General Weapon Refinery discussion/speculation/creation thread

[GuiltyLove]

Yes, his refine is amazingly powerful. I don't have him, though. I am considering refining Mareeta, but she is only +1

[Othin]

That's a hell of a set of complicated conditions for Seliph.

Looks like Blow-or-Alarm conditions are now a thing.

[Ice Dragon]

Trabant: Thracia Kinglance

Base effect is:

• Nullifies effective damage against fliers
• With a Stance condition or if opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Reduces opponent's Atk in combat by 15% of unit's Def at start of combat
  • Guard effect

Refine effect is:

• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Guaranteed follow-up
  • +1 Special charge rate

Trabant gets +8 to all stats, an additional effective +8~11 Def/Res in the form of an Atk reduction on the opponent, a guaranteed follow-up, Special Fighter, and Iote's Shield.

Getting Iote's Shield on his weapon is a pretty big deal, as it allows him to run a Distant Counter skill without having to worry about bows dealing effective damage to him. Compared to Arcane Qiang, he also gets Guard and a much larger boost in stats at the cost of losing only the Slaying effect and follow-up prevention, which isn't too big of a deal for him.

It's a pretty solid refine despite its simplicity. I think this puts Trabant as the best bulky lance flier in the game.

Echidna: Western Axe

Base effect is:

• If there is an ally within 3 spaces:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • 30% damage reduction on opponent's first attack and unit's next attack deals additional damage equal to the total damage reduced, including from other skills
  • 7 HP recovery after combat

Refine effect is:

• With a Stance condition or if opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Grand Strategy effect to all stats
  • +1 Special charge rate

As long as Echidna is afflicted with stat penalties to Atk/Spd, she can definitely match Valentine Effie with Arcane Downfall. She needed +13 Atk and +12 Spd from weapon effects to pull that off, and this refine gives her +20 to each if she gets hit by Atk/Spd Menace or simply is in range of Legendary Robin's start-of-turn effect. Getting two stacks of Grand Strategy while still having the A slot free to run a Distant Counter skill is no joke.

If that wasn't already good enough, she also has Ice Mirror built into her weapon with the only real caveat being that it can be nullified by percentage damage reduction nullification. She additionally recovers 7 HP after combat for additional sustain and has +1 Special charge rate, which lets her retaliate immediately with Ruptured Sky.

Alternatively, she can run Shield Pulse with either Escutcheon or Sacred Cowl and double down on damage reduction and Ice Mirror damage.

This refine sounds like a hell of a lot of fun to play with.

Legendary Seliph: Virtuous Tyrfing

Base effect is updated:

• Permanent +3 Res
• If HP is 99% or lower at start of combat (unchanged) or if opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat (new) or with a Stance condition (unchanged):
  • -6 Atk/Def to opponent in combat
  • Deals additional damage equal to 15% of Atk, excluding AoE Specials (new)
  • Null C-Disrupt effect (new)
  • 8 HP recovery per unit's attack in combat (previously 7)

Refine effect is:

• With a Blow condition or if there is an ally within 3 spaces:
  • -5 Atk/Def to opponent in combat
  • If opponent is tome or staff:
    • 80% damage reduction, including AoE Specials
  • If opponent is not tome or staff:
    • 40% damage reduction, including AoE Specials
• With a Stance condition and if there is an ally within 3 spaces and if unit's HP is 50% or higher:
  • Miracle effect, once per turn
    • Doesn't stack with other non-Special skills with the Miracle effect. If any such effect is activated, this skill effect counts as having activated and can no longer activate for the remainder of the turn.

For reference, the remix for Holy War's End grants a guaranteed follow-up and follow-up prevention on both phases, the Brave effect on enemy phase, and an obligatory -5 Atk/Def to the opponent. His new skill is Distant Ferocity (Distant Counter + Fierce Stance), an upgrade to his existing Distant Counter.

The updated base effect fixes the issue where his HP recovery threatened to turn the entire effect off on player phase by adding a new alternate activate condition. That's really good.

Unfortunately, he doesn't get Canto or Vantage, but instead gets Null C-Disrupt as well as the expected Miracle. And unlike my predictions of him getting additional damage or damage reduction based on Def, he get additional damage based on Atk totaling around 8~10 points and percentage damage reduction based only on the opponent's weapon type. The damage reduction is 40% by default and is boosted to a gigantic 80% against tomes and staves.

The Miracle effect combined with Null C-Disrupt and his enemy-phase Brave effect should make him extremely difficult to kill in one round of combat, and he can also run Hardy Bearing as a counter to units running Desperation to try to get around his counterattack.

Mareeta: Mareeta's Sword

Base effect is updated:

• Slaying effect
• With a Blow-or-Alarm condition (previously Solo condition):
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Null Follow-Up effect
  • Nullifies positive stat bonuses to Spd/Def on opponent in combat (new)

Refine effect is:

• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Offensive Tempo effect
  • Deals additional damage equal to 10% of Spd, excluding AoE Specials
  • Nullifies opponent's non-Special percentage damage reduction when Special activates

Mareeta is still your typical fast sword infantry. She now basically has Lull Spd/Def, Tempo, and percentage damage reduction nullification to make it extremely obvious to run a Dodge skill in her B slot. Just give her Vital Astra and Time's Pulse 4, and she's basically good to go.

Spring Est: Eagle's Egg

Base effect is updated:

• Permanent +3 Atk
• With a Blow-or-Unity condition (previously only Unity condition):
  • +5 to all stats in combat
  • Nullifies stat penalties to all stats
  • Guaranteed follow-up (new)

Refine effect is:

• Canto (1)
• Inflicts -6 Def/Res as a Penalty and Exposure on closest enemies within 5 spaces and enemies within 2 spaces of them at start of turn
• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • If opponent has a Penalty:
    • Sweep effect

Est indeed got the obligatory +4 to all stats and a guaranteed follow-up, as predicted, despite already having a decent Spd stat.

While she doesn't get teleportation, she does get Canto (1) for mobility, which allows her to pass up on Trace for something like Wings of Mercy 4.

