aether raids Aether Raids Offense Team & Unit Building

[Landmaster]

Is Boey a decent Raventome Mage option to build? Or no, because his Res is too low?

Trying to think of a unit I wouldn't mind having to give Null C Disrupt to.

[Johann]

56 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

Is Boey a decent Raventome Mage option to build? Or no, because his Res is too low?

Trying to think of a unit I wouldn't mind having to give Null C Disrupt to.

Boey's a great choice. The Light Blessing will patch up his Res quite a bit, and that's not enough, you can always buff him or I guess build +Res. His Def is much higher than most others, so while a seal like Distant Def 3 might be needed on a low Def mage like Cecilia, Boey could use QR or Warding Stance seals. This is important since Distant Def 3 is one of the most valuable seals and generally best saved for a super tank. 

[Landmaster]

42 minutes ago, Johann said:

Boey's a great choice. The Light Blessing will patch up his Res quite a bit, and that's not enough, you can always buff him or I guess build +Res. His Def is much higher than most others, so while a seal like Distant Def 3 might be needed on a low Def mage like Cecilia, Boey could use QR or Warding Stance seals. This is important since Distant Def 3 is one of the most valuable seals and generally best saved for a super tank. 

Awesome, thanks for the tips~~

[Johann]

16 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

Awesome, thanks for the tips~~

Worth noting that the big threats for a Raventome user are Lyn and Veronica, and the two of them are never really going to have more than 50-60 Atk, so with Triangle Adept 3, you'd only need like 30-36 Def or Res, assuming you want to take zero damage from those hits. Lyns never use Cancel Affinity anymore, so no worries there.

[Landmaster]

1 hour ago, Johann said:

Worth noting that the big threats for a Raventome user are Lyn and Veronica, and the two of them are never really going to have more than 50-60 Atk, so with Triangle Adept 3, you'd only need like 30-36 Def or Res, assuming you want to take zero damage from those hits. Lyns never use Cancel Affinity anymore, so no worries there.

Yeah, my real concern was Veronica since I know Boey isn't all that fast and has pretty low Res. I may consider a +Res build or just carrying around Res Tactic~

[Johann]

17 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

Yeah, my real concern was Veronica since I know Boey isn't all that fast and has pretty low Res. I may consider a +Res build or just carrying around Res Tactic~

On the plus side, if you give him Null C-Disrupt, he should be pretty safe since he'd at best fight like 2 or 3 units in a single turn. And if he's on a team with Eir, then what little damage he takes probably won't be a problem.

[Landmaster]

18 hours ago, Johann said:

On the plus side, if you give him Null C-Disrupt, he should be pretty safe since he'd at best fight like 2 or 3 units in a single turn. And if he's on a team with Eir, then what little damage he takes probably won't be a problem.

Yeah, that should work, too~ Thanks a lot!

[Tree]

I don't play the game competitively or make long-term teams, but I'd like to see if I can get one red chair for collection purposes (top 3,000) before astral mythics are introduced. Anima season is probably my best chance since I have two Duma and there are no Astral mythics yet. My defense team may or may not defeat any enemy units. This might make it impossible to reach top 3,000; I won't know for sure until I try. Up until now I've only used Leanne (and sometimes Reyson), but I think Legendary Azura will work better this season.

Team 1: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Leanne, Alfonse

Team 2: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Haar, Alfonse

Team 3: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Haar, Celica

Team 4: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Haar, Lyon

Team 5: Duma, Duma, Male Grima, Legendary Azura, Leanne

Unit details:

• Brave Lyn +6 [+atk] (Brave Bow, Atk +3 seal)
• Reinhardt +10 [+atk] (Quickened Pulse seal)
• Legendary Azura [-atk, +spd] (Fortress Res seal)
• Leanne +2 [+res] (Warding Stance seal)
• Celica +1 [+hp] (Special Refine, Brazen Atk/Res seal)
• Duma [-atk, +spd], neutral (Close Defense seal, Armored Boots seal)
• Male Grima +1 [+atk] (Fury 3, Fierce Stance seal)

Bonus Units:

• Haar +2 (Slaying Hammer or Slaying Axe, Even Def Wave seal)
• Alfonse (Triangle Adept Refine, Brazen Atk/Def seal)
• Lyon (Triangle Adept)

AR buildings (O)

• Fortress [5+1]
• Panic Manor [4]
• Infantry School [4]
• Bolt Tower [3]
• Escape Ladder [3]

Does anyone have suggestions for improvement? I don't feel that the teams are great. (Outside of AR I usually make theme teams or just put some units together for training.)

[XRay]

2 hours ago, Tree said:

make long-term teams, but I'd like to see if I can get one red chair for collection purposes (top 3,000) before astral mythics are introduced. Anima season is probably my best chance since I have two Duma and there are no Astral mythics yet.

Unless you are a whale or something, I think it is going to be tough to score well without a dedicated Light or Anima Blessed climbing team for scoring.

Anima and Dark Mythic Heroes also do not boost your offensive score. They only reduce the Lift lost on defense.

2 hours ago, Tree said:

Team 1: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Leanne, Alfonse
Outside of the lack of Eirs, the team looks fine.

Team 2: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Haar, Alfonse
You only need 1 Bonus unit. Alfonse is dead weight in this team in my opinion. This is basically Team 3/Team 4 but worse.

Team 3: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Haar, Celica
Haar should ideally have Iote's Shield to help bait archers, but his low Res could pose a huge problem if enemy archers overlap their threat range with enemy mages. While Celica is a good unit, she is competing with Reinhardt as a raw damage nuke. If BH!Lyn is also running Brave Bow, that is 3 raw damage nukes, and that is kind of excessive in my opinion.

Team 4: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Haar, Lyon
Haar is probably fine without Iote's Shield since Lyon is on the team.

Team 5: Duma, Duma, Male Grima, Legendary Azura, Leanne
This team does not score well. Duma is a Dark Mythic Hero, so he does not increase scores like Light or Astra Mythic Heroes.

In terms of ease of use and practically for individual teams, see above comments.

I also think you will need at least one or two Eirs to score high enough to compete in the top 3,000, and you also want to make sure most of the team is Light Blessed. Legendary Heroes will score as if they had permanent Mythic Blessing on them, but unlike Light and Astra Mythic Heroes, they will not increase other Light/Astra Blessed units scores. Unlike in Arena and Arena Assault, Legendary Blessed units do not increase scores in Aether Raids.

In terms of team diversity, a lot of teams are too similar to each other, so there is not point in running some of them. Think of your 5 teams as a Swiss Army knife, you want each team to be different enough from each other so you can handle a variety of situations; if all your Swiss Army knife has is just blades, you are not going to do so well in situations where you need a screwdriver or bottle opener.

I would get rid of Team 5 first and foremost because it does help you score at all. I would get rid of Team 2 since Alfonse is kind of pathetic. I would also get rid of Team 3, as Team 1 is better built for Player Phase offense with 2 Dancers/Singers, and Team 4 has better dual phase presence with 2 nukes and 2 tanks.

— — — — — — —

I highly recommend building one strong Enemy Phase team in the form of a carry team/super tank team to diversify your "Swiss Army knife." 

The beauty of a carry team is that it can shrug off most attacks like nothing. Sharena in particular completely shits on VS!Azura and Blade mages, while HS!Camilla can tank anywhere as a flier and does not have to worry about the color triangle ruining her day. Whoever you choose as a super tank though, they should at least have Summoner Support and ideally Dragon Flowers too.

The cheapest carriers (in terms of Orbs) are Sharena and HS!Camilla, but they both have large drawbacks (Sharena cannot be merged, meaning she is unviable during non Bonus weeks; HS!Camilla is really expensive Grail wise).

The super tank of the team basically carries the team by handling the vast majority of combat, and for the tank to carry the team like that, you need 2 or more buffers/debuffers and 1 or more Eirs for sustainability and scoring. Kaden and M!Corrin are the best buffers. Aversa, Gunnthrá, NYOFAI!Gunnthrá, and Hríd are some of the best debuffers. Hríd can additionally function as a carrier.

