Innes, Regal Strategician

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Innes, Regal Strategician

Stats:
32/30/31/11/28
35/33/34/14/31
39/36/37/18/34

Default Set:

Spoiler

Nidhogg
( - )
Iceberg

Fortress Resistance
Cancel Affinity
( - )

The Prince of Freilia is a most forgotten unit. Just after his release Brave Lyn took the spotlight as the only mounted Archer to date and proceeded to wreck havoc on the meta. While Innes is certainly not meta-defining he is without a doubt one of the best Archers in the game.

His 33/34 spread in Atk and Spd gives him a slight edge to his competiton in Klein or Takumi and is only surpassed by Bride Cordelia's 35/35 who was only available for a limited time. But he has one key advantage over all of them; magical bulk. With 31 Res he can definitely take a hit from mage which is rather rare for an Archer. Most of them have terrible Res and if they have some resemblance of durability, it's against physical attacks which does little against the numerous mages in the game.

In exchange Innes has the durability of paper. 35 Hp is quite low and it hampers his excellent Res stat. Without a right build Innes won't be able to tank effectively since he lacks color advantage to reduce damage. Still 66 effective durability against magic is still respectable. But more importantly his Def is atrocious. It's very easy to kill him in a single hit and almost every unit that attacks physically will be able to send him to an early grave. You should never attack a Distant Counter unit with Innes since it will be a suicide move except special circumstances are involved.

Nidhogg is an interesting Legendary weapon since its effect is a carbon copy of an -owl tome. As he has good resistance Innes can take advantage of this effect to stack it even higher and use the additional Spd to avoid doubles from fast units like Linde or Nino. While a Guard Bow+ may offer more consistent damage reduction, Nidhogg improves all of his stats and offers him higher Atk, giving Innes an unique option just for himself.

Overall Innes is a flexible Archer thanks to his stats. He can either be very offensive with a Brave Bow build or a Mage tank thanks to his high Res and Nidhogg. However his role is ultimately dependent on what kind of boon/bane combination you get. Some banes like Spd are particularly crippling for him while others like Res force him into a more offensive approach. One should keep this in mind and build him accordingly.

 

Builds:

Budget Tank

Spoiler

Boon/Bane: +Spd/-Def or +Atk/-Def

Nidhogg
Reposition/Draw Back
Iceberg

Fury 3/Fortress Res 3
Cancel Affinity 3
Def Ploy 3/Spd Ploy 3/(flexible)

Distant Def 3/Quick Riposte 3/Atk Ploy 3/Def Ploy 3

Taking advantage of Nidhogg's effect Innes can run a cheap enemy phase build, designed to counter most mages. He works exceptionally well with Spur/Drive support as he wants to have at least one ally glued on him all the time to gain the benefits of Nidhogg. Keep in mind that he has a lot of trouble dealing with Distant Counter units so try to avoid fighting these with him.

This version only requires you to run his default set and fill out his empty spots. His kit is decent enough to tank some mages and thanks to Nidhogg and his decent Atk stat he will be able to deal decent damage. Cancel Affinity eliminates the threat of -raven mages which is his only weakness besides any physical contact.
If you want to do a bit better than that, replace his Fortress Resistance with Fury. This gives him even more Atk and a bit more Spd so he can avoid doubles and rarely double by himself. His Res of 34 is still of decent value though keep in mind that Fury's recoil will comprimise his longevity.

Thanks to his high Res Innes can act as an excellent Ploy bot. The debuffs he inflicts can benefit him in his role as mage tank since only the most Res-heavy mages can avoid them. Since he is dependent of having an ally around any of the usual passives work also well.

True Nidhogg Tank

Spoiler

Boon/Bane: +Spd/-Def or +Atk/-Def

Nidhogg
Reposition/Draw Back
Iceberg

Distant Def 3/Atk Res Bond 3
Quick Riposte 3/Guard 3
Def Ploy 3/Spd Ploy 3/(flexible)

Distant Def 3/Quick Riposte 3/Atk Ploy 3/Def Ploy 3

While the Budget version works Innes can reach a much higher potential as a mage tank.

