Elieson Talks Teams & Units | Today, The Starting Three, Alfonse Day, Not a Fun Day

[Elieson]

Discussed Units & Links

Spoiler

• Reinhardt (in Cavalry Meta) | Post #1
• Eldigan (in Cavalry Meta) | Post #25
• Klein (universal, and a tight Gordin comparison) | Post #37

 

So there's been a lot of talk about units and teambuilding and "Who should I 5-star?" and "Who's better, X or Y?" so I figured I'd spend some time giving everyone a rundown on what units in a category have to offer, so people can make weighted decisions based on what they have, and build teams with a bit more projection given some knowledge that they might have either not had, misunderstood, forgotten or any combination of the above. 

Today, I want to look at Cavalry, since it's a growing meta given the current Sibling Bonds focus and the most recent Grand Hero Battle giving us a unit that's tailored to dealing with them. Is F!Robin the true counter to this meta being able to thrive? Will Raigh see some resurgence in viability? What other counters do Cavalry face? Let's examine what we have:

Cavalry

In this meta, we have a little over 15 units currently in the meta, which cover most but not all of the common weapon-types, with a heavy lean on Blue > Red and a handful of Green and Staff types. There's no Bows, which is a surprise, given the common sight of Nomads/Bow Knights noted historically through Fire Emblem. Cavalry units run general weaponry that you can see across many infantry type units, but their biggest feature is a universal movement boost of 1 (giving all Cavalry 3 movement) in exchange for the inability to traverse across Water, Chasms and Mountains (Fliers exclusively can cross) and Forests (Cavalry exclusively cannot cross).

Cavalry units run a generally lower (but not significantly lower) overall stat decrease compared to common Infantry units in exchange for this greater movement, but offer a different kind of synergy in the form of what can simply be classified as "more potent buffs" via skills like Hone Cavalry and Fortify Cavalry, bestowing +6 to multiple stats simultaneously.

Primary Benefits of running Cavaliers: 

• 3-Movement trumps every other grounded movement method in terms of Distance
• All colors are covered
• Adjacency Buffs are phenomenal
• The primary Anti-Cavalry weaponry is two-range (-wolf tomes), and the majority of Cavalry units engage in one-range combat. These tomes have low Mt and exists on units that lack Arena presence, key stats and universally threatening skills.

Primary Issues with running Cavaliers: 

• The lower stats contribute to lower Ratings scores, which impact Arena visits by offering less points and therefore less potential for Feather acquisition at the end of each season. 
• There are a few tomes that are Effective vs Cavalry, which exist on uncommon but still potentially dangerous units. This means that all cavalry have two types of weaknesses (Color via Gem weapons and Cavalry-Eff tomes)
• If you're committed to running a Cavalry team, you're required to run one or more of Eliwood/Gunter/Jagen, which all have lock to one range melee and middling offenses
• Without Hone Cavalry from Gunter, doubling opponents will not happen very often
• Staff support is not stellar
• No bows mean ranged attack is limited to Magic
• Cannot cross forests, making certain battle arenas very difficult to function in

 

Spoiler

 

Swords

• Cain
• Eldigan
• Eliwood
• Stahl
• Xander

Axes

• Frederick
• Gunter

Lances

• Abel
• Jagen
• Peri
• Sully

Red Tome

• Leo

Green Tome

• Cecilia

Blue Tome

• Olwen
• Reinhardt
• Ursula

Staff

• Clarine
• Elise

Dagger

• -None-

Bow

• -None-

 

That's a synopsis of the types, but why not look at the key units themselves, and then the more interchangable ones. I'll cover one a day, because this stuff takes time to calculate!

 

It All Starts with Reinhardt

Reinhardt is the one of the best things when it comes to running raw offense, and if you're running a Reinhardt, you darn well know that Hone Cavalry is tantalizing to stack with that Dire Thunder brave attack, for huge offensive bonuses. Olwen has the same weapon, but lower offensive capabilities in exchange for some more speed to help her not get doubled, and more res + Warding Blow to help her assault Mages. It's superfluous, as Olwen's lower Atk means that she'll take hits where she may not have had to, and wouldn't normally be challenging mages anyway when a team should send melee fighters to do just that.

Currently, Reinhardt is only available at 5*, so I'll update the list with skill unlockables as other versions become available.

Stats:

HP     41
ATK   41
DEF   27
SPD   18 (23 -5 from Dire Thunder)
RES   22

Skills:

☆☆☆☆☆

1. Dire Thunder+ (9Mt, Attacks 2x on Player Phase, 2 Rng)
2. Blazing Thunder [5-turn Cooldown] (Deals 1.5*Atk - Opponent Def/Res nearby, before initiating combat)
3. Vantage 3 (Reinhardt counterattacks first if HP < 75%
4. Goad Cavalry (+4 Atk & Spd to cavalry allies within 2 spaces)

On the Offense

Reinhardt has some pretty threatening offense, especially against commonly seen Falchion users and other sword lords in the meta. He also hammers foes like the Tikis with Blue x2 strikes. Currently, his 5* Offense averages out at 41 Atk *2 on Player Phase. His speed will never double anyone at a comparable level (23 speed -5 with Dire Thunder equipped), but Reinhardt's job isn't to take hits; it's to hit hard, twice. 

Goad Cavalry does not self-buff, but does stack with Hone Cavalry, letting Gunter and Reinhardt apply +10 Atk/Spd to units. This is gigantic, especially when paired with other Brave users like Olwen (Dire Thunder+ ), Cain (Brave Sword+[R]) and Abel (Brave Lance+). Reinhardt himself would boast 47 Atk and an almost-safe 24 speed on average, which is threatening, as 47*2 attack ORKOs a hearty handful and heavily chips anybody that isn't Sheena, Julia, Cecilia, Felicia, Niles, Est or a staffer without Res support on their end.

