Personal vs. Inheritable Weapons

[Cute Chao]

Yeah, I didn't mind personals at the start, but when it feels like every unit and their mother gets a person, along with an increase in personal skills (although this seems to have died down again), it starts to make SI feel a bit pointless at times. Inheritable weapons often seem more interesting to me, and there are so many units now that didn't feel like they really deserved a personal weapon.

I'm glad we've got a new set of tomes. The snake tomes look adorable :D I want to get one at some point just for the animation ^.^ I really, really hope they don't lock these to 5*. At least two of the owl tomes dropped (and they're also adorable, but not as much as the snake ones).

[DraceEmpressa]

They should add more good inheritable weapons and skills, not just add personal skills. If they are fodders, it increases their pulling value as people not only use them but also for fodders, so more money for them. For example, Black Luna is okay being a personal skill to BK/Zelgius since thee enemy def/resistance cutting specials itself already exists. But Regnal Astra...While the star line is mostly damage-increasing based on damage itself , suddenly Regnal Astra is speed-based when  many units in this game , such as Caeda, Lonqu, Anna, Est, Felicia etc really needs to fix their low atk while making use of their high speed.  Felicia and Caeda god their own PRF weapons now but still, their ATK is still so pathetically low. Back when Regnal Astra was datamined people was hype for speed-based special to fix their low atk high spd faves and then boom, it's personal skill. 

I know where is this coming from, Astra was originally the signature skill of the Od bloodline, and she was its most known user,and Ayra herself is quite a fan-favorite,  but still, the game is devoid of speed-based specials and it would be really nice for there be inheritable speed-based special. 

[Vince777]

I enjoy personal skills as they make of units something other than just statlines. I would dislike if every single unit could access the exact same pool of skills. In fact, I wish all units had at least one personal skill in the same manner Fates did. Better even if this one skill couldn't be replaced. 

For this reason, I also do enjoy personal weapons for as long as they make sense and aren't just improvised from nothing in their source material.

 

[XRay]

20 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

I think they really ought to go back and fill out the regular weapon pool. Using golden rocks shouldn't be the norm for obtaining many of the weapons in the game. I think it would make the world game a better place if on every non-limited banner, at least one of the characters is added with a weapon currently with low availability and a skill set that makes them an obvious 4-star drop.

Slaying weapons other than the relatively lackluster Slaying Bow+ are still locked to 5-star-exclusive characters. "Slaying Dagger+" is currently only available as a seasonal weapon in Kagami Mochi+.

Armorsmasher+, Slaying Spear+, Slaying Hammer+, Keen Raudhrwolf+, and Keen Blarwolf+ are not yet available in the standard summoning pool without refining. Keen Blarwolf+ isn't even available outside of refining Blarwolf+, which is a limited weapon. Keen Gronnwolf+ is only available from a 5-star-exclusive character.

Zanbato+ is still only available from a 5-star-exclusive character. Poleax+ is not yet available, but is expected to be available from a limited character.

Wo Dao+ is the only inheritable weapon in the game that has +10 Special skill damage as its base effect. There are no weapons with the same effect on other weapon types.

Guard Bow+ is only available through refining. Firesweep Axe+ still doesn't exist.

Firesweep Bow+ is still only available from a 5-star-exclusive character, though I really don't mind this one that much considering how absurdly powerful the weapon is.

Berkut's Lance is an amazing weapon, but is only available from a limited character, which can deter players from letting other characters inherit it. It would be nice if there were weekly missions to clear the daily Grand Hero Battles for a 1-star or 2-star copy of the character.

I mostly agree with this.

For named Weapons and seasonal Weapons, I prefer to have them be as widely available as possible, so I like having them be outright purchasable with Feathers, Orbs, or whatever rather than getting a few more limited amounts of Berkuts.

In my opinion, I think the more powerful a Weapon or character is, the more of a reason that it should be available. The sooner we can educate newer players about builds, tactics, and the meta and let them try it out for themselves, the better it is for the game and community.

13 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Let any character have any weapon, I say. If I want to give a Falchion to Serra, then let me give a Falchion to Serra!

Give Serra a horse and wings too and put some armor on her, and if she is under attack, she automatically switches Falchion to Expiration.

12 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Hopefully the other weapons are brought up to its level in time, or if nothing else, at least buff Silver.

10 hours ago, Vaximillian said:

Second FE game in a row that hates silvers! Is this start of a trend? Hopefully, it won’t be one.

