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

[Garlyle]

I have a question. If I unlock potential on a hero, making it from 4 stars to 5 stars, then the level of the hero resets to 1. But what if my hero was 20+1, will I also lose the +1?

[Vaximillian]

2 minutes ago, Garlyle said:

I have a question. If I unlock potential on a hero, making it from 4 stars to 5 stars, then the level of the hero resets to 1. But what if my hero was 20+1, will I also lose the +1?

Yes, merges are lost upon increasing rarity.

[Astellius]

8 hours ago, Zeo said:

At +10 with their respective builds, Matthew is worth 2 more points than Nino and he's probably the funnest character in my barracks right now. Not factoring in bias or ease of stage clearing, it's probably more optimal to bring him. If I'm lazy though, then yeah you're probably right.

Can Matthew adequately deal with all blue mages and Nowi? Your team should have an answer to all of the main threats, and I suggested Nino since she's stronger and can easily handle the threats left by the Lukas + Chrom pairing. Of course, favoritism is a powerful thing, so do go with Matthew if you want! But it may very well effect how you ought to build your Arena team with the other characters.

8 hours ago, Zeo said:

My personal desire to give Chrom SB aside, it's not even about who necessarily edges eachother out in the role but about the overall balance of the team. Chrom with Lukas' build can tank physical units almost as well as he can with 45 DEF vs Lukas 52 but with built in Aether and natural healing. For Lukas, he can't heal like Chrom can, but he becomes a mixed tank with bulk for both stats in the upper 30s. I hate the idea of giving DC to a red unit when I already have 4 of them but only 1 blue and green, but that doesn't even matter here. The question for is what setup rounds out the team best? I can't help but feeling like DC Lukas and SB Chrom put in similar amounts of work but that SB Lukas and DC Chrom turns the latter into a second string unit. At best he's filling a small niche (with DC), at worst he's literally a worse Lukas + dragon slaying (no DC or SB).

All teammates don't need to be doing equal amounts of work; it's better to allocate the roles on a team to who can do what the most effectively, while also ensuring that all threats can be dealt with. Moreover, my point about Lukas was not just that he runs the SB build better than Chrom, it's that I think his SB build is far superior to the suggested DC build. Lukas can run a mixed tank build, but not as effectively as he can run the SB build. I think more is effectively accomplished that way.

I suggested the niche build for Chrom with consideration to the jobs the team still needed to fill. With it, it seems that the team can adequately deal with every threat. That should be the primary consideration. Is every threat dealt with effectively? Every role occupied? The Chrom+Lukas+Nino team I suggested should be able to handle everything quite well.

[Zeo]

10 hours ago, Hawk King said:

@Zeo I added you. I just realized that I left Aether on Lukas from when I did my AA run. He is back to having Bonfire.

Like Ice said, Chrom could run a Bond skill, Deathblow, or Fierce Stance if his main role is to 1-shot dragons.

Something I just thought of is that Blade tomes can't be forged and therefore score lower. A forged Gronowl on Nino would probably be better for her in the long run. This would also allow you to run the safer and more reliable spurs and drives instead of being limited to buffs for Nino's bonus damage. Another added benefit is that Drives score better in the Arena.

There's just so much more to think about when you're calculating scores, it's a little overwhelming. Somewhat glad I don't have to worry about that at least until I've gotten Matt and Nino both to +10.

As for Chrom, Death Blow I'm 100% against as he's an enemy phase unit first and foremost. ATK/DEF Bond does nothing vs dragons whom he oneshots anyways but it has great synergy with his kit and like you said it's not so bad to have roles that overlap somewhat. But what bothers me about that is sacrificing my one Fjorm and then coming into another Steady/Warding Breath because I 100% would rather use that for Aether proc-ing. That would make me feel like I wasted my Fjorm. Fire Boost sacrifices my Eliwood, but it's probably a safer option. I can't count on Kana demoting and even if she does who knows when I'll pull her so I can't count on Fierce Stance either.

10 hours ago, Hawk King said:

Great thing about her is that she is so slow that she can only double Lukas with Bold fighter, and even then she won't be able to kill him with 2 hits. She will charge his Bonfire and then promptly die on the following Player phase. Lukas can actually tank red mages due to WTA and his high HP.

