"Ask Fire Emblem Heroes Questions and Get Them Answered Here" Thread

[Xenomata]

3 minutes ago, Reddazrael said:

Here I am, with a stupid question about merging heroes.

I have multiple Exalted Chroms. The one I'm keeping is not yet at Lv 40,  but I'm impatient. If I merge the extras with him now, will he retain the stat boost they give him, or will his stats just level out as per usual once he hits Lv 40? I'm 99% sure he keeps the stat boosts, but I don't want to get to Lv 40 and see that his stats ended up being 41/53/28/37/20 despite the fact that I fed him the blood of his people.

Thanks!

He does retain the stat boosts.

Here's a link to where you can read more about how merging allies works. Generally speaking however, units only lose the stat boosts when they are promoted to a higher rarity.

[Reddazrael]

@Xenomata Thanks so much!

[XRay]

56 minutes ago, Nanima said:

Okay, so I know I have asked this before and while I did get an answer, I'm still not entirely sure about the whole thing.

So you see, my Ryouma has one of the worst possbile IV spreads for him: +Def -Spd. Since I want to use him regardless as the chances of pulling another, better Ryouma at some point are pretty slim, I had someone here recommend the good old Fury+Vantage build. Which would work out, but it really just leaves him as a worse version of my Y!Tiki. The only thing he would gave going for him over her is no Falchion weakness, which is only good if you know what enemies you'll be facing.

I would love to hear if anyone has any suggestions for a different build for him. Something that actually makes him worth using besides character bias and arena assault.

I do not recommend Vantage unless there is a specific unit you need to counter. If you still want to use Vantage, I recommend running Quick Riposte Sacred Seal to back it up. Even if Ryoma is +Spd, he is not going to double many units as Player Phase units have a Speed advantage over Enemy Phase units with Swift Sparrow and Life and Death.

The best Enemy Phase Ryoma I can come up with in the calculator is this:

Ryoma +Spd, -Res
Raijinto, Dragon Fang
Steady Breath, Quick Riposte
Speed +3
Enemies +Spd, Fury overwrite
Enemy Phase 179:18:31
Enemy Phase [+Def, -Spd] 160:42:26
Enemy Phase [+Def, -Spd, Moonbow, Fury] 162:18:48

The only units that I can think of that reliably runs Vantage well by itself are Blade-Close Counter-Vantage mages since their Atk can be boosted to absurd levels to kill things in one hit. As a melee unit, Ryoma does not make the cut in my opinion, unless the melee unit is Laevatein.

[Nanima]

3 minutes ago, XRay said:

I do not recommend Vantage unless there is a specific unit you need to counter. If you still want to use Vantage, I recommend running Quick Riposte Sacred Seal to back it up. Even if Ryoma is +Spd, he is not going to double many units as Player Phase units have a Speed advantage over Enemy Phase units with Swift Sparrow and Life and Death.

The best Enemy Phase Ryoma I can come up with in the calculator is this:

Ryoma +Spd, -Res
Raijinto, Dragon Fang
Steady Breath, Quick Riposte
Speed +3
Enemies +Spd, Fury overwrite
Enemy Phase 179:18:31
Enemy Phase [+Def, -Spd] 160:42:26
Enemy Phase [+Def, -Spd, Moonbow, Fury] 162:18:48

The only units that I can think of that reliably runs Vantage well by itself are Blade-Close Counter-Vantage mages since their Atk can be boosted to absurd levels to kill things in one hit. As a melee unit, Ryoma does not make the cut in my opinion, unless the melee unit is Laevatein.

I wasn't planning on doing Vantage. (I use it only on units that can actually take a hit and dish out in return.) I think using him for player-phase works out best for him with his stats.

[Xenomata]

@XRay He unfortunately seems to only have +Def -Spd to work with on Ryoma...32 Speed doesn't stop him from being doubled, but there are certainly ways to stop being doubled.

@Nanima If you want him to avoid doubles and still want Raijinto equipped, you'd need to give him Speed +3 SS to get him back up to the 35 benchmark, which stops doubling from units at 39 spd or lower. Do also always remember that Hone Speed, Spur Speed, Drive Speed, and various other C skills and weapons can help him as well, to the point where he won't miss the lost speed. Eirika and Ephraim make good partners since they can both give him 4/4/4/0 Field Buffs.

Fury 3 is a general stat increase that any unit enjoys having, Speed/Defense Bond keeps him bulky so long as he remains near someone, Attack/Speed Bond is Lnd3 without the defensive penalty so long as he is next to someone, and Steady Stance is still a good option (get his speed up, give him a powerful 3 charge Special and release death). Unfortunately they are all rare skills, and like you said they are all on units who are usually worth keeping one copy of or are just impossible to get ahold of nowadays.

