 +ATT

Disadvantage WTA
57 ATT * 0.8 WTA -> 45 ATT
45 ATT - 25 DEF -> 20 Damage
20 DAM * .5 MOD = 10 +ATT

Arena Offense Team ====================

Ephraim		Siegmund	|| Moonbow, Pivot*		|| Defiant DEF*, Swordbreaker*, Threaten DEF
Ryoma		Raijinto	|| Astra, Swap*			|| Defiant ATT, Vantage*, Hone ATT*

Marth		Falchion	|| Escutcheon*, Pivot		|| Death Blow*, Escape Route, Spur SPD
Camilla		Brave Axe+	|| Draconic Aura, A. Sacrifice*	|| Life and Death*, Desperation*, Savage Blow
Eirika		Sieglinde	|| Noontime*, Rally DEF*	|| Distant Counter*, Renewal*, Hone SPD

AN: Takumi and Azura have been removed since I do not own them, and better builds exist for those characters.

Ephraim: Swordbreaker man, Swordbreaker. Give Ephraim Swordbreaker and he will one-round the usual suspects in the Arena - Lucina, Lyn, Marth, and Erika. I then give him Defiant DEF to make Ephraim even harder to kill (and to stop the DEF Seal overlap, even though it is useful at times). Lastly, he is granted Pivot for mobility.

Ryoma: My main man and Anti-Takumi. As I use him as a tank, I gave him Swap so when the enemy comes to him, I can swap out and retaliate instead of always charging in (which can be useful on the Lava Map). He is given Vantage as the ability to counter at both melee and ranged comboed with Vantage is too amazing to ignore. Lastly, I swap out Hone SPD for Hone ATT as Hone SPD will be handled by another character (either Azura or Erika) I do this since my +SPD, -ATT Ryoma wants the extra SPD to double even the fastest of foes (and to handle +SPD Takumi).
* * * * *
Marth: Marth is one of my sword alts, the other being Erika. I field Marth to handle Dragons and act as my "heavy hitter." He is given Death Blow to help him one-shot Dragons more easily, and he has Escutcheon to help with his survivability and to also synergize with Escape Route. I know Escape Route sounds boring on paper, but it is extremely useful, especially on split maps. // All I need to do is get a proper nature Marth (I am hoping for +ATT, -RES)

Camilla: What's worse than a Camilla doubling you? A Camilla that can heal her allies and land all four hits before the target is given a chance to even retaliate. That's all there is to it. (She is also on my Arena mainstay team, but currently she is replaced by Robin as Robin is a bonus character.) // Like Marth, Camilla could use a perfect nature, such as +ATT, -HP.)

Exchanged Darting Blow for Life and Death. The extra SPD will help keep Camilla alive more than the loss of 5 DEF & RES. The ATT boost helps too. // However, if you do not want to run Life and Death (or just want to keep Darting Blow), then I suggest running Iceberg as her special skill since it does more damage than Draconic Aura.

.Erika: The newcomer to my Arena Team, I field her instead of Marth for her buff utility. As I use Erika as a "buff bot," I give her skills to help her survive, such as Noontime and Renewal. She has Rally Defense instead of Pivot to further her buffing abilities, and I give her Distant Counter so ranged units need to think twice before attacking Erika.

Chrom's Shepherds ====================

Chrom		Falchion	|| Aether, Pivot*		|| Defiant SPD*, Quick Riposte*, Spur DEF
Lissa		Pain*		|| ATT Balm, Martyr*		|| Close Counter*, Escape Route*, Threaten Atk*
M!Robin		Blárraven+	|| Bonfire, Rally DEF*		|| Triangle Adept*, Swordbreaker*, Spur DEF
F!Robin		Gronnwolf+	|| Ignis, Rally ATT*		|| Close Counter*, B Tomebreaker, Threaten RES*

Chrom: I have a +SPD, -HP Chrom, so I decided to have some fun with SPD manipulation by giving him Defiant SPD. Even then, if someone attacks Chrom in melee when he has more than 70% life, he has Quick Riposte to deal tons of damage. The enemy can't win against Chrom unless taking him out from range or somehow taking Chrom out when he has 51%-69% health. He keeps Spur DEF to assist with his allies, and is given Pivot for mobility.

Lissa: Lissa makes her debut as a Battle Cleric. She focuses on inflicting Pain to her foes as well as sealing their SPD, and can even retaliate in melee. The enemies around her are wary of attacking something so delicate that they have reduced ATT, and the damage Lissa takes can be channeled into her Martyr staff for crazy heals (while also healing herself a small amount).

Seal skills cannot be equipped on healers, so to synergize with Martyr, Lissa is given Escape Route instead.

M!Robin: The master tactician returns! With Triangle Adept and Swordbreaker, M!Robin will easily crush Red Swords in his way. Also, Triangle Adept has an added bonus in that it also affects M!Robin's ability to handle grey units, making even Takumi cower in fear. I give him Rally DEF to help his allies when needed.

F!Robin: My dream build for F!Robin is slightly real! While originally I wanted F!Robin to get Excalibur to get a bonus against fliers, it is locked to Merric. So, I just keep F!Robin's Gronnwolf+.

However, the biggest draw with F!Robin is Close Counter, allowing her to retaliate against melee enemies. She keeps B Tomebreaker to keep mages such as Linde and imposter M!Robins in check, while she has Threaten RES to increase her damage as well as the damage of her male counterpart. She has Rally Attack to assist her allies.

Lightning Dragon Duo ====================

A!Tiki		L. Breath+	|| Bonfire, Rally ATT*		|| Defiant ATT, Vantage*, Threaten ATT*
Nowi		L. Breath+	|| Reprisal*, Rally DEF		|| Triangle Adept*, Swordbreaker*, Threaten RES
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A!Tiki (2)	L. Breath+	|| Noontime*, Reciprocal Aid*	|| Death Blow*, Quick Riposte*, Threaten ATT*
A!Tiki (3)	Flametongue+*	|| Bonfire, Reciprocal Aid*	|| D. Counter*, Quick Riposte*, Threaten ATT*

Adult!Tiki: It saddens me that Young!Tiki is statistically better than Adult!Tiki in every possible way (by 6 points, sans ATT & DEF). I like Awakening Tiki much more than her child counterpart, but this is just how it is I suppose...

Like Ryoma and Takumi before her, I gave A!Tiki Vantage to synergize with her Defiant ATT and make her a more "offensive tank." She has Threaten ATT to increase her survivability. 

Nowi: The more defensive of the duo, I give Nowi the almighty Swordbreaker and Defiant DEF to make her really difficult to kill. She also has Reprisal which will take advantage of Nowi's reduced health to deal extra damage. In a way, she is similar to my Ephraim, but uses targets RES and can counter at range.

Originally, I wanted to give her Svalinn Shield (Falchion users shall fear Nowi!) and Noontime to help her stay alive. However, as Svalinn Shield is locked, I gave Nowi her current build.

I decided to exchange Defiant DEF for Triangle Adept, as Nowi is typically fielded to counter Red units. Triangle Adept also has the added bonus of reducing the damage dealt by Red Units to Nowi, meaning that the Falchion will do less damage due to the amplified Weapon Triangle. Just be sure to keep TA Nowi away from any Greens!
----------
Adult!Tiki 2: Compared to the low HP focus of the first Tiki, this version focuses on her being on high HP to trigger Quick Riposte. So, lure enemies to Adult!Tiki so she strikes twice when above 70% Health, and use Death Blow to finish off enemies left standing. Noontime and Reciprocal Aid help Tiki in maintaining her high health.

Adult!Tiki 3: A hybrid of 1&2, with some of her younger self mixed in. The most notable mention here is the usage of Flametongue+, which increases A!Tiki's overall damage by 4 while removing the annoying +1 to Special Charge Time. We then use Distant Counter to keep the retaliation at range (we do sacrifice the slot for this, but I think it is worth it).

Have enemies attack A!Tiki when above 70% Health for a more damaging double strike, and trigger Bonfire on more troublesome foes. Tiki can heal herself with Reciprocal Aid and tank many enemies due to Threaten ATT.

As an aside, Adult!Tiki 3 is Sire's prefered loadout. The first build was just the obvious one, before he discovered this third variant.

Carefree and Outspoken ====================

Azama		Pain		|| DEF Balm, Martyr		|| SPD Up*, Escape Route*, Threaten ATT
Serra		Assault		|| SPD Balm, Recover		|| HP +5*, Live to Serve*, Hone ATT

Azama: A variant on a "Battle Cleric" build, focusing on dealing 20 straight damage with Pain and Poison Strike. Sure, it won't kill, but it definitely will help set up kills for other characters. I also gave him the simple SPD UP passive, as I find any of the Defiants will not help Azama as much as a modest improvement to SPD. He's a simple man, so a simple skill should suffice. (It also helps my Azama is +SPD, -RES, which will assist Azama from being doubled constantly.)

Sadly, it seems Poison Strike cannot be used with Healers, so the "20 Pure Damage" dream has been thwarted. To make up for this, I swapped it out for Seal DEF, but you can use Seal RES if your team is more magic oriented.

Well, we have even more bad news. Seal Skills can't be used on Healers. So, I decided to add a skill that should synergize with Martyr, and that is Escape Route. So, Azama can take massive damage, then warp away and heal any ally for massive gains. Of course, this is provided that Healers can learn Escape Route...

Serra: A variant on a "Healer Cleric" build. Fury and Live to Serve are mainstays for a Healer Cleric. Fury is to simply raise her stats which helps the healer both offensively and defensively, while Live to Serve offsets the damage from Fury. Then, everything else is interchangeable - Attack, Balm, Staff, and Buff.

Fury can not be learned by Healers. So, I simply gave Serra HP +5 to help her stay alive.

For Serra, I keep Assault due to her higher ATT stat, and let her keep Hone ATT so I don't need to worry about spending SP for other buff skills. I also included Azama and Serra here because I have "optimized natures" for them. Personally, I would prefer using Sakura or Clarine as my main healer, but the ones I have are not optimized.