This is true, actually. I won't worry about it anymore.

10 hours ago, Hawk King said:

This is what is holding you back I think. You are looking at each unit as part of your specific 4-unit team. You should make each unit their absolute best version as an individual unit. Then you slot them into a 4-unit team based on your needs. Nino, Matthew, Chrom, and Lukas are not going to be your final and only team for your remainder of your time playing Heroes. Just because you only have 1 SB fodder now doesn't mean you won't get more later on down the road.

This makes sense... but there are additional factors if we're looking outside the team. Lukas was my Berkut's Lance+ planned unit, with that he becomes a mixed tank. My other options consist of units that vary in usefulness or simply don't appeal to me in the slightest. As much as I love @Hilda's Berkut's Lance+ Clair, the idea of my unit being able to be easily oneshot by archers or simply bashed in my strong red physical units is offputting. Donnel is my primary Berkut's Lance+ Candidate outside of Lukas as I don't really use Cavalry outside of Cav teams (that and I have little interest in a cav with that lance). I feel like I'll have wasted resources if I *4 +10 him like i was going to and give it to him instead. That and I'd be giving DC to a *4 unit which... I'm really not sure how I feel about that. The weirdest thing is that when running numbers for BL+ Lukas eclipses every other unit (pullable at *3-4) with the same build. That's my primary reason for eyeballing him for it in the first place. I never even considered it before. Even a *4 +10 Donnel (which is essentially *5 +5) is still getting less wins and more losses than a *5 +0 Lukas with BL+

But like I said before, my mind is in too many places concerning this, so I'm going to put it off for now. 

10 hours ago, Hawk King said:

Having role overlap isn't a bad thing either. It allows you to swap out certain units without having a massive void left by their absence. My AA team is Caeda, Nowi, Lukas, and Amelia. For normal Arena, I drop Amelia and I am currently running Ephraim right now. You would think that running 3 blues would be suicide with all of the super powerful greens out there but Caeda is more than enough to handle all of them, which allows for Nowi and Lukas to laugh at every other unit in the game. Ephraim is only there because he is +2.

I'm used to having color coverage honestly, well.. except for blue. I've learned to live without that color funnily enough even though it's the most potent.

2 hours ago, Astellius said:

Can Matthew adequately deal with all blue mages

If they aren't running a raven tome or named Reinhardt, yes.

2 hours ago, Astellius said:

and Nowi?

Fair enough, no. Lot of shenanigans required in order for him to take her down without Watersweep.

2 hours ago, Astellius said:

Your team should have an answer to all of the main threats, and I suggested Nino since she's stronger and can easily handle the threats left by the Lukas + Chrom pairing. Of course, favoritism is a powerful thing, so do go with Matthew if you want! But it may very well effect how you ought to build your Arena team with the other characters.

All teammates don't need to be doing equal amounts of work; it's better to allocate the roles on a team to who can do what the most effectively, while also ensuring that all threats can be dealt with. Moreover, my point about Lukas was not just that he runs the SB build better than Chrom, it's that I think his SB build is far superior to the suggested DC build. Lukas can run a mixed tank build, but not as effectively as he can run the SB build. I think more is effectively accomplished that way.

I suggested the niche build for Chrom with consideration to the jobs the team still needed to fill. With it, it seems that the team can adequately deal with every threat. That should be the primary consideration. Is every threat dealt with effectively? Every role occupied? The Chrom+Lukas+Nino team I suggested should be able to handle everything quite well.

I still think ranged physical units and red mages are a big issue if Chrom doesn't run DC but honestly, I don't want to run that and whatever I do I'm probably not going to do that at this point. I'm starting to think I'm overthinking this whole thing.

You may be right about team roles. I'm trying so hard to have this balanced team that evens out their roles across all scopes but generally I'm always up against teams that teeter towards one extreme or the other. Thanks for the advice. I don't know what I'm going to do with Chrom, but Lukas may get that SB. Perhaps it's time to search for a new candidate for the DC Berkut's Lance+ build. But that's a question for another day.

[redlight]

Would a dazzling staff healer be good with guard?