Additionally, she has a very reliable penalty application effectively boosting her damage by 16 points per attack and gets the Sweep effect against any enemy that has a Penalty. Given that Exposure is pretty hard to get rid of, it's not too hard to activate the Sweep effect unless there's a Freyr on the opposing team.

Sety: Winds of Silesse

Base effect is updated:

• Permanent +3 Spd
• With a Blow-or-Alarm condition (previously Solo condition):
  • +6 Atk/Spd in combat
  • Reduces opponent's Spd/Res in combat by 20% of unit's Spd at start of combat (new)

Refine effect is:

• If HP is 25% or higher at start of turn:
  • Grants +6 Atk/Spd as a stat bonus to self
  • Grants Desperation to self
  • Grants Bonus "+1 Special charge rate" to self
• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +5 Atk/Spd in combat

Sety is now just a modernized Levn. Who could possibly have predicted that.

Freyja: Nightmare Horn

Base effect is updated:

• Permanent +3 Spd
• Distant Counter
• If opponent's HP is 50% or higher at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat (new)
• Dodge 3
• Standard transform condition with new cavalry transform effect (previously old cavalry transform effect)

Refine effect is:

• Canto (Rem. +1)
• Slaying effect
• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Null Follow-Up effect

For reference, the remix for Binding Necklace grants unconditional transformation, +7 Phantom Spd, the offensive half of Tempo, and an effective +2 to all stats on top of its original effect. The activation condition for all effects other than the unconditional transformation and Phantom Spd effect has been changed from Solo to Stance or at most 1 adjacent ally. Her new skill is Spd Smoke 4, replacing Pulse Smoke.

Absolutely nothing about this refine is a surprise, and that's a good thing. She got everything she wanted. She gets Null Follow-Up to match her summer version and Eitr. She gets Canto (Rem. +1) to make up for the fact that they aren't giving her an Alarm skill. She gets the Slaying effect to guarantee activating her default Luna on her follow-up attack now that Binding Necklace+ gives her Tempo. The only thing I that had in my prediction that she didn't end up getting was an additional source of damage reduction, but I suppose that was already included in her new Spd Smoke 4, so they didn't feel the need to give her another one.

Freyja had a comically high base Spd stat before it was cool, which can be seen by the fact that her base neutral Spd stat with maximum Dragonflowers is still only 2 points below the current leader (46 and 48, respectively). And now her weapon grants her an equally comical +11 Spd.

 

Overall thoughts

Seliph's and Freyja's refines are both great and fix all of their glaring issues, but that's exactly what would be expected of them. No complaints with either of them.

Echidna's refine looks absolutely terrifying for a 4-star unit with Legendary Robin as support.

Spring Est is now another Sweeper, and a very reliable one at that. She absolutely wants to be running Wings of Mercy 4 and/or an Oath 4 skill.

Trabant's and Mareeta's refines are both simple, but functional. Trabant is now probably a top-tier tank when built with premium skills. Mareeta is another fast sword infantry in a sea of fast sword infantry, but at least she can now compete with recent units.

Sety now combos with Brave Chrom to give Desperation. Otherwise, he's just a unit with straightforward skill effects and doesn't rely on gimmicks, making him pretty splashable. The lack of the Slaying effect does give him some issues, as it locks him to 2-cooldown Specials unless he has Time's Pulse or Special Spiral.

[Xenomata]

Welcome to the CYL5 edition of the Weapon Refinery, featuring...

• Flower of Ease, part of the remix for Mythic Sword Flier Dancer Mirabilis: Daydream
• Mirage Falchion, for Grail Sword Infantry Itsuki: Finding a Path
• Genesis Falchion, for CYL Sword Infantry Marth: Prince of Light
• Binding Reginleif, for CYL Lance Cavalier Eirika: Pledged Restorer
• Hel's Reaper, part of the remix for Mythic Axe Flier Hel: Death Sovreign
• Charging Horn, for CYL Green Tome Infantry Gatekeeper: Nothing to Report
• Phantasm Tome, for CYL Colorless Tome Infantry Marianne: Serene Adherent

This also marks the first refine for a unit from Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE!

[Diovani Bressan]

I am only interested on Mirabilis, Hel and Marth for this month's batch. However I have enough divine dews for more refinements if they interest me.

[Ice Dragon]

A gigantic batch this time, as we're getting all of CYL 5 in addition to the usual Grail unit and the two scheduled remix refines.

I'm expecting CYL 5's refines to be significantly tamer than usual refines simply because they're much newer units.

 

Mirabilis: Flower of Ease

Current effect is:

• Permanent +3 Res
• -3 Atk/Def/Res in combat to opponents within 3 columns centered on unit that have a Penalty

For reference, the remix for Whimsical Dream adds Dull to its buffs for allies and splashes the debuffs for enemies by 2 spaces. Her new skill is Chill Def/Res 3, replacing her existing Sabotage Def.

As Mirabilis is a dancer with both buffs and debuffs on her dance skill, I can only guess that she'll grant more buffs and inflict more debuffs with her refine. There are a lot of options, and I just hope they won't be a pain in the ass for me to deal with because Aether Raids is a pain in the ass enough already.

If they want to give her combat effects, I can see her going full bulk with follow-up prevention and damage reduction. While it's possible she'll get something like a guaranteed follow-up to make her capable of fighting, I'd rather her focus on not dying so that she's the last enemy remaining and I can go blow up the Aether structures without accidentally killing her.

Itsuki: Mirage Falchion

Current effect is:

• Effective damage against dragons
• Permanent +3 Def
• With a Blow condition:
  • Boost to Atk/Def in combat equal to 3 plus 2 times the number of allies that have ended their turn, maximum +7
• With a Stance condition:
  • Boost to Atk/Def in combat equal to 7 minus 2 times the number of enemies that have ended their turn, minimum +3

Unlike all of the other units with a Falchion, Itsuki actually has a decent Res stat that can be used to not immediately die to a dragon's counterattack. But his weapon doesn't give him a boost to Res. At the very least, it would be great if they updated his weapon's base effect to boost Atk/Def/Res instead of just Atk/Def or gave him some other effect that boosts his survivability against dragons so that he can actually make use of his effective damage.

