saisymbolic

Should be around tonight. For EST, I know it's around 10:00 or 11:00 PM. Leaning on 11:00 PM EST.

Nope. I draw more enjoyment stacking buffs through drives and spurs.

Helbendi, for being pretty decent in a overall bad cast of characters. He's a simple but effective character, in my opinion, which I appreciate. Alfonse, for being the only one out of the Askr trio + Fjorm to have any semblance of character progression / development.

Someone on Reddit did suggest IS just went ahead and added the Muspell character data now so they won't have to do it in the future, which really doesn't say or mean anything in concerns to the upcoming banner. Just means that IS may have decided to save time.

I pull on the Nohrian Dusk banner and my free unit is +Spd -Def Hinoka. How ironic.

No. Not Helbendi and the Ink Machine. Please, anyone but him (or the numerous other heroes I'm waiting for). It's like they knew exactly what kind of stats to give him to tempt my summoning hand. Units with mixed bulk are my Achilles' Heel. I finally got back to 100 orbs on my account a day ago; I don't want to blow them trying to get Best Boy.

I know Silas is the obvious demote, but Ophelia kinda gives me demote vibes, too. Outside of her assist and maybe Chill Res, her base kit is a little lackluster to me.

I think it has something to do with the VA unions? Honestly not completely sure of it myself, but I think that's the reason Laura Bailey isn't credited or Lucina's VA any longer. EDIT: sniped lol

If we get Garon as a GHB for Nohr, do you think we may get Sumeragi or Mikoto for a Hoshido banner? If IS ever deigns it worthy of one, that is. On topic, I'm sort of excited for Garon, because I actually like his design. And I want to see the dialogue, stats and weapon he'll be given. inb4 he's

There are dozens of us! Dozens!

No Mozu. No Shura. Thank goodness, my orbs are safe. At least Silas is the obvious demote, and he'll be in the 4* pool. And possibly Steady Stance as well. Good.

Speaking of Sacred Seals, the coins used to unlock and upgrade them, the Sacred Coins, are somewhat scarce in availability. The main ways to get them are as: Rewards during Tempest Trials Daily quest rewards during Voting Gauntlets Rewarded to you after an arena season (the amount depends on your ranking) Rewarded to you as you participate during Grand Conquests Because of how limited these are, you should try to get as many as you can when possible and prioritize which Sacred Seals to unlock and upgrade depending on your needs. For someone just starting out, here are some suggestions: Unlock Quick Riposte Distant Defense and Close Defense Drive Attack and Drive Defense Spur Attack, Spur Speed and Spur Defense Hone Attack and Hone Speed The one most important to upgrade to level 3, in my opinion, is Quick Riposte. It is such a useful Sacred Seal that comes in handy at all times, especially if you decide to use F2P guides to clear the GHB maps. I also want to mention not bothering to unlock or upgrade the stat boost (HP+3, Atk+1, etc.) Sacred Seals. By now, you probably already know you get copies of them when completing the training quests available to people just starting the game. Of course, again, this depends on personal preference, but they aren't as important when you're starting out. Or, at least, they aren't really a priority.

It's fine. I didn't take it that way, so don't worry about it. But I will address two points, but only because they stood out to me. I mean, that is why I said "in my opinion." In my opinion, a good villain does challenge the protagonist. Perhaps I should have specified that there are exceptions to this, and the way they challenge the characters vary. But, overall, their presence should somehow spark a change in the main character(s) via by opposing the main character directly or causing some event to happen that is a catalyst. Of those villains that you mentioned and I knew of them, I can say that I personally think the majority range from mediocre to just bad as villains. That includes both Nergal and Lyon. Ashnard, though, I was actually going to mention as a good force of nature character but decided to cut it because I didn't want the post to be too long. I'm not asking for a character study, but I do want decently written characters. And nuance, to me, isn't some esoteric concept that includes some Nietzche or Jung-level psychology elements of the character. If anything, a nuanced character can be incredibly simple for me to be satisfied. I can't speak for anyone else, but there's a reason why I favor Helbendi. And it has less to do with his character and more about the execution of him. You say he's not any more nuanced or subtle than Surtr, but I beg to differ. In the span of a few chapters, Helbendi has established more about his character than any of the others combined outside of maybe Alfonse and Elder Fire Sister. And the story portrays this clearly via a good mix of telling and showing. Literally, that static portrait of Helbendi and his silence when Elder Fire Sister told him the news spoke volumes more than any of Surtr's numerous lines of dialogue did through out the entirety of Book 2. That scene in general was a boon to both him and Elder Fire Sister. And, I suppose my qualms comes down to not so great writing, which the characters are a result of, than the actual characters themselves. And I'm quoting this again because I hope I didn't come off as aggressive in my post. Just kinda elaborating on my opinions. I honestly might make a topic talking about the writing in FE and what fans personally want.