— — — — — — —

I highly recommend building at least 1 Counter-Vantage nuke. Even in Tier 21+, a good fraction of the defense teams I face are super vulnerable to Counter-Vantage units. Counter-Vantage units should have high Atk or be able to simulate high Atk. Counter-Vantage units go well with a lot of team types since they can function on both phases, so you can put them in any team to give them some presence during phases they do less well in. For example, my main team consists of BH!Lyn, VS!Azura, Olivia, and Laevatein; Laevatein is a Counter-Vantage unit and she gives my Player Phase heavy team some presence on Enemy Phase.

Laevatein and Blade mages are the traditional options as they can reach stupidly high Atk with their Weapons' Blade effect; Laevatein can reach 90+ Atk at 5*+0 and most Blade mages can reach 85+ Atk at 5*+0 with VS!Azura support.

Aries can similarly reach stupidly high 90+ Atk with Bonfire spam.

Keaton and WOT!Reinhardt can simulate high Atk by attacking twice with their Meister effect.

Jaffar and Pain healers simulate high Atk by reducing nearby enemies' HP by 10 each time after combat.

— — — — — — —

I also recommend building a Galeforce nuke (or more if you can afford it). They are not as easy to use in my opinion, and I am not that great at using them either, but they basically come with their own Dancer/Singer in the form of Galeforce.

I currently have Cordelia fully built, and I am about to work on Raven once I have the Feathers. I also have Tibarn, but he is only at +1 and he is a bit difficult to merge.

2 hours ago, Tree said:

• Brave Lyn +6 [+atk] (Brave Bow, Atk +3 seal)

I highly recommend Firesweep Bow so the team does not have to worry about counter attacks. Reinhardt already fulfills the raw damage nuke role, so it is best to diversify into other types of nukes, such as Firesweep nukes, Galeforce nukes, or Counter-Vantage units.

Edited April 23, 2019 by XRay

[Johann]

3 hours ago, Tree said:

Team 1: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Leanne, Alfonse

Team 2: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Haar, Alfonse

Team 3: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Haar, Celica

Team 4: Brave Lyn, Reinhardt, Legendary Azura, Haar, Lyon

Team 5: Duma, Duma, Male Grima, Legendary Azura, Leanne

I'd definitely diversify those teams. Of all your bonus units, I'd say Lyon, Haar, and Duma are going to be the most useful, while Alfonse is probably going to be more of a liability. Here are some ideas based on those units:

1. Duma, Legendary Azura, Reinhardt, Lyn, Leanne
2. Duma, Legendary Azura, Reinhardt, Lyn, Grima
3. Haar, Legendary Azura, Reinhardt, Lyn, Celica
4. Haar, Legendary Azura, Reinhardt, Lyn, Leanne
5. Lyon, Legendary Azura, Reinhardt, Lyn, Leanne

I would also suggest considering other units that you haven't listed. There are definitely going to be maps where Lyn and Reinhardt aren't going to be useful, so consider a team with tankier stats but better mobility than Duma/Grima. You should anticipate seeing a lot of mage teams, armor teams, dragon teams, and armor-killing teams and plan your units accordingly. I don't think your selection of units will necessarily be prepared for all of those threats, so consider looking at high Res units, dragon killers, and mixed bulk DC units. Some build tips:

• Duma: The boots might be necessary, though if you decide not to, then make sure he has Pivot at the very least. . You can't afford to take baby steps in a 7-turn limit, after all, especially if the ideal strategy involves Smiting Duma into enemy lines.
• Haar: Use +Atk hammer. A lot of people are going to have armor teams set up. Aim more for Atk than Def, as his Atk is high enough that he may be able to one-shot a great number of armors. Atk/Def Bond seal is a decent choice if you decide to give him Wings of Mercy, or otherwise Atk+3, Atk/Def+2, or a Brazen Atk seal. He's your best bet against Caineghis since he has the stats to bait him.
• Lyon: Triangle Adept is ok if you intend to bait Veronicas or Lyn, but otherwise it probably won't do much beyond attacking Dumas and untransformed Caineghises (both of whom are so bulky that TA won't be a one shot). His default Atk/Res +2 or even Fury 2 from Bartre is also decent if you don't want to invest too much into him. With his crap Spd, he'd probably want QR and either Distant Def seal or Atk Smoke seal.
• Azura: Default kit, with WoM and Aerobatics seal if possible
• Leanne: Either Goad/Ward Flier or a Drive skill(s). Wings of Mercy is generally ideal, but Escape Route can also work well on her.
• Grima: Ward Dragons unless you have Armor March. Depending on your foes, you might find one of the two (Grima or Duma) to be a better tank for a given situation.
• Celica: Vantage and go all in on the Brazens (or Fierce Stance 3 seal). Maps with Duma on them are giving you that HP loss for free, after all. Remember to be mindful of Leanne's healing affecting Celica's HP % and position/plan accordingly.
• Highly recommended you bring at least one unit with Smite at least a couple teams. Even with a Dancer, it can be necessary for breaking traps.

Your biggest threat is likely going to be Pulse mage teams, since these units would probably not survive an onslaught of specials from high Atk mages. To be fair, not many units can outside of Light season, so it's good that you at least have Reinhardt and Lyn to maybe pick off a dancer or mage, assuming they can get in range and do enough damage.

[Tree]

@Johann @XRay

I was planning on avoiding light season since there is more competition. Without the astral mythic, I don't think players take anima season as seriously. At least that's the hope. I think I tend to score lower, but actually rank higher during anima season? Not fully sure. The battles are rougher without the +10 hp/res from the Eirs, but team composition should be more free. I don't invest in defense, so the two Duma really help too. All I want is 2,999 just once. It might not be possible, but thought I'd try.

I can see the issue with lack of team variety. I guess I shouldn't have Bow Lyn and Reinhardt on more than one or two teams. I'd like to give Bow Lyn a Firesweep Bow, but I don't have a lot of orbs and don't want to spend them all on the current Faye banner. (And would want to keep at least one Faye anyway.) She does do pretty well with the Brave Bow at least. Summoner Support is currently on Bow Lyn. I could put it on someone else, but it would take a while to build up.

Alfonse has worked great for taking out Surtr. I still remember the +10 bonus unit Surtr that took even Celica (with the refine and Brazen seal) a few turns to take out. Sharena hasn't performed as well for me, but it could just be build issues as I haven't wanted to spend 5* exclusive skills. Also, Alfonse is a bonus currently, so I have to replace him with a different bonus unit. Alfonse will be useless against Caineghis though. Can Haar reliably take out Surtr (with Quick Reposte instead of Axebreaker) and Caineghis also?

I've noticed there are no team recommendations with double Duma which I thought was odd. Is there much of an advantage to run one, but not both?

Naesala is useful, but usually Reinhardt just seems to fit better. Maybe a team of Tibarn, Naesala, Leanne, Reyson/Myrrh, and some bonus unit, perhaps Lyon? I also have a Halloween Mia, but I'm not really sure how to use her effectively.

I do have spare copies of Distant Counter, Close Counter, Steady Breath, Blue and Red Blade Tomes (no feathers required), and Hone Fliers, but haven't wanted to use them. I have about 300,000 feathers and plenty of Dew and Stones. I think I've already upgraded the seals mentioned.

• Ares +2 [+atk]
• Fae +1 [+def] (enough copies to +10)
• L'Arachel [+spd or +atk] (enough copies to +10)
• Frederick [+atk or +def] (enough copies to +10)

I'd like to merge Ares further, but have only gotten three copies. I like L'Arachel and she might be a good candidate for blade tome/close counter, but am not sure if she is worth that investment. Fae is OK, but don't really like her enough to want a +10. She has given Bow Lyn and Reinhardt some trouble at times though. I already have a Dorcas and a Myrrh with Distant Counter that both fill similar roles. Would she really add much? I could merge Frederick too, but with Haar and Cherche, it probably isn't worth it.

I've listed most of my relevant units that might be good for a new team or two. (I'm noticing that other than a couple of Hammers, Caeda, Nephenee, and Micaiah, I don't have a lot of armor effect weapons...)