Niles' Angels ====================

Niles		Brave Bow+*	|| Iceberg, Rally RES*		|| Darting Blow*, Desperation*, Threaten DEF*
Kagero		Poison Dagger+	|| Moonbow*, Draw Back*		|| Life and Death*, Poison Strike*, Savage Blow*
Felicia		Silver Dagger+	|| Glacies, Reciprocal Aid*	|| Armored Blow*, Poison Strike*, B. of Life

Niles: Of important note is that I changed his Killer Bow to a Brave Bow. This change, combined with Nile's high SPD, Darting Blow, and Desperation, will practically guarantee an Iceberg proc on every offensive action he takes. This is especially the case since my Niles is +SPD, -DEF. He has Threaten DEF to help Niles deal even more damage, and has Rally RES to replace his original Spur RES.

I do not give Niles Life and Death as that would reduce his RES, which he is reliant upon for Iceberg. While technically Niles will do more damage overall with L&D, I wanted to stick with the Iceberg gimmick.

Oh, and while this category is called Nile's Angels, they are all individual units. That, and the team is missing a female character.

Kagero: Deal as much damage as possible, poison foes you cannot kill, and draw allies into the shadows. Reprisal sounds fun on paper, but since Kagero's HP is fairly low, I rather have Moonbow instead.

I also give Kagero Life and Death so she can also double more foes, but this does make her paper-thin defenses even weaker. If you want to play it a bit more safe, you can just run Death Blow instead.

Another idea is to replace Poison Strike with Swordbreaker, since the commonly fielded Sword Lords are fairly fast. Those on foot may survive one Poison Dagger, but it is unlikely that they will survive two. // However, I personally prefer Poison Strike to broaden Kagero's range of targets. If she can't do any proper damage, at least she can use Poison Strike to wear the enemy down.

Felicia: Armored Blow helps with her poor DEF, Poison Strike deals extra damage to enemies when she debuffs, and Reciprocal Aid helps out her allies and herself since Felicia has Breath of Life.

Team Minerva ====================

Cherche (ATT)	Brave Axe+*	|| Dragon Fang*, Pivot		|| Life and Death*, Lancebreaker*, Threaten DEF*
Cherche (DEF)	Silver Axe+*	|| Blazing Flame*, Pivot	|| Iote's Shield*, Quick Riposte*, Threaten ATT*

Cherche (ATT): An +ATT, -RES Cherche. As Cherche naturally has one of the highest ATT stats in the game (38 at base, 2nd to Effie at 40), it makes sense to give her a Brave Axe and begin annihilating her enemies. Using a Brave Axe, Cherche will have 51 ATT, which is 8 more ATT than the current top Brave users (Cordelia, Hinoka, Ogma, Donnel).

To help her deal massive damage, she has Life and Death and Threaten DEF. Life and Death adds +5 to damage at all times and covers the SPD loss from using a Brave Weapon, but at the cost of -5 DEF & RES. Threaten DEF is used for the potential to deal +5 damage to the enemy per strike, usually meaning around +10 damage overall.

Lancebreaker serves as a death sentence to anyone wielding a lance who fights Cherche, and Dragon Fang helps boosts Cherche's damage since it scales off ATT (+24 ATT, raised by 2 if Cherche has a +4 ATT buff.) She keeps Pivot for mobility.

Cherche (DEF): A +DEF, -RES Cherche. Did I mention that Cherche is also a flying fortress? Here, her gimmick is tanking hits to charge up her Growing Blazing Flame special, and then unleash massive damage due to her high ATT stat (especially now with a Silver Axe instead of a Hammer).

I give her Iote's Shield to negate her weakness against bows, meaning archers will have to contend with Cherche's high DEF stat and help her charge her special. I also have Cherche inherit Quick Riposte since she is naturally slow. Quick Riposte also takes advantage of Cherche's high base ATT (especially with the Silver Axe+) as well as making the charge time go even faster.

Threaten ATT is used for survivability so incoming physical hits will deal even less damage to Cherche due to her high DEF.

Finally, she has Blazing Flame, which deals 1.5 ATT (53 + 26 = 79 ATT) in a horizontal line (2 spaces to the left and right of the target), which is then modified by the opponents DEF. If I recall correctly, the damage from Blazing Flame does not take into account WTA or anything, so even Draug at 39 DEF will take 40 points of damage. (Verification Needed)

I use Blazing Flame over Growing Flame to take advantage of the ATT modifier to deal even more damage. The expanded area effect is nice for Growing Flame, but the raw damage was too good to pass up. (That, and I had plenty of spare 4* Jeorges around.)

So, she has Defiant DEF and Threaten ATT to help her tank physical hits, and when she gets below half health, she has Brash Assault to begin her retaliation. When she can finally unleash Growing Flame, she will do massive damage.

Now, originally I did have Svalinn shield instead of Defiant DEF to deal with bow users, which is one of Cherche's greatest weaknesses outside of magic users. However, as Svalinn Shield is locked to Armor units, I am out of luck. Now, if it is possible to transfer Iote's Shield from Michalis to this Cherche, I will do so in a heartbeat. Cherche was my main Awakening waifu, after all.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Sire
Post Update

[Korath88]

1 hour ago, MrSmokestack said:

I'll throw in some of the common builds people will be using Day 1

Vantage + Distant Counter is most likely the best staple in the meta right now, with a number of units like Ryoma and Hector getting virtually free access to it

Desperation + Brash Assault is only possible with Lyn, but it opens up the opportunity to rapidly build charge for Galeforce, though Night Sky will be easier to use in most games.

If you're running Night Sky on Lyn, you may as well inherit glimmer instead, which is the exact same skill with 1 less charge requirement.

[MrSmokestack]

2 hours ago, Korath88 said:

If you're running Night Sky on Lyn, you may as well inherit glimmer instead, which is the exact same skill with 1 less charge requirement.

True, true.

[Sire]

Team Compositions & Unit Builds - MOV-Type Teams

But first, an announcement! I updated the original post with the rest of the units. That is all.

...Poor attempt at humor aside, this time I decided to tackle the Cavalry, Flier, and Armor Teams - taking Skill Inheritance into account. So, to the spoiler!

* * * * *
Contents (Update: 3/18/2017)

1. Team Minerva II (Cherche, Hinoka, Palla, Catria)
2. Four Horsies (Reinhardt, Ursula, Frederick, Eldigan)
3. Newton's Mobile Wall (Effie, Draug, Hector, Gwendolyn)

Spoiler

Team Minerva II ==========

Cherche		Brave Axe+*	|| Draconic Aura*, Pivot	|| Death Blow*, Lancebreaker*, Goad Fliers*
Hinoka		Brave Lance+	|| Draconic Aura*, Swap*	|| Death Blow*, Swordbreaker*, Goad Fliers*

Palla		Brave Sword*	|| Draconic Aura*, Drag Back*	|| Death Blow*, Axebreaker*, Fortify Fliers*
Catria		Sapphire Lance+*|| Sol*, Ardent Sacrifice*	|| Armored Blow, Renewal*, Hone Fliers*

Cherche demanded the team name to take after her wyvern. She was met with little opposition.

As everyone more or less has the same build (save for Catria), I'll simply summarize the team composition instead of explaining myself for each character.

General: 
- Death Blow is run to deal extra damage due to high usage of Brave Weapons.
-- "What about Life and Death?" You technically could run Life and Death here and go on the ultra offensive, but most of the fliers are pretty fast (sans Cherche) and the SPD loss is made up by Hone & Goad Fliers. However, if you want to throw caution to the wind, then feel free to try Life and Death. I personally want the DEF & RES, the extra ATT and SPD may be too much overkill. // This "Death Blow" explanation also extends to the "Four Horsies" team below.
- (weapon)breaker is run to help with survivability as well as ensure total annihilation of foes.
- Brave Weapons highly benefit from ATT & SPD buffs from Goad Fliers and Fortify Fliers, allowing for insane DPS output and even the possibility of doubling opponents!
- Goad Fliers stack, so that is why I put it there twice. Fortify Fliers helps with survivability while Hone Fliers adds even more damage output.
- Each team member (sans Catria) has a varying movement ability. This is to confuse players when used by the AI, as well as help an actual player with positioning.
- Of course, being an all flier team, they are susceptible to bows (including the ever-present Takumi) and Merric.

Cherche: She is run because she has one of the highest base ATT values in the game, second to Effie. Her loadout is identical to my ATT Cherche in the previous post, save that now she has Goad Fliers instead of Threaten DEF.

Hinoka: I could have chosen Cordelia over Hinoka, but I prefer Hinoka's DEF to Cordelia's SPD, as well as her artwork. (While I usually prefer Cordelia to Hinoka, her artwork for Heroes is not that good.) Her main purpose is to annihilate sword users, a common threat in the Arena.

Palla: While I like both Sword Pegasi, I chose Palla since she has much more ATT than Caeda. Also, the more rounded stats helps Palla out a little bit as well.

Catria: The odd one of the group. I tried to make Catria extremely defensive and play the role of a support unit. She can heal allies with Ardent Sacrifice while healing herself with Renewal and Sol. Armored Blow helps keep Catria alive when attacking, and the Sapphire Lance increases her offense and defensive capabilities against Red units. // I personally like running these "pseudo healers" just in case if things are not going so well, I have a chance at a comeback by kiting the enemy around and healing up my forces before re-engaging.

Four Horsies ==========

Reinhardt	Dire Thunder	|| Blazing Thunder, Drag Back*	|| Death Blow*, Lancebreaker*, Goad Cavalry
Ursula		Blárblade+*	|| Moonbow*, Pivot*		|| Death Blow, B. Tomebreaker*, Goad Cavalry*

Frederick	Brave Axe+*	|| Bonfire*, Swap*		|| Death Blow*, Lancebreaker*, Fortify Cavalry*
Eldigan		Mystletainn	|| Aether*, A. Sacrifice	|| Distant Counter*, Renewal*, Hone Cavalry*

I think Frederick wanted the name. Ursula wanted something to reference the Four Fangs. The desires of the other two are lost to history.

Reinhardt: He keeps his Brave Tome to act as a ranged attacker with all of the Cavalry buffs. Having the Dire Thunder also helps him charge up his Special faster.

He has Death Blow to increase damage output, Swordbreaker to annihilate sword users, and keeps Goad Cavalry to buff the horsies.

Turns out having Swordbreaker is overkill, so I replaced it with Lancebreaker instead.

Ursula: Out of all of the candidates, I think Ursula may be the best one to run (color)Blade as a cavalry unit. The other mage horsemen are too specialized in ATT or SPD, while Ursula manages a decent balance between the two. She is no Nino or Tharja, but she has cavalry buffs on her side.

