Aether Raids General Thread

[Usana]

1 hour ago, Nanima said:

This was the second day in a row where I didn't win any battles. It's such a humiliating and joyless experience that I would probably quit it here, if it wasn't the only way to +10 some of my favs.

First round today was especially infuriating, since I only lost due to a misclick. One Galeforce!Tibarn and Leanne later and I was toast.

All I'll say of the second battle was that it featured two Azuras and a Legendary!Lucina.

Hope those guys enjoy watching me fail. I'll probably drop to Tier 18 again this week. Maybe fights there will be actually winable.

Yeesh that Azura Lucina match sounds painful.

Sorry to hear you are getting beat around enough to drop. It is bad enough feeling like you will never climb from 19 to 20(I basically need to win every defense match from here on out to have a chance. . . not sure if I should even bother playing the rest of the week at this point). I don't want to experience dropping out of 19. 

That said the matches you describe sound rougher than what I am facing, so either my luck is good or yours is bad. Then again my opponents have been doing an excellent job of making at least one of their pots unreachable unless I am will to sacrifice units. That can cost one a lot of points too.

[Nanima]

32 minutes ago, Usana said:

Yeesh that Azura Lucina match sounds painful.

Sorry to hear you are getting beat around enough to drop. It is bad enough feeling like you will never climb from 19 to 20(I basically need to win every defense match from here on out to have a chance. . . not sure if I should even bother playing the rest of the week at this point). I don't want to experience dropping out of 19. 

That said the matches you describe sound rougher than what I am facing, so either my luck is good or yours is bad. Then again my opponents have been doing an excellent job of making at least one of their pots unreachable unless I am will to sacrifice units. That can cost one a lot of points too.

My matches are usually 80% Dancer/Galeforce/Lucina-Cancer these days. The remaining 20 are split between 10% manageable ones, which I can still lose due to brainfarts and theme teams. The latter are a true treasure to me, but they seem to be growing rarer.

[Rezzy]

2 hours ago, Johann said:

Can miss up to 4 pots before you miss out on a run (assuming maxed out resources), but yeah if you keep playing that well, you're very likely going to get in the top 1k. No doubt you'll make top 3k at least.

I think I've missed 3 so far.  Sometimes, it's a choice between winning or risking the match by try to go after the pots.

[Johann]

3 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

I think I've missed 3 so far.  Sometimes, it's a choice between winning or risking the match by try to go after the pots.

I hear that, I almost lost a run last week due to setups where the only safe approach meant I'd miss the pots. The beauty of T21 though is that even if you make a lot of mistakes, you'll still get a good reward, and barring a week of total disasters, you'll get like 7 grails fewer than you might've otherwise

[Lewyn]

Its great that every stupid offense team that beats my defense team has Legendary Azura and every dumb defense team I go against has Legendary Azura.  What was she given out for free like Alfonse and Sharena?  2 copies?  Mine must have gotten lost in the mail.  Special spiral Ophelia is everywhere too, I forgot was she in the 3-4 rarity pool, Lewyn too?  Teams are mostly Veronica, Legendary Azurax2, Aversa, Special Spiral Ophelia and then the last spot varies.  Sometimes Duma, sometimes Surtr, sometimes Eir or Lilina or someone else.  This originally 'fun' mode, is quickly becoming just the opposite.  No I don't have Loki, no I don't have Nailah or Null disrupt before anyone asks.  

 

[Johann]

19 minutes ago, Lewyn said:

Its great that every stupid offense team that beats my defense team has Legendary Azura and every dumb defense team I go against has Legendary Azura.  What was she given out for free like Alfonse and Sharena?  2 copies?  Mine must have gotten lost in the mail.  Special spiral Ophelia is everywhere too, I forgot was she in the 3-4 rarity pool, Lewyn too?  Teams are mostly Veronica, Legendary Azurax2, Aversa, Special Spiral Ophelia and then the last spot varies.  Sometimes Duma, sometimes Surtr, sometimes Eir or Lilina or someone else.  This originally 'fun' mode, is quickly becoming just the opposite.  No I don't have Loki, no I don't have Nailah or Null disrupt before anyone asks. 

What's your def map like? I could help look at ways to improve it. Also what are your offense teams like?

[Strullemia]

I chose to upgrade the amount of units I could put in my defense team and I'm damn glad I did!

