Arena Discussion Thread (inc. Assault)

[Ice Dragon]

19 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Score is still 4,982 (0 deaths).
Rank is now 227.

It looks like I picked up two new successful defenses with my new defense team, one worth 301 and the other 303.

Current defense team:

+10 Ninian [+Spd, -Res] (Lightning Breath+, Dance, Triangle Adept 3, Escape Route 3, Fortify Dragons, S HP +3)
+10 Nowi [+Atk, -Res] (Lightning Breath+, Rally Def, Triangle Adept 3, Quick Riposte 3, Fortify Dragons, S Atk +1)
+4 Reinhardt [+Atk, -Spd] (Dire Thunder, Blazing Thunder, Death Blow 3, Vantage 3, Goad Cavalry)
+10 Lucina [+Spd, -Res] (Falchion, Luna, Fury 3, Desperation 2, Spur Atk 3, S Spd +1)

 

Currently grinding SP for Ninian and Lucina to learn more things. I'll work on Reinhardt later.

Ended this season with:

Score: 4,982 (0 deaths)
Rank: 239

Defense: 304

 

@Clogon @MrSmokestack @MaskedAmpharos

I'm pretty sure I'll end up running Lancebreaker, but that's not particularly high priority for me, as MaskedAmpharos noted.

I would consider Wings of Mercy, but it doesn't fit work well with my team composition and play style. The main problem is I rarely ever let my units take enough damage to be able to use Wings of Mercy and I tend to keep my army close enough together that it usually wouldn't help much. In my 14 arena runs this past week, there were only 3 occasions where I had a unit's HP drop below 50%.

Furthermore, I do prefer my units to perform well in a vacuum. Even though each unit has 3 teammates to help cover for its weaknesses, the better each unit can perform on its own, the more it helps its teammates by giving them fewer things to worry about. I want each of my units to be able to perform well both with team support and without (with the obvious exceptions of Litrblade users who require team support and Horse/Armor/Flier Emblem teams who have guaranteed team support).

 

As for Cecilia, I'll run some of those sets through my calcs and see how they hold up.

[ExKalibur]

Offense Score: 4756

Rank: 9385

It's interesting to see how the amount of points awarded for each duel could vary by quite a bit; I've been getting anything between 666 - 684.  This means that my final placing could vary by a few thousand places based on luck alone.  (I could always skip low point battles, but mehhh... such a waste of dueling swords).

Defense: 288 / 5 Successful Defenses (The usual team...)

Total Feathers: 5000

 

 

[Clogon]

I really don't know what to run this week. Erika is definitely staying because +4 merge. I do not have any of the bonus chars at 5*. The only one I am willing to use my precious feathers on is Sharena but I don't know what role I should fit her into.

Her weapon is nice, but it requires her to survive a turn (which is not always possible). I already have Reinhardt to kill reds and Lances. I guess I could remove him this week and use a dancer but then I'd be running full melee and have a lot more trouble against Mages and Archers.

I guess I could just not upgrade anyone to 5* and tank my score this week. But with Sharena being a recurring Bonus Char, she seems worth the investment.

Edit:

I am thinking Fury+Quick Riposte to kill 1 unit in enemy phase.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Clogon

[Fei Mao]

14 hours ago, OKigen said:

I find stacking Wings of Mercy (even level 1) on the team is super helpful. The AI is really good in suiciding an unit to allow other WoM units to gang up on one enemy and many people will surrender after losing 1 unit. Works best with the suicider being a ranged attacker and the WoM ones are melee.

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try.

[pianime94]

Nobody lost against me this season. I should not take my previous defense wins as granted.

[MaskedAmpharos]

Arena Score: 4810

Rank: 1463

So close, yet so far ;__;

Next week I'll probably be running with a team of Ryoma +1 (+Res/-Def), Julia +1 (+Spd/-HP), Sharena (neutral), and Ninian (+Def/-Res). 

Here are other 5*s I could use if anyone has other ideas for what team I could use for offense.

Spoiler

Also, I'd like to take this time to also ask what everyone thinks a good skillset for Julia would be, as I've been having trouble deciding. Thanks in advance!