She gets to keep her Death Blow in her attempt to one-shot enemies, and has B. Tomebreaker to try and counter enemy Lindes and M!Robins. As she now has a different weapon that increases her charge time, I give her Moonbow so Ursula can activate something during battle.

Frederick: I ended up choosing Frederick over Gunter due to Frederick's damage potential of 35 ATT. That, and we could use a physical attacker.

He follows the usual rules for my "Buff Brave Hero" (Death Blow, [weapon]breaker, Team Buff). I keep Luna around, but I could try for Dragonic Aura for Frederick as well. Bonfire probably the best option for Frederick, granting him +18 damage per hit.

Eldigan: The "Defensive Hybrid," similar to Catria, but a lot more offensive. I decide to take full advantage of Mystletainn's -1 to Special Charge, so I give Eldigan Aether to increase his damage output and provide healing. He has Renewal and Ardent Sacrifice to support his allies, and has Distant Counter so ranged units have to think twice before attacking him.

Newton's Mobile Wall ==========

Effie		Silver Lance+	|| Sol*, Pivot			|| Distant Counter*, Wary Fighter, Ward Armor*
Draug		Killer Sword+*	|| Ignis*, ???			|| Distant Counter*, R. Tomebreaker*, Ward Armor

Hector		Armads		|| Sol*, Pivot			|| Distant Counter, G. Tomebreaker*, Fortify Armor*
Gwendolyn	Killer Lance+	|| Ignis*, ???			|| Distant Counter*, B. Tomebreaker*, Hone Armor

"You think you can fight with books?... Haha... No."
"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."
"If you hit a wall, the wall hits back."

There is no "do ultra damage here." With the Mobile Wall, their objective is to outlast their foes.

General:
- Everyone gets Distant Counter. Armored units are naturally slow (save for Draug), so I fully expect "armor counters" to use ranged units to wear them down before finishing them off. With Distant Counter, this is no longer an option.
- So, you think you can fight with books? Each unit has a Tomebreaker skill of that respective color, making it a bit more difficult to take out the entire team using a mage.
- Defense Buffs Everywhere. Save for Gwendolyn who runs Hone Armor, all buffs are defensive in nature. This makes it a little harder for enemies to one-shot armors.
- Effie and Hector run Sol to help with their survivability as they do lots of damage on their own. Draug and Gwendolyn run Ignis to take advantage of their naturally high DEF, and even field Killer weapons to make the process even faster.

- The weakness of this team are Armorslayers, but as no one really fields them, the next best bet is trying to use WTA to its full effect. Be careful using mages, if they cannot one-shot, then they may not survive the counter attack.
- The other weakness is teams that run with Healers. The team may be able to kite the Armors around long enough to slowly whittle them down, but that is if anyone actually runs a healer.

 

Edited March 21, 2017 by Sire
Post Update

[Ice Dragon]

7 hours ago, Sire said:

Jegan 37 27 24 25 35 148 [Magic Tank]

You spelled Jagen's name wrong. How could you?

 

Anyways, this is a handy compilation. (Since it's all in one place, I can use it to cross-reference my own data.)

The unarmed stat totals will be handy to have come April when those become relevant for matchmaking. Also obviously useful for determining how to transfer weapons around.

Good stuff.

 

You missed a "unique" marker on Hector.

 

Also, I can probably check against my own data to see if any of the "might be inaccurate" ones are indeed inaccurate.

[MaskedAmpharos]

For the horse team, Swordbreaker might be redundant on Reinhardt, as I don't think any sword users survive Dire Thunder + Death Blow + Hone Cavalry + Goad Cavalry (actually you'd probably only need half this setup to OHKO every red sword in the game). Admittedly though, I'm not sure what to put in the B slot instead. Perhaps B Tomebreaker or Bowbreaker in case you accidentally leave him out in front of Linde/Takumi or Wings of Mercy for teleporting horse shenanigans?

Either way though, these are all super interesting, and I appreciate the detail that goes into each writeup!

[Ice Dragon]

15 minutes ago, MaskedAmpharos said:

For the horse team, Swordbreaker might be redundant on Reinhardt, as I don't think any sword users survive Dire Thunder + Death Blow + Hone Cavalry + Goad Cavalry (actually you'd probably only need half this setup to OHKO every red sword in the game). Admittedly though, I'm not sure what to put in the B slot instead. Perhaps B Tomebreaker or Bowbreaker in case you accidentally leave him out in front of Linde/Takumi or Wings of Mercy for teleporting horse shenanigans?

Either way though, these are all super interesting, and I appreciate the detail that goes into each writeup!

The magically tankiest swords in the game are Roy (44/28, 44/30 on enemy phase due to Binding Blade's passive), Fir (41/31), Eliwood (39/32), and Caeda (36/34).

With neutral Death Blow Reinhardt (56 eff. Atk after weapon triangle), assuming neutral natures, no buffs, and no Triangle Adept, Roy takes 26 x 2 = 52 damage, Fir takes 25 x 2 = 50 damage, Eliwood takes 24 x 2 = 48 damage, and Caeda takes 22 x 2 = 44 damage for a one-round kill on all of them.

With Hone Res or Spur Res, Roy takes 22 x 2 = 44 damage, Fir takes 21 x 2 = 42 damage, Eliwood takes 20 x 2 = 40 damage, and Caeda takes 18 x 2 = 36 for a one-round kill on all of them, exactly for Roy and Caeda and by 1 HP for Fir and Eliwood.

Hone Cavalry or Goad Cavalry is required to one-round kill these units if and only if they have more than an equivalent of +4 Res in buffs (including the Res Plus passive skill, +Res nature, and +HP nature (2 HP = 1 Res)).

 

Yeah, Swordbreaker is superfluous.

Edited March 17, 2017 by Ice Dragon

[MaskedAmpharos]

1 minute ago, Ice Dragon said:

The magically tankiest swords in the game are Roy (44/28, 44/30 on enemy phase due to Binding Blade's passive), Fir (41/31), Eliwood (39/32), and Caeda (36/34).

With neutral Death Blow Reinhardt (56 eff. Atk after weapon triangle), assuming neutral natures, no buffs, and no Triangle Adept, Roy takes 26 x 2 = 52 damage, Fir takes 25 x 2 = 50 damage, Eliwood takes 24 x 2 = 48 damage, and Caeda takes 22 x 2 = 44 damage for a one-round kill on all of them.

With Hone Res or Spur Res, Roy takes 22 x 2 = 44 damage, Fir takes 21 x 2 = 42 damage, Eliwood takes 20 x 2 = 40 damage, and Caeda takes 18 x 2 = 36 for a one-round kill on all of them, exactly for Roy and Caeda and by 1 HP for Fir and Eliwood.

Hone Cavalry or Goad Cavalry is required to one-round kill these units if and only if they have more than an equivalent of +4 Res in buffs (including the Res Plus passive skill, +Res nature, and +HP nature (2 HP = 1 Res)).

Oh wow. That's even more overkill than I thought. Go Reinhardt :O

(Also thanks for doing all these calcs)

[Ice Dragon]

Not done cross-referencing yet, but Lucius's stats are definitely incorrect. 34 (+16 growth) is an impossible neutral HP and 38 (+29 growth) is an impossible neutral Res due to the growth values being impossible.

My suspicion is his neutral HP is 37 (+19 growth) and his neutral Res is 35 (+26 growth).

 

EDIT: Rebecca's neutral Def of 24 (+18 growth) is also impossible. Wiki currently lists her neutral Def as 21 (+15 growth), which is possible.

EDIT2: Priscilla's HP of 33 (+16 growth) and Def of 22 (+18 growth) are also impossible. Wiki doesn't have enough information for me to make a decisive judgment, but judging by the fact that a +13 HP growth seems absurdly low, I'm guessing they should be 36 HP (+19 growth) and 19 Def (+15 growth). However, Kagero and Elise both have +15 HP growth, so +13 isn't completely out of the question.

EDIT3: Florina's Spd can't be either of wiki's 28 (+20 growth) or 31 (+23 growth).

EDIT4: Donnel's HP and Spd are impossible. Neither of wiki's Spd values are possible.

EDIT5: Virion's Atk. I'm starting to get lazy here.

EDIT6: Gunter's Spd. Wiki seems to be pretty bad at this.

EDIT7: Done.

Edited March 17, 2017 by Ice Dragon

[Sire]

Thanks for all the comments!

- I fixed Jagen's name. I always end up spelling it Jegan because I pronounce it that way ("Gee-gan" instead of "Jay-gen," or however the correct sounds are.)
- Hector has earned his special snowflake status and gained a Unique marker (I forgot about him, sorry!)
- Huh, I didn't know Swordbreaker on Reinhardt was that much overkill. I'm glad we got people running the numbers! So, instead of Swordbreaker, I'll give him Lancebreaker instead so he can annihilate lances too. This does overlap a bit with Frederick, but aside from Takumi*, I don't see that many bow users in the Arena.
- The various incorrect stats (Lucius, Rebecca, Priscilla, Florina, Donnel, Viron, and Gunter) I'll list as incorrect in the OP soon(tm). I find the best way to contact the wiki guys is through their Discord in the #wiki channel. I used it a couple times when I noticed errors in their system and they were quick to reply.
----------
* Tried to run some numbers.

Neutral Reinhart ATT: 41 x 2 (32 Base, +9 from Dire Thunder || No Death Blow)
RES Boon Takumi: 21 RES, 40 HP

41 - 21 = 20 (ATT - RES)
20 x 2 = 40 (Damage)
40 - 40 = 0 (HP - Damage)

If we start factoring in Hone Cavalry, Goad Calvary, and Death Blow, I'm pretty sure Takumi will be dead. The only troublesome archer would be Niles (34 base RES), but I don't think I ever saw him in the Arena.
===================================================================================================================

Brave Weapons + Desperation: Theorycrafting

So I got inspired by one of Elieson's posts about "Brave Weapons, Darting Blow, and Desperation." While I did run the combo on my theoretical Camilla (and Niles), he suggested trying to use Heroes!Anna for that role. This got me thinking of alternative units that may want to run the Brave Weapon + Desperation Combo.

Why Brave + Desperation? If the unit is fast enough, the Brave Weapon will do 4 attacks, instead of the normal 2. Combined with Desperation, then all four of those attacks occur before the target even has a chance to retaliate. Now, we just need to find people that are fast enough but also strong enough to do lasting damage.

I was also going to include some extra skill builds including builds for Selena, but this theorycraft write-up took far more time than originally anticipated. They will be in my next major post in this thread.