Last week I had 8 or 9 defense fights and I failed every single one of them. As of today after putting in only one more unit from the 12  defense fights I had only 4 ended in failure and only one of those was a fight where the other guy defeated all my units with me not being able to kill a single one of his.

Still, I'm only in Tier 14 so it's only going to get more difficult from here.

[Diovani Bressan]

5 minutes ago, Hekselka said:

Still, I'm only in Tier 14 so it's only going to get more difficult from here.

Good luck. For me, when I started to face defensive teams with 6 units was the moment that become difficult and annoying.

I always try to save at least 50 aether in case I get a defensive failure with lift reduction, so I can have a rematch and try to fix the aether lost.

[Chrom-ulent]

My latest defenses:

F2P dragons team, A!Tiki was the only survivor. Four foes defeated means zero loss, right? I'm fine with this, but wonder whether he had any ladder uses left.

Double Dancer Galeforce Tibarn used Hit And Run and fell into the gravity trap, wasting dancer turns. Duma was MVP, picking off his Reyson, Ike, and finally Tibarn.

I'm having fun again with this because I'm winning. I think I have a shot of making T20 now that I have my level 3 offense fort and am no longer getting blocked out of lift as easily.

[Diovani Bressan]

Improving the Defensive Fortress to Lv 4 was a good thing that I did this season. I manage to get a defensive victory without losing anyone, thanks to the stats boost.
Now I need to get enough Heavenly Dews to improve the Offensive Fortress to Lv 4, or maybe a Defensive Fortress Lv 5... who knows...

Edited March 2, 2019 by Diovani Bressan

[Johann]

13 hours ago, Diovani Bressan said:

Improving the Defensive Fortress to Lv 4 was a good thing that I did this season. I manage to get a defensive victory without losing anyone, thanks to the stats boost.
Now I need to get enough Heavenly Dews to improve the Offensive Fortress to Lv 4, or maybe a Defensive Fortress Lv 5... who knows...

If I could, I'd abandon my Def Fortress completely and devote all dew to Offense. I'd rather have an easier time in the part that I play while making it a little easier for everyone else, rather than making it suck more for both of us.

[Lewyn]

On 3/1/2019 at 12:39 AM, Johann said:

What's your def map like? I could help look at ways to improve it. Also what are your offense teams like?

My def map, I got Duma from Find and Vote.  So I put him, quickly anima blessed my Y Tiki+3, Nowi+1, Fae+1, Ninian+1 and Aversa+5.  Honestly they get destroyed cause Eir can kill dragons easily, but I was in a rush and didn't want to bless units that I would need for other modes.  -60 is a lot better than -80, and if I get another Duma in the future then -40 will be pretty sweet won't have to worry about defense at all.  

I have lots of offense teams change every week, during light blessing weeks Eir, Eir+1, LA Hector, Zelgius, Azura (regular).  Substitutes for Hector and Zelgius are Surtr or Sanaki (axebreaker).  Without light blessing week, I'll use horses like Hrid, Camus, Veronica, Gunnthra.  Aversa will often take a slot.   Or I'll use fliers.  

[Rezzy]

I wish we could "save" Defense teams, or have a list like all our other team compositions.  I switch between pretty much the same two teams with a few swaps every other week between Dark and Anime week.

[Nanima]

I am at 8260 lift. One full loss will cost me the entire tier. It's even more frustrating since the last match was something I definitely could have won. No dancers, just a bunch of armours with no Armour March in sight. But I was too careful and took too long. (Time limit is my number two killer after Dancer shenanigans) Worst part was when Tibarn triggered a Gravity Trap right at the end and I thought I could cancel it out with Grey Waves only for that not to happen. Couldn't even break a pot to at least get one more match. So much for the skill being "broken as hell" if it  can't break through something as pathetic as that.

[Ice Dragon]

Currently rank 704 at 11,940 Lift and expecting to drop to maybe 1,500-2,000 before the end of the season.

It looks like I can still be lazy and sack a unit here or there if it means taking a win.

[Johann]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

Currently rank 704 at 11,940 Lift and expecting to drop to maybe 1,500-2,000 before the end of the season.

It looks like I can still be lazy and sack a unit here or there if it means taking a win.

I look at it as taking the choice of accepting a minor loss of rewards (like what, 6 grails?) to spare yourself the stress and time sink of analyzing every map for the perfect solution.