Spoiler

Notable Red:

• Caeda +10 [+atk] (Fury 3, Desperation 3)
• Legendary Ike +4 [+atk] (4 flowers)
• Mia +3 [+spd]
• Adult Tiki +3 [+res] (Quick Reposte 3)
• Ares +2 [+atk]
• Celica +1 [+hp] (Fury 3, Desperation 3)
• Magic Eirika +1 [+res]
• Legendary Marth [+atk,-res]
• Tibarn [neutral]

Notable Blue:

• Reinhardt +10 [+atk] (2 flowers)
• Naesala +7 (5 flowers) (Fury 3)
• Brave Hector +5 [+res] (4 flowers)
• Legendary Ephraim +3 [+atk] (Galeforce)
• Flying Morgan +2 [+res]

Notable Green:

• Dorcas +8 [+atk] (8 flowers)
• Cherche +8 [+atk]
• Myrrh +4 [+atk] (Distant Counter, Quick Reposte 3)
• Haar +2 (Death Blow 3, Fury 3, Quick Reposte 3, Wings of Mercy 3, Slaying Hammer and Axe)
• Gunnthra +2 [+atk]
• Lewyn +1 [+spd]

Notable Colorless:

• Brave Lyn +6 [atk] (3 flowers)
• Eir [+atk,-def], [neutral]
• Halloween Mia [+def,-hp], [+def,-spd]
• Veronica [+hp,-res]

 

Am I far enough away from top 3,000 that it isn't worth investing a lot of resources unless I really like the units (and planned on investing in them anyway)? I don't plan on playing AR that competitively in the future even if I get top 3,000 once.

Edited April 23, 2019 by Tree

[Ice Dragon]

13 hours ago, XRay said:

Legendary Heroes will score as if they had permanent Mythic Blessing on them,

Only when the season matches their element.

 

1 hour ago, Tree said:

I was planning on avoiding light season since there is more competition. Without the astral mythic, I don't think players take anima season as seriously. At least that's the hope. I think I tend to score lower, but actually rank higher during anima season? Not fully sure.

The competition is simply different. During Light season, the number of blessings and Eirs you can spread around your team matters more. During Astra season, your performance matters more.

This, of course, assumes you're already in Tier 21. If you aren't yet in Tier 21, it's pretty much impossible to reach Tier 21 on Astra season simply because there's no way to earn enough points in a single season to make the jump without an offense Mythic.

 

1 hour ago, Tree said:

I've noticed there are no team recommendations with double Duma which I thought was odd. Is there much of an advantage to run one, but not both?

Duma doesn't really do much on defense when stacked because Eir and the occasional Healing Tower simply heal off the Upheaval damage, which just leaves you with an armor with no C skill. Additionally, Upheaval puts you at a greater risk of being Vantage swept.

Duma will probably be more useful once an Astra Hero is implemented because Eir will be phased out of players' Astra teams, though you'd still be vulnerable to Vantage.

On offense, Duma is not much different than any other dragon armor other than the fact that he doesn't have trainee bonus stats and cannot be blessed.

[Johann]

5 hours ago, Tree said:

Summoner Support is currently on Bow Lyn. I could put it on someone else, but it would take a while to build up.

Best way to quickly build S Support is to autobattle Chain Challenge chapters 1&2 on Normal with a unit. It'll take 8 complete runs (or 4 if you've S Supported them before), but it's very much worth it for any super tank unit. I usually bounce it around between Fjorm, Robin, and Hrid.

5 hours ago, Tree said:

Alfonse has worked great for taking out Surtr. I still remember the +10 bonus unit Surtr that took even Celica (with the refine and Brazen seal) a few turns to take out.

Haar with a hammer should be fine against Surtr, but he shouldn't need QR (which is bad against Surtr anyway since Sinmara will take your HP down). Brazen Atk/Def in A slot could be a great choice though, if you're not using Fury or something.

5 hours ago, Tree said:

Sharena hasn't performed as well for me, but it could just be build issues as I haven't wanted to spend 5* exclusive skills. Also, Alfonse is a bonus currently, so I have to replace him with a different bonus unit. Alfonse will be useless against Caineghis though. Can Haar reliably take out Surtr (with Quick Reposte instead of Axebreaker) and Caineghis also?

I don't think Sharena is great except for when she's a bonus unit and with a great deal of investment, her only notable advantage is her rotation as a bonus unit and weapon's Dull effect. Fjorm, on the other hand, has the bulk and doesn't require much effort to build into an ideal unit. She's one of the best AR Offense units, without question, and has little to no issue with a great number of common threats. Consider saving a 4* Kaze to teach her Atk Smoke since she'll want her seal slot for something like Close Def.

5 hours ago, Tree said:

I've noticed there are no team recommendations with double Duma which I thought was odd. Is there much of an advantage to run one, but not both?

It's hard enough to get one armored unit into an ideal position, having a second on hand would be redundant in most situations. Duma's not particularly great for Offense runs compared to other dragons (like Nowi, Myrrh, or Legendary Robin) or armors (particularly Caineghis), and adding a second one isn't going to address whatever weaknesses the first one has. Duma's got great firepower, but more often than not, the issue is about approaching the enemy safely. The other units I listed are notable for their extreme bulk and ability to counter kill or shrug off a great number of units, whereas Duma would require considerable skill investment to perform the same role. He's really just there to be a bonus unit, and looking  more closely at your other options, he might not be your best one this week.

5 hours ago, Tree said:

Naesala is useful, but usually Reinhardt just seems to fit better. Maybe a team of Tibarn, Naesala, Leanne, Reyson/Myrrh, and some bonus unit, perhaps Lyon? I also have a Halloween Mia, but I'm not really sure how to use her effectively.

• Tibarn is an excellent choice, especially if you're willing to give him Galeforce. Just be warned that his performance can suffer if you're bringing Duma with Upheaval since he wants the enemies at full HP.
• Naesala is also great, even though he lacks the Heavy Blade Galeforce setup of Tibarn, but he's better suited for killing dragons than Tibarn is since his Res isn't awful.
• Leanne and Reyson are both great, though you might find yourself in situations wishing you had Azura (though I guess less so if you're bringing almost all Laguz).
• Myrrh is another amazing AR unit since she's crazy bulky. I'd suggest you bring her on a variety of teams, you'll find there are many situations where she can safely tank a great number of units. Consider saving a 4* Kaze to teach her Atk Smoke since she'll probably want to keep her seal slot for Iote's (though Distant Def seal is a good choice too).
• Mia's nice, her main use is using Witchy Wand on Pulse setups. Hone Fliers is a nice boost, and being able to top anyone off after Duma's Upheavel kicks in is very helpful in defeating him. Healers in general can be hard to use though, since they lack the positioning skills like Smite or Draw Back.

5 hours ago, Tree said:

I do have spare copies of Distant Counter, Close Counter, Steady Breath, Blue and Red Blade Tomes (no feathers required), and Hone Fliers, but haven't wanted to use them. I have about 300,000 feathers and plenty of Dew and Stones. I think I've already upgraded the seals mentioned.

• Ares +2 [+atk]
• Fae +1 [+def] (enough copies to +10)
• L'Arachel [+spd or +atk] (enough copies to +10)
• Frederick [+atk or +def] (enough copies to +10)

I'd like to merge Ares further, but have only gotten three copies. I like L'Arachel and she might be a good candidate for blade tome/close counter, but am not sure if she is worth that investment. Fae is OK, but don't really like her enough to want a +10. She has given Bow Lyn and Reinhardt some trouble at times though. I already have a Dorcas and a Myrrh with Distant Counter that both fill similar roles. Would she really add much? I could merge Frederick too, but with Haar and Cherche, it probably isn't worth it.

• Ares is amazing, he can wreck entire teams if they don't have Hardy Bearing or Dazzling/Firesweep to stop him. You would need to give him DC to reach his full AR potential though. Def Smoke works great on him too if you have a 4* Panne to spare.
• Fae is kind of redundant when you already have Myrrh, stick with Myrrh.
• L'Arachel would fulfil the same sort of roles Reinhardt does, I don't think you'd get anything new from making her.
• Frederick and Haar have near identical stats and uses, I wouldn't bother with Fred if you're already a fan of Haar unless you're interested in having a cavalry version of the same role.