Spoiler

Brave Weapons + Desperation: Theorycrafting ==========

Name		HP	ATT	SPD	DEF	RES	Total
Anna		41	29	38	22	28	158
Raven		41	34	35	25	22	157
Barst		46	33	32	30	17	158
Camilla		37	30	32	28	31	158
Cherche		46	38	25	32	16	157
-----
Hana		37	35	36	23	26	157
Ogma		47	35	34	28	13	157

Sharena		43	32	32	29	22	158

Hint: You may want to have this chart on a different screen or window. This is gonna be a long post...

First off, you may be wondering Where is Darting Blow? I left it out because there is another choice, and that is Life and Death. You could also run Fury, but save for niche scenarios (or rule of cool), you are better off running the other two.

"But what about Death Blow?" As this write up is focused on utilizing Desperation, Death Blow is not used as Desperation requires high SPD to be used for maximum efficiency. I'll leave the "Brave Weapon with Death Blow vs Brave Weapon with Desperation" write-up to someone else. I am but a simple man and like simple numbers, and I don't have a handy spreadsheet to do all the calculations (much less know how to operate one). For my general prediction, Death Blow is better on slow characters while Desperation is better on faster ones. As for which one is actually better, consult the numbers, I do not know.

So, back to the main topic, here are the skill descriptions!

Darting Blow 3: Grants Spd+6 during combat if unit initiates the attack.
Life and Death 3: Grants Atk/Spd+5. Inflicts Def/Res-5.

Darting Blow is great if you want to be conserve on DEF & RES, but keep in mind that unit will be easier to double during the Enemy Phase. On the flipside, running Life and Death allows for more pure damage and "offsets" the SPD loss from using a Brave weapon, but the unit will suffer in DEF and RES. In short...

Net Changes (Remember, Brave Weapons do -5 to SPD)
Darting Blow: +0 ATT, [-5 or +1] SPD, + 0 DEF, +0 RES
Life and Death: +5 ATT, +0 SPD, -5 DEF, -5 RES 

Personally, I rather run Life and Death. I rather take a guaranteed hit of +5 damage instead of the possibility of being doubled and taking +10 or more damage from the second strike. Also, provided my calculations are right, a 32 SPD character will not be doubled by a neutral Lucina, a common threat in the Arena.

The only reason to run Darting Blow is if you really, really want to double the person who has 4 SPD lower than you (so for Anna, that includes characters such as Tharja, Sully, Marth, and F!Corrin).

To perform your own calculations, here is FE: Heroes Wiki - Speed Chart. Keep in mind this chart (at the time of writing) includes passives and Brave penalties. // Alternatively, to use Base SPD, use their Stats Table instead and sort it by SPD. Just remember there may be some inaccuracies in there!

* * * * *

So, we got all the text out of the way. How about we do some actual character comparisons? (Remember that the Brave Weapons adds +8 to the ATT value, and if running Life and Death, that is another +5.)

Axe Users =====

Anna: The reason I am even making this post. Take out all the modifiers, and Anna is the second fastest unit in the game with 38 Base SPD, beaten by only Lon'qu who has 39 SPD. (For some comparison, a +SPD Ryoma has 38 SPD, and that is with SPD being his boon!) // Anna will have 37 ATT, or 42 ATT if running Life and Death.

By default, Anna doubles "Base SPD" Takumi and Olivia (as well as Peri and Clarine). Anna is also a strong contender for Darting Blow instead of Life and Death, as if she can double units at 34 SPD (Catria, F!Corrin, Maria, Marth, Matthew, Niles, Saizo, Sully, Tharja), it may not matter that Anna has lower base ATT than the other candidates.

If Anna is guaranteed to double and perform 4 hits, give her a 3 charge skill so she can always proc it during her attack chain. Here are my suggestions:

Iceberg: 14 extra damage (or 11 if running Life and Death)
Luna: 28 DEF Threshold (or 22 DEF Threshold if running Life and Death)

Threshold is equal to the damage of Iceberg. So, for Luna to outperform Iceberg, the enemy will need to have more than 28(22) DEF for Luna to deal more damage than Iceberg. Given that a lot of enemies have more than 22 DEF, I recommend...

Iceberg if using Darting Blow.
Luna if using Life and Death.
-----
Personally though, I would run Anna with Life and Death and Luna. She desperately needs the extra ATT (37 ATT will have Anna's attacks bounce off Hector with his base 37 DEF, while if she has 42 ATT, Anna will do at least 20 + her skill proc), and just have another member of the party run Hone SPD or Rally SPD. If Anna is SPD buffed (+4), then she can double Erika, Ryoma, Lucina, and even Lyn at their base values.

Anna may have found her true calling as a super sonic glass cannon instead of warping around with that silly weapon of hers. However, Anna's strength is only her SPD, and without the proper damage to back it up, it is all too easy to inflict negligible damage to opponents while they laugh at you. After all, you just gave them 4 charge points...

* * * * *
Camilla: "But wait, Raven was next!" Camilla was my "original" Brave Axe user and likely is for many, so I'll go for Camilla first.

Brave ATT: 38/43 (41/46 if ATT Boon)
Base SPD*: 32 (35 if SPD Boon)
*Remember to deduct -5 SPD if using Darting Blow!

I messed writing this up far too much, so I'll just leave out the superfluous text and just give you some information. This is the third time I had to re-write Camilla's section, and I'm just on Barst... (First write-up: Correct damage, but incorrect speed stats. Second write-up: Completely useless [I thought I used Cherche's base value, but I actually just added the Brave Weapon + MT like I was supposed to.]. Third write-up: What you see here.

Good Ole Mathematics. Screw up one step along the way, and everything is void.

As for the special skill...

Iceberg: 15 extra damage (or 13 if running Life and Death)
Luna: 30 DEF Threshold (or 26 DEF Threshold if running Life and Death)

Moral of the story, Camilla is cold hearted. Always run Iceberg (unless you end up with a -RES Camilla)
-----
Like Anna, I would prefer going with Life and Death since Camila's damage is lacking and can easily make up for that "-1 SPD" with any sort of SPD buff. However, for those on an SP budget, Darting Blow works just as well if using Camilla to handle Takumi and blue units since Camilla already comes with that passive.

Think of Camilla like a "Flying Anna, slower, but more defensive." She is still a solid unit, but she just needs to be taken care of due to Takumis and Red Units running around everywhere. I use her to finish off Blue Units (including Linde, Effie, & M!Robin). It is also nice if you manage to isolate one of them away from the main party, allowing Camilla to have 1 on 1 time with the enemy. (Do not try this with Effie as she still hurts like a truck, even with WTA disadvantage, and has Wary Fighter.)

* * * * *

Raven: One of the default Brave wielders, he also happens to be pretty good at his job. Raven can even be considered to be the "Axe Hana", being slightly weaker on the offensive but a bit better on the physical defense.

Brave  ATT: 42/47 (43/50 if ATT Boon)
Base SPD*: 35 (38 if SPD Boon)
*Remember to deduct -5 SPD if using Darting Blow!

Honestly, I believe Raven may be the best axe user for the Brave Weapon + Desperation combo. He has high ATT and SPD which is all but required for a Brave weapon user. Give him Life and Death, and he will annihilate enemies like Brave Sword Hana. That is all there is to it!

As for Raven's special skill...

Bonfire: 12 extra damage (or 10 if running Life and Death)
Luna: 24 DEF Threshold (or 20 DEF Threshold if running Life and Death // Alternatively, 28 DEF Threshold if countering Draconic Aura.)

Draconic Aura: 14 extra damage if running Life and Death (15 damage if Raven is +ATT)

If running Life and Death, use Draconic Aura. Otherwise, either Bonfire or Luna will do.

* * * * *

Barst: Think Raven (who is like Hana), but sacrifices damage output to be more sturdy.

Brave ATT: 33/38 (36?/41? if ATT Boon)
Base SPD*: 32 (35? if SPD Boon)
*Remember to deduct -5 SPD if using Darting Blow!

Bonfire: 15 extra damage (or 12 if running Life and Death)
Luna: 30 DEF Threshold (or 24 DEF Threshold if running Life and Death // Alternatively, 28 DEF Threshold if countering Draconic Aura.)

Use Bonfire if using Darting Blow. Otherwise, use either skill if using Life and Death.
-----
Now, Barst may be a strong candidate for Darting Blow, but consider this: "Barst with Darting Blow is just Alfonse with a Brave Weapon." What do I mean by this? Barst will be doubled more often, and while he has 30 DEF being a neutral, having that 27 SPD sorta sucks for him. Being doubled sucks far more than taking the hit of an extra 5 damage. Also, by having 32 SPD (-5 from Brave Axe, +5 from Life and Death), Barst can avoid being doubled by baseline Lucina (36 SPD) which will almost certainly kill him. He will take massive damage, of course ("50 ATT -> 60 ATT - 25 DEF = 35 HP lost, estimation math"). Barst may be lucky and even survive Nino who is also 36 SPD, provided she does not have a SPD buff or increases her damage too much.

If you want a brave weapon user that can survive, then take Barst. He has a decent SPD to double enemies and has decent ATT, but the more offensive oriented users (such as Raven or super-sonic Anna) are better for the task.

* * * * *

Cherche: I put Cherche here not because she is fast, but due to her overwhelming ATT power. She can also somewhat tank physical hits as well due to her high HP and fairly high DEF. Just keep her away from Magic Units as her Resistance is really, really bad.

Brave ATT: 46/51 (49/54 if ATT Boon)
Base SPD*: 25 (28? if SPD Boon)
*Remember to deduct -5 SPD if using Darting Blow!

Bonfire: 16 extra damage (or 13 if running Life and Death)
Luna: 32 DEF Threshold (or 26 DEF Threshold if running Life and Death // Alternatively, 28 DEF Threshold if countering Draconic Aura.)
Draconic Aura: 15 extra damage (16 damage if Cherche is +ATT) [Doesn't matter if Life and Death or Death Blow are used.]

You either run Death Blow or Life and Death. There is no "Darting Blow" business with Cherche. If running Death Blow, use Bonfire or Draconic Aura works. If running Life and Death, use Draconic Aura.
-----
While I originally had Death Blow down in my notes, Cherche will suffer from the "slow mages" if her new SPD rating will be 20 from using the Brave Weapon. Without Life and Death keeping her SPD at 25, Cherche will be doubled by...