Edited April 26, 2018 by silveraura25

[Xenomata]

1 hour ago, silveraura25 said:

Would a dazzling staff healer be good with guard?

Depends. A healer with Pain+, for instance, would be able to chip the enemy down without letting them charge their Special, ergo permitting an ally to fly in and land the killing blow, but at the same time they forgo the ability to deal in-combat damage because they can't run Wrathful Staff, ergo forcing them to be a chipper over an offensive presence. And you'd be surprised at the damage that a healer can do with in-combat Pain+ damage.

With Gravity+, it permits the healer to be a chipper who also halts the enemy advancement, though here you will need some form of positioning/dancing to get the healer away from the units who were just inflicted with Gravity.

I wouldn't bother if you are using Candlelight+, since even if you have someone else coming in for the kill, the enemy can't counterattack anyways, so unless they have a defensive special (Pavise, Aegis, Escutcheon, Sacred Cowl) charged up, they won't be triggering their special. And if you position the healer out of the way after they do their combat, then you aren't really using Candlelight+ debuff the right way and would be better using Gravity+.

Edited April 26, 2018 by Xenomata

[redlight]

@Xenomata Thanks for the advice

[MonkeyCheez3K]

With the upcoming Arena season and having an atrocious -Att BowHinoka, I thought about building a flying team for Arena defense, though being the first time doing this on defense (offense is a piece of cake to use them), I'm quite unsure whether or not I should bother the with planned investments. First and foremost, my Cordelia.

How bad is a +Att/-Res Cordelia with Firesweep+/Reposition/Galeforce/HeavyBlade3 (I hate my regular Ike and will kill him off after the 5k HM)/Unsure B-Skill (Have Hit&Run atm)/Fortify Fliers (might give her a Goad, if I get more Pallas) / Quickened Pulse Seal. I feel the AI is too dumb to use Firesweep Cordelia.

The investments would be: 5*ing Roderick + sacrifice, sacrifice regular Ike - which is why I'd prefer pointing it out here.

As far as I experienced it, NY!Azura is kinda trash in defense teams due to poor AI decisions, but maybe I'm wrong. Anyways. Here are my useable Fliers: regular Hinoka (+Spd/-Def), NY!Azura (I actually forgot: -Att/+Res I believe), Kinshi Hinoka (-Att/+Res, sigh), Caeda (+Att/-HP) / to a lesser extent also Minerva, but her nature is meh (-Res/+HP I think) and she isn't properly built, yet EDIT: Forgot about F!Grima (+Def/-HP) and DC-less Myrrh (+Res/-HP). I don't have any of the seasonals, nor do I have F!Morgan or DC fodder, which is quite a pity for defense purposes, leading me to believe I shouldn't build a flier team for them, not that I have any idea on how to properly build one atm.

Edited April 26, 2018 by MonkeyCheez3K

[Ice Dragon]

13 minutes ago, MonkeyCheez3K said:

How bad is a +Att/-Res Cordelia with Firesweep+/Reposition/Galeforce/HeavyBlade3 (I hate my regular Ike and will kill him off after the 5k HM)/Unsure B-Skill (Have Hit&Run atm)/Fortify Fliers (might give her a Goad, if I get more Pallas) / Quickened Pulse Seal. I feel the AI is too dumb to use Firesweep Cordelia.

If you are running Heavy Blade in her A slot, you almost certainly want to also run Hone Fliers on an ally to help boost her Atk to better guarantee a Galeforce activation.

If you are using Galeforce, I would use Lunge (or Drag Back) instead of Hit and Run because Hit and Run moves you away from your opponent after attacking. Also because Lunge is great for disrupting positioning.

 

16 minutes ago, MonkeyCheez3K said:

As far as I experienced it, NY!Azura is kinda trash in defense teams due to poor AI decisions, but maybe I'm wrong.

You want to make sure your units are taking their turns in the correct order. Test out your team with auto-battle to see what order your units will move when controlled by the AI and make adjustments to your team slot order if they're not moving in the right order.