As a unit with middling Spd, he's almost certainly going to get a guaranteed follow-up. I'd also like him to get some form of Special acceleration so that he can use viably run Aether.

I'd like to see the TMS characters get refines that reference the mirage character's gimmicks. For Itsuki, Chrom's gimmick is his array of Galeforce Assist skills, and I think giving Itsuki a Galeforce effect when he uses an Assist skill would make him at least somewhat unique as none of the other Chroms with Galeforce Assist skills have access to all of the new fancy melee infantry skills. I think it would also be pretty cool if they gave him Brave Chrom's ability to copy Bonuses, but instead of doing it on Assist usage, perhaps make it function like a reverse version of Citrinne's weapon now that that's a thing.

Brave Marth: Genesis Falchion

Current effect is:

• Effective damage against dragons
• Slaying effect
• With a Blow-or-Unity condition:
  • +5 to all stats in combat
  • If the sum of stat bonuses on the 3 allies with the highest total stat bonuses is 10 or higher:
    • Null Follow-Up effect
  • If the sum of stat bonuses on the 3 allies with the highest total stat bonuses is 25 or higher:
    • +5 Atk in combat
    • 5 HP recovery per attack made by unit
  • If the sum of stat bonuses on the 3 allies with the highest total stat bonuses is 60 or higher:
    • Vantage effect

The only things that would really make Marth better are Time's Pulse 4 so that he can activate Shining Emblem instantly when he activates his Vantage effect and damage reduction nullification so that Shining Emblem doesn't get blocked by first-attack damage reduction.

If they want to be fancy, they could also give him the Bulwark effect to force enemies to attack into his Vantage and step on Gatekeeper's toes.

Brave Eirika: Binding Reginleif

Current effect is:

• Effective damage against armor and cavalry
• Slaying effect
• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +5 to all stats in combat
  • 30% damage reduction on opponent's first attack
  • With a Blow condition:
    • Offensive Null Follow-Up effect

Eirika's offenses are already pretty solid, as she already has Null Follow-Up from her weapon and Tempo from her B skill, and the only thing that would really help her out in that department would be damage reduction nullification.

Defensively, she would love to have her damage reduction also apply to attacks from the Brave effect.

If they want to reference Ephraim's version of Reginleif, they could also give her a Tempest effect, but I don't think that's really necessary. Her kit has aged extremely well, and there really isn't much necessity in adding too much more fluff.

Hel: Hel's Reaper

Current effect is:

• Nullifies effective damage against fliers
• Slaying effect
• If opponent is not a tome or staff unit:
  • Targets Res
  • If HP is 2 or higher when taking fatal damage:
    • Miracle effect, 1 time per combat, does not stack

For reference, the remix for Inevitable Death grants a teleportation-to-enemy effect with strings attached and Null Follow-Up if Hel is faster. Her new skill is Distant Pressure (Distant Counter + Spd Push), which is an upgrade to her existing Distant Counter.

Her new teleportation effect effectively gives her 3 movement with an asterisk, and with her Miracle effect, makes her function like a 3-movement Brave Seliph that can walk through walls.

While they could definitely make Hel a greater offensive threat, I think it would be better if she focused more on survivability in order to function as a Wings of Mercy beacon for as long as possible. Given that she's getting a Push-variant Distant Counter skill and that Arcane Downfall has HP recovery, I think her weapon will probably also have HP recovery of some sort. They're also clearly discouraging running Flow skills on her by giving her Null Follow-Up in her C slot, which is probably intended to push players into running Guard Bearing. She might get another Dodge effect on her weapon, but I think it would be better to give her flat damage reduction instead so that she can pull off Spring Maria's shenanigans.

If they want to make her extremely obnoxious, I think giving her reverse Wings of Mercy would be pretty funny. "If unit's HP ≤ 50%, allies can move to a space adjacent to unit."

Also, making her weapon target the lower of Def or Res would be great. And if the effect is nullified, then fall back to targeting Res like before.

Gatekeeper: Charging Horn

Current effect is:

• Permanent +3 Def
• Grants +5 Atk/Spd in combat to allies within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit
• If there is no breakable terrain within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit:
  • If there is 1 or more ally within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit:
    • Reduces Atk/Res on opponent in combat by 2 times the number of allies within 3 columns or 3 rows centered on unit, maximum -6
  • If there are 3 or more allies within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit:
    • Follow-up prevention
• If there is breakable terrain within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit:
  • -6 Atk/Res on opponent in combat
  • Follow-up prevention

Gatekeeper is the unit that introduced the Bulwark effect, but he was a ranged unit that didn't have the stats to actually make use of it. If he wants to do the job he was designed to do, he needs Duo Askr's bulk.

Give him flat damage reduction based on his Def stat, percentage damage reduction based on a Def comparison, damage reduction against AoE Specials, damage reduction against consecutive attacks, Guard, Tempo, Null C-Disrupt, and passive healing. Maybe also Divine Vein: Stone just for shits and giggles. Also have him grant Canto: Recall to nearby allies at the start of the turn and disarm nearby traps.

And give him Canto Control. He already has Bulwark and Warp Bubble. He should get all of the fancy movement restriction effects.

Brave Marianne: Phantasm Tome

Current effect is:

• Permanent +3 Spd
• If opponent's HP is 50% or higher at start of combat:
  • -6 Spd/Res on opponent in combat
  • Nullifies opponent's positive stat bonuses to Spd/Res
  • With a Blow condition:
    • 70% damage reduction on opponent's first attack

Requiem Dance is Marianne's primary gimmick, but it's really awkward to use due to its high cooldown and the fact that she doesn't have enough skill slots to make it reliable because none of the skill effects she needs is on her weapon.

She has Null Follow-Up and Time's Pulse by default, but is missing Tempo, and running all of these skills means she can't run mobility skills like Wings of Mercy or Oath 4 to actually get into combat. A simple solution would be to give her the Slaying effect and Tempo and her weapon so that she can swap out Time's Pulse for Oath 4. And she already has the option to run Flash Sparrow instead of her default Atk/Spd Unity for extra good measure.