Versus Reds: 

   His main perk is being able to double-hit the popular Sword Lords and even some Red Mages like Tharja. Running around solo, he has his brave effect letting him double-strike from range, and free from counter, just about every red unit with ease. Hitting twice without fear of being hit back is a huge benefit. Reinhardt's 41 calculates out to an effective 49 Atk over Res, twice. This damage cannot kill Roy, Henry, Y!Tiki, Fir and Eliwood. That's it. Every other red unit dies unless given a Res buff from elsewhere. HP Variations make a difference here, so a +Atk Reinhardt accomodates for all variances of Red unit HP and Res. If you have Gunter's Hone Cavalry support for +6 Dmg, that equates to +7, so 56 Mt over Res. This assumes a neutral nature, and kills (assuming Non +HP/+Res) every red unit. +Atk nature covers for +HP/+Res, of course.

Versus Blues:

   Since most of his KOs are close on the reds, he's not ORKO'ing blues without support. For what it's worth, he does put F!Corrin down to 1 HP, and with a Gunter buff of +6*2, that's 12 damage that lets him carry into battles vs common blues. DoubleStrikes even on Blues from 47 Atk over Res is threatening, and fails to kill only Gwendolyn, Shanna, Nowi, Jagen, Peri and Est. Again, this assumes no buffs are on the enemy and you're all running a neutral nature. Give yourself a +Atk nature and it'll match up with their +Hp/Res natures. Fight a neutral instance, and you're only struggling against Gwendolyns, Jagens and Peris. That's impressive!

Versus Colorless:

   You're gonna have a mixed time. Most colorless units face him at his 41 Mt (let's not count Gunter in just yet). If I did my math correctly, Felicia takes 0 damage. Wow! Fortunately, there's more to life than Felicia. Takumi, Saizo, Jeorge, Gaius and Gordin dies. With Gunter Support, Kagero bites the dust (She survives normal onslaught with 2 HP so you can see just how close it is). If I didn't mention them, they either live or I just didn't calculate due to low battle presence (Healers, for instance, which off the top of my head, Sakura dies but not Elise).

Versus Green:

  You're gonna have a bad time. Not only You're looking at 33 Atk before Gunter support per strike, and 38 with. That's so tiny, but can still make a decent dent. For instance, 33 Atk fails to ORKO any green unit, but does some alright chip. 11*2 vs Hector (before getting obliterated back), is probably the most notable, with heavier hitters like Minerva/Fred/Gunter/Cherche/Bartre/Barst taking 15-20 per hit (down the line). It'll deal heavy chip to these guys, at the very least.Julia and Sheena take 0 damage, and everybody else other than Merric takes about 20 damage in total.

With Gunter support, Minerva, Frederick and Cherche still die, which is nice. Hefty chip damage happens to most everyone else, as that 15-20 per hit turns to 20-25 per hit, and 20 damage in total turns into 30. Only mages and Camilla have under 40 HP though, and other than Merric, none are taking that much damage. You're best bet is to bring a red like Eliwood (to sponge a hit with his high res and very safe speed), Cain (with his Escutcheon mitigating ranged damage after some battles) or Stahl (with his Ruby Sword) charge in to take out the Greens themselves.

What about F!Robin? She'd kill him without effectiveness, to be honest. 53 Eff Mt doubled Reinhardt's snail-like 18 speed, and this doesn't even consider Blue Tomebreaker. 25 res and 38 HP mean Reinhardt takes 21*2 damage from a 5* F!Robin. This means that a 3* F!Robin at Level 40 should be able to kill him, with 46 EffectiveEffective Mt (from 34 Atk). Look man, this is a scale that you just can't tip. You lost before you got on your horse.

On the Defense

Unfortunately, his durability isn't anything to shake a stick at. 38 HP puts him in the bottom 5 out of the current 16 Cavalry units (beating out Elise, Clarine, Cecilia and Jagen), and with defensive parameters pretty much exactly average out of all of the cavaliers, him getting doubled is a problem. Vantage helps mitigate some damage that he might take after dealing with something like Savage Blow 3 (SB3's 7 Dmg puts him into Vantage range without shoving him into Combat) or any other skill like Glowing Light, Blazing Thunder, etc). His 27 Defense isn't exactly bad (like I said, it's exactly average, and he shouldn't be getting hit, but it won't take much to kill him. 41 attack from a blue unit with 23 speed or more (which is essentially, every other blue unit that isn't Effie) will ORKO him without defensive support. 5*Gwendolyn runs an average of 24 speed, to put it in perspective. He needs that Gunter support to keep from getting ORKO'd by your average 5* Gwendolyn. There's only a handful of units that do not double him, but fortunately, of those, they're not threatening (Raigh, Sophia) or can't easily reach him (Effie). Hawkeye fits in here, but can tank Reinhardt hard even with getting 4x'd.

 

As a note, Reinhardt has the lowest Arena Rating out of all of the Cavalry, being 149 (Tied with Olwen). This reduces your rewards for Feather gains, so run Reinhardt and you probably won't see as high placing as you could with other horses that all run 10-30 points more than him.

Other Synergy and Team Options:

• Gunter
  • At 4*, there's no one better. Gunter gives Reinhardt the extra punch he needs to take on any red or blue with comfort, and lets him take on variants in Colorless and Green with a little bit less sweat to lose. Gunter support lets Reinhardt kill all variants of Takumi, even though most Takumis run +Spd or +Atk to secure kills of their own, so you should be fine as a basic version. He also gives Gunter a bit of extra firepower to charge ahead with his base 47 Atk at 5*, letting you run 4* 44 Atk Gunter with a neat +4 attack boost, which is a hefty Axe hit. The bonus to speed gives him 27 speed, which is much safer than 21 speed, and can let Gunter bait a bit more effectively, especially with his enormous 30 Def at 4*.
• Jagen/Eliwood
  • +6 D/R and +4 D/R respectively, which stack. Eliwood covers Reds with a very safe 30 speed at 5*, and if you're needing some extra comfort to take on Greens, Eliwood runs Axebreaker to minimize the damage he himself will take from fast axe users like Minerva or Anna. It also makes approaching Hector much safer, though you should always let Hector attack you anyway, just to avoid that Followup strike of his via Armads.
• Eldigan
  • Eldigan offers no synergy to your team, but huge benefits in terms of Arena potential. His 182 Rating is the highest of all of the Cavs, and with Fury, he's carrying some heavy stats, including 51 Atk (highest neutral atk by 4), and runs a Sword at that. His AoE, Growing Light, combined with Mystletainn's time reduction and high Defense (37) means that he should be able to proc one instance of Growing Light per match, giving Reinhardt what he needs to finish any job. The quirky thing about his AoE move is that it hits the unit he's attacking, and then alternating tiles. Fury means that you're taking additional damage each turn, but in reality, it's just going to offset the damage you might've taken from combat, and your Fury burn can't actually kill you after the battle. Hone and Goad Cavalry turn this into a 61 point monster with 37 speed. That will double a lot...basically any other horse without support, and most mages.
  • 
• Frederick
  • Fred runs Fortify Def, which can serve as a +4 Def backup option to Jagen/Eliwood's defensive coverage. It's not as good, but does offer a boost to Def that is pretty comparable. He also has Wings of Mercy, which lets Fred teleport to Reinhardt for immediate aid. Since Reinhardt's most afraid of direct combat from the quicker units that tend to double him, Fred can lend a hand with his Hammer and benefit from Goad Cavalry at the same time. This offers Green coverage with a Hammer, which might not be appealing since Reinhardt can decimate armors on his own and Fred overlaps with Gunter. It's not a bad option though, since Fred boasts huge offense and gives additional coverage to take out Effies with. Fortify Def doesn't stack with Jagen's buff, so it'd be better to run Fred over Jagen than Eliwood. Wings of Mercy is hilariously effective, in giving Fred 51 Atk at 5* while teleporting over to Reinhardts in trouble from incoming units with high res and low def.
• Stahl/Cain
  • Stahl runs Ruby Sword and Obstruct, which can help both discourage and even prevent greens from approaching Reinhardt, especially green fliers like Minerva and Camilla, while eating them up in the process. Swap allows for quick placement shifts to get Reinhardt in for chip and out of danger, and Goad Cavalry makes Stahl's Ruby Sword his super duper hard against the greens that threaten him.
  • Cain runs Brave Sword and Wings of Mercy, which let Cain snag a quick buff from Goad Cavalry and do double somebody up with his respectable 40 [R] attack. Threaten Atk lets Cain and Reinhardt live longer. The neatest thing about Wings of Mercy is that you can teleport to Reinhardt's aid, should he need it, and get the boost from Goad Cavalry immediately.
    • Both of these can replace Eliwood as damage takers rather than damage reducers, but emphasize more offense in particular environments. Cain offers much more flexibility to Stahl's hard counter against Greens and not much more.
• Abel
  • Abel runs a Brave Lance, which would grow like nuts with +10 Atk. His middling stats everywhere else work well enough for him because of his 27 speed keeping him safe from harm, but Swordbreaker and HP+5 don't give him a lot to do. Blues counter him hard but often fall short of ORKO'ing Abel back, so it's not a big liability to have Abel charge forward or draw in opponents. He also kills Reds dead, but with Reinhardt already doing that, the choice is yours to have two Red killers on your team or not. However, greens counter him harder. The biggest benefit is the +10 Atk that touches the Brave Lance, and +10 Spd to Abel himself. 51 Atk and 37 Spd will probably spell death for anyone it comes across, which is super nice.
• Sully/Peri
  • Sully carries a Sapphire Lance and Swordbreaker, letting her decimate reds, but that overlap with Reinhardt isn't often necessary unless you're dealing with a horde of sword lords and have no terrain coverage to hide behind. Her Draw Back lets her pull Reinhardt back from dealing Chip/Kill damage in Danger Areas, which can be neat., and also can technically give you further movement options for both units. It's situational.
  • Peri doesn't synergize with Reinhardt all that well, because she reduces Defense, which benefits her. She fits alright on the team, with Threaten Def combining well with Goad Cavalry to help her enjoy more benefits from Reinhardt. She doesn't offer him very much though, is the point
• Cecilia/Leo
  • Cecilia can boost Reinhardt's middling Res and if hurt herself, can teleport away to give Reinhardt more room to maneuver around. Her green coverage doesn't help him all that much though and her weapon offers only Counter damage options against bow users that probably kill her anyway (Neutral Takumi doubled +Spd Cecilias, for instance). If you need a Res boost, take Eliwood, for coverage and for passive buffs over active buffs
  • Leo can offer some unique assistance due to his hard hitting Brynhildr tome, high Res to absorb hits from green mages like Nino and Julia (that with proper buffs, could otherwise OHKO Reinhardt) and returning hits with Savage Blow to put nearby units at safe kill range. Quick Riposte lets him hit back hard, if he survives, but his best use is to work with Goad Cavalry to run 47 Mt attacks and Savage Blow to soften up enemies, letting them be surefire ORKO fodder for Reinhardt's Dire Thunder on Player Phase.  
• Olwen
  • A second Blue brave tome user with worse offensive stats and Spur Res / Reposition as her gimmicks, can help, but is far from useful. She's a poor man's Reinhardt, and begs for Gunter+Reinhardt support so she can touch 41->45 Atk and be threatening. Her safe res lets her bait mages though, but the Greens will hurt her big time anyway, Nino/Julia are powerhouses and hit her hard while taking little in return, while Merric and F!Robin just take a punch and deal one back.
• Clarine/Elise
  • Clarine offers Swift Winds Balm and Fear, while Elise offers higher consistent heals and Live to Serve. Clarine's Fear drops Atk for foes by -6, which is nice and has saved my butt on many occassions. I'd run Imbue over SWB though, as more Heal Power helps keep my team going. Reinhardt doesn't care about the speed, and the bonus speed for Cavalry won't amount to much.
  • Elise just heals for more, always. She runs Gravity, which can be nice in arenas that have walls or bridges to attack across, but in any other terrain, you probably won't see much use from her, because she's too squishy and Gravity doesn't do enough to matter when you have a high mobility team already

Who I suggest to run?