5 hours ago, Tree said:

I've listed most of my relevant units that might be good for a new team or two. (I'm noticing that other than a couple of Hammers, Caeda, Nephenee, and Micaiah, I don't have a lot of armor effect weapons...)

  Reveal hidden contents

Notable Red:

• Caeda +10 [+atk] (Fury 3, Desperation 3)
• Legendary Ike +4 [+atk] (4 flowers)
• Mia +3 [+spd]
• Adult Tiki +3 [+res] (Quick Reposte 3)
• Ares +2 [+atk]
• Celica +1 [+hp] (Fury 3, Desperation 3)
• Magic Eirika +1 [+res]
• Legendary Marth [+atk,-res]
• Tibarn [neutral]

Notable Blue:

• Reinhardt +10 [+atk] (2 flowers)
• Naesala +7 (5 flowers) (Fury 3)
• Brave Hector +5 [+res] (4 flowers)
• Legendary Ephraim +3 [+atk] (Galeforce)
• Flying Morgan +2 [+res]

Notable Green:

• Dorcas +8 [+atk] (8 flowers)
• Cherche +8 [+atk]
• Myrrh +4 [+atk] (Distant Counter, Quick Reposte 3)
• Haar +2 (Death Blow 3, Fury 3, Quick Reposte 3, Wings of Mercy 3, Slaying Hammer and Axe)
• Gunnthra +2 [+atk]
• Lewyn +1 [+spd]

Notable Colorless:

• Brave Lyn +6 [atk] (3 flowers)
• Eir [+atk,-def], [neutral]
• Halloween Mia [+def,-hp], [+def,-spd]
• Veronica [+hp,-res]

Am I far enough away from top 3,000 that it isn't worth investing a lot of resources unless I really like the units (and planned on investing in them anyway)? I don't plan on playing AR that competitively in the future even if I get top 3,000 once.

For what it's worth, the only armor effective unit I bring is Frederick, and only in Astra season. I don't think you need to go all out, and looking at who you have, I think it'll be possible without making any major investments (really just a few 4* skills to inherit here and there for bonus units or tweaking some builds).

My advice to you, as you're doing your runs this week, is to take note of the fights where things go wrong. What went wrong? Was it the enemy units being too powerful? Their map/arrangement? Is there something about the AI you're not aware of? When I say take note, you might want to literally write down the things you're been up against (maybe even screen cap them) so you can reflect on what your biggest threats are and consider how a different team could have handled the situation.

[Tree]

1 hour ago, Johann said:

Best way to quickly build S Support is to autobattle Chain Challenge chapters 1&2 on Normal with a unit. It'll take 8 complete runs (or 4 if you've S Supported them before), but it's very much worth it for any super tank unit. I usually bounce it around between Fjorm, Robin, and Hrid.

That's not too bad. Stamina is cheap anyway. I think I've got 350+ of those if needed.

1 hour ago, Johann said:

Haar with a hammer should be fine against Surtr, but he shouldn't need QR (which is bad against Surtr anyway since Sinmara will take your HP down). Brazen Atk/Def in A slot could be a great choice though, if you're not using Fury or something.

I'm afraid I've only ever had three Ares and I merged them together. Haar does already have Fury 3 and Death Blow 3. I guess Death Blow 3 is better for AR? With Death Blow 3, is the two point attack refine still better than the four point def refine? What would be a good B skill instead of Quick Reposte? Axe Breaker perhaps? Will Haar be worth using in AR when he is no longer a bonus?

1 hour ago, Johann said:

• Tibarn is an excellent choice, especially if you're willing to give him Galeforce. Just be warned that his performance can suffer if you're bringing Duma with Upheaval since he wants the enemies at full HP.
• Naesala is also great, even though he lacks the Heavy Blade Galeforce setup of Tibarn, but he's better suited for killing dragons than Tibarn is since his Res isn't awful.
• Leanne and Reyson are both great, though you might find yourself in situations wishing you had Azura (though I guess less so if you're bringing almost all Laguz).
• Myrrh is another amazing AR unit since she's crazy bulky. I'd suggest you bring her on a variety of teams, you'll find there are many situations where she can safely tank a great number of units. Consider saving a 4* Kaze to teach her Atk Smoke since she'll probably want to keep her seal slot for Iote's (though Distant Def seal is a good choice too).
• Mia's nice, her main use is using Witchy Wand on Pulse setups. Hone Fliers is a nice boost, and being able to top anyone off after Duma's Upheavel kicks in is very helpful in defeating him. Healers in general can be hard to use though, since they lack the positioning skills like Smite or Draw Back.

Tibarn is neutral which should be OK. I can give him Galeforce, but I'll have to take the Heavy Blade seal away from Legendary Ephraim. (I wish we could lock offense teams.) I'd need to avoid using Duma and the Bolt Tower too...

Naesala is +7 with five  flowers and has pretty decent stats (44/51/46/27/33) even without Fury 3. I don't really know how to build him. Currently he has Moonbow, Fury 3, Hit and Run, Goad Fliers, and Atk/Spd 2 seal, but the speed might be overkill at 46 (51 after +5 from Fury and seal).

Myrrh is very good, but Quickened Pulse/Moonbow Reinhardt takes her out before she can counter. I do have some 4* Kazes, so I can give her Atk Smoke.

Is Dorcas not so great for AR? His current stats independent of skills and seals are: (51/59/27/40/28). I guess he isn't quite as good as Myrrh in most situations, but he isn't weak to arrows.

I put Smite on one of my Eirs, but since the other has Reposition, I often forget and end up not have Reposition available where I expected it. This never ends well. I need to find a better unit for Smite.

1 hour ago, Johann said:

• Ares is amazing, he can wreck entire teams if they don't have Hardy Bearing or Dazzling/Firesweep to stop him. You would need to give him DC to reach his full AR potential though. Def Smoke works great on him too if you have a 4* Panne to spare.
• Fae is kind of redundant when you already have Myrrh, stick with Myrrh.
• L'Arachel would fulfil the same sort of roles Reinhardt does, I don't think you'd get anything new from making her.
• Frederick and Haar have near identical stats and uses, I wouldn't bother with Fred if you're already a fan of Haar unless you're interested in having a cavalry version of the same role.

Is it worth trying to build a +2 Ares? He is [+atk], so that helps. There is a +10 Ares friend unit that absolutely clears out paths of enemies for me. I was planning on giving him Distant Counter, but was waiting for more merges. Myrrh does quite well with Distant Counter at just four merges though, so maybe his two merges are enough?

I'll hold off on Fae and L'Arachel. I may merge L'Arachel eventually, but no hurry.

I have a [+atk] Frederick that has worked out great, but I haven't added merges. I'm planning on merging Haar anyway, so I'll just leave Frederick as is then.

1 hour ago, Johann said:

For what it's worth, the only armor effective unit I bring is Frederick, and only in Astra season. I don't think you need to go all out, and looking at who you have, I think it'll be possible without making any major investments (really just a few 4* skills to inherit here and there for bonus units or tweaking some builds).

My advice to you, as you're doing your runs this week, is to take note of the fights where things go wrong. What went wrong? Was it the enemy units being too powerful? Their map/arrangement? Is there something about the AI you're not aware of? When I say take note, you might want to literally write down the things you're been up against (maybe even screen cap them) so you can reflect on what your biggest threats are and consider how a different team could have handled the situation.

Today I did two matches. The first one I played awful, but managed to hold onto everyone and get both Aether pots. The second match was rough. Hrid was too strong for Reinhardt, so I had to use L.Azura to buff him first. I got everyone as far away as I could, but L.Lucina marched over, got refreshed by L.Azura, swapped with the Aversa that had moved forward, then got a third turn and took out a unit. Festival Micaiah came in with Wings of Mercy but didn't appear to do anything? It wasn't too hard to clear out the units after that, but getting both pots took some effort since I had to avoid accidentally defeating the last enemy by leaving a unit in range.