However, I think they should do something more novel. Like giving Canto (1) and Pathfinder to the first ally that moves on each turn. Or the first ally on each turn that ends its turn within 3 spaces of Marianne so that she can actually take advantage of Pathfinder herself. Firestorm Dance 3 already grants Canto (1) conditionally to the unit at the end of its action, so it shouldn't be a stretch to grant Canto (1) to an ally at the end of its action. (Still give Tempo to her, though.)

[DefyingFates]

14 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Eirika's offenses are already pretty solid, as she already has Null Follow-Up from her weapon and Tempo from her B skill, and the only thing that would really help her out in that department would be damage reduction nullification.

Yeah, this is definitely the thing that started holding her back as time went on - or at least it's what I felt the most while using her. Heck, Young Innes of all people got Deadeye built into his weapon, and I'd love if Eirika got something similar too, if not an effect akin to L!Nanna's. However, given how good she was at release I suspect she'll get the Brave Lyn treatment of a refine so pointless she may as well have not gotten anything at all.

I have much higher hopes for the other units here though. Marth may even get the Edelgard treatment of being a unit that saw good use at launch and still getting a good refine despite that. But outside of using him for marketing purposes whenever they get the chance, IS doesn't really seem to... care about him as a character.

[Xenomata]

14 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

The only things that would really make Marth better are Time's Pulse 4 so that he can activate Shining Emblem instantly when he activates his Vantage effect and damage reduction nullification so that Shining Emblem doesn't get blocked by first-attack damage reduction.

You basically just described the two big benefits given by Special Spiral 4. You want his refine to be Special Spiral 4. Not that I'd be complaining, opens the slot for Null C-Disrupt and make him basically impossible to attack safely without being a bulky Blue unit on Divine Vein: Stone terrain.
Signed, a person who gave Brave Marth Special Spiral 4.

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, DefyingFates said:

However, given how good she was at release I suspect she'll get the Brave Lyn treatment of a refine so pointless she may as well have not gotten anything at all.

Back when Brave Lyn received her refine, it was still better than other refines it was contemporary with. The only difference was that the other CYL 1 units got refines that were much better than other refines at the time, which made Lyn's feel underwhelming in comparison.

While I think CYL 5's refines will be tamer than other recent refines, I don't think they'd go so far as to make Eirika's refine unimpactful.

 

51 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

You basically just described the two big benefits given by Special Spiral 4. You want his refine to be Special Spiral 4. Not that I'd be complaining, opens the slot for Null C-Disrupt and make him basically impossible to attack safely without being a bulky Blue unit on Divine Vein: Stone terrain.
Signed, a person who gave Brave Marth Special Spiral 4.

Special Spiral won't charge Shining Emblem at the start of turn 1, which is why I worded it as Time's Pulse 4 + damage reduction nullification. (Also because it let me split the effects up to point out what they were for separately.)

Also, there's a decent chance they'd give him Null C-Disrupt on his weapon just to let him keep his default Spurn. They do have a habit of encouraging using a unit's base kit if it isn't outdated yet.

[Xenomata]

Ugh... the refine for Brave Marth would come in the month I'm convinced to quit too...

[Xenomata]

Can't believe I'm saying this, but is that seriously all Marth got? His base effect with a combined 10 stat bonuses got Tempo, and for the refine he gets Bonus Doubler that also checks for ally bonuses, and first-strike damage reduction? That's fucking weak, they didn't do anything for his special-trigger game...

So what did the others get? Lessee, Itsuki gets all-round stat boosts and nice if basic effects, Eirika basically got stats and Dull Atk/Spd/Def... Mirabilis can inflict Flash on enemies after she attacks, that's pretty interesting. Hel just gets straight health recovery to counteract Distant Pressure's hp decay without changing her weapon's Res targeting, otherwise it's just a grabbag of effects that speedy units like to get these days... oh what the fucking hell am I looking at. Marianne gets the slaying effect added on TO HER BASE WEAPON, the damage reduction effect is both stronger and on both phases (albeit weaker on EP), and then her refine is just a grabbag of effects that offensive units like on top of Tempo? Gatekeeper's support game is further strengthened AND he becomes even bulkier with both Def-based damage reduction and post-combat HP recovery?

...yeah no, the fact that Marth easily got the most underwhelming refine compared to everyone else, ESPECIALLY the two fodlaners, feels like a nail in the coffin to me ditching this game. Eirika barely made it out better in my opinion, if only because she at least got a Dull effect. Itsuki got a good refine, especially considering what it started as. Hel and Mirabilis got nice upgrades, though I'd rather leave the Flash-infliction game to someone other than a dancer.

[Diovani Bressan]

I wished the my also have made Marth's conditions easier to trigger: allies within 3 spaces instead of 2, and changing the total buffs needed from 10>25>60 to maybe 10>20>50.

Would be cool if he had the enemy Desperation that Winter Marth has.

[Ice Dragon]

Ah, the update was today. I completely forgot until now.

 

Mirabilis: Flower of Ease

Base effect is updated:

• Permanent +3 Res
• -4 Atk/Def/Res in combat to opponents within 3 columns centered on unit that have a Penalty (previously -3)
• If opponent's HP is 75% or higher at start of combat or if opponent has a Penalty:
  • -5 Atk/Def to opponent in combat (new)

Refine effect is:

• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • -5 Atk/Def to opponent in combat
  • Guaranteed follow-up
  • If unit attacked in combat:
    • Inflicts Flash on enemies within 3 columns centered on unit after combat

For reference, the remix for Whimsical Dream adds Dull to its buffs for allies and splashes the debuffs for enemies by 2 spaces. Her new skill is Chill Def/Res 3, replacing her existing Sabotage Def.

Mirabilis gains an additional effective +10 Atk/Def/Res and a guaranteed follow-up and now inflicts Flash on a huge area after combat (equal to her buff/debuff area). Additionally, her area in-combat debuff effect is boosted by an additional point.

The Flash effect feels out of place to me. Realistically, Mirabilis wants to be using her dance skill most of the time, so having her inflict Flash when she attacks doesn't make much sense. Even with the new stat boosts and guaranteed follow-up, she probably still wants to avoid combat as much as possible. Under AI control, Mirabilis is unlikely to be the first unit to attack even when she does get ordered to attack (and if she is, the team's offensive units are clearly too weak), so the Flash effect is unlikely to make much of a difference.