• Under normal circumstances, running Reinhardt implies that your team craves reactionary offense rather than defensive counters to hit your enemies.
  • Gunter. Reinhardt's Goad Cavalry and Gunter's Hone Cavalry allow excellent team boosts to offense by pushing attack for your team up from +4 on his own to +10 with Gunter around. It's too good to pass up, and with Gunter around, you have coverage against blues and safe bait to use to draw in slower melee blues like Effie and Sully, and especially Cordelias and Gwendolyns. Sharena can still hit Gunter hard at 1 range with her lance (48 atk and doubling will hit hard but won't kill Gunter, even with a Hone Attack on herself). Gunter struggles against Nowis and Lindes though, which is where he's best off simply buffing Reinhardt and letting Reinhardt take care of them himself. Gunter at 5* or 4*+Atk should be able to OHKO most Lindes, especially with a Goad Cavalry support, just don't let him get hit by her even with WTA.
  • Jagen gives Reinhardt some cushion to work with, and helps boster your entire team at the same time. +6 D/R is gigantic, when combined with Reinhardt's already very average defenses and Gunter's sky high Def. Other options like Eliwood appreciate the Res buff, and Cain/Abel crave it to do their jobs for more. It helps pull the need for sustainability via Healer out of the equation.
  • Eldigan is Red, and has incredible stats for a horseman (the highest, at 182). Growing Light and Lunge require careful use but can benefit your team by giving you more area coverage if necessary. If Eldigan kills, Lunge doesn't proc, so that's no big deal.
  • Speaking of, Cain offers excellent coverage. While Eliwood looks appealing with his +4 D/R that can stack on Jagen's +6, you really want Reinhardt to thrive on the offense here, and Cain helps Reinhardt live longer with Threaten Attack as his AOE Passive debuff. Wings of Mercy lets Cain rush to get harmed Reinhardts out of trouble, and immediately benefit eachother through the +Atk and -Atk they both throw out. Cain hits 37 speed with both buffs from Gunter and from Reinhardt, which is very threatening, especially when dealing with a brave. If it's green, it's dead. No butts about it.
    • Eliwood offers alternative Red coverage, which Jagen/Reinhardt/Gunter are begging for, but his offense isn't stellar until he hits 5* and acquires Durandal. If you have a 5* Eliwood, then sub in Cain for Eliwood for that higher raw offense (and innate Deathblow on Durandal) for hard single-hits. Cain's utility and Brave lets him do more against most though, while Eliwood's going to offer a bit more defense for G/J/R to work with, which isn't all that big of a deal.
    • Frederick makes decent coverage too, with Wings of Mercy letting him get Reinhardt out of trouble. Fred's problem is that he buffs Defense, which Reinhardt doesn't really want to get hit. If Reinhardt's hit, he's probably dead, or at least in Vantage range, and not lasting another one.

 Final Words

A Cavalry team is fun, in the right maps. Bad maps, like those with...any terrain, really screw you up. Forests create narrow corridors that opponents can just fly or walk over, and all that does is set you up for pinser attacks and put you on the immediate defensive. Running braves mean that you want to initiate the attacks, not the other way around. It's hard work to pull off a team like this, and you're not even going to do that well in the Arena with it, in terms of rewards. Jagen/Gunter/Reinhardt/Cain run 645 pts on average, when a different team could cross past 700 and still have strong synergy. Given my previous placement of running 605-610s in a perfect run getting me into the top 40,000 though for Feather prizes, it could still offer you rewards with fun.

Reinhardt as a standalone unit is very good with intelligent play and a team to work with. Without strong Attack support, he checks most reds but begs for a Dancer and an Attack buff from Sharena/Eirika/Olivia/Raigh/etc, and if you're doing that, you could run any kind of team like a Nino Nuke team, Brave w/ Gordin/Klein team...it's nothing special. Blue lets him check Sword Lords reds in general, which fill the Arena to the brim. If you intend to just have a Blue Brave beater charge ahead and kill stuff willynilly, you're going to lose Reinhardt almost instantly. He has no defensive abilities or sustainability whatsoever, so don't use him like he does, play cautiously, and you can accomplish a lot with the guy.

Edited March 7, 2017 by Elieson

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

Very informative, did your research and everything. Strongly agree with what you said about reactionary offense. That's truly the strong point of cavalry. Also learnt something about Eldigan's worth, I guess. I still think he's too glass for any cannon he has to offer, but perhaps on a Cavalry team, buffs from allies  can fix this somewhat.

I think Abel can also be a valuable ally to go alongside Reinhardt. They're both Blue Brave users, but one of them hits physically and the other magically, so you can cover different bases that way.

[Elieson]

16 minutes ago, SatsumaFSoysoy said:

I think Abel can also be a valuable ally to go alongside Reinhardt. They're both Blue Brave users, but one of them hits physically and the other magically, so you can cover different bases that way.

It's nice to have this, but with your main power being assigned to two types of blue, a green-heavy team is very threatening and while close quarters bravelancing is nice, there are many more times that Abel's 41 Atk is going to not ORKO somebody that's Blue. Goad/Hone supports from reinhardt/gunter will always be useful though, and 51 on a Brave Attack is scary as heck

 

Also I knew I forgot an in-depth about Reinhardt + Abel on a team. I added it; personally I'd still place value of Cain > Abel, because of color coverage. Two blue brave nukes struggle against Hectors, and Brave reds help ensure more smooth Fae ORKOs.

Edited February 28, 2017 by Elieson

[BANRYU]

Great read, thanks for sharing.

Also good to know I got probably the most useless of the Cavalry buffers in Eliwood lmao. (S'cool I ain't got any other cavalry to run him with anyway haah =3=)

Eldigan seems like the most appealing one to me honestly.

[dragonlordsd]

Yeah, just to add to this,

Reinhardt benefits MASSIVELY from maps with walls/mountains. If you're going up against a team of, say, Roy, Chrom, Nowi, and Hector, Reinhardt can do some pretty devastating damage on the right map.

On the other hand, as Elieson pointed out, forests, and maps with destructible walls (like that one map that's all destructible walls) are terrible for him.

Due to the fact that pretty much everything ever can double with him, he really is an all or nothing unit, unless you've got synergies.

@Elieson: I am really interested in Eldigan, as he has the same activated ability as a melee range unit. I haven't seen any of him in the arena yet, and I'm really curious how he performs.