[Hawk King]

7 hours ago, Zeo said:

As for Chrom, Death Blow I'm 100% against as he's an enemy phase unit first and foremost. ATK/DEF Bond does nothing vs dragons whom he oneshots anyways but it has great synergy with his kit and like you said it's not so bad to have roles that overlap somewhat. But what bothers me about that is sacrificing my one Fjorm and then coming into another Steady/Warding Breath because I 100% would rather use that for Aether proc-ing. That would make me feel like I wasted my Fjorm. Fire Boost sacrifices my Eliwood, but it's probably a safer option. I can't count on Kana demoting and even if she does who knows when I'll pull her so I can't count on Fierce Stance either.

With Chrom's huge Atk stat, the Heavy Blade seal is a great option on him until you get a Breath for him. Especially if you do go with DC on him. Steady/Warding Breath makes the Heavy blade seal unnecessary, and imo, Breath skills the the best A-slot skill for infantry units. You should just bank on getting more fodder in the future. Besides, you are a long way off from +10ing Chrom.

7 hours ago, Zeo said:

This makes sense... but there are additional factors if we're looking outside the team. Lukas was my Berkut's Lance+ planned unit, with that he becomes a mixed tank. My other options consist of units that vary in usefulness or simply don't appeal to me in the slightest. As much as I love @Hilda's Berkut's Lance+ Clair, the idea of my unit being able to be easily oneshot by archers or simply bashed in my strong red physical units is offputting. Donnel is my primary Berkut's Lance+ Candidate outside of Lukas as I don't really use Cavalry outside of Cav teams (that and I have little interest in a cav with that lance). I feel like I'll have wasted resources if I *4 +10 him like i was going to and give it to him instead. That and I'd be giving DC to a *4 unit which... I'm really not sure how I feel about that. The weirdest thing is that when running numbers for BL+ Lukas eclipses every other unit (pullable at *3-4) with the same build. That's my primary reason for eyeballing him for it in the first place. I never even considered it before. Even a *4 +10 Donnel (which is essentially *5 +5) is still getting less wins and more losses than a *5 +0 Lukas with BL+

Definitely don't 4*+10 someone you plan to use long term unless you have over 20 copies sitting in your barracks. There is no sense in limiting a character's potential just because of a feather investment. Especially with how easy it is to grind for feathers now.

On paper, and in the battle simulators, Berkut's is great, but in practice, I just never see an opportunity where I wished I had the build. Which is probably why I still haven't and don't have any immediate plans to give someone the build. In the case of Lukas, you have to sacrifice something. If he is a mixed tank, then all greens can bash his face in and even some of the more powerful blues could kill him, and Firesweep archers and Sacae's blessing can screw him up too. If he is a pure physical wall, only green dragons, blue and green mages, and specific builds of axe armors with buffs can kill him.

I just think that Steady Breath is so superior to DC in terms of actual performance that I would only build someone with DC and Berkut's if they were unable to learn the Breath skills.

Honestly, I see more value in using the Berkut's lance with a Breath skill to have a dedicated Dragon killer. Something you already have with Chrom.

 

You have a chance to use my Lukas in Rival Domains yet?

[MonkeyCheez3K]

18 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

If you are running Heavy Blade in her A slot, you almost certainly want to also run Hone Fliers on an ally to help boost her Atk to better guarantee a Galeforce activation.

If you are using Galeforce, I would use Lunge (or Drag Back) instead of Hit and Run because Hit and Run moves you away from your opponent after attacking. Also because Lunge is great for disrupting positioning.

Yeah, makes sense; would probably go for Lunge then to infiltrate the enemy lines. I have a spare Hone Fliers from a second Hinoka, but am still very hesitant on who would be the most suitable candidate for it. Heavy Blade on A is the only way to make it immediately proc, which is kinda important in Arena, I feel, since I don't think Cordelia will be able to attack twice, before getting killed. I intend to run both Hinokas and Caeda or Azura atm, giving two Hone Fliers and some warp shenanigans, but I just don't feel too optimistic about getting a def win with it; I've been pretty weak lately on defense. Also still not sure if Firesweep Cordelia is that efficient in Arena to begin with.

22 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

You want to make sure your units are taking their turns in the correct order. Test out your team with auto-battle to see what order your units will move when controlled by the AI and make adjustments to your team slot order if they're not moving in the right order.