I also do not think making him player phase is a good idea. Not because he's bad at it, but because he is a Melee Infantry, which is boggled by a number of weaknesses that other units don't suffer from (2 movement, restricted by forests and rivers, Hone/Fortify Infantry does not exist, other movement types are just generally better at player phase) and he is a possessor of a DC weapon, which all things considered is one reason why he's been so high on tier lists for the first year of FEH.

[XRay]

32 minutes ago, Nanima said:

I wasn't planning on doing Vantage. (I use it only on units that can actually take a hit and dish out in return.) I think using him for player-phase works out best for him with his stats.

His Player Phase performance is pretty bad for the amount of investment you have to put in.

Ryoma +Def, -Spd
Wo Dao [Spd], Moonbow
Life and Death, Desperation
Speed +3
Enemies +Spd, Fury overwrite
Player Phase 111:6:111

For reference, if you just kept Wo Dao and Life and Death on their respective default users:

Athena neutral
Wo Dao [Spd], Moonbow
Fury, Desperation
Speed +3
Enemies +Spd, Fury overwrite
Player Phase 135:5:88

Hana neutral
Armorsmasher [Spd], Moonbow
Life and Death, Deperation
Speed +3
Enemies +Spd, Fury overwrite
Player Phase 163:26:39

21 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

 He unfortunately seems to only have +Def -Spd to work with on Ryoma...32 Speed doesn't stop him from being doubled, but there are certainly ways to stop being doubled.

Being doubled matters less on an Enemy Phase unit since they have Quick Riposte to preserve their doubling potential to dish the damage back out. Moonbow-Fury-Quick Riposte-Speed +3 is an affordable option that allows Ryoma to perform decently well:

37 minutes ago, XRay said:

Ryoma +Spd, -Res
Raijinto, Dragon Fang
Steady Breath, Quick Riposte
Speed +3
Enemies +Spd, Fury overwrite
Enemy Phase 179:18:31
Enemy Phase [+Def, -Spd] 160:42:26
Enemy Phase [+Def, -Spd, Moonbow, Fury] 162:18:48

 

Edited March 10, 2018 by XRay

[Nanima]

28 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

@XRay He unfortunately seems to only have +Def -Spd to work with on Ryoma...32 Speed doesn't stop him from being doubled, but there are certainly ways to stop being doubled.

@Nanima If you want him to avoid doubles and still want Raijinto equipped, you'd need to give him Speed +3 SS to get him back up to the 35 benchmark, which stops doubling from units at 39 spd or lower. Do also always remember that Hone Speed, Spur Speed, Drive Speed, and various other C skills and weapons can help him as well, to the point where he won't miss the lost speed. Eirika and Ephraim make good partners since they can both give him 4/4/4/0 Field Buffs.

Fury 3 is a general stat increase that any unit enjoys having, Speed/Defense Bond keeps him bulky so long as he remains near someone, Attack/Speed Bond is Lnd3 without the defensive penalty so long as he is next to someone, and Steady Stance is still a good option (get his speed up, give him a powerful 3 charge Special and release death). Unfortunately they are all rare skills, and like you said they are all on units who are usually worth keeping one copy of or are just impossible to get ahold of nowadays.

I also do not think making him player phase is a good idea. Not because he's bad at it, but because he is a Melee Infantry, which is boggled by a number of weaknesses that other units don't suffer from (2 movement, restricted by forests and rivers, Hone/Fortify Infantry does not exist, other movement types are just generally better at player phase) and he is a possessor of a DC weapon, which all things considered is one reason why he's been so high on tier lists for the first year of FEH.

 

8 minutes ago, XRay said:

His Player Phase performance is pretty bad for the amount of investment you have to put in.

Ryoma +Def, -Spd
Wo Dao [Spd], Moonbow
Life and Death, Desperation
Speed +3
Enemies +Spd, Fury overwrite
Player Phase 111:6:111

Being doubled matters less on an Enemy Phase unit since they have Quick Riposte to preserve their doubling potential to dish the damage back out. Moonbow-Fury-Quick Riposte-Speed +3 is an affordable option that allows Ryoma to perform decently well:

Okay so we are back to Fury (since it's the only general A stats skill I have that seems to work). That still makes him underwhelming version of my Lightning Breath Y!Tiki and other similar units I have. I am just not sold on Quick Riposte (outside of a slap-on seal), since getting doubled at 30 Def by almost anything would make him die long before QR does him any good.

Really, just looking for an alternative way to use him that gives him a little niche on my team.