Edited February 28, 2017 by dragonlordsd

[Elieson]

1 minute ago, BANRYU said:

Also good to know I got probably the most useless of the Cavalry buffers in Eliwood lmao. (S'cool I ain't got any other cavalry to run him with anyway haah =3=)

 

Eliwood's +4 D/R runs in combat, which is a nice perk for units engaging in battle multiple times. Stack this with Jagen for +10 D/R on units that run around 23-30 D/R already, and you have really safe options to deal with approaching enemies. Eliwood's "most useless" cavalry buff is still super good because it's Fortify Def & Fortify Res for Horses, combined

 

Personally..I think Eliwood on his own is pretty terrible though :(

[BANRYU]

1 minute ago, Elieson said:

Eliwood's +4 D/R runs in combat, which is a nice perk for units engaging in battle multiple times. Stack this with Jagen for +10 D/R on units that run around 23-30 D/R already, and you have really safe options to deal with approaching enemies. Eliwood's "most useless" cavalry buff is still super good because it's Fortify Def & Fortify Res for Horses, combined

 

Personally..I think Eliwood on his own is pretty terrible though :(

His inability to stay alive long enough to hit level 40 seems to agree =w= Oh well at least he's a bro.

[Kiran]

While I would love to smite every red out of existence, his total base stats are too low for me to really consider him. BTW I don't think Triangle adapt affects DEF, only ATK. 

Really enjoyed reading this. Very informative and well-researched. :)

[Elieson]

5 minutes ago, Kiran said:

BTW I don't think Triangle adapt affects DEF, only ATK. 

Triangle Adept makes you take -20% and deal +20% with WTA on top of your WTA's 20% difference (so 40% more/40% less), and the reverse with WTD. If he takes off the skill, he survives with 2 HP (by 1 Res). It's that close

Edited February 28, 2017 by Elieson

[Kiran]

5 minutes ago, Elieson said:

Triangle Adept makes you take -20% and deal +20% with WTA on top of your WTA's 20% difference (so 40% more/40% less), and the reverse with WTD. If he takes off the skill, he survives with 2 HP (by 1 Res). It's that close

I'm pretty sure that Triangle Adept makes you deal +20% dmg with WTA advantage and -20% dmg with WTA disadvantage, however it doesn't touch the unit's DEF, so Reinhardt shouldn't be able to ORKO Roy even if Roy has Triangle Adapt on. 

Edited February 28, 2017 by Kiran

[Elieson]

1 minute ago, Kiran said:

I'm pretty sure that Triangle Adept makes you deal +20% dmg with WTA advantage and -20% dmg with WTA disadvantage, however it doesn't touch the unit's DEF.  

Ahh buggers, you're right. Thx for that slap in the head I needed!

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

25 minutes ago, Elieson said:

It's nice to have this, but with your main power being assigned to two types of blue, a green-heavy team is very threatening and while close quarters bravelancing is nice, there are many more times that Abel's 41 Atk is going to not ORKO somebody that's Blue. Goad/Hone supports from reinhardt/gunter will always be useful though, and 51 on a Brave Attack is scary as heck

 

Also I knew I forgot an in-depth about Reinhardt + Abel on a team. I added it; personally I'd still place value of Cain > Abel, because of color coverage. Two blue brave nukes struggle against Hectors, and Brave reds help ensure more smooth Fae ORKOs.

  Cain is a pretty terrible unit, though. If a Red is needed, I honestly might just pick Eliwood or Eldigan.

[Korath88]

32 minutes ago, Elieson said:

Eliwood's +4 D/R runs in combat, which is a nice perk for units engaging in battle multiple times. Stack this with Jagen for +10 D/R on units that run around 23-30 D/R already, and you have really safe options to deal with approaching enemies. Eliwood's "most useless" cavalry buff is still super good because it's Fortify Def & Fortify Res for Horses, combined

 

Personally..I think Eliwood on his own is pretty terrible though :(

Yeah, but keep in mind that on this team, Eliwood benefits from hone cavalry and goad cavalry for +10 Atk/Spd if I'm not wrong, so he should perform quite well with a good team comp such as this.

[Elieson]

With a Hone Goad setup, Eliwood boasts 56 atk and 40 spd, which is pretty nice. 51 from Cain w/ Brave vs 56 from Durandal is hefty.

56+4 for attackign on PP with Durandal's innate DeathBlow 2 pumps it up to 60, which is a mighty hard hit. 

That's 61*2 from a Brave Sword's atk (effective) vs 67-or-72 from Durandal (effective).

This lets Eliwood ORKO basically anybody since he'll either double them to kill or outright OHKO them, but Cain "OHKO"s high Def high HP units like Cherche/Fred/Gunter, where Eliwood would take a hit back. Hector counters both with a single hit so it's not a huge matter in that department.

Eliwood can make more of a Dent vs Blues with WTD and Durandal probably, I'll need to run some numbers and confirm though. I might do a Cain vs Eliwood analysis soon just so everything's out in the open.

 

Still, I find Wings of Mercy to be super helpful; more than Axebreaker. Depends on the setup though; if I'm going hyper defensive, Eliwood/Jagen are the sustain for other heavy hitters like Eldigan w/ Gunter buffs universally. If I'm going SUPERHYPER Defensive, I could run Cain for -Atk AOE Debuffs coupled with Eliwood/Jagen Def/Res buffs for -6Atk & +10 Def/Res to reduce damage taken to single digits under 95% scenarios. In this setup with Eliwood Linde would hurt Cain with WTA for 14*2, I believe. without, 20*2.

[ExpendableExtra]

Goad and Ward are also useful as it allows you to be more flexible with your positioning to take advantage of Cavalry high mobility so you don't need to end up in a box or T formation at the end of each turn or risk missing out on all your buffs.

[Sire]

An interesting read! I've been wanting to make some Cavalry (and Flier and Armor) teams for some time, but I personally would probably not use them for Offensive Arena runs due to the current meta. They would be fun to mess around in the Training Tower or Story Mode though!

My original team would include Cain, Gunter, Jegan, and Ursula (since I read somewhere she had Goad Cavalry* even though she is not yet available). Gunter and Jegan are present for their Hone Cavalry and Fortify Cavalry respectively. Cain would be my Red DPS with his Brave Sword, and Ursula was included because I could use a magic unit and she may have Goad Cavalry.