Please don't be Flora. Because that gives me hope. If Shura gets into this game, I will cry. If Mozu comes, I will disappear into oblivion. Because I have no orbs. I just vowed to myself not to pull on any banners until specific characters were on them and made a list to remind myself. Mozu, Shura and Flora were on the list. I never thought I would reach the day where I'm praying with all my might for my favorite character to be demoted to the 3-4* pool, or to be shafted as a GHB or TT unit just so I can have them in my barracks.

My thoughts on Surtr: Positives: I quite like his design. I won't say it's groundbreaking by any means, but I think he looks cool and gets across the kind of place Muspell is and the kind of character Surtr is. Negatives: Um, everything else? So, let me explain. I do agree with the notion that Surtr is meant to be more a force of nature than a person - or, at least, that's how he comes off to me. But, whether he's a force of nature or not, he's bad regardless. This stems from two major things, in my opinion: 1.) The Book 2 plot line and characters were abruptly and poorly introduced. Had the conflict between Fire and Ice Lands been foreshadowed or mentioned Day 1, I think all the characters involved would have benefited greatly, and we as players would have been more receptive to the shift. Because there was no build up of the Fire-Ice Land Conflict in any type of way, there is no cohesion between the two plot points. This makes Surtr seem more like a "villain of the week," instead of an intimidating force that looms over the heroes like the writers may have been trying to achieve. and 2.) He offers nothing to the story or characters in any way. A good villain, in my opinion, challenges the main character(s) on a fundamental level; they make the character(s) change internally by forcing them to constantly reexamine, readjust or reaffirm themselves internally throughout the narrative. Surtr does not do that. At all. Ever. He does nothing for the narrative other than provide pain for the characters and players. And not even good pain that serves a narrative purpose, such as character development or plot advancement. Just pain from being a stain on an already mediocre plot. They could replace him with a talking amorphous blob, and things would still be the same. The thing with "force of nature" villains is that a writer can forego certain elements of them without compromising the effectiveness of the villain too much. This is because a "force of nature" villain is not about who they are but what they represent. The best force of nature villain I've ever experienced is Fire Lord Ozai from Avatar: the Last Airbender. What he lacked in characterization was more than made up for in what he represented in opposition to the main character, Aang. He forced Aang to constantly change as Aang desperately sought a way to defeat him in a manner that didn't compromise his core values and beliefs. I don't see that with Surtr. He's just . . . not good. At all. And the only thing that will make me happy at this point is when he dies for good, never to return. Ever. also best boi is helbendi and the ink machine get it straight

For certain, my most common boon/bane combo would be +RES -SPD, which I've grown oddly fond of these days.

Easy. Predictably, he'd be in his Begnion red armor. Black Luna would be changed to Crimson Luna; same skill, different name. He'd have a prf weapon called "General's Blade" that gives him +4/4/4/4 if a staff or mage unit is within two spaces; this is homage to Sephiran and Sanaki. His A-skill is Sturdy Stance. His B-skill is Bold Fighter. He'd have a prf C-skill called "General's Aura" that gives him and allies within two spaces +6/6/6/6 during combat if unit's BST > allies within two spaces. His BST would be 175. I choose Eliwood.

I'm probably going to pull blue, gray and green. I'm 50/50 on pulling red; I want Marth for my fire team, but I'm afraid of risking a Lene or Swordhardt.

Oh nice. I knew my explanation was probably wrong somewhere. It's good to know the particulars.

From what I can understand, yes, it's a mix of Guard and Breath. "At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 50%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge - 1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)" So, it doesn't matter who initiates combat from what I can tell from the description. What only matters is if the unit who has the skill has HP equal to or above 50%. And, then there's "per attack," which I'm assuming means the penalty and boon will apply no matter who attacks however many times. So, as long as Ephraim has 50% or more of his HP, his enemy's cooldown charge will go up by 1 and his will go down by 1 per each attack made, regardless of who initiates combat. I think that's how it goes, at least.