The Robins (M!Robin, F!Robin), Fae, Nowi, Sanaki, Julia, Laslow, Stahl

Also, keep in mind Cherche's Resistance rating is extremely poor (16 at base!) If Cherche is doubled by a mage, that means a death sentence for her. Now, having Life and Death will mean Cherche will sustain heavy damage, but at least she will survive these slow users (save for Sankai who likely one-shots Cherche).

The Other Guys =====
Oh boy, I'm not done yet. There's three more Heroes I want to cover... (Hana, Ogma, and finally Sharena)

Hana: The original "melee glass cannon," in that some players may dream of giving her a Brave Sword and let her destroy her foes. Hana is one of the best at her job, but she does have one contender that will provide stiff competition.

Brave ATT: 43/48 (46/51 if ATT Boon)
Base SPD*: 36 (39 if SPD Boon)
*Remember to deduct -5 SPD if using Darting Blow!

Iceberg: 13 extra damage (or 10 if running Life and Death)
Luna: 26 DEF Threshold (or 20 DEF Threshold if running Life and Death // Alternatively, 30 DEF Threshold if countering Draconic Aura.)
Draconic Aura: 12 extra damage (14 damage if using Life and Death // 15 damage if Hana is +ATT and runs Life and Death)

Darting Blow -> Iceberg
Life and Death -> Draconic Aura
-----
Hana has plenty of options, but I'm sure most players will want to keep her Life & Death skill and just give her a Brave Sword and Desperation, then let her go crazy on her opponents.

Now, one option that I did not really cover is the possibility of wanting a +SPD Boon instead of always wanting +ATT. In Hana's case, her speed will go from 36 to 39. Then. give Hana Threaten SPD, taunt the enemies to her, and now Hana effectively has "44 SPD" and can double almost anybody in Heroes (save for Lon'Qu, Linde, and Fir). Combined with Desperation and Hana's really high ATT power, she will annihilate anything she touches. The hard part is simply trying to trigger Desperation (which Hana can do with either Reciprocal Aid or Ardent Sacrifice.)

To fuel the fire, imagine if a "Rescue Staff" was to appear in Heroes. Send Hana in, kill an enemy, "Rescue" Hana, and rinse and repeat...

* * * * *

Ogma: The competitor to Hana. He is still fairly strong (just two points slower than Hana), but has much greater Physical survivability due to his HP and DEF. The downside to Ogma is his poor RES.

Brave ATT: 43/48 (46/51 if ATT Boon)
Base SPD*: 34 (37 if SPD Boon)
*Remember to deduct -5 SPD if using Darting Blow!

Bonfire: 14 extra damage (or 11 if running Life and Death)
Luna: 28 DEF Threshold (or 22 DEF Threshold if running Life and Death // Alternatively, 30 DEF Threshold if countering Draconic Aura.)
Draconic Aura: 12 extra damage (14 damage if using Life and Death // 15 damage if Ogma is +ATT and runs Life and Death)

General Usage -> Bonfire
Life and Death -> Draconic Aura
-----
Like Hana, Ogma may want a +SPD nature and Threaten SPD so he too can double almost anyone in the game. For Ogma, he will go from 34 to 37 SPD, then to "42 SPD." 42 SPD still allows Ogma to double neutral Lucina, who had 36 SPD.

Honestly, since Ogma and Hana have the same ATT rating, one may prefer to bring Ogma for his physical bulk. Here is a quick comparison of the two (using base stats - if both are wielding Life and Death, adjust appropriately).

Hana vs Ogma =======================
37 HP  < 47 HP	(10 Points for Ogma)
35 ATT = 35 ATT (Same Rating)
36 SPD > 34 SPD (2 Points for Hana)
23 DEF < 28 DEF (5 Points for Ogma)
26 RES > 13 RES (13 Points for Hana)

Hana has Life and Death.
Ogma has Brave Sword+.

Ogma's loss of 2 SPD is not that significant when he can still double almost all of his foes in the game (using +SPD Ogma with Threaten SPD). Then, Ogma's RES loss is compensated with his higher HP pool. Finally, Ogma has more DEF than Hana does, and there tend to be more physical threats on the battlefield than magical ones.

The only thing Hana has over Ogma is her super sonic speed and resistance (when dealing with the "2" brave tome users). HP matters far more than DEF or RES on speedy units (save for when dealing with enemy Braves), so I say Ogma is technically the better pick. However, at the end of the day, choose your favorite hero! (It's gonna be Hana, right? Right.)

* * * * *

Sharena: Had to close this out with a Spear user, and I found Sharena to be the only Infantry unit who was suitable for the Brave Desperation build. (Oh boy, I just opened the floodgates for Cavalry and Fliers now. Not doing it! Nope!)  However, she has a good set of her own, but if there is extra time to mess around, wny not? 

Brave ATT: 40/45
Base SPD*: 32
*Remember to deduct -5 SPD if using Darting Blow!

Bonfire: 14 extra damage (or 12 if running Life and Death)
Luna: 28 DEF Threshold (or 24 DEF Threshold if running Life and Death // Alternatively, 30 DEF Threshold if countering Draconic Aura.)

General Usage -> Bonfire
Life and Death -> Luna
-----
Really, the only reason to run Brave, Desperate Sharena is to deal with red units and have Sharena do it as an Infantry unit. Looking over the other Lance users, there are plenty of candidates that are either Cavalry (Abel, Peri) or Fliers (Hinoka, Cordelia, Shanna) who can also become "Brave, Desperate Heroes." Chances are they will do a better job than Sharena as well.

* * * * *

That's it. I'm done, and worn out from working on this. Even then, this write-up is not really comprehensive (I am missing all the other Sword, Axe, and Lance wielders outside of my "Chosen Infantry." Cherche and Camilla are exceptions to the rule.

At any rate, I hope someone finds this useful. I want to sleep. Night folks!

 

Edited March 20, 2017 by Sire

[Ice Dragon]

4 hours ago, Sire said:

Brave Weapons + Desperation: Theorycrafting

So I got inspired by one of Elieson's posts about "Brave Weapons, Darting Blow, and Desperation." While I did run the combo on my theoretical Camilla (and Niles), he suggested trying to use Heroes!Anna for that role. This got me thinking of alternative units that may want to run the Brave Weapon + Desperation Combo.

Why Brave + Desperation? If the unit is fast enough, the Brave Weapon will do 4 attacks, instead of the normal 2. Combined with Desperation, then all four of those attacks occur before the target even has a chance to retaliate. Now, we just need to find people that are fast enough but also strong enough to do lasting damage.

I was also going to include some extra skill builds including builds for Selena, but this theorycraft write-up took far more time than originally anticipated. They will be in my next major post in this thread.

I had posted earlier on another thread about an alternate build when using Life and Death: Escutcheon as the special skill.

You're already dealing ridiculous amounts of damage with this build, so even more damage is probably going to be complete overkill unless you're trying to go against the weapon triangle. Escutcheon has a cooldown of 2, meaning it will be fully charged as soon as you finish your first set of consecutive hits from your Brave weapon. If your opponent is somehow still alive, Escutcheon will activate on their counterattack. The glassier characters with Life and Death equipped will typically take upwards of 30 damage on a counterattack, meaning Escutcheon is mitigating at least 9 damage.

If you do manage to kill your opponent with the first two hits, this means you have a free melee hit on enemy phase that you can take to activate Desperation.

Since I've been obsessing over Hana for a while, I'll use her as an example of what Escutcheon can do. Hana with neutral HP has 37 HP. Desperation activates at 18 27 HP.

• +Atk Chrom deals 38 damage on a counterattack, reduced to 27, leaving Hana with 10 HP.
• +Atk Lucina deals 35 damage on a counterattack, reduced to 25, leaving Hana with 12 HP.
• +Spd Lucina deals 32 damage on a counterattack, reduced to 23, leaving Hana with 14 HP.
• +Spd Lyn deals 29 damage on a counterattack, reduced to 21, leaving Hana with 16 HP.
• +Spd Eirika deals 24 damage on a counterattack, reduced to 17, leaving Hana with 20 HP. Oh well.
• Sharena deals 39 damage on a counterattack, reduced to 28, leaving Hana with 9 HP.
• +Atk Effie deals 51 damage on a counterattack, reduced to 36, leaving Hana with 1 HP. Why you would do this I don't know, but Hana survives. Unfortunately, she won't survive Effie's enemy phase attack due to Death Blow.

Essentially, Hana can survive any attack from a red unit, even boosted with Death Blow, as well as unboosted blue units.

Edited March 18, 2017 by Ice Dragon

[Sire]

On 3/17/2017 at 9:49 PM, Ice Dragon said:

I had posted earlier on another thread about an alternate build when using Life and Death: Escutcheon as the special skill.

You're already dealing ridiculous amounts of damage with this build, so even more damage is probably going to be complete overkill unless you're trying to go against the weapon triangle. Escutcheon has a cooldown of 2, meaning it will be fully charged as soon as you finish your first set of consecutive hits from your Brave weapon. If your opponent is somehow still alive, Escutcheon will activate on their counterattack. The glassier characters with Life and Death equipped will typically take upwards of 30 damage on a counterattack, meaning Escutcheon is mitigating at least 9 damage.

If you do manage to kill your opponent with the first two hits, this means you have a free melee hit on enemy phase that you can take to activate Desperation.

[Insert Hana Calculations Here]

Welp, I started trying to run some actual numbers using Heroes!Anna and trying to break the WTA. Long story short, she will not get the "overkill" required in order to reliably defeat Red units. Of course, she only has a ATT rating of 42. In the spoiler was my original musings before I realized my folly.

Spoiler

I think going for Overkill is worth it, especially on the Green Units (Anna comes to mind, but Raven may be able to pull it off without overkill). Specifically, I want the Greens to overcome the Triangle and be able to take on Reds due to the "Red Meta." There are some blues like Nowi, M!Robin, and Linde that are easily dispatched and then there are hulking Greens like Hector with 37 DEF.

Of course, ideally the player would be running a good team composition instead of trying to "super buff" one character. Heroes!Anna should not be taking on Hector, send a Red Unit to handle it (like Marth or Lucina). Anna also should not be taking on Red units, that is what Blue units are for. (Alternatively, fight Red units with Red units.) But, if situation requires it, Anna may be able to handle it.

Using Life and Death Anna with Luna as an example...