What would be a good order, though? If a dancer moves first, it's easier to predict a team and kill with EP units or Dancer/Nukes, but if the dancer makes a unit seperate itself from the team, it's an easy sitting duck to kill, which also begs the question "what support skills are the best for flying teams?". I've seen so many bad Repositions on AI teams that it hurt my soul.

[Ice Dragon]

2 minutes ago, MonkeyCheez3K said:

What would be a good order, though? If a dancer moves first, it's easier to predict a team and kill with EP units or Dancer/Nukes, but if the dancer makes a unit seperate itself from the team, it's an easy sitting duck to kill, which also begs the question "what support skills are the best for flying teams?". I've seen so many bad Repositions on AI teams that it hurt my soul.

I'd start with Reposition and just see what the AI does with it and roll from there.

[MonkeyCheez3K]

29 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I'd start with Reposition and just see what the AI does with it and roll from there.

Guess, I'll do that. On a side note, how would you salvage a -Att Hinoka? Not that you need to, since you'd just summon better natures, but It hurts her really bad. Guess I can give her one of my + 3 Att seals to negate it, but still.

[Ice Dragon]

1 minute ago, MonkeyCheez3K said:

Guess, I'll do that. On a side note, how would you salvage a -Att Hinoka? Not that you need to, since you'd just summon better natures, but It hurts her really bad. Guess I can give her one of my + 3 Att seals to negate it, but still.

I can't summon better natures if the game refuses to give me them. It's ridiculous the number of duplicate natures I get on some characters.

Regular Hinoka or new Hinoka? Regular Hinoka would run Hinoka's Spear and just pretend the -Atk didn't exist. 32 base Atk isn't too bad when you have a 20-Mt weapon.

New Hinoka can use her Special skill as a crutch by stacking Spd for Moonbow activations or just run the Attack +3 Sacred Seal.

[MonkeyCheez3K]

10 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Regular Hinoka or new Hinoka? Regular Hinoka would run Hinoka's Spear and just pretend the -Atk didn't exist. 32 base Atk isn't too bad when you have a 20-Mt weapon.

New Hinoka can use her Special skill as a crutch by stacking Spd for Moonbow activations or just run the Attack +3 Sacred Seal.

Oh yeah, should have been more specific, BowHinoka was my -Att unit, regular Hinoka is actually quite fine as +Spd/-Def. +Att seal for the Kinshi Knight it is, for now. Thx for the input.

19 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I can't summon better natures if the game refuses to give me them. It's ridiculous the number of duplicate natures I get on some characters.

When even whales get screwed over by the system that much, what a harsh world we live in.

 

[Ice Dragon]

1 minute ago, MonkeyCheez3K said:

When even whales get screwed over by the system that much, what a harsh world we live in.

The game doesn't want me to have a good Gunnthra.

Not only has it only given me five copies of her (despite me pulling for her on two of her banners now, compared to 19 copies of Ike from also only two banners), but two of them were +Def (one -Res and the other -Spd), and the remaining three are all [+Res, -Spd].

Game hates me.

[Hawk King]

10 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

The game doesn't want me to have a good Gunnthra.

Not only has it only given me five copies of her (despite me pulling for her on two of her banners now, compared to 19 copies of Ike from also only two banners), but two of them were +Def (one -Res and the other -Spd), and the remaining three are all [+Res, -Spd].

Game hates me.

What would be your ideal nature for her? Her HP and Def are both super banes and that drops her down to 144 BST unless she has her super boon in Res. And being -Res is not good for her ability to ploy things. As a result, I went with the +Spd/-Atk copy I got, but I am holding onto a +Atk/-Spd just in case. I have never had any issues with her doing enough damage since her tome along with her Chilling Seal make her quite busted, especially if you build an entire team of debuffers around her.

[Ice Dragon]

1 minute ago, Hawk King said:

What would be your ideal nature for her? Her HP and Def are both super banes and that drops her down to 144 BST unless she has her super boon in Res. And being -Res is not good for her ability to ploy things. As a result, I went with the +Spd/-Atk copy I got, but I am holding onto a +Atk/-Spd just in case. I have never had any issues with her doing enough damage since her tome along with her Chilling Seal make her quite busted, especially if you build an entire team of debuffers around her.