I'm not sure how to avoid a L.Lucina with three movement from Azura. It's next to impossible to not leave at least one unit in range of that. The three movement is bad enough, but that combined with Future Vision is another level. She pretty much gets her choice of opponent and will obviously pick the weakest one.

With two runs, I got 180 points and four Aether pots, with -80 on defense. Not too bad, but probably wouldn't won't reach top 3,000 this time since these are the easiest battles usually. Maybe I'll get lucky and run into some theme teams like last season. I surrendered to a couple of those, since my score wasn't great anyway.

[XRay]

8 hours ago, Tree said:

Summoner Support is currently on Bow Lyn. I could put it on someone else, but it would take a while to build up.

I would prioritize Summoner Support for carriers/super tanks. Nukes generally do not need Summoner Support to do well.

8 hours ago, Tree said:

Alfonse has worked great for taking out Surtr. I still remember the +10 bonus unit Surtr that took even Celica (with the refine and Brazen seal) a few turns to take out. Sharena hasn't performed as well for me, but it could just be build issues as I haven't wanted to spend 5* exclusive skills. Also, Alfonse is a bonus currently, so I have to replace him with a different bonus unit. Alfonse will be useless against Caineghis though. Can Haar reliably take out Surtr (with Quick Reposte instead of Axebreaker) and Caineghis also?

The problem with Alfonse is that all he is there for is to take out bulky greens, which any Player Phase team can easily do. I run Laevatein though, so I might have a bias against Surtr since Laevatein never had difficulty killing her douche father, so maybe I am unfairly downplaying Surtr's effectiveness, although I never experience any problems with blue armor units. I never had a huge trouble with armor stall teams since they pose almost no threat to my Player Phase team since I can always outrun them and the damage output from 2 nukes and 2 Dancers/Singers is simply too much for them wall or heal back up in time.

Haar is better than Alfonse in my opinion due to the amount of threats blue poses, such as GA!Lucina and Reinhardt. There is nothing particularly threatening from green that I remember.

I like Sharena because she is the cheapest to build compared to all other options and she is a frequent Bonus unit. Her carry team I put together costs only 600 Divine Dew (Fensalir, Yato, Yato), 80,000 Feathers (the extra 20,000 Feathers is for promoting Titania to get Guard 3), and enough Orbs to get one Distant Counter for Sharena and a second Eir for sustainability and scoring. If a player wants to cut down on Orb costs even more, they can forgo the second Eir and run Aversa or a third M!Corrin. For players on a budget, this is the best team I can think of to help them climb. Even if the player moves on to the another super tank, half of that investment is still relevant for Aether Raids (2 M!Corrins and 2 Eirs are practically the best units for their role, so you generally do not want to change them), and Sharena's investment is still applicable for Arena.

8 hours ago, Tree said:

I've noticed there are no team recommendations with double Duma which I thought was odd. Is there much of an advantage to run one, but not both?

Unless you can afford a dual phase armor team or at least 2 Armor Marches, I do not recommend armor units for offense since they are really slow movement wise.

8 hours ago, Tree said:

Naesala is useful, but usually Reinhardt just seems to fit better. Maybe a team of Tibarn, Naesala, Leanne, Reyson/Myrrh, and some bonus unit, perhaps Lyon? I also have a Halloween Mia, but I'm not really sure how to use her effectively.

If you want to go beast fliers, that seems pretty decent. Lyon might not fit too well, but he should be off doing his own thing baiting units anyways so I do not think he negatively impacts the team that much.

For TLB!Mia, I think she is fine as a Counter-Vantage nuke or if you plan to use her to disable Pulse teams. As a Firesweep nuke, I recommend sticking with archers instead since they have access to Reposition

8 hours ago, Tree said:

I'd like to merge Ares further, but have only gotten three copies. I like L'Arachel and she might be a good candidate for blade tome/close counter, but am not sure if she is worth that investment.

For Counter-Vantage, Ares is nice, but his setup might be a bit more difficult to achieve since he needs to activate a Special to get Special Spiral going. You can run him with Velouria if you have her to get his Special ready at the start of turn 1, and then Ares can just step on a Bolt Trap to activate Vantage. Blade mages are easier to setup since they just need VS!Azura's buff and they are ready to go after stepping on a Bolt Trap. Ares does have the advantage in that he is not as dependent on buffs for his damage output compared to Blade mages.

Reinhardt can do Counter-Vantage too, the only downside is Atk-1 compared to L'Arachel, which I do not think it is a big deal.

After using Laevatein for some time, I think it would have been better if she was ranged so she can hit back line enemies. If you are new to using Counter-Vantage, I would recommend a cavalry or flier Blade mage for their better mobility (although infantry is fine too), longer reach, and ease of set up, so I would go with Reinhardt (or L'Arachel if you really like her).

8 hours ago, Tree said:

(I'm noticing that other than a couple of Hammers, Caeda, Nephenee, and Micaiah, I don't have a lot of armor effect weapons...)

If you are running a Player Phase team with Blade mages or Laevatein, I would not worry too much about including Effective Weapons. Effective Weapons hit around 90 something Atk against armor units, while Blade mages can hit 85+ Atk against everyone.

8 hours ago, Tree said:

Notable Red:

• Caeda +10 [+atk] (Fury 3, Desperation 3) Galeforce/Wings of Mercy Beacon
• Ares +2 [+atk] Counter-Vantage
• Celica +1 [+hp] (Fury 3, Desperation 3) Nuke
• Tibarn [neutral] Galeforce

Notable Blue:

• Reinhardt +10 [+atk] (2 flowers) Nuke/Counter-Vantage
• Naesala +7 (5 flowers) (Fury 3) High Mobility Nuke
• Legendary Ephraim +3 [+atk] (Galeforce)
• Flying Morgan +2 [+res] Nuke

Notable Green:

• Myrrh +4 [+atk] (Distant Counter, Quick Reposte 3) Tank
• Gunnthra +2 [+atk] Debuffer(Can also be nukish towards end of battle.)
• Lewyn +1 [+spd] Nuke (No Desperation setup, which is nice.)

Notable Colorless:

• Brave Lyn +6 [atk] (3 flowers) Nuke
• Eir [+atk,-def], [neutral] Healer/Scoring
• Halloween Mia [+def,-hp], [+def,-spd] Anti-Ophelia

I provided a short role description for units that stood out to me. You can mix and match a lot of them freely, just remember the minor things like try to keep Laguz and Beorc separate, try not to put Eir with Desperation nukes, etc.

8 hours ago, Tree said:

Am I far enough away from top 3,000 that it isn't worth investing a lot of resources unless I really like the units (and planned on investing in them anyway)? I don't plan on playing AR that competitively in the future even if I get top 3,000 once.

Unless you are already in Tier 21, I do not recommend aiming for top 3,000 since it simply is not practical to compete with players with way more Lift than you. Tier 21 players have a 1,600 Lift advantage over Tier 20 players at the start of the season.

Edited April 24, 2019 by XRay

[Johann]

6 minutes ago, Tree said:

That's not too bad. Stamina is cheap anyway. I think I've got 350+ of those if needed.

Also nice is that they're so easy that you can send bulky units in more or less by themselves to solo the whole thing (the unit has to get in at least one attack per fight on an enemy at least level 35, so bringing a full crew can mess things up). I usually send Robin in alone with Renewal while I read or do dishes.

6 minutes ago, Tree said:

I'm afraid I've only ever had three Ares and I merged them together. Haar does already have Fury 3 and Death Blow 3. I guess Death Blow 3 is better for AR? With Death Blow 3, is the two point attack refine still better than the four point def refine? What would be a good B skill instead of Quick Reposte? Axe Breaker perhaps? Will Haar be worth using in AR when he is no longer a bonus?

For Frederick, I use Fury, WoM, Hone Cavalry, and Atk/Def Bond, so realistically the same kind of skills should work great on Haar. The idea is that you should be able to kill the units he can't bait (like Winter Eirika) and have no problem tanking & ideally counter killing the ones he can bait (pretty much all physical melee armors, even Surtr). I've even had success with him killing Halloween Myrrh due to the stat boosts and having Hone Cavalry. Given that you also have Caeda, I think those two would make an excellent pair. You'd probably have a lot of situations where Caeda can run in and kill something while getting into WoM range, giving Haar a chance to warp in on his own. That's basically what I do with my cavalry setup (Ursula being the Frederick's partner and easy to get into WoM range). Just keep in mind that many armors in AR use Wary Fighter (or are Duma) and therefore won't be doubled so easily (hence why a single blow from a high Atk effective weapon is usually needed).