However, with Reinhardt being present, he may end up replacing Ursula as he has confirmed skills and Brave weapons have better synergy with ATT buffs. However, in the event Ursula does have Goad Calvary, I would replace Jegan as I believe "Battle Buffs" stack (such as Spurs and Goad). So, Cain would have a whopping +14 ATT & SPD (+6 from Gunter's Hone Cavalry and +4 from Reinhardt's and Ursula's Goad Cavalry, for a total of +8 from that. 6+8=14, which is pretty high.)

Alternatively, if the Cavalry team is committed to hyper offensive, try fielding a Dancer like Olivia or Azura to take advantage of the crazy buffs and go on a rampage. I personally recommend Azura over Olivia since Olivia's Hone ATT passive will be overwritten by Gunter's Hone Cavalry. So, in this situation, I would run Cain, Gunter, Reinhardt, and Azura. // To further complicate matters, when Xander is released, he may be a strong contender to replace Cain as his signature weapon, Siegfried, allows him to counter at range. To witness his weapon usage, just play Chapter 9-5 on Lunatic.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* Source: Fire Emblem Heroes Wiki - Ursula Page || However, there is a contradicting source with picture evidence, found on the FE:Heroes Reddit. || Remember, Ursula may not actually have Goad Cavalry, we will have to wait for her release to confirm (or rely on reputable data miners).

[pianime94]

Nice thesis @Elieson Your research has convinced me to refrain from pulling for Reinhardt. Mainly because his playstyle is the exact opposite of mine, i.e., defense counters over reactionary offense. I agree that Eliwood can't provide much support for Reinhardt because he is already fragile to begin with due to his speed (also agrees that Eliwood is meh by himself). I can understand why a unit with Wings of Mercy is more valuable for his safety.

One mistake however: Eliwood has 47 atk so that's 68 atk or 73 with Durandal effective damage!

Can't wait to see your research about Camus when he gets added. Looking from the paper, he seems to fit my playstyle better and synergize well with Eliwood,. Not to mention, a beast to boot.

Edited March 1, 2017 by pianime94

[Korath88]

2 hours ago, pianime94 said:

Nice thesis @Elieson Your research has convinced me to refrain from pulling for Reinhardt. Mainly because his playstyle is the exact opposite of mine, i.e., defense counters over reactionary offense. I agree that Eliwood can't provide much support for Reinhardt because he is already fragile to begin with due to his speed (also agrees that Eliwood is meh by himself). I can understand why a unit with Wings of Mercy is more valuable for his safety.

One mistake however: Eliwood has 47 atk so that's 68 atk or 73 with Durandal effective damage!

Can't wait to see your research about Camus when he gets added. Looking from the paper, he seems to fit my playstyle better and synergize well with Eliwood,. Not to mention, a beast to boot.

Camus' stats are ridiculously good, if the leaked are true. I think cavalry teams will really start to shine once he's released. He even has goad cavalry.

For those wondering what his stats are, someone on Reddit leaked them here:https://i.redd.it/nb78xo9xc6iy.jpg

Edited March 1, 2017 by Korath88

[Elieson]

Gunter/Camus/Reinhardt/Eldigan will be an intense team to deal with. Reinhardt still has terrible Rating for arena usage though, but Gunter's not that bad and Eldigan is top knotch. 33 Spd on a horse is matched only by Peri, and 48 attack for 1~2 with Gradivus lets him deal with bows/shurikens awfully safe, with that 31 Def.

I kinda hope this is real.

[Arcanite]

@Elieson has too much time on his hands. Nice thing you got going on here though, I like it

[Vaximillian]

@Elieson, can you say what Rising/Blazing Thunder area of effect is?

[Elieson]

10 hours ago, Sire said:

An interesting read! I've been wanting to make some Cavalry (and Flier and Armor) teams for some time, but I personally would probably not use them for Offensive Arena runs due to the current meta. They would be fun to mess around in the Training Tower or Story Mode though!

My original team would include Cain, Gunter, Jegan, and Ursula (since I read somewhere she had Goad Cavalry* even though she is not yet available). Gunter and Jegan are present for their Hone Cavalry and Fortify Cavalry respectively. Cain would be my Red DPS with his Brave Sword, and Ursula was included because I could use a magic unit and she may have Goad Cavalry.

However, with Reinhardt being present, he may end up replacing Ursula as he has confirmed skills and Brave weapons have better synergy with ATT buffs. However, in the event Ursula does have Goad Calvary, I would replace Jegan as I believe "Battle Buffs" stack (such as Spurs and Goad). So, Cain would have a whopping +14 ATT & SPD (+6 from Gunter's Hone Cavalry and +4 from Reinhardt's and Ursula's Goad Cavalry, for a total of +8 from that. 6+8=14, which is pretty high.)

Alternatively, if the Cavalry team is committed to hyper offensive, try fielding a Dancer like Olivia or Azura to take advantage of the crazy buffs and go on a rampage. I personally recommend Azura over Olivia since Olivia's Hone ATT passive will be overwritten by Gunter's Hone Cavalry. So, in this situation, I would run Cain, Gunter, Reinhardt, and Azura. // To further complicate matters, when Xander is released, he may be a strong contender to replace Cain as his signature weapon, Siegfried, allows him to counter at range. To witness his weapon usage, just play Chapter 9-5 on Lunatic.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* Source: Fire Emblem Heroes Wiki - Ursula Page || However, there is a contradicting source with picture evidence, found on the FE:Heroes Reddit. || Remember, Ursula may not actually have Goad Cavalry, we will have to wait for her release to confirm (or rely on reputable data miners).

154 rating and pretty average stats, with 35 Atk on a Blarwolf+ make Ursula look meh as a standalone unit, but 

The idea of her running Goad Cavalry comes from someone posting a Training Tower pic of it, which would be huge. I'm keeping speculation aside, but two Goad Cavalry units mean that there's basically no question about running Gunter/Reinhardt/Ursula/[Eliwood-Cain-Eldigan] as the basic setup. 

[Katrisa]

Fun read, thanks for posting this!  Hopefully I can pickup some of this months fun cavalry units!