[XRay]

3 minutes ago, Nanima said:

Okay so we are back to Fury (since it's the only general A stats skill I have that seems to work). That still makes him underwhelming version of my Lightning Breath Y!Tiki and other similar units I have. I am just not sold on Quick Riposte (outside of a slap-on seal), since getting doubled at 30 Def by almost anything would make him die long before QR does him any good.

Really, just looking for an alternative way to use him that gives him a little niche on my team.

Since you did not want Arena Assault builds, I thought you did not like niche builds. Niche units are primarily used for Arena Assault because they are highly effective for the cost it takes to build them and you can mass produce them quickly.

Triangle Adept is the most useful niche build in my opinion since green units are common in both Arena Assault and Arena.

If you want something more specialized, you can change his Raijinto to an Effective Weapon like Armosmasher or Zanbato.

[Xenomata]

@Nanima I mean, no matter how you try to build him he will always be a below-average unit with that nature. Nobody asks for the natures they get on rare units (I certainly didn't want +Def -Spd on my ToD!Nowi), you just have to either patch the problem or fodder the unit off, which isn't an option here. And making him Player Phase isn't doing him any favors either. -Spd means he won't have the power or speed to use Flashing or Heavy Blade, and most Arena teams would tear him to shreads.

If you want Ryoma to be different, give him a breaker skill. Swordbreaker, R Tomebreaker, Bowbreaker, all good options and make him only have to do one job in a given battle. Like Xray said, TA3 is an option. Make him duel Greens and win. Give him Brazen Atk/Spd with Vantage, he'll be all the bmore powerful when weaker. And just because Fury 3 would make him an "underwhelming version of my Lightning Breath Y!Tiki" doesn't mean giving him the skill is a bad idea. It just means you have two units with the same job. Nobody ever said that was a bad thing.

Also I feel like there's something not being understood, because you are saying that QR3 wouldn't do any good on him. Yes 32 speed is fairly low and would make him be doubled, but that's why you make him undoublable. Spurs, Drives, Hones, Ally Support, even just one of those and Speed +3 SS deletes the double and lets him trigger QR3 safely. You aren't just fielding Ryoma remember.

[Nanima]

41 minutes ago, XRay said:

Since you did not want Arena Assault builds, I thought you did not like niche builds. Niche units are primarily used for Arena Assault because they are highly effective for the cost it takes to build them and you can mass produce them quickly.

Triangle Adept is the most useful niche build in my opinion since green units are common in both Arena Assault and Arena.

If you want something more specialized, you can change his Raijinto to an Effective Weapon like Armosmasher or Zanbato.

 

32 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

@Nanima I mean, no matter how you try to build him he will always be a below-average unit with that nature. Nobody asks for the natures they get on rare units (I certainly didn't want +Def -Spd on my ToD!Nowi), you just have to either patch the problem or fodder the unit off, which isn't an option here. And making him Player Phase isn't doing him any favors either. -Spd means he won't have the power or speed to use Flashing or Heavy Blade, and most Arena teams would tear him to shreads.

If you want Ryoma to be different, give him a breaker skill. Swordbreaker, R Tomebreaker, Bowbreaker, all good options and make him only have to do one job in a given battle. Like Xray said, TA3 is an option. Make him duel Greens and win. Give him Brazen Atk/Spd with Vantage, he'll be all the bmore powerful when weaker. And just because Fury 3 would make him an "underwhelming version of my Lightning Breath Y!Tiki" doesn't mean giving him the skill is a bad idea. It just means you have two units with the same job. Nobody ever said that was a bad thing.

Also I feel like there's something not being understood, because you are saying that QR3 wouldn't do any good on him. Yes 32 speed is fairly low and would make him be doubled, but that's why you make him undoublable. Spurs, Drives, Hones, Ally Support, even just one of those and Speed +3 SS deletes the double and lets him trigger QR3 safely. You aren't just fielding Ryoma remember.

All right. I guess I'll go with TA and Bow Breaker, since I don't have a dedicated Raventome user anyway. Just something nice for him to when I want to run my Hoshido theme team. (The rest of which has much better IVs) It'll be tough keeping him buffed all the time, but oh well. Maybe someday I will randomly summon an actually good Ryouma.

Thanks for all the help.

[ILikeKirbys]

Couple of questions:

1) Would Distant Counter be good on Myrrh (she's +ATK/-HP, if boon/bane is important here)? I've already Summoner-Supported her to fix her HP, and I could give her either Guidance or Iote's Shield, depending on whether I need her to tank bows or not, and it's not like I have anyone else who really wants it, but I want a second opinion.