Given the popularity of armors, a build like that for Haar would last well past his time as a bonus unit, though there may be times where you need to have some way to buff his Atk (like Hone Fliers) as foes get more defensive.

6 minutes ago, Tree said:

Tibarn is neutral which should be OK. I can give him Galeforce, but I'll have to take the Heavy Blade seal away from Legendary Ephraim. (I wish we could lock offense teams.) I'd need to avoid using Duma and the Bolt Tower too...

Naesala is +7 with five  flowers and has pretty decent stats (44/51/46/27/33) even without Fury 3. I don't really know how to build him. Currently he has Moonbow, Fury 3, Hit and Run, Goad Fliers, and Atk/Spd 2 seal, but the speed might be overkill at 46 (51 after +5 from Fury and seal).

Myrrh is very good, but Quickened Pulse/Moonbow Reinhardt takes her out before she can counter. I do have some 4* Kazes, so I can give her Atk Smoke.

Is Dorcas not so great for AR? His current stats independent of skills and seals are: (51/59/27/40/28). I guess he isn't quite as good as Myrrh in most situations, but he isn't weak to arrows.

I put Smite on one of my Eirs, but since the other has Reposition, I often forget and end up not have Reposition available where I expected it. This never ends well. I need to find a better unit for Smite.

• Legendary Ephraim is another amazing AR unit due to how reliable his weapon is, which makes him one of the best Galeforce users, especially in AR. Between him and Tibarn, you would need to pick, but both are truly excellent. Note that next week will be Fire+Light season, so Ephraim would get you a score boost.
• If you haven't given Tibarn Galeforce yet, maybe consider Caeda for that role too. While she lacks Tibarn's guaranteed double (which is usually enough to get through Wary Fighter), she does at least have the armor/cav effectiveness and no need for Heavy Blade seal, freeing up her build options. Both are excellent choices.
• Yeah I'm not sure how to build Naesala myself, but he's definitely usable. I think he's a good choice against certain teams that are hard to reach on maps like Lava Floes, but I'll have to think a bit about what would be the best build for him. Hit and Run is a good call though. When in doubt, I always go with Wings of Mercy.
• If Myrrh is dying to Reinhardt, you're doing something wrong. Are those Reinhardts buffed? Consider bringing along Panic Ploy or Aversa; with Panic and Atk Smoke, even red units can shrug off Reinhardt's specials.
• Dorcas is good, though his middling Res means you'll want to give him some kind of boost (Warding/Mirror Stance, that sort of thing). I use Hawkeye in Astra season, and he's got 42 Res but only 52 Atk and 32 Def. The biggest threat to both of them are people bringing anti-Surtr builds, which usually include Axebreaker and either Deathblow or TA. Otherwise, they're pretty great. Dorcas is a very good counter against flying lance users and Eir, both of which are very popular (and often on the same teams).
• Hmm yeah I have Smite and Draw Back on my Eirs. I also gave them different accessories so I can tell them apart better. I maintain that one of them should keep Smite, since it's rare that your best strategy is to send them both in.

6 minutes ago, Tree said:

Is it worth trying to build a +2 Ares? He is [+atk], so that helps. There is a +10 Ares friend unit that absolutely clears out paths of enemies for me. I was planning on giving him Distant Counter, but was waiting for more merges. Myrrh does quite well with Distant Counter at just four merges though, so maybe his two merges are enough?

I'll hold off on Fae and L'Arachel. I may merge L'Arachel eventually, but no hurry.

I have a [+atk] Frederick that has worked out great, but I haven't added merges. I'm planning on merging Haar anyway, so I'll just leave Frederick as is then.

I'm not fond of Vantage users since there's that risk of not being strong enough on certain foes or going against foes that ignore Vantage, but Ares truly is one of the best (some would say he's #1 even). I don't think more merges is required, it just helps against some of the bulkier foes. At most, going all in on merges (at least up to +9 since the last one is Spd and Res) means he'll get +3 to Atk and Def, which is like 4 or 5 damage to his attacks (assuming he's running Bonfire). Against most foes, that's not super necessary, and definitely not as significant as giving him the right support. I'd say play around with him in other modes for a bit before making a big investment and get a feel for it, see if he grows on you.

6 minutes ago, Tree said:

Today I did two matches. The first one I played awful, but managed to hold onto everyone and get both Aether pots. The second match was rough. Hrid was too strong for Reinhardt, so I had to use L.Azura to buff him first. I got everyone as far away as I could, but L.Lucina marched over, got refreshed by L.Azura, swapped with the Aversa that had moved forward, then got a third turn and took out a unit. Festival Micaiah came in with Wings of Mercy but didn't appear to do anything? It wasn't too hard to clear out the units after that, but getting both pots took some effort since I had to avoid accidentally defeating the last enemy by leaving a unit in range.

I'm not sure how to avoid a L.Lucina with three movement from Azura. It's next to impossible to not leave at least one unit in range of that. The three movement is bad enough, but that combined with Future Vision is another level. She pretty much gets her choice of opponent and will obviously pick the weakest one.

With two runs, I got 180 points and four Aether pots, with -80 on defense. Not too bad, but probably wouldn't won't reach top 3,000 this time since these are the easiest battles usually. Maybe I'll get lucky and run into some theme teams like last season. I surrendered to a couple of those, since my score wasn't great anyway.

Yeah, learning the AI sequence in order to deal with dancers (especially Azura) and Lucina is very important, especially as more and more players acquire them. I've been updating the main page guide slowly during work hours, with a priority on the AI stuff. Knowing how Lucina is going to move is extremely important, and there are definitely tricks you can learn to screw with her.

Don't you have two Dumas? That's a guaranteed 40 Lift saved on Defense right there, pop those bad boys in with some Legendaries or random units with Astra blessing

[Tree]

Sorry for this wall of text. I've put markers so that you both can ignore half if you want too.

 

@XRay

41 minutes ago, XRay said:

I would prioritize Summoner Support for carriers/super tanks. Nukes generally do not need Summoner Support to do well.

It's mainly for the Brave Bow since I wanted as much attack and speed as I could get. I could put in on someone else, but it would have to be someone as widely useful for me to make good use of it. Johann said it's not hard to change back, but I'm not really sure who would be better. Maybe Myrrh?

41 minutes ago, XRay said:

...so maybe I am unfairly downplaying Surtr's effectiveness...

Surtr isn't always hard, but he can be pretty rough sometimes. There was one this last season with 50 res (two Eirs) and the distant defense seal. He couldn't be taken out in one or two hits easily, and the rest of the team was really dangerous ranged units. Caineghis will probably be worse for ranged units, but might not be as bad as Surtr for melee units.

41 minutes ago, XRay said:

I like Sharena because she is the cheapest to build compared to all other options and she is a frequent Bonus unit. Her carry team I put together costs only 600 Divine Dew (Fensalir, Yato, Yato), 80,000 Feathers (the extra 20,000 Feathers is for promoting Titania to get Guard 3), and enough Orbs to get one Distant Counter for Sharena and a second Eir for sustainability and scoring. If a player wants to cut down on Orb costs even more, they can forgo the second Eir and run Aversa or a third M!Corrin. For players on a budget, this is the best team I can think of to help them climb. Even if the player moves on to the another super tank, half of that investment is still relevant for Aether Raids (2 M!Corrins and 2 Eirs are practically the best units for their role, so you generally do not want to change them), and Sharena's investment is still applicable for Arena.

I gave Sharena her special refine, but Distant Counter is expensive. She doesn't have that much resistance either. To be fair, a lot of the original Distant Counter units have similar or worse resistance. The Corrin buffs probably help with that too. I don't really like Corrin though. I'd have to try to get some more copies anyway, since I don't think I have any that aren't manuals. (Checked: I actually have one that's not a book and was marked as good IV [+atk,-res]. Not sure if one is enough though.) Does ally support work in AR? I'm not using it all currently, so maybe that would help.