Edited March 1, 2017 by Katrisa

[ErrantDShepherd]

Reinhardt definitely seems the crux of a successful Cav team... as I can tell you from trying to level an all Cav team in Tower, the lower stats of your own team and map obstacles make it a challenge to run. 

 

It's kinda fun though. :D

[Elieson]

I know that polls have been leaning towards Klein heavily for the next analysis, but I'm gonna touch on Eldigan first, to continue the topic of Cavalry close-ups. Other than Olwen, I feel like I've highlighted the core basics of all other Cavalry-type units with the exception of Olwen and healers, and I've been busy looking at his numbers before I got too involved with Reinhardt.

Let me just Copy/Paste my note about Cavalry in general, before getting to Eldigan himself.

 

17 hours ago, Elieson said:

 

Cavalry

In this meta, we have a little over 15 units currently in the meta, which cover most but not all of the common weapon-types, with a heavy lean on Blue > Red and a handful of Green and Staff types. There's no Bows, which is a surprise, given the common sight of Nomads/Bow Knights noted historically through Fire Emblem. Cavalry units run general weaponry that you can see across many infantry type units, but their biggest feature is a universal movement boost of 1 (giving all Cavalry 3 movement) in exchange for the inability to traverse across Water, Chasms and Mountains (Fliers exclusively can cross) and Forests (Cavalry exclusively cannot cross).

Cavalry units run a generally lower (but not significantly lower) overall stat decrease compared to common Infantry units in exchange for this greater movement, but offer a different kind of synergy in the form of what can simply be classified as "more potent buffs" via skills like Hone Cavalry and Fortify Cavalry, bestowing +6 to multiple stats simultaneously.

Primary Benefits of running Cavaliers: 

• 3-Movement trumps every other grounded movement method in terms of Distance
• All colors are covered
• Adjacency Buffs are phenomenal
• The primary Anti-Cavalry weaponry is two-range (-wolf tomes), and the majority of Cavalry units engage in one-range combat. These tomes have low Mt and exists on units that lack Arena presence, key stats and universally threatening skills.

Primary Issues with running Cavaliers: 

• The lower stats contribute to lower Ratings scores, which impact Arena visits by offering less points and therefore less potential for Feather acquisition at the end of each season. 
• There are a few tomes that are Effective vs Cavalry, which exist on uncommon but still potentially dangerous units. This means that all cavalry have two types of weaknesses (Color via Gem weapons and Cavalry-Eff tomes)
• If you're committed to running a Cavalry team, you're required to run one or more of Eliwood/Gunter/Jagen, which all have lock to one range melee and middling offenses
• Without Hone Cavalry from Gunter, doubling opponents will not happen very often
• Staff support is not stellar
• No bows mean ranged attack is limited to Magic
• Cannot cross forests, making certain battle arenas very difficult to function in

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Swords

• Cain
• Eldigan
• Eliwood
• Stahl
• Xander

Axes

• Frederick
• Gunter

Lances

• Abel
• Jagen
• Peri
• Sully

Red Tome

• Leo

Green Tome

• Cecilia

Blue Tome

• Olwen
• Reinhardt
• Ursula

Staff

• Clarine
• Elise

Dagger

• -None-

Bow

• -None-

 

That's a synopsis of the types, but why not look at the key units themselves, and then the more interchangable ones. I'll cover one a day, because this stuff takes time to calculate!

 

 

Awesome Eldigan's Incredible Offense Uses

A.E.I.O.U. Ha!

If you're looking for a cavalier with high numbers, then Eldigan is your man. Elgidan boasts an impressive 181 Rating, which parallels Reinhardt's puny sub-150 by being the #1 Rated Cavalry-type unit. He also manages to run himself into the Top 5 in terms of unit ratings, as only Effie and Hector surpass him in Rating (by 2 & 3 respectively), while Bartre ties with him. Gwendolyn and Sheena are the only other units in the 180s (at 180 exactly). What this means in short is that Eldigan has some high-@$$ stats to work with.

That's what one might think, anyway. He's what you might call a one-hit wonder, since he's not going anywhere super fast with his 27 base speed. This does make him one of the more threatening units in the game when coupled with his relatively high 45 HP and Top-5 in the game defense of 37 (surpassed only by Hinata and Draug, both of which have their own flaws and are slower with less raw Atk. Still, the bottom line is that 51 Atk and 27 Spd are numbers that in the Cavalry meta, only mean to be buffed by buddies. This accounts for his innate skill, Fury, which boosts every stat by +3 in exchange for a forced 6 damage taken per battle, but the 6 damage cannot kill Eldigan, so you'd be surprised how far this can carry you with his bulk and relatively safe speed.

Currently, Eldigan is only available at 5*, so I'll update the list with skill unlockables as other versions become available.

Stats:

HP     45
ATK   51 (includes +3 from Fury)
DEF   37 (includes +3 from Fury)
SPD   27 (includes +3 from Fury)
RES   19 (includes +3 from Fury)

Maximum Skills:

☆☆☆☆☆

1. Mystletainn (16Mt, Reduces cooldown count by 1, 1 Rng)
2. Growing Light [5-turn Cooldown] (Deals Atk - Opponent Def/Res nearby, before initiating combat)
   1. 4-turn cooldown with Mystletainn equipped.
3. Fury 3 (+3 Atk/Spd/Def/Res in exchange for 6 dmg dealt to self after combats. Cannot kill self)
4. Lunge (If attacking, swaps positions with opponent. Player phase only).

On the Offense

You obviously want the raw numbers though, right? Well, here you go.

• Effective Atk (v Green) [61]
• Neutral Atk (v Red/Colorless) [51]
• Ineffective Atk (v Blue) [39]

51 [R] Attack and 27 Speed means he'll hit hard, but not often. He'll double about 1/7 of the cast, utterly decimating the likes of Hawkeye and the pile of slower Red mages (Henry, Leo, Sophia), but fails to double anyone else. That said, 51 attack translates to 61 effective Atk vs greens. It's not killing most, but it turns chips into heavy dents. Because of his speed, he's going to likely eat a counterattack if not buffed, but he will never die from a green counterattack, and not a single sword user can naturally counter-kill him, even if they double him back. This makes Eldigan one of the safest one-range chippers that the game has to offer.