The Flash effect does give her some more versatility when under player control, though it would probably realistically be used primarily in PvE maps where she can actually attack an opponent without instantly dying due to her lack of defensive effects that aren't just stats. Or in Pawns of Loki.

Overall, she gets more from her remix than her refine, but as she's a dancer, I think that's perfectly fine.

Itsuki: Mirage Falchion

Base effect is updated:

• Effective damage against dragons
• Permanent +3 Def
• With a Blow condition:
  • Boost to all stats in combat equal to 4 plus 3 times the number of allies that have ended their turn, maximum +10 (previously Atk/Def only, 3 plus 2 times the number of allies, maximum +7)
• With a Stance condition:
  • Boost to all stats in combat equal to 10 minus 3 times the number of enemies that have ended their turn, minimum +4 (previously Atk/Def only, 7 minus 2 times the number of allies, minimum +3)
• 7 HP recovery after combat

Refine effect is:

• With a Blow-or-Unity condition:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Guaranteed follow-up
  • 30% damage reduction from opponent's first attack

Itsuki gains +5/6/7 Atk/Def and +8/11/14 Spd/Res over his base weapon with the value depending on the Session condition, a guaranteed follow-up, 30% damage reduction against the opponent's first attack, and 7 HP recovery after combat.

While this refine might not look all that impressive, it makes Itsuki one the most physically bulky sword infantry units in the game while still having a very usable Res stat, unlike most other physically bulky sword infantry. Harmonized Altina and Summer Lyon are the only other sword infantry with both Def and Res usable.

With maximum Dragonflowers and only his weapon equipped, Itsuki has a neutral stat spread of 48/65/42/48/44 with just the minimum boosts from his weapon's Session effect. With the maximum Session boost, his stats reach a pretty impressive 48/71/48/54/50. In comparison, Flame Rinkah with Arcane Devourer [Spd] has 46/59/50/50/31, and Skasaher with Arcane Eljudnir [Def] has 50/66/32/55/32.

He's not going to compete with the likes of Brave Robin, but he's certainly a solid free-to-play choice now.

Brave Marth: Genesis Falchion

Base effect is updated:

• Effective damage against dragons
• Slaying effect
• With a Blow-or-Unity condition:
  • +5 to all stats in combat
  • If the sum of stat bonuses on the 3 allies with the highest total stat bonuses is 10 or higher:
    • Null Follow-Up effect
    • Offensive Tempo effect (new)
  • If the sum of stat bonuses on the 3 allies with the highest total stat bonuses is 25 or higher:
    • +5 Atk in combat
    • 7 HP recovery per attack made by unit (previously 5)
  • If the sum of stat bonuses on the 3 allies with the highest total stat bonuses is 60 or higher:
    • Vantage effect

Refine effect is:

• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +5 to all stats in combat
  • Additional boost to all stats in combat equal to the highest stat bonus to that stat on unit or allies within 2 spaces
  • 40% damage reduction on opponent's non-follow-up attacks

Marth gains an additional +5 to all stats, the offensive Tempo effect, Bonus Doubler that uses allies' stat bonuses if they are higher than his own, and 40% damage reduction on the opponent's non-follow-up attacks. His HP recovery effect per attack was also boosted from 5 HP to 7 HP.

No Time's Pulse effect is a bit of a bummer because it means he has to run either Time's Pulse 4 or Special Spiral 4 to guarantee that Shining Emblem will land on his first counterattack. No percentage damage reduction nullification also means that he has to run either Special Spiral 4 or Phys. Null Follow to hit through an opponent's first-hit percentage damage reduction, which is getting more and more absurd with some units getting 80% from their weapon alone. However, he did get the Tempo effect, which guarantees that Shining Emblem will also activate on his follow-up on enemy phase if he survives that long.

In exchange, he does get an enormous +11 to all stats on top of his existing +10/5/5/5 with the maximum reasonable boost from his Bonus Doubler/Borrower effect, and 40% damage reduction on the opponent's non-follow-up attacks is quite good until he gets hit with Wind Claude's Lethality. At the very least, it means he can viably give up a Dodge skill to instead run Special Spiral 4 to get the skill effects he really wanted and kill Claude before Claude kills him. And honestly, I think this is actually what they're going for.

Brave Eirika: Binding Reginleif

Base effect is updated:

• Effective damage against armor and cavalry
• Slaying effect
• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +5 to all stats in combat
  • 40% damage reduction on opponent's first attack (previously 30%)
  • Offensive Null Follow-Up effect (previously with an additional Blow condition)

Refine effect is:

• With a Blow-or-Unity condition:
  • +5 to all stats in combat
  • -5 Atk/Spd/Def to opponent in combat
  • Reduction to opponent's Atk/Spd/Def in combat equal to the number of Bonuses on opponent, excluding stat bonuses, maximum -4
  • Nullifies opponent's positive stat bonuses to Atk/Spd/Def in combat
  • Defensive Null Follow-Up effect

Eirika gets an additional effective +10 to all stats, an additional +1 to all stats for each non-stat Bonus on the opponent, and Dull Atk/Spd/Def. Additionally, her first-attack damage reduction was improved from 30% to 40%, and her player-phase offensive Null Follow-Up was upgraded to full Null Follow-Up on both phases.

I was not absolutely not expecting this. Not only is the additional +10~20 to all stats a lot more than she could have ever wanted (+5 would have been enough to bump her stats back up to the top of lance cavalry), but she now gets offensive Null Follow-Up on both phases instead of just player phase and also gets defensive Null Follow-Up. While she definitely would have liked to have gotten her damage reduction extended to Brave attacks, the extra Def/Res is a decent substitute, and defensive Null Follow-Up fixes her issue with slow, bulky units that kill her with their guaranteed follow-up if they can tank her attacks.

Not what I wanted, but you're not going to see me complain.