41 minutes ago, XRay said:

Reinhardt can do Counter-Vantage too, the only downside is Atk-1 compared to L'Arachel, which I do not think it is a big deal.

Well, not being able to lock teams would be one reason. Skill Sets aren't fun to use for me. My L'Arachel is [+spd], but I wasn't sure if she was worth the high investment right now. I already have an Olwen +2 and a blade tome Ursula (although I usually have the cavalry effective tome equipped).

41 minutes ago, XRay said:

If you are new to using Counter-Vantage, I would recommend a cavalry or flier Blade mage for their better mobility (although infantry is fine too), longer reach, and ease of set up, so I would go with Reinhardt (or L'Arachel if you really like her).

I've never used Counter-Vantage. The Blade Tome version was what I had originally considered, but Aversa would probably interfere with that. Ares seems promising, but won't be +10 anytime soon, so I've a little hesitant to use Distant Counter and sacrifice a limited unit (Panne).

41 minutes ago, XRay said:

I provided a short role description for units that stood out to me. You can mix and match a lot of them freely, just remember the minor things like try to keep Laguz and Beorc separate, try not to put Eir with Desperation nukes, etc.

I have to decide on whether Tibarn or Ephraim gets the Heavy Blade seal. I'd also have to decide if Caeda or Tibarn gets Galeforce first.

How would you build Naesala? I'm using Hit and Run currently which is fun.

Myrrh is good, but she can't seem to survive Quickened Pulse Reinhardt. Is there a way to allow her to bait Reinhardt? I'm wondering if it's the extra defense from Azura that's letting Reinhardt quad and use multiple Moonbows. The first time it happened was in regular Arena and I don't remember if Azura was present.

41 minutes ago, XRay said:

Unless you are already in Tier 21, I do not recommend aiming for top 3,000 since it simply is not practical to compete with players with way more Lift than you. Tier 21 players have a 1,600 Lift advantage over Tier 20 players at the start of the season.

I got to Tier 21 recently due to two Eirs even with all -80 losses on defense. Fortunately, it seems somewhat easier than Tier 20, although that is probably only true at the lower, non-competitive end of Tier 21.

 

@Johann

10 minutes ago, Johann said:

For Frederick, I use Fury, WoM, Hone Cavalry, and Atk/Def Bond, so realistically the same kind of skills should work great on Haar.

I used a Frederick to give him the hammer, so he also has Wings of Mercy. The Atk/Def Bond seal has already been upgraded, so no cost there. What seal would Caeda get?

11 minutes ago, Johann said:

• Legendary Ephraim is another amazing AR unit due to how reliable his weapon is, which makes him one of the best Galeforce users, especially in AR. Between him and Tibarn, you would need to pick, but both are truly excellent. Note that next week will be Fire+Light season, so Ephraim would get you a score boost.
• If you haven't given Tibarn Galeforce yet, maybe consider Caeda for that role too. While she lacks Tibarn's guaranteed double (which is usually enough to get through Wary Fighter), she does at least have the armor/cav effectiveness and no need for Heavy Blade seal, freeing up her build options. Both are excellent choices.
• Yeah I'm not sure how to build Naesala myself, but he's definitely usable. I think he's a good choice against certain teams that are hard to reach on maps like Lava Floes, but I'll have to think a bit about what would be the best build for him. Hit and Run is a good call though. When in doubt, I always go with Wings of Mercy.
• If Myrrh is dying to Reinhardt, you're doing something wrong. Are those Reinhardts buffed? Consider bringing along Panic Ploy or Aversa; with Panic and Atk Smoke, even red units can shrug off Reinhardt's specials.
• Dorcas is good, though his middling Res means you'll want to give him some kind of boost (Warding/Mirror Stance, that sort of thing). I use Hawkeye in Astra season, and he's got 42 Res but only 52 Atk and 32 Def. The biggest threat to both of them are people bringing anti-Surtr builds, which usually include Axebreaker and either Deathblow or TA. Otherwise, they're pretty great. Dorcas is a very good counter against flying lance users and Eir, both of which are very popular (and often on the same teams).
• Hmm yeah I have Smite and Draw Back on my Eirs. I also gave them different accessories so I can tell them apart better. I maintain that one of them should keep Smite, since it's rare that your best strategy is to send them both in.

Ephraim and Elincia have Galeforce already. It could make more sense to give Caeda Galeforce for now since she can use the Flashing Blade effect and won't have to compete for the seal. If I give her Wings of Mercy, then is Fury still the best budget A skill? (She already has it.)

The Reinhardt might have been buffed. Perhaps that let him quad since my Myrrh only has 37 defense. It's been awhile, and I haven't let her bait a Quickened Pulse one since. That was the reason my Reinhardt has Quickened Pulse pretty much permanently attached.

Dorcas has the same attack as my Myrrh, but lacks the adaptive damage. His mobility gives him a little bit more freedom over Surtr.

Accessories for Eirs... That's kind of clever.  Now I just have to decide which ones.

29 minutes ago, Johann said:

I'd say play around with him in other modes for a bit before making a big investment and get a feel for it, see if he grows on you.

I've used Ares with Distant Counter in Grand Conquest and he gets work done. He is +10 with 2 flowers though, and I'm not sure how big of a difference map size makes for his survivability. I've probably got enough flowers to give mine the extra point of attack, so that would leave me only about three fewer points of attack than a +10 with flowers.

35 minutes ago, Johann said:

Don't you have two Dumas? That's a guaranteed 40 Lift saved on Defense right there, pop those bad boys in with some Legendaries or random units with Astra blessing

Yup. I just got used to -80 for so long that I forget it's -40. Just checked and I actually defeated one enemy (although it didn't count). My L.Azura sent L.Ike over and took out their L.Azura.

[Johann]

3 minutes ago, Tree said:

Johann said it's not hard to change back, but I'm not really sure who would be better. Maybe Myrrh?

Yeah, takes half as much effort to get S Support back if you've done it already. Myrrh is an excellent choice for it.

3 minutes ago, Tree said:

I used a Frederick to give him the hammer, so he also has Wings of Mercy. The Atk/Def Bond seal has already been upgraded, so no cost there. What seal would Caeda get?

Ephraim and Elincia have Galeforce already. It could make more sense to give Caeda Galeforce for now since she can use the Flashing Blade effect and won't have to compete for the seal. If I give her Wings of Mercy, then is Fury still the best budget A skill? (She already has it.)

Quickened Pulse is a good choice since there are many maps without melee units, or situations where a ranged unit is your ideal target. There may be maps where that kind of flexibility gives you the win, I know it's been that way for me with Cain (though his situation is different since his sword is now sometimes a Brave weapon). Other than that, it's pretty flexible based on what shortcomings she may have or strengths you want to enhance.

Fury is always a good call, especially in AR where getting into WoM range is realistic in many situations, and very much worth capitalizing on when you can do it. I honestly think Fury, Deathblow, WoM, and Atk Smoke are the most valuable 4* summonable passive skills.

3 minutes ago, Tree said:

The Reinhardt might have been buffed. Perhaps that let him quad since my Myrrh only has 37 defense. It's been awhile, and I haven't let her bait a Quickened Pulse one since. That was the reason my Reinhardt has Quickened Pulse pretty much permanently attached.

Dorcas has the same attack as my Myrrh, but lacks the adaptive damage. His mobility gives him a little bit more freedom over Surtr.

Between the two of them, you should be able to figure out some kind of build. Just know that stacking up Res and crashing the enemy's Atk is pretty much the only strategy the slow bulky units can use. With Hawkeye, I use his Slaying Axe, Glimmer, DC, QR (just in case), and Atk Ploy, and I usually end up with HP/Res seal since the more premium Res seals are in use by people with crappier Res. Maybe that can give you some ideas. All of my other tanky units are either fast enough, or getting the most from a skill like Gjoll.

3 minutes ago, Tree said:

Accessories for Eirs... That's kind of clever.  Now I just have to decide which ones.