[Clogon]

12 minutes ago, MaskedAmpharos said:

Arena Score: 4810

Rank: 1463

So close, yet so far ;__;

Next week I'll probably be running with a team of Ryoma +1 (+Res/-Def), Julia +1 (+Spd/-HP), Sharena (neutral), and Ninian (+Def/-Res). 

Here are other 5*s I could use if anyone has other ideas for what team I could use for offense.

  Hide contents

Also, I'd like to take this time to also ask what everyone thinks a good skillset for Julia would be, as I've been having trouble deciding. Thanks in advance!

Triangle Adept + Axe Breaker seems good. What do you use for Sharena?

[MaskedAmpharos]

Just now, Clogon said:

Triangle Adept + Axe Breaker seems good. What do you use for Sharena?

The problem with Triangle Adept on Julia is that she's my main anti-dragon unit since I wasn't lucky enough to pull any Falchions. She can ORKO Tiki if Ryoma buffs her speed, but I'm not sure she'd be able to do that if she had Triangle Adept.

Sharena currently doesn't have much because I haven't had the time to grind up SP, but her set atm is:

• Weapon: Fensalir
• Assist: Rally Atk
• Special: (deciding between Luna and Moonbow) (don't have the fodder for anything else)
• A-slot: Spd +3
• B-slot: Swordbreaker
• C-slot: Fortify Def 

If anyone has any suggestions for Sharena skills as well, I'd appreciate the feedback. 

[Clogon]

4 minutes ago, MaskedAmpharos said:

The problem with Triangle Adept on Julia is that she's my main anti-dragon unit since I wasn't lucky enough to pull any Falchions. She can ORKO Tiki if Ryoma buffs her speed, but I'm not sure she'd be able to do that if she had Triangle Adept.

Sharena currently doesn't have much because I haven't had the time to grind up SP, but her set atm is:

• Weapon: Fensalir
• Assist: Rally Atk
• Special: (deciding between Luna and Moonbow) (don't have the fodder for anything else)
• A-slot: Spd +3
• B-slot: Swordbreaker
• C-slot: Fortify Def 

If anyone has any suggestions for Sharena skills as well, I'd appreciate the feedback. 

I guess you are using Fury Julia ATM? Cause Y!Tiki has 30 neutral SPD. If they are merged, +SPD or Fury'd, your Julia won't be fast enough to ORKO even with Hone SPD.

 

It seems we both have trouble with deciding Sharena. XD I noticed that lower star rating can farm SP much easier than higher ones. My lv 39 4* Sharena is currently SP farming down at 7th Stratum against lv 31 chars.

[Vaximillian]

@MaskedAmpharos that's my Sharena! I have Moonbow on her, even though it's pretty weak. She readily doubles stuff and activates Moonbow often.

[MaskedAmpharos]

Just now, Vaximillian said:

@MaskedAmpharos that's my Sharena! I have Moonbow on her, even though it's pretty weak. She readily doubles stuff and activates Moonbow often.

Ayyyyyyyyyy

How's she working out for you? And also would other skills would you add if you had more SP?

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

I gave Sharena Quick Riposte 2 instead of Swordbreaker. Since I don't have access to Swordbreaker 3, they'd activate at about the same health range anyway, and it lets her deal with some Blues quickly too.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Sharena shouldn't have any issues fighting either Tiki if you wanted to dedicate Julia to blue slaying.

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

Lol, my Sharena has Noontime because I thought it'd be a good idea to keep her in Quick Riposte range and have sustain, since she's mostly for support on my team. 30% healing is ass though.

[Okigen]

1 hour ago, MaskedAmpharos said:

Arena Score: 4810

Rank: 1463

So close, yet so far ;__;

Next week I'll probably be running with a team of Ryoma +1 (+Res/-Def), Julia +1 (+Spd/-HP), Sharena (neutral), and Ninian (+Def/-Res). 

Here are other 5*s I could use if anyone has other ideas for what team I could use for offense.

  Hide contents

Also, I'd like to take this time to also ask what everyone thinks a good skillset for Julia would be, as I've been having trouble deciding. Thanks in advance!