2) Does Dull Ranged prevent -Blade tome users from adding their stat bonuses to damage dealt, or does it just remove the bonus from their stats and they still get the additional damage?

[Ice Dragon]

@jameslove001

If you're hesitant on investing in Caeda in hopes of getting Elincia, I'd highly recommend using Palla as a good budget option. With a build like (Ruby Sword+, Reposition, Moonbow, Fury 3, Axebreaker 3 / G Tomebreaker 3, Goad Fliers) that doesn't require any 5-star units for skills, she can easily hold her own against green units, which is what she needs to do.

Cordelia is the cheapest to build and most versatile blue flier you have (excluding Morgan), even if you don't have one that is +Atk or +Spd. For an enemy-phase-oriented team, I would also suggest Catria or Valter.

Cherche is easily your best option for a player-phase green flier, though she does want a Brave Axe+ to make up for her low Spd. Michalis is a very strong option for an enemy-phase unit, though, if you prefer that play style.

 

31 minutes ago, ILikeKirbys said:

1) Would Distant Counter be good on Myrrh (she's +ATK/-HP, if boon/bane is important here)? I've already Summoner-Supported her to fix her HP, and I could give her either Guidance or Iote's Shield, depending on whether I need her to tank bows or not, and it's not like I have anyone else who really wants it, but I want a second opinion.

Yes, Distant Counter is good. It helps her make better use of her ability to target the lower of the opponent's defenses against ranged units.

 

32 minutes ago, ILikeKirbys said:

2) Does Dull Ranged prevent -Blade tome users from adding their stat bonuses to damage dealt, or does it just remove the bonus from their stats and they still get the additional damage?

If positive field buffs are ignored by skills like Dull Ranged or Beorc's Blessing, Litrblade (and similar weapons) will treat the unit as having no positive field buffs for the purpose of its skill effect.

[ILikeKirbys]

2 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Yes, Distant Counter is good. It helps her make better use of her ability to target the lower of the opponent's defenses against ranged units.

If positive field buffs are ignored by skills like Dull Ranged or Beorc's Blessing, Litrblade (and similar weapons) will treat the unit as having no positive field buffs for the purpose of its skill effect.

Alright, Myrrh's got Distant Counter now! Just gotta give her Quick Riposte and Reposition and she'll be complete!

And I'll keep Dull Ranged on Morgan 'cause it'll make fighting -Blade tomes (and buffed ranged units in general) easier, which is good. And now he has Savage Blow x2 too. Just gotta find an A Skill for him now... Maybe Fury? It'd make him faster and more durable, and I have a healer I want to use with him to fix the self-damage, so maybe?

[Reddazrael]

I have a F!Morgan with terrible IVs. I don't plan to use her, but I love Mirror Stance, which I'd like to pass along to someone. I was thinking the Black Knight, swapping out Steady Stance 3 for it. I'm hoping the extra 4 points would give him a bit more survivability against tomes/breath/staves, because right now he just kind of keels over and it makes me sad. If not him, any other suggestions?

[Rezzy]

2 hours ago, Reddazrael said:

I have a F!Morgan with terrible IVs. I don't plan to use her, but I love Mirror Stance, which I'd like to pass along to someone. I was thinking the Black Knight, swapping out Steady Stance 3 for it. I'm hoping the extra 4 points would give him a bit more survivability against tomes/breath/staves, because right now he just kind of keels over and it makes me sad. If not him, any other suggestions?

Black Knight's Res is a bit lousy to be a dedicated Mage Counter, and you'd be sacrificing a lot of physical bulk.  Do you have any mage or high res units that you use an enemy phase bait units?  That would be the sort of unit that would like Mirror Stance.

[Reddazrael]

55 minutes ago, Rezzy said:

Black Knight's Res is a bit lousy to be a dedicated Mage Counter, and you'd be sacrificing a lot of physical bulk.  Do you have any mage or high res units that you use an enemy phase bait units?  That would be the sort of unit that would like Mirror Stance.

Hmm. I don't at the moment. I just finished raising Micaiah to Lv 40, though I'm not overly happy with her +DEF / -SPD nature. I could also train Deirdre, but she's +DEF / -ATK. I do have an +ATK / -RES Sanaki, but I also have way too many red units at the moment. I could train Arvis, but same problem. I suppose F!Morgan will have to stick around a little longer until I have a viable candidate.

[Zangetsu]

Silly question for Grima's recent band wagoners  fans.

 

What's the  element you would associate the Fell Dragon, fire or earth?

 

I already made Dorcas a earth & I'm thinking of blessing LA! Hector but I didn't want to many Earth unit of the same colors. I'm leaning towards fire for Grima so far.