Hel: Hel's Reaper

Base effect is updated:

• Nullifies effective damage against fliers
• Slaying effect
• If opponent is not a tome or staff unit:
  • Targets Res
  • If HP is 2 or higher when taking fatal damage:
    • Miracle effect, 1 time per combat, does not stack
• With a Stance condition or if opponent's HP is 50% or higher:
  • +4 to all stats in combat (new)
  • 7 HP recovery after combat (new)

Refine effect is:

• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat or if opponent has a Penalty:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Additional damage equal to 20% of Spd, including AoE Specials
  • 40% damage reduction on opponent's first attack

For reference, the remix for Inevitable Death grants a teleportation-to-enemy effect with strings attached and Null Follow-Up if Hel is faster. Her new skill is Distant Pressure (Distant Counter + Spd Push), which is an upgrade to her existing Distant Counter.

Hel gets +8 to all stats (she got no stats previously), additional damage based on Spd, 40% damage reduction on the opponent's first attack, and 7 HP recovery after combat.

As expected, Hel gets Mystic Boost built into her weapon now to make her more obnoxious to kill even without running Mystic Boost in a different skill slot. However, she probably still wants to run the Mystic Boost Sacred Seal because her weapon is not enough regeneration by itself to bring her back above 25% HP to more reliably activate the effects on her refine.

Otherwise, nothing here is much of a surprise. Hel continues to do Hel things, but more reliably than before.

Gatekeeper: Charging Horn

Base effect is updated:

• Permanent +3 Def
• Grants +5 Atk/Spd in combat to allies within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit
• If there is no breakable terrain within 2 spaces:
  • If there is 1 or more ally within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit:
    • Reduces Atk/Res on opponent in combat by 3 times the number of allies within 3 columns or 3 rows centered on unit, maximum -9 (previously 2 times the number of allies, maximum -6)
  • If there are 2 or more allies within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit:
    • Guard effect (new)
  • If there are 3 or more allies within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit:
    • Follow-up prevention
• If there is breakable terrain within 2 spaces:
  • -9 Atk/Res to opponent in combat (previously -6)
  • Guard effect (new)
  • Follow-up prevention

Refine effect is:

• Grants the following effects to allies within 3 columns and 3 rows centered on unit:
  • +5 Def/Res in combat
  • 7 HP recovery after combat
• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • -6 Atk/Res to opponent in combat
  • Reduces damage taken by 20% of Def, excluding AoE Specials
  • 7 HP recovery after combat

Gatekeeper gets an additional +6~9 Atk/Def/Res depending on the number of allies in range, the Guard effect, flat damage reduction based on his Def, and 7 HP recovery after combat. His support effect now boosts all stats instead of just Atk/Spd and also grants 7 HP recovery after combat to allies in range.

Gatekeeper now has the same flat damage reduction and Guard effect as Duo Askr, but doesn't get Askr's damage reduction against AoE Specials. In exchange, he gets a more stats, though some of it goes to matching Askr's Resonance buffs, and his HP regeneration is on his weapon instead of his A skill, which means he's free to run Close Counter instead of Finish if he wants to.

He still has no guaranteed follow-up, though, which limits him to be more of a defensive and supportive unit instead. I'm actually a bit surprised, given how liberally they give out guaranteed follow-ups nowadays. If you want him to have a guaranteed follow-up, he'll either have to give up his Sacred Seal slot for Quick Riposte, which costs him his stat advantage over Askr, or give up Detailed Report, which is probably what you'll actually want to do.

I'm still not convinced he has the stats and skill effects to viably be a Close Counter tank, though.

Brave Marianne: Phantasm Tome

Current effect is:

• Slaying effect (new)
• Permanent +3 Spd
• With a Blow condition (new) or if opponent's HP is 50% or higher at start of combat:
  • -6 Spd/Res to opponent in combat
  • Nullifies opponent's positive stat bonuses to Spd/Res in combat
  • With a Blow condition:
    • 80% damage reduction on opponent's first attack (previously 70%)
  • With a Stance condition:
    • 30% damage reduction on opponent's first attack (new)

Refine effect is:

• If HP is 25% or higher at start of combat:
  • +5 to all stats in combat
  • Additional damage equal to 20% of Spd, including AoE Specials
  • Nullifies half of opponent's non-Special percentage damage reduction
  • Offensive Tempo effect

Marianne gets +5 to all stats, additional damage based on Spd, the Slaying effect, offensive Tempo effect, and half nullification of percentage damage reduction. Additionally, the effects on her base weapon now have the Blow condition as a much easier alternate activation condition, and her first-attack damage reduction was upgraded from 70% on player phase only to 80% on player phase and 30% on enemy phase.

As predicted, she did indeed get both the Slaying effect and the offensive Tempo effect, which lowers Requiem Dance's cooldown to 2. If she keeps her default Time's Pulse, she's now guaranteed to activate Requiem Dance on the first round of combat during each player phase, but she can also choose to swap it out for Atk/Spd Oath 4 at the cost of requiring that the opponent doesn't die to her first attack.

The additional damage based on her Spd at the very least makes up for the fact that she doesn't have an offensive Special, and nullifying half of the opponent's percentage damage reduction also helps in that regard. She can also upgrade her default Null Follow-Up into Mag. Null Follow-Up to nullify three quarters of the opponent's percentage damage reduction.

 

Overall thoughts

Eirika looks insane. Hel and Marianne look pretty solid. Itsuki is also solid for a free-to-play unit.

Gatekeeper is fine. He's a more defensive version of Duo Askr, but doesn't have resistance to AoE Specials. His lack of a guaranteed follow-up is a bit of a bummer because it means he has to give up Detailed Report if he wants to be less passive, but at the same time, he's probably fine being passive.

Marth's refine looks like they specifically want you to swap out his B slot for Special Spiral 4 since they gave him damage reduction on his weapon to make up for losing Dodge in the B slot. If you look at his refine this way, it's actually pretty solid. Dodge is, after all, less necessary when you can one-hit kill the opponent with a Special-Spiral-4-boosted Vantage Shining Emblem.

Mirabilis is less likely to die, more likely to kill things if she has to fight, and has more support effects along with a new, albeit weird, support option. Fine by me.