I was incredibly lucky this time around. What I got in 80 orbs was: Morgan (F) (+RES -HP) Minerva (+DEF -RES) Ephraim (Brave) (Neutral) Hector (Brave) (Neutral) Hector was from the free selection, and I pulled him after pulling Ephraim. But, I guess Ephraim could telepathically sense that I was going to go for either him or Hector, so he decided to throw me a bone and come home to where he and Hector both belonged. I thought about going back in with my remaining orbs to get merges or Veronica, but I'm gonna wait untl September to see the new heroes announced before deciding. Or not go back at all, to be honest. On a side note, this summoning session was extremely good for me, because I got literally less than 15 red orbs in total the 4 summoning circles I pulled.

HEY Lon'qu has high HP and speed and can be a discount Karel. Granted, Karel himself isn't particularly sought after, but he has a niche in the F2P pool for being a Panic Ploying, Infantry Pulsing, high speed meat shield. But I do agree with your overall statement, as unfortunate as it is.

I mean, I guess it depends on how one defines "low tier." The only units I can think of are Odin and Henry, and even then, they have their own strengths that make them usable in some way. Speaking of M!Corrin, I have mine as a magic sponge cheerleader for Alfonse. I decided to use a +RES -SPD nature and slap DC+ QR3 on him because I wanted to be different. That super boon in RES evens up his defenses, and I love looking at it. I also have a +DEF -RES Donnel that is also a magic sponge panic starter. He has Berkut's Lance because, again, I wanted to be different. Besides, that +7 RES if a foe initiates is nothing to sniff at. And, lastly, I'm working on a Lon'qu for Miracle + Vantage + WoM shenanigans. Really don't know what I'm aiming for or if it'll work, but I don't really care.

Let's see. 1.) I kind of want a mix of several of the presented options. In particular, the first three. I want to see the development of the three main characters, and I want to see how they each personally view the conflict. Because I'm a fan of character development, positive or negative. And I also want to see Byleth grow as a mentor and what lessons the main characters take from them. I understand people's reservations about Avatars, but, if the game is going to present me with a permanent character that I have to play with, I want them to have some semblance of growth. Like, there's a way of allowing the supporting characters grow without their growth eclipsing the main characters'. 2.) I'm gonna go with more elements from the Tellius series, the Base Conversations being my number one. I agree that having some AI similarities, such as bosses trading items and stuff like that, but I'm not sure if the squad mechanic will work with something like that. I'll wait and see on that note. 3.) My favorite so far is Dimitri with Claude as a close second and Byleth in third. No offense to Edelgard, but I have a inkling of how she will be characterized, and I'm honestly more interested in the other three cast members that we know nothing about. Really hoping they make them somewhat nuanced with their internal struggles and beliefs, but I'm not asking for some character study. 4.) I'm really excited but in a subdued fashion. When the game is released, I'm probably going to watch a walkthrough of it before buying it. Part of me wants the JP version to release before the US version so that I can watch gameplay with minimal spoilers via language barrier. But, I know others want to worldwide release, which is also fine. I'm going to buy a Switch when I decide to buy Three Houses, so there's a high chance Three Houses will be either a pre-order or a pre-download (if the Switch has those) for me. 4.) Have a Nintendo Direct. Better yet, release the game. I'd rather get a decent grasp of the characters and story from the source, rather than a mobile game. That's just my preference.

My process of choosing pairs: favoritism for certain characters, chemistry between parents, and stats in that order. I choose my favorite characters and focus on unlocking their support options, which admittedly can take a long while. Luckily, I don't have that many characters I trip over myself about. Next, I decide which pairings I enjoyed the most. This step takes the longest for certain characters. For example, Mozu takes me the longest to pair in Fates, especially in Revelations, when I'm stuck between deciding between Kaze, Saizou, Laslow, Ryoma or Xander. Then, there are some like Odin, who I pair exclusively with Elise - Kagero if playing Revelations - which leads me to my final point. Stats. I simultaneously care and don't care about stats. If a pairing I enjoy produces a kid with a decent stat spread, that's good. If it doesn't, I make lemonade out of lemons. The Odin-Kagero example is perfect for this, because it's obvious that their child will be a hodge-podge of stats. But their chemistry together, in my opinon, overrides that, so I just rock a Dark Knight Ophelia and call it a day. On hair color, the only time I care about it is when dealing with the Avatar's kids. I don't care if Hisame gets Hinoka's garish red hair - he's not my kid. But I'll be damned if my Caeldori walks around looking like a clown with tacky celery-colored hair because I chose the wrong hair color when making my Avatar. So, when it comes to that, I have to plan early on if my Avatar is going to marry a first gen parent or if I'll slap them with a Avatar-exclusive; the latter of which is usually the case.