Mythic Hero - Nerþuz: God of the Land

[Ice Dragon]

Nerthuz was previously announced during the Feh Channel, but her trailer is now officially out:

 

[Ice Dragon]

Alarm is a significantly more lenient Rouse skill, requiring there be no more than 2 adjacent units to activate the start-of-turn effect and no more than 1 adjacent unit to activate the in-combat stat boost instead of having the Solo condition. The Canto effect is the previously existing Canto (1) status effect. Inheritance restrictions are not known, but the skill is at most only usable by infantry and cavalry due to the restrictions on Rouse, which is undoubtedly its base skill due to its Japanese name.

It's good that they realized that Rouse's condition kind of sucked and fixed it for Alarm. As I mentioned in the Feh Channel thread, it's really hard to use Rouse's condition in Aether Raids where space is extremely limited.

On the other hand, Alarm having Rouse as a base is kind of a bummer since it means fliers are unable to use it as an alternative source for Canto.

 

Fruit of Life grants a 40% damage reduction version of the original Ice Mirror against the opponent's first attack and, if the in-combat condition of Alarm is satisfied (no more than 1 adjacent unit), the offensive half of Tempo and Gravity+.

Horn of the Land is the same weapon she used as an enemy unit, granting the Slaying effect, +5 to all stats, an additional bonus to all stats equal to double her max Special cooldown, Special charge rate +1, and both halves of Null Follow-Up.

Basically, you're supposed to use her default Galeforce, but she can actually viably use Aether for more damage and sustain at the cost of not having Galeforce.

 

Unsure how much I'm willing to spend on this banner because I have other things that will eat my budget next month (most notably an anime convention), but it's really tempting to put some budget into this banner because it has Shez in it, making blue pretty damned valuable.

 

And my translation notes copied from the Feh Channel thread:

Nerthuz's epithet, "God of the Land", is "地の女神" (chi no megami), "Goddess of the Land".

Horn of the Land is "地の女神の角" (chi no megami no tsuno), "Horns of the Goddess of the Land".

Fruit of Life is "地に生まれ地に還る" (chi ni umare chi ni kaeru), "(That Which Is) Born From the Land Returns to the Land"

Alarm Atk/Spd is "攻撃速さの奮進" (kōgeki hayasa no funshin), "Atk/Spd Rousing Advance".

[Xenomata]

Something I'm kind of surprised they haven't implemented yet: an effect for explicit Galeforce units that, if the units special is not fully charged, will not be fully charged from the current attack, and their first attack would kill, it would instead leave the target with 1 HP, ergo avoiding the possibility that the first attack just kills and leaving the unit in the middle of a pack of enemies.
With how common damage reduction has become for most PP units as well as how much stronger they've become, it's not like letting the enemy get one attack in will always spell doom anymore outside of units that ignore damage reduction.

...oh right goat milf the aunt. Uhhhhh nothing too out of the ordinary, Alarm Atk/Spd is cool and lets a unit pack a better B passive without giving up the Canto effect (even if it is reduced to [Canto 1] from [Canto Rem. +1]), none of the other units on offer interest me besides Ganglot (and she only gets a pass because of Arcane Downfall) gonna skip because I want Arcane Luin more.

[Humanoid]

Tricky because it's hard to get a feel to how this "hit and walk" playstyle works out in practice with the weaker Canto. It's the type of thing that ideally you'd want a trial of before buying, so to speak. Sure the Gravity effect prevents enemies adjacent to your victim from chasing you down, but for maps with masses of enemies you're still pretty exposed unless you use the Galeforced move to retreat.

But yeah, it's blue or nothing. Don't know at this point because I'm not familiar with what Deirdre's gimmick is. Shez is a great unit but my +1 Neutral copy performs excellently as is. Besides that, I don't have any of the red units or Arval, but don't really care.

[Etrurian emperor]

I think its kind of a bad timing to add an OC without it being clear what they're about. We know Nerthuz is the funny lady who goes ''Oh Alfonse-kun! Its sooo adorable how you killed my children!'' but her role in the story isn't really established yet. You'd think that makes people less interested to pull for her.

[Mercakete]

56 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I think its kind of a bad timing to add an OC without it being clear what they're about. We know Nerthuz is the funny lady who goes ''Oh Alfonse-kun! Its sooo adorable how you killed my children!'' but her role in the story isn't really established yet. You'd think that makes people less interested to pull for her.

Eh, she was doting on Sharena more than Alfonse. Also, they're her niece and nephew. Also, said niece is not dead (yet.) Also, I think it was more Kiran who afflicted them more than Alfonse, who may not have even been in the dream world for that.

All that said, I think her role is basically just "get the Ar" (both in the present and in the past, where in the present you got it from her and in the past you'll (probably) get it from Njordr with her help.) So, basically, we've seen all she is already. That's just a guess, but that's the way it looks to me.