 

7 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Can't believe I'm saying this, but is that seriously all Marth got? His base effect with a combined 10 stat bonuses got Tempo, and for the refine he gets Bonus Doubler that also checks for ally bonuses, and first-strike damage reduction? That's fucking weak, they didn't do anything for his special-trigger game...

6 hours ago, Diovani Bressan said:

Would be cool if he had the enemy Desperation that Winter Marth has.

I'm pretty sure the refine is telling players to swap his B skill to Special Spiral 4. He doesn't need Dodge in his B slot if he's just killing things in one hit with Special Spiral 4 + Vantage + Shining Emblem and a giant pile of stats.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Xenomata]

30 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I'm pretty sure the refine is telling players to swap his B skill to Special Spiral 4. He doesn't need Dodge in his B slot if he's just killing things in one hit with Special Spiral 4 + Vantage + Shining Emblem and a giant pile of stats.

I already did that though. All his refine truly did was punch his stats up, and the additional effects he got are useless to him when he's OHKOing with "A single strike". Tempo doesn't have an effect on after-combat special charges, and damage reduction is only meaningful if he didn't kill the enemy in one hit, which is rare. Sure an extra +11 stats is nice, but 5 of those stats are standard refine goodie, so all he truly got was Bonus Doubler.

So... yeah, still not very happy about that.

[Ice Dragon]

1 minute ago, Xenomata said:

I already did that though. All his refine truly did was punch his stats up, and the additional effects he got are useless to him when he's OHKOing with "A single strike". Tempo doesn't have an effect on after-combat special charges, and damage reduction is only meaningful if he didn't kill the enemy in one hit, which is rare. Sure an extra +11 stats is nice, but 5 of those stats are standard refine goodie, so all he truly got was Bonus Doubler.

So... yeah, still not very happy about that.

Damage reduction and Tempo help him charge up Shining Emblem the first time if he isn't running Time's Pulse and doesn't have Pulse support. And if the opponent somehow survives, Tempo guarantees that Shining Emblem will be up for his follow-up and damage reduction makes it more likely he'll survive until his follow-up. Damage reduction also provides a bit of a counter measure against Hardy Bearing.

One-hit-kill Vantage builds don't need a lot of skill effects in order to counter everything, and if Marth is running Special Spiral 4, the only things he's missing to be able to counter everything (other than Hardy Bearing and Parity) are Null C-Disrupt (to counter Sweep) and pre-attack Pulse (to counter Scowl). That's literally it.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Null C-Disrupt is added as a Sacred Seal sometime in the near future since we already have the much more generally useful Null Follow-Up.

[Diovani Bressan]

A small update on Mirabilis's refinement. The description of her refined Flower of Ease skill is current incorrect.

Incorrect Description:

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, inflicts Atk/Def-5 on foe and unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack during combat, and also, after combat, if unit attacked, inflicts status on foes within 3 columns centered on unit preventing counterattacks through their next actions.

Correct Description:

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, inflicts Atk/Def-5 on foe and unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack during combat, and also, after combat, if unit attacked, inflicts status on foes within 3 columns centered on target preventing counterattacks through their next actions.

So the ranged of the flash status effect is based on foe's centered columns, not Mirabilis's.

This is not an official notification, but through testing people noticed the typo. It may be fixed in a future update, I think.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Diovani Bressan

[Xenomata]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

Damage reduction and Tempo help him charge up Shining Emblem the first time if he isn't running Time's Pulse and doesn't have Pulse support.

That's actually very easy to cover IMO. Both Fae and Astram have naturally higher HP than Brave Marth, so Infantry Pulse immediately charges Shining Emblem, plus with their weapons they give all 60 of the bonus stat total needed for Marth's Vantage effect. They're both easy to obtain at that (4* pool and GHB/grail shop) and Infantry Pulse is in the grail shop via Marisa.
Building Marth's necessary support is pretty easy, considering the relative rarity of SS4 (even now that Citrinne is just another pity breaker in the regular 5* pool) and whatever C slot Marth asks for. I personally went for Oath, though the new Pledge could also be a good option.

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

And if the opponent somehow survives, Tempo guarantees that Shining Emblem will be up for his follow-up and damage reduction makes it more likely he'll survive until his follow-up. Damage reduction also provides a bit of a counter measure against Hardy Bearing.

One-hit-kill Vantage builds don't need a lot of skill effects in order to counter everything, and if Marth is running Special Spiral 4, the only things he's missing to be able to counter everything (other than Hardy Bearing and Parity) are Null C-Disrupt (to counter Sweep) and pre-attack Pulse (to counter Scowl). That's literally it.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Null C-Disrupt is added as a Sacred Seal sometime in the near future since we already have the much more generally useful Null Follow-Up.

Speaking from experience in Aether Raids light season, maybe it's because my Marth almost always has support from Muspell (plus an ally support S rank with him), but there's really not a whole lot that can survive "a single strike" from him. The bulkiest of Blue enemies maybe, but that's not all that common in favor of just trying to pull off cheap wins via Cav lines, teleport games, or just throwing the most blatantly powerful units your way... hell, even units I think I should be scared of are down in "a single strike". Given how much more simple Arena fights tend to go, I'm not that concerned there either.

Really, I think there's better ways of encouraging the "single strike" build than moving his B passives main effect to take up the majority of his refine. As it is, none of Marth's counters have been dealt with in any meaningful way.

[Ice Dragon]

20 minutes ago, Diovani Bressan said:

This is not an official notification, but through testing people noticed the typo. It may be fixed in a future update, I think.

I wonder if they'll fix it by changing the effect or changing the description.

It seems to me that the effect is probably the side that's incorrect because it would make more sense for the Flash target area to match her passive in-combat debuff target area, which depends on the opponent having a Penalty.

[Diovani Bressan]

24 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I wonder if they'll fix it by changing the effect or changing the description.

It seems to me that the effect is probably the side that's incorrect because it would make more sense for the Flash target area to match her passive in-combat debuff target area, which depends on the opponent having a Penalty.

That's my question as well.

It feels like it should be based on her position, but it was programmed to inflict flash based on foe's position because that's how every after combat debuff skills works like the Smoke skills.