1. Anna (+4 ATT Buff) vs Neutral Hector (42[46!] ATT vs 37 DEF -> 9 Damage || 9+9+9+(9+18)/2 [Luna procs and Hector's Pavise procs]
2. Anna (+4 SPD) vs Neutral Lucina (42[33] vs 25 DEF = 8 Damage || 8+8+8+(8+12) = 44 Damage, defeating Lucina)

Brave Weapons + Desperation: Raven, The Brave Hero

However, because I am stubborn and want to push the limit, I'll try using Raven instead of Anna. Some Calculations are within the spoiler, with my results and predictions following after the spoiler. (For those looking for Selena and other skill builds, they'll come later. I got sidetracked, okay?! Poor attempt at joke is poor.)

Spoiler

Neutral Raven has 47 ATT with Life and Death and has 34 SPD. He will be using Draconic Aura for the +14 ATT. For purposes of this calculation, he has Desperation active. (Raven may be able to double some of these units if he had Threaten SPD.)

1. Raven vs Gwendolyn* (47[56!] vs 38 DEF -> 18 Damage || 18+18+(18/0.3)+(18+14) = 73 Damage) [Highest DEF Blue Unit]
* Her Escutcheon special is counted here, occurring during Raven's 3rd Strike.

2. Raven vs Hector* (47 vs 37 DEF = 10 Damage || 10+10+10+(10+14)/2 = 42 Damage) [Highest DEF Green Unit]
2A. Raven (+4 ATT Buff) vs Hector* (47[51!] vs 37 DEF = 14 Damage || 14+14+14+(14+14)/2 = 56 Damage) [Rematch, but Neutral Raven will lose if Hector is +DEF]
* His Pavise special is counted here, occurring during Raven's 4th Strike.

3. Raven vs Draug (47[37!] vs 39 DEF = Draug Wins) [Highest DEF Red Unit]

4. Raven vs Young!Tiki (47[37!] vs 32 DEF = 5 Damage || 5+5+5+(5+14) = 34 Damage) [Common "Tanky Red"]
4A. Raven (+4 ATT Buff) vs Young!Tiki (47[41!] vs 32 DEF = 9 Damage || 9+9+9+(9+14) = 50 Damage) [Rematch, but Neutral Raven will lose if Y!Tiki is +DEF]

5. Raven vs Seliph (47[37!] vs 30 DEF = 7 Damage || 7+7+7+(7+14) = 42 Damage) [Common "Red Unit"]

6. Raven vs Marth (47[37!] vs 29 DEF = 8 Damage || 8+8+8+(8+14) = 46 Damage) [Common "Red Unit"]

Conditions:
1. Neutral Raven has 47 ATT with Life and Death and has 34 SPD.
2. He will be using Draconic Aura for the +14 ATT.
3. For purposes of this calculation, he has Desperation active.
3A. If Neutral Raven had "39" Effective SPD due to Threaten SPD (34+5), he can double Marth and Tharja who have 34 SPD.

Results:
1. Neutral Raven will annihilate any Blue unit that stands in his way. // He can beat Gwendolyn, the highest DEF Blue Unit, even with her Escutcheon being triggered.
- Exception: Effie, because screw you, Wary Fighter.
2. Neutral Raven can almost annihilate any Green unit that stands in his way, but he will need an ATT Buff to finish off the hardiest of foes (Hector, Beruka, Sheena)
- Exception: F!Robin & Merric, because of their SPD and DEF. (Run ATT Buff to defeat them.)
3. Neutral Raven can handle most Red Units that are at or below 29 DEF. // Raven beats Neutral Marth, who has 29 DEF and 44 HP.
- So, Neutral Raven can not handle due to DEF... Stahl, Seliph, Laslow, Chrom, Selena, Alfonse, Eldigan, Hinata, Draug, Adult!Tiki, Young!Tiki, and Henry
- Units N!Raven can not handle due to SPD... Erika, Ryoma, Selena, Lucina, Lyn, Caeda, Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.)

Predictions
1. +ATT Raven slaughters any Blue unit that stands in his way, even Neutral Effie! (Run a +ATT Buff to handle +DEF Effies.)
2. +ATT Raven should annihilate any Green unit that stands in his way, unless that unit is +DEF. (Run a +ATT Buff to handle +DEF units.)
3. +ATT Raven should be able to handle Red Units that are at or below 32 DEF.
- This narrows his DEF list to... Eldigan, Hinata, Draug, Adult!Tiki
- However, there are Red Units Raven can not handle due to SPD... Erika, Ryoma, Selena, Lucina, Lyn, Caeda, Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.)

3A. If +ATT Raven is using a +4 ATT Buff, he should be able to handle Red Units below 36 DEF.
- Doing this will only leave Draug being unable to be destroyed in one round. (Unless of course Draug is debuffed and his DEF is lowered, but that is technically covered under "Red Unit Below [x] Defense.")
- However, there are Red Units Raven can not handle due to SPD... Erika, Ryoma, Selena, Lucina, Lyn, Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.)

4. +SPD Raven, with Threaten SPD (34 Base + 3 Boon + 5 Threaten = 42 SPD) should be able to handle units 37 SPD or lower.
- This narrows the SPD list to... Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.)
- However, this keeps the expanded DEF list... Stahl, Seliph, Laslow, Chrom, Selena, Alfonse, Eldigan, Hinata, Draug, Adult!Tiki, Young!Tiki, and Henry

4A. +SPD Raven, with Threaten SPD and an +4 ATT Buff, should be able to handle Red units below 37 SPD and with DEF values of 33 or lower.
- This narrows his DEF list to... Eldigan, Hinata, Draug, Adult!Tiki
- This narrows the SPD list to... Fir, Hana*, Lon'Qu (*If Hana has Life and Death, Raven defeats her.)

* * * * *

So, was all of this worth it? Well, if one is willing to run a +SPD Raven (Brave Axe+ // Draconic Aura, Reciprocal Aid // Life and Death, Desperation, Threaten SPD) and someone that can buff ATT (Rally Attack or Hone Atk), then +SPD Raven can handle almost anyone in the game save for three main threats: Eldigan, Adult!Tiki, and Hana.

However, in actual practice? Just run a normal team and take proper advantage of the Weapon Triangle. Most players may be better off with Ice Dragon's Escutcheon suggestion, but I am tempted to run Pavise instead (trigger the Desperation using an assist skill instead of combat), to ensure better protection when it activates.

Now a part of me wants to see if there is a Sword User (Hana) or a Lance User (Cordelia) that may be able to defeat every single unit in the game. But I think I did enough number crunching for a while...
- - - - -
Also, as an aside, @Ice Dragon. If you are using Desperation 3, it is 75% or lower, not 50% (that is Desperation 2 and Lyn's Sol Katti). So a Neutral Hana will get Desperation at 27 Health, not 18.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Sire

[Ice Dragon]

7 minutes ago, Sire said:

Also, as an aside, @Ice Dragon. If you are using Desperation 3, it is 75% or lower, not 50% (that is Desperation 2 and Lyn's Sol Katti). So a Neutral Hana will get Desperation at 27 Health, not 18.

Arrgh. Too much number-crunching. I start to forget where all the cut-offs are.

[Sire]

I updated the OP with links to my various write-ups, including a bonus one that revolves around building a team focused on Adult!Tiki.

Also, I made some updates to the Skill Builds Parts 1 & 2. New stuff will be in blue italics. So, that will be my writeup for the day. I do have Selena and company ready to present, it's just the matter of writing out all the words.

For a random piece of stat comparison, here is Lucina vs Marth. Marth is better than Lucina, she is overrated!

Name		HP	ATT	SPD	DEF	RES	Total
Lucina		43	37	36	25	16	157	[+ATT, -RES]
Marth		41	34	34	29	20	158	[+ATT, -RES]
-----
Lucina		43	34	36	25	19	157	[Baseline]
Marth		41	31	34	29	23	158	[Baseline]
-----
Marth		41	31	34	29	23	158	[Baseline]
Lucina		43	34	36	29	16	158	[+DEF, -RES]

[Arcanite]

I saw a team with Nowi and Ryoma. They didn't have hector but if such a team existed, team "Distance between us", what skills would work to fill the gaps/weaknesses of the units in such a team and what would be the 4th unit? This is more of a theory crafting type of question because, let's face it, I wouldn't get the type of answer you wo u ld give in the questions thread.

Not that I'm saying I'd get bad answers.

I'm just saying I prefer a wall of text to answer this one.

[Sire]

On 3/18/2017 at 6:59 PM, Arcanite said:

I saw a team with Nowi and Ryoma. They didn't have hector but if such a team existed, team "Distance between us", what skills would work to fill the gaps/weaknesses of the units in such a team and what would be the 4th unit? This is more of a theory crafting type of question because, let's face it, I wouldn't get the type of answer you wo u ld give in the questions thread.

Not that I'm saying I'd get bad answers.

I'm just saying I prefer a wall of text to answer this one.

Team Counterstrike

I was happily playing God Eater 2: Rage Burst, took a break, found this, and ended up writing a wall of text.

Essentially, I made a team that can counter from any range and focuses on sustaining themselves through Renewal and Breath of Life. They don't need a healer when they all can heal each other! (Of course, their greatest weakness is being one-shot. All the healing and regeneration is meaningless if the character is dead.)

Anyways, to the spoiler!

Team Composition: Hector, Nowi, Ryoma, Takumi

Spoiler

Name	HP		ATT		SPD		DEF		RES
Hector	49/52/55	33/36/39	21/24/28	34/37/40	16/19/22
Nowi	42/45/48	31/34/37	23/27/30	27/30/33	23/27/30
Ryoma	37/41/44	31/34/37	32/35/38	23/27/30	18/21/24
Takumi	36/40/43	29/32/35	30/33/36	22/25/29	14/18/21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hector	Armads		|| Pavise, Pivot*		|| Distant Counter, Renewal*, Threaten ATT*
Nowi	L. Breath+	|| Sacred Cowl*, Smite*		|| Triangle Adept*, Swordbreaker*, Breath of Life*
Ryoma	Raijinto	|| Noontime*, Swap*		|| Death Blow*, Renewal*, Breath of Life*
Takumi	Fujin Yumi	|| Sol*, Drag Back*		|| Close Counter, G. Tomebreaker*, Breath of Life*

So, I am going to assume some points here...

1. Hector, Nowi, and Ryoma are required.
2. The player wants to have a "balanced Team Composition."
3. The gimmick of this team is the ability to counter at any range.
4. This is a player controlled team. It may also work for AI, but I do not know.