Distant Defense give him the most durability against ranged attacks which can be exploited even further with the same Sacred Seal.
Atk Res Bond further increases the benefit of having an ally around and offers a similar Res boost to Distant Def coupled with a hefty Atk bonus which will allow +Atk versions of him to one-shot less durable mages.

Quick Riposte helps Innes to double even the fastest units. Since his Spd is at least decent he will avoid critical doubles from most mages. Guard prevents Reinhardt from triggering Moonbow. Due to his low Hp Specials in general can knock out Innes, so locking these out with Guard helps him in that regard. Thanks to the Quick Riposte Seal he can take advantage of both at once.

Standard Brave Bow

Spoiler

Boon/Bane: +Atk/-Def

Brave Bow+
Draw Back/Reposition
Iceberg/Luna

Death Blow 3/Swift Sparrow 2/Life and Death 3
Cancel Affinity 3/[ - ]-breaker 3
Def Ploy 3/Spd Ploy 3/(flexible)

Atk Ploy 3/Def Ploy 3/Attack+3

As Innes possesses a good offensive spread he is naturally eligible for a standard Brave Bow build. Only beaten by Brave Lyn and Bride Cordelia in that regard this is the more aggresive approach.

Death Blow 3 is a no-brainer, giving him the highest damage within a single attack from his Brave Bow. Life and Death or Swift Sparrow give him higher Spd allowing for potential Quad attacks.
Keep in mind that Life and Death 3 can be a detrimental choice for him. Since it affects his Res you automatically lose his utility as a Ploy bot and some damage from Iceberg so if you want him to retain these uses, Swift Sparrow might be an alternative for those who want Innes to quad his enemies (which is pretty much the only case where this is applicable).

If you think you don't need to prepare against the potential -raven mage then any -breaker can give Innes a more secure win against that specific weapon type. This works in a funny way since Tomebreakers ensure that Innes will make the lifes of mages particularly miserable so priotize these before any other type of -breaker.

Screw the Rules, I have Money! (Firesweep)

Spoiler

Boon/Bane: +Spd/-Def or +Atk/-Def

Firesweep Bow+
Draw Back/Reposition
Iceberg

Life and Death 3/Swift Sparrow 2
Cancel Affinity 3
Def Ploy3 /Spd Ploy 3/(flexible)

Atk Ploy 3/Def Ploy 3/Speed+3

Befitting its title this build circumvents the problem with his physical bulk, allowing him to deal with Distant Counter units without fear of reprisal. But of course this is the most expensive set Innes can run, requiring heavy investment and the necessary luck to pull a Faye.

I don't think this build particularly appealing for Innes since he has some enemy phase utility and a Firesweep build is more fitting for units that generally lack any kind of bulk (like Bride Cordelia). For the sake of investment I would recommend to really think this one through before you attempt building him this way.

 

Edited June 25, 2018 by The Priest

[Ae†her]

I know you're still working on this, but just wanted to say that the New Year Takumi is coming with

Spoiler

Atk/Res Bond 3 (according Datamining),

which would be pretty amazing option on a Nidhogg build.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Logos

[MrSmokestack]

EDIT: I’m dumb.

Edited December 29, 2017 by MrSmokestack

[Ae†her]

18 hours ago, MrSmokestack said:

@Logos

  Reveal hidden contents

Takumi has Spd/Def Bond if I’m not mistaken. Witch Nowi had Atk / Res Bond.

 

I thought it was that because I was reading it from Gamepress, but I had a gut-feeling the one I originally saw was Spd version.

Nevermind it was Camilla I was thinking of with Spd/Def Bond 3, Takumi does have Atk/Res Bond 3.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Logos

[Shiki]

12 hours ago, Logos said:

Atk/Res Bond 3

Duly noted. Will edit it.