[Vaximillian]

2 minutes ago, Zangetsu said:

What's the  element you would associate the Fell Dragon, fire or earth?

Not a fan of Grima in any shape, capacity, or form, but my $0.02 nonetheless. Medeus and Loptyr, two evil dragon antagonists coming from the Archanean continuity, were of the Earth clan. Based on that, I’d consider Grima being Earth-leaning too.

[Zangetsu]

Any reason to associate Hector with Fire?

[Vaximillian]

6 minutes ago, Zangetsu said:

Any reason to associate Hector with Fire?

Maybe his character traits? He’s brash and impulsive. In any case, his affinity was Thunder, and lightning strikes cause fires. Everything can be rationalised.

[Zangetsu]

Just now, Vaximillian said:

Maybe his character traits? He’s brash and impulsive. In any case, his affinity was Thunder, and lightning strikes cause fires. Everything can be rationalised.

So Avatar the Last Airbender logic, good enough for me.

Thanks for the answer.

[Ice Dragon]

3 hours ago, Zangetsu said:

I already made Dorcas a earth & I'm thinking of blessing LA! Hector but I didn't want to many Earth unit of the same colors. I'm leaning towards fire for Grima so far.

Darkness is most commonly associated with earth, the opposite of the sky that brings us light.

 

3 hours ago, Zangetsu said:

Any reason to associate Hector with Fire?

Given the knowledge granted to us by modern science, electricity is best represented in the Western classical elements by fire.

[Silith13]

No one seems to talk about Blárserpent. Or Serpent tomes in general.

Is it not as good as I think it is? Was thinking of slapping it on a mixed defence mage instead of a raven tome. Build in distant defence and ability to get +3 def or res on the forge isn't enough to counter the lost effectiveness against colourless?


(Also as answer to a previous. The advanced arts of fire benders was lightning bending so yeah fire for lightning heroes)

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, Silith13 said:

No one seems to talk about Blárserpent. Or Serpent tomes in general.

Is it not as good as I think it is? Was thinking of slapping it on a mixed defence mage instead of a raven tome. Build in distant defence and ability to get +3 def or res on the forge isn't enough to counter the lost effectiveness against colourless?

Probably because it does exactly what it says on the tin and because the skills that complement it are rare.

Robin and Lyn are the best bets for mixed tanks running triple Distant Def 3 or Sturdy Stance or Mirror Stance in the A slot. Reinhardt and Odin follow. Any of the units with massive Res stats, Morgan included, can also run dedicated anti-magic builds that take minimal damage from any tome user even at weapon triangle disadvantage.

Robin running [+Atk, -HP/Spd] (Blarserpent+ [Def], Distant Def 3, Distant Def 3) has 50 Def on enemy phase. Brave Lyn [+Atk] (Brave Bow+, Swift Sparrow 2, Attack +3) has 50 Atk. You get your pick of running Guard to block Moonbow or Dull Ranged to block Hone Cavalry.

Morgan running [+Atk, -Def] (Blarserpent+ [Res], Mirror Stance, Distant Def 3) has 52 Res on enemy phase. With Dull Ranged, she's pretty much invincible against tomes that don't have Excalibur in their names.

 

Dull Ranged is such a good skill, but ironically, it's completely useless for whales on an offense team because there are zero Litrblade users at the top of the Arena.

[Silith13]

3 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Probably because it does exactly what it says on the tin and because the skills that complement it are rare.

Robin and Lyn are the best bets for mixed tanks running triple Distant Def 3 or Sturdy Stance or Mirror Stance in the A slot. Reinhardt and Odin follow. Any of the units with massive Res stats, Morgan included, can also run dedicated anti-magic builds that take minimal damage from any tome user even at weapon triangle disadvantage.

Robin running [+Atk, -HP/Spd] (Blarserpent+ [Def], Distant Def 3, Distant Def 3) has 50 Def on enemy phase. Brave Lyn [+Atk] (Brave Bow+, Swift Sparrow 2, Attack +3) has 50 Atk. You get your pick of running Guard to block Moonbow or Dull Ranged to block Hone Cavalry.

Morgan running [+Atk, -Def] (Blarserpent+ [Res], Mirror Stance, Distant Def 3) has 52 Res on enemy phase. With Dull Ranged, she's pretty much invincible against tomes that don't have Excalibur in their names.

 

Dull Ranged is such a good skill, but ironically, it's completely useless for whales on an offense team because there are zero Litrblade users at the top of the Arena.

Was thinking of putting it on Oliver actually...

But was also asking more generally for future Rauorserpent and Gronserpent.
Armorkini Tharja and Sophia might make good use of it too.