At 12,300 right now, and I'm ranked 46, but it'll drop soon I'm sure, especially since I set up a freebie Def win. Lots of people are doing it these days, which is really nice, and I think the more people do it, the more it'll catch on and spread.

[Raven]

Honestly quite pleased with how this week turned out, considering it's just a casual defensive astra/anima week.

Currently at 11,860 Lift with 100 Aether left in the tank. I don't know if I'll finish in the top 1k, but there's a decent chance I will.

Edit: I'm on board to set up freebie def wins in T21. It's pretty senseless to be so competitive, especially when everyone resets to T21 anyway.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Raven

[DLNarshen]

Yeah, I'm considering forgoing defense altogether.  Only upgrading my offense structures, only bothering with the defense fort if it's needed to unlock the next offense level, etc.  Might as well make the game a little easier for myself and potentially reduce the stress of my fellow players. 

It looks like I'm going to be just short on Aether Stones to unlock the Lv. 4 Offense fort.  Will have to play one match tomorrow with a Lv. 3.

Edited March 4, 2019 by DLNarshen

[Thane]

I've had seven defense victories in a row now - not per day, mind you, but it's still pretty cool. I give myself a small pat on the back for sticking with the snow map since I like it the most aesthetically, rather than just copying the most common defense strategies/terrains. 

[Othin]

Got up to 11,860. Solid T23 spot, but I'm not sure if I'll stay in the top 3k. Currently at rank 1,738.

[Usana]

On 3/3/2019 at 6:38 PM, Rezzy said:

I wish we could "save" Defense teams, or have a list like all our other team compositions.  I switch between pretty much the same two teams with a few swaps every other week between Dark and Anime week.

Would be nice to have saved teams. As it is I just kinda leave the same one in place even though Eirika's bonuses break down if someone is a bonus or what not. Also I prefer every week to be anime week :p. Too many shows, too little time.

[DLNarshen]

I'm just realizing there's no combination of upgrades I can do to amount to the 500 dew I need to upgrade my fort tomorrow.  At best I can upgrade a Lv. 1 and a Lv. 2 School structure to get me to 1,400, then laying low until Thursday when I'll have enough stones to upgrade another Lv. 1 School.  Cavalry School seems to be the bonus this week, which makes that decision easy at least.   

[Lemmy]

I just added my 5th defense unit but I'm indecisive about which unit to build up for the 6th slot, anyone have a recommendation

keep in mind this is a tactics team so unit type matters

Legend Ike (Ragnell, Radiant Aether, Reposition, Warding Breath, Chill Def, Atk Tactic, Quick Reposte seal)

Legend Lucina (Thogn, Future Vision, Moonbow, Swift Sparrow, Chill Speed, Distant Guard, Def Tactic seal)

Original Myrrh (Great Flame, Draw Back, Bonfire, Fury, Quick Reposte, Speed Tactics, Guidance seal)

Veronica (Hlio, Recover, Miracle, Attack/Speed Solo, Wrathful Staff, Close Guard, Res Tactic seal)

Aversa (Aversa's Night, Harsh Command, Glimmer, HP+5, Chill Attack, Atk Tactic, HP+5 seal) 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Double blessings for double the fun. 

[Johann]

5 hours ago, Lemmy said:

I just added my 5th defense unit but I'm indecisive about which unit to build up for the 6th slot, anyone have a recommendation

keep in mind this is a tactics team so unit type matters

Legend Ike (Ragnell, Radiant Aether, Reposition, Warding Breath, Chill Def, Atk Tactic, Quick Reposte seal)

Legend Lucina (Thogn, Future Vision, Moonbow, Swift Sparrow, Chill Speed, Distant Guard, Def Tactic seal)

Original Myrrh (Great Flame, Draw Back, Bonfire, Fury, Quick Reposte, Speed Tactics, Guidance seal)

Veronica (Hlio, Recover, Miracle, Attack/Speed Solo, Wrathful Staff, Close Guard, Res Tactic seal)

Aversa (Aversa's Night, Harsh Command, Glimmer, HP+5, Chill Attack, Atk Tactic, HP+5 seal) 

Lucina is probably the best one since many people struggle to anticipate how she moves and everyone runs Eir, so the flier effectiveness helps. Veronica is a good choice as well, but she's usually more for setting up someone else's kill or making an approach more challenging.