[Rinco]

Hope I can get the last two merges I need for Claude

[Diovani Bressan]

Nerpuz looks to be a very good unit. I kinda want at least one copy, to have her as my bonus mythic for the next 4 Light seasons... but I also want to summon for Peony next month... I will see what I will do.

6 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Something I'm kind of surprised they haven't implemented yet: an effect for explicit Galeforce units that, if the units special is not fully charged, will not be fully charged from the current attack, and their first attack would kill, it would instead leave the target with 1 HP, ergo avoiding the possibility that the first attack just kills and leaving the unit in the middle of a pack of enemies.

Would be interesting to have the Mercy skill in FEH. Just like how Brave Ike and Gotoh grant the Desperation effect to foes, this skill would grant the Miracle effect to foes on the first attack only (and maybe 2nd attack as well if unit has the "attack twice" effect).

[Xenomata]

4 hours ago, Humanoid said:

But yeah, it's blue or nothing. Don't know at this point because I'm not familiar with what Deirdre's gimmick is.

Basically have higher Res than the enemy for massive gains, and a one-per-map Miracle built into her Prf version of 2-cooldown Iceberg. On top of the usual murder-all-dragons effects.

[Ice Dragon]

7 hours ago, Xenomata said:

Something I'm kind of surprised they haven't implemented yet: an effect for explicit Galeforce units that, if the units special is not fully charged, will not be fully charged from the current attack, and their first attack would kill, it would instead leave the target with 1 HP, ergo avoiding the possibility that the first attack just kills and leaving the unit in the middle of a pack of enemies.
With how common damage reduction has become for most PP units as well as how much stronger they've become, it's not like letting the enemy get one attack in will always spell doom anymore outside of units that ignore damage reduction.

45 minutes ago, Diovani Bressan said:

Would be interesting to have the Mercy skill in FEH. Just like how Brave Ike and Gotoh grant the Desperation effect to foes, this skill would grant the Miracle effect to foes on the first attack only (and maybe 2nd attack as well if unit has the "attack twice" effect).

From a design perspective, it's better that there isn't a way to keep the opponent alive longer to charge Galeforce. As it is right now, Galeforce rewards players for using the second action to attack instead of retreat so that the second round of combat will charge Galeforce back up to the point where it will activate on the first action of the next turn even if the next opponent dies in a single hit.

That said, I don't think adding such an effect would really cause much of an issue. As an inheritable skill, it would have to compete with generally better skills in that slot, trading combat performance for an easier time activating Galeforce (as long as the reduced combat performance doesn't get you killed). As an effect on an exclusive skill, it would just be a worse version of Raging Storm since it still ties up the Special slot.

 

5 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Tricky because it's hard to get a feel to how this "hit and walk" playstyle works out in practice with the weaker Canto. It's the type of thing that ideally you'd want a trial of before buying, so to speak. Sure the Gravity effect prevents enemies adjacent to your victim from chasing you down, but for maps with masses of enemies you're still pretty exposed unless you use the Galeforced move to retreat.

Honestly, it's pretty similar to just using a unit that has Canto (1) without Galeforce. Attacking twice with Galeforce and using Canto (1) to get out isn't too much different from attacking once without Galeforce and using Canto (1) to get out.

 

5 hours ago, Humanoid said:

But yeah, it's blue or nothing. Don't know at this point because I'm not familiar with what Deirdre's gimmick is.

Deirdre's main gimmick is her Special granting the Miracle effect once per map on top of its regular damage effect. And she has the usual tools for slaying dragons (effective damage against dragons, nullifying targeting the lower defensive stat, and gigantic magic bulk).

On top of that, she's a relatively decent unit for fodder, as she comes with Still Water 4, Atk/Res Tempo, and Atk/Res Menace.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Ice Dragon

[Humanoid]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

Honestly, it's pretty similar to just using a unit that has Canto (1) without Galeforce. Attacking twice with Galeforce and using Canto (1) to get out isn't too much different from attacking once without Galeforce and using Canto (1) to get out.

Yeah, for numerically fair encounters isn't probably not a major concern. I'm mostly thinking of content like (Limited) Mythic Hero Battles I guess where I'd typically want to blow up two enemy units pretty much next to each other (given the enemy density of those maps) then retreat back to the starting position. In a scenario like that I can see Nerthuz ending the turn flapping in the wind and getting ganked by multiple enemies.

Looking at Deirdre now, she'd probably be my best blue infantry mage so that's a point in her favour. The competition is pretty weak in my barracks, with the next best probably being a -Spd Byleth, an unbuilt Monica, and Guinivere. But infantry mages aren't something I'm particularly inclined to seek out, so she's more of just a bonus. I can probably spend enough to get one unit from the banner and still have enough in reserve to spark the Fallen banner, but I'm also inclined to do neither and just passively accumulate orbs until I'm more active again with actual content. We'll probably be on the next gen BST by then.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Humanoid

[Ice Dragon]

8 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Yeah, for numerically fair encounters isn't probably not a major concern. I'm mostly thinking of content like (Limited) Mythic Hero Battles I guess where I'd typically want to blow up two enemy units pretty much next to each other (given the enemy density of those maps) then retreat back to the starting position. In a scenario like that I can see Nerthuz ending the turn flapping in the wind and getting ganked by multiple enemies.