[Ice Dragon]

On 9/6/2023 at 7:08 AM, Diovani Bressan said:

That's my question as well.

It feels like it should be based on her position, but it was programmed to inflict flash based on foe's position because that's how every after combat debuff skills works like the Smoke skills.

So there's an in-game announcement that says that the effect is staying and the description will be changed.

Which makes zero sense to me, but whatever floats their boat, I guess.

[Diovani Bressan]

4 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Which makes zero sense to me, but whatever floats their boat, I guess.

Makes sense in the way others skills that inflict penalties on target and foes within X spaces after combat works, like daggers, smokes and Atrocity.

But for the way Mirabilis is, yeah... would be better if was based on her columns and not target's.

[Ice Dragon]

New refines have been announced for Heath, Chad, Lakche, Tsubasa, and Spring Fir.

 

The usual translation notes for the new weapons:

Hyperion Lance is "傭兵竜騎士の槍" (yōhei ryūkishi no yari), "Mercenary Dragon Knight's Lance".

Wildcat Dagger is "山猫の暗器" (yamaneko no anki), "Wildcat Dagger". As usual, the dagger weapon type is "暗器" (anki), which literally translates as "hidden weapon".

 

And the usual hopes and predictions:

 

Heath: Hyperion Lance

Currently has Ridersbane.

Heath has a very similar stat spread to Cormag and Areone, but with some points taken out of other stats to go into Res.

Since he's getting a brand new weapon, there's a lot that they can do with it. Keeping the effective damage from Ridersbane would at least give him a slight niche compared to other dragon knights. Otherwise, I expect it to be somewhat similar to the others with a guaranteed follow-up and stat effects based on Def. He has Atk/Def Push and Escape Route on his base kit, but I don't think they'll be considered for his refine.

As mentioned above, Heath has less HP, Atk, and Def than the other dragon knights in exchange for more Spd and Res, but his Spd only matches Areone's and his Res only matches Galle's for the highest values among the slow dragon knights. I expect he'll get something similar to Trabant's weapon that boosts both offenses and defenses, but because Trabant already has better base stats in both (other than Res), Heath might get a gimmick to stand out.

Chad: Wildcat Dagger

Currently has Rogue Dagger.

Chad's stat spread is very unimpressive, giving up a lot of Atk to tie Gangrel for the highest HP among infantry daggers, which is unfortunate because Chad has fewer points of stats than Gangrel to begin with. Legault and even Kaze outclass him offensively, not to mention more recent dagger units like Colm, Cath, and Patty.

I don't see his new weapon keeping Rogue Dagger's effect because it doesn't really help him at all. However, due to his unimpressive stats, I think they could still go for a support weapon, especially with his base kit of Escape Route and Spd Smoke. Something like high damage reduction on player phase or the Sweep effect, a Canto effect, and buff and debuff effects would probably work without needing to stack more than the usual amount of stats from a refine on him.

Lakche: Larcei's Edge

Current effect is:

• Slaying effect
• If unit's Spd is higher than opponent's Spd at start of combat or if opponent's HP is 100% at start of combat:
  • +4 to all stats in combat
  • Nullifies opponent's stat bonuses

Lakche is a pretty standard fast infantry sword, and I can't see them doing anything other than making her do standard fast infantry sword things. She'll almost certainly get the condition on her base effect loosened up to be more easily usable and get some combination of Null Follow-Up, Dodge, and Tempo, given she has neither Null Follow-Up nor Tempo on her base kit.

Tsubasa: Mirage Feather

Current effect is:

• Effective damage against armor and cavalry
• Permanent +3 Spd
• With a Blow condition and if at least 1 ally has ended their turn:
  • +6 Atk/Spd in combat
  • Desperation effect

While Tsubasa's base weapon and base kit are clearly designed to be player-phase only, they probably won't maintain that with her refine now that everyone and their dog has conditions that work on both phases. I'm expecting a new stat boost with an easy condition and the effects with the Session-like condition on the base weapon to be extended to the first round of combat on enemy phase.

Given that she has the Desperation effect with no access to the Null Follow-Up effect outside of Flow skills, it would be nice to get Null Follow-Up. Furthermore, she has the Desperation effect without the Slaying effect, which makes it difficult to activate a Special on the first round of combat, so she'll probably get some form of Special acceleration.

Tsubasa is probably more likely to reference Caeda than any of the other TMS characters are to reference their Mirage characters, and I think they could probably give her a Vantage effect if they do end up making her work on both phases. A stretch possibility would be to give her effective damage against swords, lances, axes, and bows.

Spring Fir: Bun-Bun Baton

Current effect is:

• Effective damage against armor
• Slaying effect
• Null Follow-Up effect

Fir was a pretty decent armor counter at release due to being able to run Windsweep or Watersweep with her weapon's Null Follow-Up to nullify the drawback. Nowadays, this kit is obviously not enough with the sheer number of new effects armors have at their disposal. However, she does still tie Hel for the highest base Spd among axe fliers.

Ideally, she gets at least Tempo and percentage damage reduction nullification to continue to function as a counter against armors. Nullifying defensive Specials would also help a lot for countering Hardy Fighter. Running a Sweep skill in her B slot also means that she can't run Canto, so it would be nice to get Canto on her weapon.

With a Sweep build, she can also function as a counter against Vantage units; however, the most troublesome Vantage unit to deal with right now is Fallen Byleth, who has a gigantic effective Spd stat due to Dodge 4 giving her a Phantom Spd effect. It would be nice if Fir could get +7~10 Phantom Spd in order to help Sweep land against Byleth and other units that have Phantom Spd from Dodge 4 or their weapon.

And while she theoretically should be able to avoid taking damage with a Sweep build, she's still vulnerable on enemy phase and against opponents with Null C-Disrupt, so percentage damage reduction on the opponent's first attack would still be nice to have. And there's a pretty decent chance she'll get it anyways so that players aren't forced to run her with Sweep. 

Edited September 26, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Fire Emblem Fan]

I just want Heath's refine to be good. I don't expect much, just anything that'll be good and workable for him.

[Diovani Bressan]

The only hero here I may refine is Tsubasa. Outside that, it's a skip month.

[GuiltyLove]