* * * * *

With that in mind, I am stuck with Hector, Nowi, and Ryoma with one spot open for a random. As this team stands, it has two major problems.

1. Falchion Users (Despite WTA, they can still wreck Nowi, and will deal heavy damage to Hector [due to being Red Swords] despite Hector's bulk and strength.)
2. Magic Users (Linde will have a field day with Ryoma and Nowi, while Nino and Julia eat Hectors and Nowis for breakfast.)

Then it is a minor inconvenience in that Hector, being armored, moves about really slowly. So, how does the team handle this? Read on.

* * * * *

General
- The entire team will rely heavily on the Weapon Triangle to dish out optimal damage while taking less damage in return. This is especially the case for Nowi, since she runs Triangle Adept. Remember to pick your fights wisely and bait enemies into attacking you at a disadvantage - use Hector to bait Lindes while Ryoma baits Julias. (They will heal themselves over time.)
- Save for Hector, everyone runs Breath of Life to keep each other alive. This team is not only about about countering at any range. This team will heal each other and make sure they outlast you. The longer the match goes on, the more likely this team wins.
-- Since Hector is extremely slow and is not likely to pick his engagements, he runs Threaten ATT to increase his survivability.
- Remember the Weapon Triangle. This is a balanced team of 3 colors and a colorless, use it to your advantage!

Hector
- Hector is a juggernaut, but he is not unstoppable. The fact he cannot flee from a fight has Hector rely on teammates to clear out the field before he himself steps in to finish off whoever is left. In short, keep Hector away from Red Units!
-- In addition to staying away from Red Units (including Red Mages), do not be comforted seeing a Green Mage. Hector may not be able to one-shot the foe on the counterattack, meaning they too will roast Hector due to his low SPD and RES.
-- On the flipside, if Hector is healthy, try using him to bait Robins and Lindes. He will use the WTA in his favor and should even defeat them on the counter. Just make sure he gets properly treated afterwards, even with WTA advantage, magic will still hurt.
- I have Hector run Renewal to help him try and stay above 80% health so he perform a follow-up attack when on the defensive.
- I keep Hector's Pavise around to help him deal with melee units (and in the rare event of Armorslayers). I hope the other teammates cleared the field of any threats.
-- You can alternatively give Hector Aegis to help him deal with mages. This may actually be recommended, as Hector may be the only team member who can reliably handle Linde on his own. Threaten ATT may be enough for melee (physical) focused enemies.
- Finally, Hector has Pivot for (limited) mobility.

Nowi
- Nowi serves as your primary Anti-Red unit, utilizing Triangle Adept to her advantage. Nowi will take less damage than usual from Falchion users due to their higher WTA penalty, while Nowi will be able to punish them more with her increased WTA advantage.
-- Since Nowi runs Triangle Adept, make sure she stays far away from any Green unit, especially Julia. If Nowi is in range of a green, she will likely perish.
- To further her defense against Falchion users and be more annoying to Sword wielders in general, Nowi runs Swordbreaker. Swordbreaker, combined with Triangle Adept, makes Nowi practically lethal against any Red Sword. Just remember the shiny Falchions will still hurt, even with Triangle Adept and Swordbreaker.
- I have Nowi run Sacred Cowl in an attempt to somewhat mitigate being one shot by mages, like Julia. Even though Nowi is a balanced tank, her RES and slow SPD are still a weakness, even if she can counter at range. (You can try to give her Aegis instead, but remember the Lightning Breath has a +1 charge time. Aegis may not be ready by the time a mage shows up near Nowi.)
- Finally, I run Nowi run Smite so she can move Hector around.

Ryoma
- Where is Defiant Atk? Where is Vantage? I thought this was a defensive team? My friend, a good Samurai has to be adaptable, like water. Know when to defy your enemies and counter before they strike, and know when to charge in to claim glory for your family. (In short, Ryoma serves as the "Offensive Tank" of the group.)
- To keep with Ryoma working on the offensive, I gave him Death Blow. As he tends to double his foes, Death Blow means a potential +12 Damage when Ryoma is attacking.
- To help Yukimura Sanada Ryoma continue his relentless onslaught, he has Renewal (a reflection on his meditation technique) and Noontime to keep his health up. As Ryoma has excellent SPD, he is not bound to be doubled by enemies.
- Ryoma also has Swap for some maneuverability options.
- As for Ryoma's weaknesses, keep Ryoma away from blue units, especially Mages! Linde has the potential to one-shot Neutral Ryoma is she is +ATT.

(38 ATT Boon + 14 Aura = 52 || 52 ATT * 1.2 WTA = 62 || 62 - 21 = 41 // One Hit KO on N!Ryoma!)

Takumi
- As a Colorless, Takumi can do pretty much whatever he wants. For this particular team set-up, he will be providing ranged support and shoot down fliers. In short, is like Ryoma in being an "Offensive Tank," but is more of a "Ranged Tank" since Takumi attacks from range but can counter up close.
- However, I did give Takumi one crucial role, and that was by giving him Green Tomebreaker. Nowi is extremely weak to Green units due to fielding Triangle Adept, and while Hector himself is a Green, his low SPD and RES leaves him to be easy prey for Green Mages. Ryoma can not be everywhere at once, so it is up to Takumi to defend Nowi and Hector from these threats.
-- Why not Blue Tomebreaker? Unlike Hector, Ryoma stands a chance at evading blue mages while Nowi has a chance to survive against Blue Tomes. If anything, Ryoma and Nowi (and Takumi) should run to Hector and let Hector handle Linde. The hard part though is actually leading her to him, since the AI is smart enough to initially outmaneuver your units before engaging.

Weaknesses
- Despite everything, this team will still heavily be handicapped by mages.
-- Red Mages, while uncommon, are the most easily dealt with. Ryoma can take a hit and should be able to finish them off, while Nowi has WTA in her favor. Watch out for Tharja, as her Darting Blow allows her to double even Ryoma.
-- Green Mages are somewhat common, more in the form of Julia than Nino. Julia is deadly to this team composition as she can easily kill Hector and Nowi. If she appears as an opponent, use Ryoma or Takumi to take her out as soon as possible.
-- Blue Mages such as M!Robin and Linde are also common. M!Robin is more of a nuisance, especially to Takumi, but Linde is the greatest threat. Like Julia, if you see Linde, try to prioritize taking her down. Linde will easily defeat Ryoma and will deal massive amounts of damage to Nowi, Takumi, and even Hector before falling.
- Falchion users are somewhat of a concern, but they have been toned back a bit since Nowi runs Triangle Adept and Swordbreaker. Don't send Hector in to deal with Red Units either, unless you are deliberately trying to bait the enemy and know Hector will heal 10HP the following turn.

Edited March 20, 2017 by Sire

[Sire]

Team Composition & Unit Builds - Awakening Trio

I finally got around to this! As the title says, the main focus here is about the Awakening Trio, as well as an extra solo build for Selena. In addition, after this post I will be updating some of the other stuff due to newfound information (such as no Fury or Seal skills on Healers). I hope you enjoy the read!

Edit: Original Post Updated. Sire's Picks (Team Composition & Builds) have also been updated.

Contents
1. Solo Selena "SPD Tank" Build
2. The Awakening Trio + 1 (Selena, Laslow, Odin || M!Robin, F!Robin, M!Corrin, F!Corrin, Lucina, Azura)

Spoiler

Name		HP	ATT	SPD	DEF	RES	Total
Selena (1)	34	25	38	32	28	157	[+SPD, -HP]
-----
Selena (2)	37	29	35	29	28	158	[+ATT, -DEF]
Laslow		44	35	26	30	22	157	[+ATT, -RES]
Odin		43	25	32	22	25	147	[+ATT, -DEF]
-----
M!Robin		40	32	29	29	19	149	[+ATT, -RES]
F!Robin		40	29	29	29	22	149	[+N/A, -N/A]
M!Corrin	42	35(40)	32(37)	28(23)	21(16)	158	[+ATT, -RES]
F!Corrin	41	31	34	34	18	158	[+ATT, -RES]
Lucina		43	37(42)	36(41)	25(20)	16(11)	157	[+ATT, -RES]
Azura		40	31	33	18	28	150	[+HP, -DEF]

Name		Weapon		|| Special Skill, Assist Skill	|| Passive A, Passive B, Passive C
Selena (1)	Ruby Sword+*	|| Sol*, Ardent Sacrifice*	|| Distant Counter*, Renewal*, Threaten SPD
-----
Selena (2)	Armorslayer+	|| Luna*, Rally Resistance*	|| Triangle Adept, Seal Atk*, Hone Atk*
Odin		Blárblade+	|| Moonbow, Ardent Sacrifice*	|| Close Counter*, Renewal*, Threaten SPD*
Laslow		Silver Sword+	|| Noontime, Rally Defense*	|| Death Blow*, Swordbreaker*, Hone SPD
---
M!Robin		Blárraven+	|| Bonfire, Rally Defense*	|| Triangle Adept*, Swordbreaker*, Spur DEF
F!Robin		Gronnraven*	|| Ignis, Rally Attack*		|| Triangle Adept*, B Tomebreaker, S. Blow*

M!Corrin	Yato		|| Dragon Fang, Pivot*		|| Life and Death*, Desperation*, B. of Life*
F!Corrin	Dark Breath+	|| Draconic Aura, Swap*		|| Defiant Atk*, Seal Res, Savage Blow*

Lucina		Falchion	|| Aether, Reciprocal Aid*	|| Life and Death*, Desperation*, Spur Atk
Azura		Sapphire Lance+	|| ???, Sing			|| HP +5*, Renewal*, Breath of Life*

Selena (1): This Selena is one I actually own in terms of IVs. I figured she might make a good tank (especially against Greens) due to her decent spread of HP, SPD, DEF, and RES. In a sense, I also transformed this Selena into a "Paladin" (Sol + Ardent Sacrifice + Renewal) to help with her survivability as well as heal her allies.

The two most important skills here are swapping out the Armorslayer+ for the Ruby Sword+ and giving Selena Distant Counter. I wanted to keep Selena's advantage against Greens since Triangle Adept helps with her low damage output and defenses, but also give her a ranged retaliation option against opposing Ninos and Julias.

As noted, I also gave Selena Sol, Ardent Sacrifice, and Renewal to help her stay alive as well as heal her allies. Selena is meant to outlast her opponent until she defeats them or waits for backup to arrive.