[+Spd, -Def]. Performance matters more than 0.5 points per match in the Arena. My merged Hardin is [+Atk, -Spd] despite the fact that I also had a neutral one to choose from.

[redlight]

Oh boy. I didn't know my Gunnthra had good IVs for Arena. Yipee

[Xenomata]

My Kinshi Hinoka... well both of them... have bad natures. +HP -Atk and +Def -Spd on the other.

Since I need to expect not getting another Hinoka, I'm gonna have to work around their bad natures. I checked their matchups with Warrior Princess, Brave Bow+, and Firesweep Bow+ as well as their default skillset (Flier Guidance is liable to be changed to Fortify Fliers, and Atk/Spd Bond 3 is liable to change to Life and Death 3), the Atk +3 seal, full flier buffs, and +1 merge (I don't think I'll be using either Hinoka for skill fodder). These are the best results from each weapon...

Warrior Princess : 211-8-10 (+Def -Spd) (LnD3: 209-11-9)

Brave Bow+: 214-4-11 (+Def -Spd) (LnD3: 212-6-11)

Firesweep Bow+: 183-0-46 (+Def -Spd) (LnD3: Does not change results)

While (+HP -Atk) is not listed in any scenario, it was listed in the Brave Bow set before the merge was applied.

So Brave Bow+ has the best results of the 3, and I admit that, but it also would be the most expensive for me (need to promote Klein or Gordin for it) and couldn't be acted upon immediately. Warrior Princess has slightly worse results, but is notably able to take out armors. Firesweep Bow has the worst results, but also can't counterattack, which is something.

Please keep in mind, if giving advise, that I will intend to put Hinoka on my Flier team (with ToD!Nowi, FeMorgan, and HNY!Azura, meaning she will have full flier support and dancer support), and that I only tested this with the Attack +3 seal (the seal that Catria uses, and also the seal that gave the best results).

Edited April 27, 2018 by Xenomata

[Zeo]

14 hours ago, Hawk King said:

With Chrom's huge Atk stat, the Heavy Blade seal is a great option on him until you get a Breath for him. Especially if you do go with DC on him. Steady/Warding Breath makes the Heavy blade seal unnecessary, and imo, Breath skills the the best A-slot skill for infantry units. You should just bank on getting more fodder in the future. Besides, you are a long way off from +10ing Chrom.

This more than anything. Honestly if I were to get even Warding Breath fodder, I have a hard time not saying I'd just give it to Chrom and call it a day. I could be better on another unit but I want to give Chrom a breath skill, I don't want to give him DC. After all that talk about optimization and team synergy, that's where my heart is. Eirika on the other hand seems like she'd utilize DC exceptionally well along with Roy. But not Chrom. I don't really want Chrom clogging up the Heavy Blade seal but I don't think that it's that amazing for him in the A slot unless I'm running Brave Sword+ which I'm absolutely not doing. So you're right. I may grab Fire Boost 3 or perhaps I'll just continue to wait. I don't even have Chrom's to merge.

14 hours ago, Hawk King said:

Definitely don't 4*+10 someone you plan to use long term unless you have over 20 copies sitting in your barracks. There is no sense in limiting a character's potential just because of a feather investment. Especially with how easy it is to grind for feathers now.

I'll agree with that. I've done more promotions in a week then I thought I ever would in a month. It only means I need to make even smarter choices now though. But Donnel is already *4 +7, it's too late to invest heavily in him now. It'll be a long time before he becomes a *5 unit so perhaps BL+ will wait unless I want to give it to Cavalry (unlikely) or a Flier (Shanna is Desperation fodder and I don't want to give that up. Florina is underwhelming even if I like her, don't care about Clair enough to do it on her.). I really want a BL+ Infantry though.

14 hours ago, Hawk King said:

On paper, and in the battle simulators, Berkut's is great, but in practice, I just never see an opportunity where I wished I had the build. Which is probably why I still haven't and don't have any immediate plans to give someone the build. In the case of Lukas, you have to sacrifice something. If he is a mixed tank, then all greens can bash his face in and even some of the more powerful blues could kill him, and Firesweep archers and Sacae's blessing can screw him up too. If he is a pure physical wall, only green dragons, blue and green mages, and specific builds of axe armors with buffs can kill him.