Uhm... how about tomebreakers to help Julia to deal with fast mages like Nino and Linde otherwise she will only hit once? I always get my +hp Linde tank Julia (don't judge me, I have no better bait '__') and she can only chip Linde near death, resulting in Linde murdering her in next round. I guess it may be worse with Nino?

Edited April 18, 2017 by OKigen

[MaskedAmpharos]

1 minute ago, OKigen said:

Uhm... how about tomebreakers to help Julia to deal with fast mages like Nino and Linde otherwise she will only hit once? I always get my +hp Linde tank Julia (don't judge me, I have no better bait '__') and she can only chip Linde near death, resulting in Linde murdering her in next round. I guess it may be worse with Nino?

Yeah, G Tomebreaker seems to be a common option people take on Julia, and I'm certainly thinking about it. The thing about that is that I have to consider synergy with the rest of my team as well. Ryoma is currently a solid check to green mages, so I'm not sure if it'd be redundant or not to have Julia run G Tomebreaker or if I'd be better off having her deal with something else instead, like giving her Bowbreaker. 

[Ice Dragon]

1 hour ago, MaskedAmpharos said:

Also, I'd like to take this time to also ask what everyone thinks a good skillset for Julia would be, as I've been having trouble deciding. Thanks in advance!

I've been running vanilla Julia to a lot of success, but I'm leaning towards Death Blow 3 and Axebreaker 3 (or Lancebreaker 3) if I ever get around to updating her skills. Death Blow 3 gives her the damage output to one-round kill Sharena without Fury, and Axebreaker negates the pesky G Tomebreaker that Hector often runs. Alternatively, you can run G Tomebreaker yourself because the skill is also common on enemy Julia and Spring Camilla.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Ice Dragon

[MaskedAmpharos]

12 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I've been running vanilla Julia to a lot of success, but I'm leaning towards Death Blow 3 and Axebreaker 3 (or Lancebreaker 3) if I ever get around to updating her skills. Death Blow 3 gives her the damage output to one-round kill Sharena without Fury, and Axebreaker negates the pesky G Tomebreaker that Hector often runs. Alternatively, you can run G Tomebreaker yourself because the skill is also common on enemy Julia and Spring Camilla.

This is a bit unorthodox, but how do you feel about Darting Blow on Julia? 

I wasn't expecting much since Julia's such a naturally slow character, but I was surprised to find that Darting Blow nets more overall ORKOs than Death Blow does. This is especially true since I have a +Spd Julia (who has 30 spd), which Darting brings up to 36. But I also have a Ryoma on my team to provide Hone Spd, which brings her up to a surprisingly respectable 40 spd. I also have Hone Atk on my Ninian, which somewhat makes up for the power loss of running Darting over Death.

The reason I wonder this is because I'm a [mostly] F2P and don't have the luxury of picking and choosing optimal skills all the time. I do not have any fodder for Death Blow (not even someone to give her DB 2 in the absence of Klein), but I do have a spare Florina that I could feed. 

Also, I was wondering how good Bowbreaker would be over either Axebreaker or G Tomebreaker since Ryoma takes care of axes and green mages quite handily, and it may be redundant to run two counters to those weapon types. That said, if you still believe I should run a green breaker, do you have a preference for which one of the two? I have fodder for both, so that won't be an issue.

In any case, these are a lot of questions, so thanks for all your help!

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

Jesus, I'm suddenly getting matched with people I can't beat. All the monsters are coming out with the merged units and Fury beasts. I'm at a bit of a loss. I don't even have ONE merged unit, yet I'm getting full teams of 40+ enemies.

Also, since I have to fit in Sharena, who greatly overlaps with Azura, my Arena team isn't very balanced right now. Still thinking of what to do.

Edited April 18, 2017 by SatsumaFSoysoy

[Ice Dragon]

10 minutes ago, MaskedAmpharos said:

This is a bit unorthodox, but how do you feel about Darting Blow on Julia? 