That's still better than not having Canto at all. Having Canto (1) means that a unit using Reposition has to move 1 fewer space to do so, and if said unit has Canto (Rem.) or Canto (Rem.+1), it can retreat an additional 2 spaces compared to if Nerthuz didn't have Canto at all.

If you're still getting ganked with Canto (1), you'd just have been more ganked without it.

[Humanoid]

4 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

That's still better than not having Canto at all.

Of course. I'm just comparing her utility against the common Galeforce plus (Rem+1) Canto melee cavalry builds these days. Granted they're probably non-Beast units, but I'm thinking of the trade-off between them all the same.

[Tybrosion]

8 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I think its kind of a bad timing to add an OC without it being clear what they're about. We know Nerthuz is the funny lady who goes ''Oh Alfonse-kun! Its sooo adorable how you killed my children!'' but her role in the story isn't really established yet. You'd think that makes people less interested to pull for her.

We're getting a CYL Gullveig in August despite still knowing very little about her six chapters into Book VII. Also, Nerthuz's niece (Freyja) is one of the most popular FEH OCs.

Story presence and/or personality are practically worthless when IS knows full well that horny sells. Why else do you think they brought Yoshiku back for this back after Freyja proved to be a big hit?

[Fire Emblem Fan]

I'm definitely going for blue with my free summon, if blue is there. It's the best selection by far.

[Some Jerk]

Update is out and results are in on Alarm Atk/Spd's inheritance restrictions: it's 1-range Cavalry only. Other Rouse users like Infantry and 2-range Cavs need not apply, this new toy is for melee Cavs alone.

Not as limiting as I expected, but still pretty limiting. If your unit preference isn't hit-and-run Cavs, you're not gonna get much use out of this one. Dance-Canto shenanigans are also a moot point since all Cavalry Dancers except for L!Ninian are ranged.

 

...L!Ninian, you say...

Edited April 28, 2023 by Some Jerk

[Othin]

I wonder if they'll make an Oath version for 1-range fliers.

[Stahlwart]

If I read her text right, Nerþuz needs to start the turn away from non-beasts/dragons to transform and get her Impact effect. Either that or trade Fruit of Life for Fomortiis or Embla's B skill. Given the cramped space of AR that has been discussed, she's probably not going to have the benefit of the Impact effect on most of her attack runs.

Do you think that's going to hamper her effectiveness? Or do you think Beast Follow-Up would have better results than Fruit of Life? (I see now that inheriting Embla's wouldn't be ideal, since Nerþuz already has NFU in her weapon). Thanks for any insight.

[Ice Dragon]

43 minutes ago, Stahlwart said:

If I read her text right, Nerþuz needs to start the turn away from non-beasts/dragons to transform and get her Impact effect. Either that or trade Fruit of Life for Fomortiis or Embla's B skill. Given the cramped space of AR that has been discussed, she's probably not going to have the benefit of the Impact effect on most of her attack runs.

Do you think that's going to hamper her effectiveness? Or do you think Beast Follow-Up would have better results than Fruit of Life? (I see now that inheriting Embla's wouldn't be ideal, since Nerþuz already has NFU in her weapon). Thanks for any insight.

I personally haven't had too much trouble getting Nerthuz transformed since I have Ash and Mila on every Light offense team for points and functional value. Light season also has Freyja and Askr as on-season Mythic Heroes that don't impede Nerthuz's transformation.

Additionally, Nerthuz isn't really in significant need of the Impact effect anyways. I've found that she has a pretty bad habit of one-shotting things and failing to activate Galeforce because of it.

[Stahlwart]

On 5/12/2023 at 12:31 AM, Ice Dragon said:

I personally haven't had too much trouble getting Nerthuz transformed since I have Ash and Mila on every Light offense team for points and functional value. Light season also has Freyja and Askr as on-season Mythic Heroes that don't impede Nerthuz's transformation.

Additionally, Nerthuz isn't really in significant need of the Impact effect anyways. I've found that she has a pretty bad habit of one-shotting things and failing to activate Galeforce because of it.

Thanks for the help. So far her results on my galeforce team are mixed. I needed her to one-shot b!Seliph, which was probably statistically impossible with his miracle effect, but what really surprised me is that he would OHKO her on retaliation. Anyway, I'll see how she does.

[Othin]

6 hours ago, Stahlwart said:

Thanks for the help. So far her results on my galeforce team are mixed. I needed her to one-shot b!Seliph, which was probably statistically impossible with his miracle effect, but what really surprised me is that he would OHKO her on retaliation. Anyway, I'll see how she does.

There's no such thing as statistically impossible, but one-shotting Seliph is just regular impossible. At least, unless you do it without moving. Note that the further you move, the harder he'll hit back.