I've read the advice of everyone that's responded to me but nothing has made quite as much sense to me as this right here. Especially the bold. Now that the high that comes with the realization that I can make this team a reality sooner than I expected has worn off I'm seeing a bit clearer and... I think making him excel in an area that he's already amazing in is better than gimping that in favor of making him passable everywhere. Matthew has spoiled me since he can do so many things. I'll probably give Lukas SB. I don't know if I'll give him this one, but I think he's getting it. I don't know what I'm going to do with Chrom yet, but DC isn't what I'm supposed to give him. If I have to suffer a bit in arena as a result of that, so be it.

14 hours ago, Hawk King said:

I just think that Steady Breath is so superior to DC in terms of actual performance that I would only build someone with DC and Berkut's if they were unable to learn the Breath skills.

Honestly, I see more value in using the Berkut's lance with a Breath skill to have a dedicated Dragon killer. Something you already have with Chrom.

I wouldn't say that as a blanket statement, but SB definitely is a top tier skill, especially if the unit has DC through their weapon. I disagree on BL+ though. I think it's best on infantry. Fliers can be shot out of the sky or physically bashed in and Cavalry is subject to effective damage from various sources and is crippled by specific terrain.

I wouldn't make a BL+ Dragon slaying build. That would require very specific resources I'm not even interested in parting with. A build like that never even came to mind. And like you said, I'm good with Chrom.

14 hours ago, Hawk King said:

You have a chance to use my Lukas in Rival Domains yet?

Not yet, but soon. He'll really shine in this Grand Conquest that's coming up in a little less than a week.

[XRay]

8 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

My Kinshi Hinoka... well both of them... have bad natures. +HP -Atk and +Def -Spd on the other.

Since I need to expect not getting another Hinoka, I'm gonna have to work around their bad natures. I checked their matchups with Warrior Princess, Brave Bow+, and Firesweep Bow+ as well as their default skillset (Flier Guidance is liable to be changed to Fortify Fliers, and Atk/Spd Bond 3 is liable to change to Life and Death 3), the Atk +3 seal, full flier buffs, and +1 merge (I don't think I'll be using either Hinoka for skill fodder). These are the best results from each weapon...

Warrior Princess : 211-8-10 (+Def -Spd) (LnD3: 209-11-9)

Brave Bow+: 214-4-11 (+Def -Spd) (LnD3: 212-6-11)

Firesweep Bow+: 183-0-46 (+Def -Spd) (LnD3: Does not change results)

While (+HP -Atk) is not listed in any scenario, it was listed in the Brave Bow set before the merge was applied.

So Brave Bow+ has the best results of the 3, and I admit that, but it also would be the most expensive for me (need to promote Klein or Gordin for it) and couldn't be acted upon immediately. Warrior Princess has slightly worse results, but is notably able to take out armors. Firesweep Bow has the worst results, but also can't counterattack, which is something.

Please keep in mind, if giving advise, that I will intend to put Hinoka on my Flier team (with ToD!Nowi, FeMorgan, and HNY!Azura, meaning she will have full flier support and dancer support), and that I only tested this with the Attack +3 seal (the seal that Catria uses, and also the seal that gave the best results).

If you are not keeping Warrior Princess, I would go with [+Def, -Spd] and give her Firesweep Bow-Poison Strike-Poison Strike. With Dancer/Singer support, Firesweep users are not as dependent on Spd, as Poison Strike-Poison Strike combo helps deal a lot of damage and disable Wary Fighter and Bowbreaker.

Running Firesweep also allows her other allies to focus more on what they are good against without worrying too much about coverage, since WOF!Hinoka can take care of anything the rest of her teammates cannot handle.

Brave Bow is powerful, but you run the risk of being countered by lolis running Steady Breath or Warding Breath.

[Xenomata]

13 minutes ago, XRay said:

If you are not keeping Warrior Princess, I would go with [+Def, -Spd] and give her Firesweep Bow-Poison Strike-Poison Strike. With Dancer/Singer support, Firesweep users are not as dependent on Spd, as Poison Strike-Poison Strike combo helps deal a lot of damage and disable Wary Fighter and Bowbreaker.