I wasn't expecting much since Julia's such a naturally slow character, but I was surprised to find that Darting Blow nets more overall ORKOs than Death Blow does. This is especially true since I have a +Spd Julia (who has 30 spd), which Darting brings up to 36. But I also have a Ryoma on my team to provide Hone Spd, which brings her up to a surprisingly respectable 40 spd. I also have Hone Atk on my Ninian, which somewhat makes up for the power loss of running Darting over Death.

The reason I wonder this is because I'm a [mostly] F2P and don't have the luxury of picking and choosing optimal skills all the time. I do not have any fodder for Death Blow (not even someone to give her DB 2 in the absence of Klein), but I do have a spare Florina that I could feed. 

Also, I was wondering how good Bowbreaker would be over either Axebreaker or G Tomebreaker since Ryoma takes care of axes and green mages quite handily, and it may be redundant to run two counters to those weapon types. That said, if you still believe I should run a green breaker, do you have a preference for which one of the two? I have fodder for both, so that won't be an issue.

In any case, these are a lot of questions, so thanks for all your help!

For a +Spd Julia with team support, I think Darting Blow makes enough sense. The two kills Julia absolutely needs to land on player phase with a non-vanilla build are +Spd/Res Ephraim (Fury 3) and Sharena (Fury 3). If the build lands those kills, then I think it works.

Among the Weaponbreaker skills, what matters most is what your team can handle. If Ryoma can hold out against Hector after already taking out Nino or Julia, then that's fine. If Ryoma can't, you may want to consider Axebreaker or G Tomebreaker to split the burden. Between the two, the choice is which one you prefer leaving to Julia.

[Okigen]

42 minutes ago, MaskedAmpharos said:

Yeah, G Tomebreaker seems to be a common option people take on Julia, and I'm certainly thinking about it. The thing about that is that I have to consider synergy with the rest of my team as well. Ryoma is currently a solid check to green mages, so I'm not sure if it'd be redundant or not to have Julia run G Tomebreaker or if I'd be better off having her deal with something else instead, like giving her Bowbreaker. 

How about b tomebreaker? Ryoma will have trouble tanking Linde I guess, and if you use Julia to bait Linde with some teams like mine, yours will be in trouble instead coz she can only deal enough damage to Linde to trigger WoM on Linde's teammates. The only issue is that skill is only available on Robin F ...

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

Welp, I decided to just drop Sharena and all that, and run Alm/Reinhardt/Azura/Kagerou, which is pretty different from my regular Arena team. My score won't be as high, since Alm has no inheritance stuff, but at least I can play.

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

So, units normally move in slot order, right? Anyone know what changes their tendency toward, that because I just had a 4th-slot Azura move before a 3rd-slot Julia for no reason, which obviously causes baiting issues.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

29 minutes ago, MaskedAmpharos said:

This is a bit unorthodox, but how do you feel about Darting Blow on Julia? 

I wasn't expecting much since Julia's such a naturally slow character, but I was surprised to find that Darting Blow nets more overall ORKOs than Death Blow does. This is especially true since I have a +Spd Julia (who has 30 spd), which Darting brings up to 36. But I also have a Ryoma on my team to provide Hone Spd, which brings her up to a surprisingly respectable 40 spd. I also have Hone Atk on my Ninian, which somewhat makes up for the power loss of running Darting over Death.

The reason I wonder this is because I'm a [mostly] F2P and don't have the luxury of picking and choosing optimal skills all the time. I do not have any fodder for Death Blow (not even someone to give her DB 2 in the absence of Klein), but I do have a spare Florina that I could feed. 

Also, I was wondering how good Bowbreaker would be over either Axebreaker or G Tomebreaker since Ryoma takes care of axes and green mages quite handily, and it may be redundant to run two counters to those weapon types. That said, if you still believe I should run a green breaker, do you have a preference for which one of the two? I have fodder for both, so that won't be an issue.

In any case, these are a lot of questions, so thanks for all your help!

 

i used +spd darting julia

 

She can ORKO Tiki and trade hits with Klein, and reliably deals with 30 spd labcers i think its pretty cool

 

[Clogon]

All this talk about a +SPD Julia makes me wish I had one. :( I hate Facing +SPD Julia.

 

On Sharena, I guess Fury Quick Riposte is the way to go then.