+1 Mt is nothing compared to the killer effect, and +2 Mt is nothing compared to the wo dao effect. Silvers are completely pathetic.

I third this. Silver needs a massive Mt boost and/or double its Refinement stat improvements.

2 hours ago, Vince777 said:

I enjoy personal skills as they make of units something other than just statlines. I would dislike if every single unit could access the exact same pool of skills. In fact, I wish all units had at least one personal skill in the same manner Fates did. Better even if this one skill couldn't be replaced. 

For this reason, I also do enjoy personal weapons for as long as they make sense and aren't just improvised from nothing in their source material.

Maybe they can create a P slot for personal skills. Each character can have one or a small selection of P skills, and everyone's selection is different. Old units that do not have the BST boost should definitely have at least one or two extra skills to choose from compared to newer units, so they can offset their lower stats with more customization and unpredictability.

It would be great if Hector can have Vengeful Fighter as his personal skill, so he can run Wary Fighter and Quick Riposte Sacred Seal so Hector will always double and the enemy can never double unless they got Axebreaker.

[Vince777]

I'd totally be in for a personal skill slot.

Give every single unit something unique. :)

[Reiska]

Personal weapons are, IMO, a necessary evil to ensure that every unit maintains a unique niche.  Otherwise, you will inevitably have characters who are rendered completely useless.  It's already happening; Vanguard Legend Ike obsoletes Young Mercenary Ike for all practical intents and purposes, Zelgius obsoletes Black Knight for all practical intents and purposes, and Empty Vessel Takumi completely obsoletes Clarisse in every way.

(To break those down: VL Ike compared to YM Ike has -1 HP, +1 Atk, -1 Spd, +3 Def, +3 Res, with the same uninheritable weapon and a better and uninheritable special.  Zelgius compared to BK has -2 HP, +2 Atk, -1 Spd, +3 Def, +3 Res, and an uninheritable and very strong B slot passive, with the same uninheritable weapon and special as BK.  EV Takumi matches Clarisse exactly in every stat except Res, where he beats her by 4, and has a unique weapon while she doesn't.  Clarisse thus has no niche whatsoever, as even if you want to use her bow, you can give it to Takumi and he'll do the job better.)

Edited March 10, 2018 by Reiska
typo

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, Reiska said:

Personal weapons are, IMO, a necessary evil to ensure that every unit maintains a unique niche.  Otherwise, you will inevitably have characters who are rendered completely useless.  It's already happening; Vanguard Legend Ike obsoletes Young Mercenary Ike for all practical intents and purposes, Zelgius obsoletes Black Knight for all practical intents and purposes, and Empty Vessel Takumi completely obsoletes Clarisse in every way.

(To break those down: VL Ike compared to YM Ike has -1 HP, +1 Atk, -1 Spd, +3 Def, +3 Res, with the same uninheritable weapon and a better and uninheritable special.  Zelgius compared to BK has -2 HP, +2 Atk, -1 Spd, +3 Def, +3 Res, and an uninheritable and very strong B slot passive, with the same uninheritable weapon and special as BK.  EV Takumi matches Clarisse exactly in every stat except Res, where he beats her by 4, and has a unique weapon while she doesn't.  Clarisse thus has no niche whatsoever, as even if you want to use her bow, you can give it to Takumi and he'll do the job better.)

This has been the case ever since the implementation of Skill Inheritance. I present Exhibit A:

Alfonse 43 35 25 32 22
Laslow  44 35 26 30 22
Seliph  47 34 24 30 22
Chrom   47 37 25 31 17

Alfonse is at the bottom of the heap with no access to non-neutral natures, no access to merges, and a unique weapon with a non-functional effect.

Laslow has access to non-neutral natures and no unique weapon.

Seliph has access to non-neutral natures and Tyrfing and Divine Tyrfing. Tyrfing was a unique weapon with a non-functional effect, but Divine Tyrfing now makes him superior to Laslow in pretty much every way.

Chrom has access to non-neutral natures, a lightly more optimized stat line with his Res sacrificed for more Atk, and the now-refinable Falchion as his unique weapon.

Prior to the Weapon Refinery, Chrom had the clear lead both with player-phase builds with Brave Sword+ and with enemy-phase builds with Slaying Edge+ or Wo Dao+. With Seliph's and Chrom's unique weapons receiving a boost from the Weapon Refinery, both of them have additional options available to them, leaving Alfonse and Laslow still in the dust.