I use bunny ears! White on Drawby and the summertime one on Smitey.

[XRay]

20 hours ago, Tree said:

It's mainly for the Brave Bow since I wanted as much attack and speed as I could get. I could put in on someone else, but it would have to be someone as widely useful for me to make good use of it. Johann said it's not hard to change back, but I'm not really sure who would be better. Maybe Myrrh?

If you plan to use Myrrh as your super tank or carrier, then I would go with Myrrh.

20 hours ago, Tree said:

I gave Sharena her special refine, but Distant Counter is expensive. She doesn't have that much resistance either. To be fair, a lot of the original Distant Counter units have similar or worse resistance. The Corrin buffs probably help with that too. I don't really like Corrin though. I'd have to try to get some more copies anyway, since I don't think I have any that aren't manuals. (Checked: I actually have one that's not a book and was marked as good IV [+atk,-res]. Not sure if one is enough though.) Does ally support work in AR? I'm not using it all currently, so maybe that would help.

Sharena's Res is not the best normally, but during Light season, 1 Eir would bring Sharena's Res to a respectable 27, and 2 Eirs would bring it up to 32 Res.

Distant Counter is expensive, but it is no more expensive than getting any other 5* exclusive unit. Players will have to save up Orbs and pull for Hector or Nailah whenever they appear.

For M!Corrin, +Atk is great. It would help him fight Surtr more effectively. Ally Support definitely works in Aether Raids.

20 hours ago, Tree said:

The Blade Tome version was what I had originally considered, but Aversa would probably interfere with that.

You just need to Dance/Sing the Counter-Vantage unit to get rid of the Panic debuff from Aversa, and if you are using VS!Azura with her default Atk Tactic, you can simply put the Counter-Vantage unit one space away and still get the buff.

20 hours ago, Tree said:

How would you build Naesala? I'm using Hit and Run currently which is fun.

I have not built mine yet, but I would give mine Desperation for practicality. Hit and Run is fun, but a lot of times I just want my nuke to stay where it is. I did give one of my Cordelias Firesweep-Hit and Run though.

20 hours ago, Tree said:

Myrrh is good, but she can't seem to survive Quickened Pulse Reinhardt. Is there a way to allow her to bait Reinhardt? I'm wondering if it's the extra defense from Azura that's letting Reinhardt quad and use multiple Moonbows. The first time it happened was in regular Arena and I don't remember if Azura was present.

Reinhardt is too slow to double Myrrh unless Reinhardt is +Spd and Myrrh does not have any buffs. Reinhardt just hits super hard, and Myrrh cannot really afford to run anything else other than Iote's Shield. Since her skill set is pretty much unchangeable from her standard optimum set, the only other way to make her survive Reinhardt is to increase her stats directly (via buffs, Light Blessing with Eir on the team, and permanent stat boosts [Dragonflowers, merges, Summoner Support, etc.]) or debuff Reinhardt.

[Tree]

22 hours ago, Johann said:

Yeah, takes half as much effort to get S Support back if you've done it already. Myrrh is an excellent choice for it.

1 hour ago, XRay said:

If you plan to use Myrrh as your super tank or carrier, then I would go with Myrrh.

1 hour ago, XRay said:

Reinhardt is too slow to double Myrrh unless Reinhardt is +Spd and Myrrh does not have any buffs. Reinhardt just hits super hard, and Myrrh cannot really afford to run anything else other than Iote's Shield. Since her skill set is pretty much unchangeable from her standard optimum set, the only other way to make her survive Reinhardt is to increase her stats directly (via buffs, Light Blessing with Eir on the team, and permanent stat boosts [Dragonflowers, merges, Summoner Support, etc.]) or debuff Reinhardt.

Now that I think about it, I don't think it could have been a quad attack, because I don't remember Myrrh getting a chance to counter attack in between. Moonbow and buffs are still rough though.

I gave Myrrh Summoner Support and the Warding Stance seal. (I haven't seen many archers in AR except Bow Lyn.) I used Azura to give +6 to all stats and had Lyon with his Drive Res for an additional +3. I tried two maps today. She took out Ophelia on the first one, and easily cleared out three units on the second.

I didn't lose any units and was able to get one Aether pot on each of the maps. I probably could have gotten some some extra pots if Lyon had something other than Ardent Sacrifice... He now has Swap. Lyon is also pretty decent with +10 to all stats (+4 from bonus, +6 from Azura), Triangle Adept, and the Quick Reposte seal. His special is Vengeance which isn't very good. I need to give him something better.

22 hours ago, Johann said:

I use bunny ears! White on Drawby and the summertime one on Smitey.

I used a mask on one and a bright headband on another. No more getting them mixed up.

1 hour ago, XRay said:

M!Corrin, +Atk is great. It would help him fight Surtr more effectively. Ally Support definitely works in Aether Raids.

I guess I could promote him. I'm not short of swords, but he is a bit different. He could boost Myrrh even further...

1 hour ago, XRay said:

You just need to Dance/Sing the Counter-Vantage unit to get rid of the Panic debuff from Aversa, and if you are using VS!Azura with her default Atk Tactic, you can simply put the Counter-Vantage unit one space away and still get the buff.

That's true. If I find a map with mostly ranged units, I could try it out without having to spend Close Counter.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Tree

[Icelerate]

Here is a galeforce team that works for me. The strategy is to use smite Tibarn onto a trap to get into WoM range or kill a hard hitting unit that puts him into WoM range. Then he can get danced twice and also has a galeforce turn. Nailah is a good secondary attacker because she gets stronger the more allies are near her and has 4 CD galeforce. 

1. Tibarn (sturdy impact, desperation 2, attack smoke 3, heavy blade 3 SS, reposition)

2. Nailah (darting blow 3, wings of mercy 3, glare, flashing blade 3 SS, resposition)

3. Reyson (base kit+drive speed SS and wings of mercy)

4. Leanne(base kit + wings of mercy and drive atk SS on Leanne)/Eir (base kit+smite+flier formation SS)

5. Bonus Unit (smite and link skill)

This is only reliable when Eir is a bonus unit so I can bring Leanne as well. Or else I can only bring one dancer and two gale force units which is inconsistent. 

[Landmaster]

I know this is a thread for Offensive Team building, but is it possible to ask for suggestions for Defensive Teams, especially now that we have the mock battle option available?

[XRay]

49 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

I know this is a thread for Offensive Team building, but is it possible to ask for suggestions for Defensive Teams, especially now that we have the mock battle option available?

The most difficult defense teams I have trouble facing are Ward Flier balls on defense tiles spearheaded by Est. You are not tanking Est unless you are running Helbindi or Hawkeye or something. If you try Surtr, Est will skewer and roast him in his own fire. I usually lose against flier balls.

I also have trouble with Blazing teams with lots of Firesweep nukes for back up. I often have to sacrifice at least a unit, but I at least have a much better chance of winning.

[Landmaster]

7 minutes ago, XRay said:

The most difficult defense teams I have trouble facing are Ward Flier balls on defense tiles spearheaded by Est. You are not tanking Est unless you are running Helbindi or Hawkeye or something. If you try Surtr, Est will skewer and roast him in his own fire. I usually lose against flier balls.

I also have trouble with Blazing teams with lots of Firesweep nukes for back up. I often have to sacrifice at least a unit, but I at least have a much better chance of winning.

Unfortunately, I haven't really invested heavily in any fliers, so a well built Flier Ball isn't really a possible for me to do~

If it's not too much trouble and you have space in your Friend List, would you mind testing my current setup? 7926931216 is my FC~

This is what I'm currently running with

I will admit, this isn't really a consistent team besides Yune, as I usually change the Legendaries for the Season and I've just added Roy recently, but I've seen some good results. So I'll probably keep Alm and L!Azura, at the least, if you think it's working. I'm also thinking of adding Fallen Delthea to it for some WOM nuke potential.

[XRay]

6 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

If it's not too much trouble and you have space in your Friend List, would you mind testing my current setup? 7926931216 is my FC~

Sure. I just added you. My name is "金剛$€£¥!X¤Ray" in game.