Finally, Selena keeps Threaten SPD to slow down some of the faster characters. Since this particular build has Selena +SPD, -DEF, she will be able to double common sword lords such as Lucina, Marth, Lyn, Ryoma, and Erika if they are affected by the debuff (provided they do not have Swordbreaker).

* * * * *

Selena (2): A more offensively oriented Selena, but being part of a team she also offers some utility.

She keeps Armorslayer and Triangle Adept. Armorslayers helps Selena push through her low damage to do some respectable damage to Armors while Triangle Adept helps Selena against Greens offensively and defensively.

I give Selena Seal Atk to offer team utility as well as help with her survivability against poor matchups (against Blues). She gains Luna (which is also a reference to her name) to help her deal damage. However, for more efficient skills, it will likely be better to give her Bonfire due to her high DEF (32 DEF -> 16 Damage per proc). For this particular situation, I went with aesthetic instead of what was optimal.

Finally, Selena has Hone Atk and Rally Resistance, which helps out her team, especially Odin.

Odin: Odin has remembered some of his skills from his time as a Myrmidon, as well as skills from his mother. Nothing can stop the Tome-Hand! (As an aside, the reason he is +Att, -DEF is because that is the Odin I own. +ATT, -RES may be better for him, but a +SPD Odin can work wonders with a SPD Buff [35->39] and the Threaten SPD skill.)

Moonbow remains as a simple skill proc, but one day a part of me wants to see what putting one of the AoE skills on a (color)blade users would be like. It will definitely be overkill, but will likely never trigger unless one fields a Dancer.

The biggest draw here is giving Odin Close Counter. Unlike his counterparts Nino and Tharja, who are more glass cannons, Odin has respectable speed and bulk for a mage. Add the fact that Odin will likely be receiving buffs from Selena and Laslow ("By our powers combined, we can beat any foe! Abysmal Body Blow!"), and he will be a difficult man to take down.

Another skill that helps Odin stay alive is Renewal, which he can learn from Lissa. He can also channel his dark powers into his allies, healing them at the cost of his own life force (Ardent Sacrifice).

Lastly, he has Threaten SPD as a reference to the "Anathema" skill from Awakening or "Heartseeker" from Fates. It also helps himself and his allies double enemies, and helps prevent them from being doubles (especially Laslow)

Laslow: Laslow serves as the "heavy hitter" of the trio, having naturally high ATT and being equipped with a Silver Sword+.

To help with his offensive abilities, Laslow has Death Blow to try and one-shot foes. He also has Swordbreaker to compensate for his slow SPD, and unlike Quick Riposte, allows Laslow to remain on the offensive.

He keeps Noontime for survivability and Hone SPD to buff Odin and Selena. Rally Defense is present to further buff Odin, but Selena can use it as well.

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Now, since in Heroes there are teams of four and not three, we have an open slot. So, who would the Awakening Trios run with?

The Robins: It can make sense for Robin to follow the trio in their adventures (and default M!Robin could with an amiibo). Besides serving as their tactician, Robin does not really have a real tie to the Awakening world (unless he/she settles down and marries).

The Corrins: One of the "Hidden Plot Points" of Fates is having the trio try to convince Corrin of the real threat of Anakos. Of course, this happens during the DLC and has no real impact on the actual main story, but it could be fun for one of the Corrins to tag along the trio.

Lucina: It's the poster girl of Awakening, and she is likely to disappear if not married. Why can't she cross paths with the trio and join forces? (She could in Fates, but one requires an amiibo.)

 Azura: Perhaps the weakest link to the trio besides "the realm that shall not be named (Valla)," Azura is put here since she is the main spotlight for Fates. Besides, Laslow can't dance to restore his allies' stamina, but Azura's song can.

This is all but small story points in an attempt to make things flow together because technically you can use whoever you wanted for the 4th character. Maybe Leo, Camilla, or Xander tag along their retainers. Maybe the parents (Cordelia, Lissa, Olivia // "Husband of Choice") tag along. Perhaps there is Anna, because Anna. Just do whatever is fun for you.

Anyways, on to the actual builds and explanations. Note that while these may be tailored to fit into the Awakening Trio composition, they can be modified to suit your own needs.

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M!Robin: We bring out the classic Blárraven+, Triangle Adept and Swordbreaker combo so Robin becomes fairly powerful against Reds and Greys. His slowish SPD is made up for by Swordbreaker, allowing him to double the speedy sword lords (like Lucina and Ryoma). Triangle Adept simply amplifies M!Robin's power, but make sure he stays away from Greens.

He keeps Bonfire to deal extra damage due to his fairly good DEF, as well as Spur DEF to help out the Trio's survivability. M!Robin also brings Rally Defense for buffs, but this can be changed to a different Assist skill if you like.

F!Robin: Practically the same main idea as M!Robin, but as a Green unit and some different priorities / skills.

Since the trio does not have a Green Unit, F!Robbin is a great choice to bring along to cover all aspects of the triangle, especially if she has Gronnraven+ inherited. She too has Triangle Adept to amplify her mastery over her male counterpart, only made stronger by the fact she keeps Blue Tomebreaker. You do not need to fear Lindes and M!Robins when F!Robin is around.

She also runs Savage Blow to deal area damage to enemies, weakening them so the Trio can move in and mop up the remnants. (It may also be a reflection of F!Robin's true self...) F!Robin has Rally Attack in case someone missed Selena's buff, but it can be changed to a different assist skill.

F!Robin keeps Ignis for damage potential, and to save on SP costs.

M!Corrin: Valuing honor and the ways of Hoshido, M!Corrin goes on the hyper offensive with the Life and Death + Desperation combo. Since he does not field a Brave Weapon, he gains +5 SPD instead of remaining at baseline (32 -> 37). Combined with the Yato's effect of +4 SPD when initiating combat, M!Corrin has 41 SPD when on the offensive!

Then, when Desperation is active, M!Corrin will be able to utilize both of his strikes (if he doubles his foe) in quick succession, doing massive damage to his opponents before they can even retaliate, if at all! (35 ATT Boon + 5 L&D + 16 Yato = 56 ATT) For reference, M!Corrin should ORKO any Red that has below 32 DEF, provided he doubles them.  (56 ATT - 32 DEF = 24 Damage || 24 Strike + 24 Strike = 48 Damage)

He keeps Dragon Fang to deal with troublesome foes, while he reflects the nature of the Light Dragon of Hoshido by inheriting Breath of Life. He has Pivot for mobility.

F!Corrin: The Fateful Princess of Nohr, she prefers to support her allies while channeling the Dark Dragon of Nohr. However, if provoked, F!Corrin may lose control of her draconic power and begin to retaliate for massive damage.

She keeps Dark Breath+ and Seal RES to debuff her enemies while assisting her allies. F!Corrin also retains Draconic Aura for flavor purposes and to save SP, but for optimal play she may want Ignis or Bonfire to take advantage of her high DEF (34 -> 17[27] Damage). For comparison, Draconic Aura does 13 damage for a 3 charge skill.

To reflect the nature of Nohr's Dark Dragon, she is given Savage Blow to deal area damage to her opponents. This combined with Dark Breath can be a portent combination. Then, to represent her draconic rage, she is given Defiant Atk, but this is mostly to offset her low Atk values. Swap is inherited for maneuverability and Swap strategies (such as replacing a frontline unit or moving a unit to the front line).

Lucina: A Lucina who never found peace and the way to Awakening, she still believes she is fighting Grima and all that monstrosity stands for. In her apocalyptic world, she fights out of desperation due to the Grima's influence over life and death.

Essentially, Lucina is like M!Corrin as she also runs the Life and Death with Desperation, but wields the Falchion and has Aether as her skill. Lucina's stats are also different from M!Corrins.

She keeps Spur Atk to save SP and to assist her allies, but it can be swapped out if desired. Lucina has Reciprocal Aid to either aid her allies or help her trigger the Desperation threshold.

Azura: An Azura who discovered the Awakening Trio before Corrin and decided to help them bring peace to the world of Fates. That is, before they got swept up in the world of Heroes. 

She is kept fairly basic as her primary role is refreshing other characters' actions. I gave her Renewal to represent Azura's Blessed Lance while Breath of Life helps Azura heal her allies. The HP+5 and Escutcheon is used to help Azura stay alive.

She keeps the Sapphire Lance+ to help her deal with Reds, a common enemy type.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Sire

[BANRYU]

Speaking of flavor-related team builds and whatnot, I noticed that the setup you gave me for A!Tiki also includes Julia, AKA the OTHER scion (of sorts) of Naga hahaha. Throw in Marth/Chrom/Lucina in there along with Ninian (I think she would qualify too since her dances are apparently holy tributes...??) and that could very easily be the Naga squad.

Sorry I know that doesn't contribute anything strategy-wise, but.... just thought that was funny.

[Arcanite]

Well Mr. Sire. I have come to make another request! What good skills can work on Jaffar and Karel. I have recently acquired these two heroes and I'm wondering what nasty things I can do with them. I also have one special request. Could you make more than one build for each of them? I hope it isn't too much to ask but I may not have the necessary units to make ridiculously awesome builds such asks yours.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Arcanite

[Sire]

Been fairly busy for the last month. I got a maintenance job during the night shift, it didn't work out, and I had to resign. So, I'm back to the drawing board on where I can find a source of income without losing what remains of my sanity. (A Psychology Major who wants to make video games and eventually found his own company. Good things are coming, they say. Honest!...)

On the topic of Fire Emblem Heroes and my various Theorycrafts, I now have a Google Sheets document available for viewing! It is still in the process of being updated, but right now it contains more my own characters and the builds I use for them instead of the theory crafted ones. Once I am able to get myself situated, I'll post my builds here and update the sheet. The detailed explanations will be in this topic, while the sheet is useful for looking at builds at a glance. // As for how this topic will be structured in terms of updates, any revisions I make will now be added in the latest post as well as being edited in to their proper locations.

Then, as an aside, I "reuploaded" my various written works to a Google Document instead of putting it back here in the Creative Section of the forums. They are not really Fire Emblem related, but if you enjoy "medieval bard tales," poetry, and some small pieces of fiction, then feel free to give it a read!

Edit: @Arcanite

Do you still want me to try and make those builds for Jaffar and Karel? I'm over a month late, but I can still give it a try if you want.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Sire