Running Firesweep also allows her other allies to focus more on what they are good against without worrying too much about coverage, since WOF!Hinoka can take care of anything the rest of her teammates cannot handle.

Brave Bow is powerful, but you run the risk of being countered by lolis running Steady Breath or Warding Breath.

I do wish I didn't have to give up a personal weapon for it, but that's just what happens when both Hinokas I summoned just don't have good IVs whatsoever...

I will take up the set (can't do Poison Strike 3 SS anytime soon, though fortunately 2 separate rounds of combat with Poison Strike 4 only misses the kill on Brave Ike, who I usually let ToD!Nowi take care of anyways). Should I maybe consider replacing Atk/Spd Bond with Life and Death since the defense drop really won't matter if the enemy can't counterattack?

I might also need to replace Flier Guidance, as I'd be down a Fortify Fliers by replacing my Catria, which would slightly cripple my Morgans attack power (she is the only other Fort Fliers provider, and Blarblade will be weakened as a result)...

[XRay]

23 minutes ago, Xenomata said:

I do wish I didn't have to give up a personal weapon for it, but that's just what happens when both Hinokas I summoned just don't have good IVs whatsoever...

I will take up the set (can't do Poison Strike 3 SS anytime soon, though fortunately 2 separate rounds of combat with Poison Strike 4 only misses the kill on Brave Ike, who I usually let ToD!Nowi take care of anyways). Should I maybe consider replacing Atk/Spd Bond with Life and Death since the defense drop really won't matter if the enemy can't counterattack?

I might also need to replace Flier Guidance, as I'd be down a Fortify Fliers by replacing my Catria, which would slightly cripple my Morgans attack power (she is the only other Fort Fliers provider, and Blarblade will be weakened as a result)...

Even if she has good natures, Warrior Princess is not very relevant unless you see a lot of armor units. Even then, you will still have to consider the possibility of not being able to rely on Desperation for sustainability, either due to not being able to safely enter Desperation at all, or Wary Fighter from LA!Hector screwing you over with a Glimmer/Moonbow activation right in her face.

I would go with Life and Death, it makes life so much easier. Although if you are a guru at positioning and can somehow keep Player Phase nukes to always be adjacent to allies, you can keep Atk/Spd Bond for points. You can also go with Swift Sparrow if you want the points and flexible positioning, but that is going to cost you 1 point in Atk/Spd.

Most Blade mages only need a 4/4/0/0 or 6/6/0/0 buffs to operate well, so 4/4/4/4 and 6/6/6/6 buffs are not usually necessary unless you need the Blade mage to go against the triangle.

[Xenomata]

20 minutes ago, XRay said:

Even if she has good natures, Warrior Princess is not very relevant unless you see a lot of armor units. Even then, you will still have to consider the possibility of not being able to rely on Desperation for sustainability, either due to not being able to safely enter Desperation at all, or Wary Fighter from LA!Hector screwing you over with a Glimmer/Moonbow activation right in her face.

I would go with Life and Death, it makes life so much easier. Although if you are a guru at positioning and can somehow keep Player Phase nukes to always be adjacent to allies, you can keep Atk/Spd Bond for points. You can also go with Swift Sparrow if you want the points and flexible positioning, but that is going to cost you 1 point in Atk/Spd.

Most Blade mages only need a 4/4/0/0 or 6/6/0/0 buffs to operate well, so 4/4/4/4 and 6/6/6/6 buffs are not usually necessary unless you need the Blade mage to go against the triangle.

That makes sense. Most of the armors I encounter are in Arena Assault and usually are dealt with in a simple if somewhat tricky manor (I should maybe start throwing my nuke healers at them in thinking...)

I wouldn't rely on keeping any allies near Hinoka at all, though Flier Guidance would help with that to some degree. I guess Swift Sparrow is there, but I'd rather put that on someone who actually has to worry about counterattacks...

And yeah I guess Morgan never goes up against Greens... at all really. Plus ToD!Nowi handles them all anyways (6/6/6/6 is a glorious damage sight to see, but it also usually renders most targets dead before they can counterattack)

Thanks for the help either way. I'll have to run with Attack +3 SS for now since I do need to upgrade Poison Strike SS, but I guess that also answers "What Sacred Seal should I work on next?"