Where Eldigan shines is with proper support. Common help from users with Rally Attack, Hone Attack and Spur Attack serve to help him by pushing his huge 51 attack to 55 and beyond, but the best support comes from Gunter and Reinhardt. With both bonuses applied, Eldigan boasts a natural 61 attack, meaning 73 Effective/49 Ineffective.

Versus Reds: 

   27 speed lets him double precisely no swordies or manaketes, but he does double Leo, Sophia and Henry on the mage side. If we consider 51 natural attack, then we see a downright hilarious OHKO of Sanaki. Variances build from here, but we see a minimum of 12 damage against the most defensive units, Hinata and Draug, with no fear of being doubled back. Against other common Reds, we see 16/40 to A!Tiki, 19/41 to Y!Tiki, 20/47 to Chrom,and 20/42 to M!Corrin, for 3HKOs. That's a lot, and allows for virtually any confident blue to swoop in and close the kill. Many others get put into 2HKO range though, allowing Eldigan to bait & counter for many KOs, featuring 21/41 v Marths, 28/41 v Ryomas, 26/43 v Lucinas, and other smooth damage to Roys/Lyns/Cains with room to spare even if they're running +HP or +Def natures. He also brings common Tharjas to 11 HP per hit, from their natural 39, letting every green unit follow up for a KO that runs over 41 Atk regardless of weapontype.

   With buffs from Gunter and Reinhardt, we have 61 Atk. This puts every 3HKO'd unit into 2HKO range. This also OHKOs Lilinas, Sanakis and Caedas. Many other units fall just short of OHKOs, but set them up so that even with WTD, green units can follow up. In theory, Julia can follow up any single hit with a killing blow, but in terms of Cavaliers, Gunter followups and Cecilia followups won't kill sword units with over 43HP to start. Gunter can followup with WTD and still KO Eirikas, Roys, Cains, Olivias, Ryomas....the list goes on. Blues should be able to follow up and kill under any common scenario, mainly implying that Peri's 44 Atk, Jagen's 45 Atk, Sully's Sapphire Lance w/ 42 Atk boosted twice via WTA and Abel/Reinhardt/Olwen's brave blues will always kill on followup.

   The bottom line is that Eldigan can safely chip across basically any scenario, which makes him a strong contender for leaving in Danger Area as bait against Reds (and therefore, greens too).

Versus Blues:

   Buffed 49 Ineffective Mt vs Blues is relatively hard hitting still, but doesn't accomplish much of note, except for that even with WTD, this will OHKO Linde exactly. You're still looking at 2HKOs to just about every other blue unit, (notably, Abels, Azuras and Cordelias) with hard hits coming right back to you. This also includes every other mounted or flying blue unit (except Subaki), and also includes every blue Mage. Nowi and Corrin are 3HKO'd and hit back extremely hard, targeting his fairly low res. Effie and Gwendolyn are 4HKO'd, but Eldigan will be hurt pretty hard back.

   41 natural Ineffective Mt vs Blues is another story, as pretty much every #HKO opportunity is increased by 1 or more. 

   Definitely, check yourself before you wreck yourself, because enemy buffs will result in significant punishment to you and potential single digits from even Eldigan. I don't think Eldigan can ever hit a blue for 0.

Versus Colorless:

   Natural 51 Atk kills Elise on the spot and 2HKOs every other colorless unit except Azama (by 5). He brings Takumi to 14HP (but takes a (9+9)+6 damage in return.

   Fully boosted 61 Atk from Gunter/Reinhardt support changes things by a bit, but doesn't take out Takumi in one hit yet, even with a +Atk nature sadly due to Round-Down mechanics. Jakob, Gordin, Wrys and Takumi are the only units that avoid being OHKO'd in this scenario.

Versus Green:

   Get Rekt. 61!E or 73!B.E. (I might use this as key for indicating Buffed, Effective and Ineffective damage display methods) are monsterous, but green units are notorious for high Defense (Hector, anyone?) and don't always die as needed. Eldigan doesn't take much punishment from Hector, and 

   Unbuffed Eldigan OHKOs Julias, Ninos and Cecilias no matter what their Nature is (that's awesome!) and with a +Atk nature, will OHKO Anna. Hector narrowly avoids being 2HKO'd, taking 24 damage and surviving with 28 HP. and even Cherche, the most powerful physical green, only hits Eldigan for 8 damage. Magically speaking, Fae hits for 15, unbuffed Nino hits for 16 and Julia hits for 18. Counters from Fae are more likely, but she's not that common in the Arena meta due to Falchions eating her alive.

   With a full +10 buff, he'll OHKO the aforementioned heroes, along with Anna, Fae, Raven, Minerva, Robin!F, Hawkeye, and most notably, Camillas. More notably, only Beruka, Bartre and Hector survive one of these buffed hits with 10 or more HP (10,12 and 16, respectively), meaning any other red/green followup and any magical blue followup will secure a kill.

On the Defense

Eldigan's durability relies on him leading combat and swooping in for safe kills. It's tough to say that he's a durable unit, because of Fury sucking 6 damage per round. His base 37 Defense is unrivaled by any other horsebound unit, and his HP is the same (tied with Stahl, for #1) but his 22 Res is a bit of a weakness, letting Lindes that get to him safely crush him. He carries 27 speed too, which gets doubled by common threats like Linde. Treat all of the below calculations assuming that Eldigan and his opponent is running a neutral nature, unless otherwise specified. +Atk natures offset +Def/Res/HP natures in most cases, and I'll cover Speed at the end.

Dealing with Reds:

   Nobody OHKOs Eldigan at Melee, and heck, in terms of melee, almost nobody even deals double-digits to the guy. Hana/Corrin/Lucina/Marth/Ryoma hit for between 10-15 via Melee unbuffed, twice, so with Fury damage afterwards, that can amount to a threat. The worst is Hana thanks to her personal skill, at 15*2 + 6, but Lucina and Ryoma for 13*2, and Marth for 10*2 + 6, will add up quickly.

   Tharja will just barely ORKO him, by doubling for 23, but a +HP/+Res nature can offset this ORKO by a narrow margin (1 res/2HP would save him). Raigh's effective tome hits for 30 dmg, once, which with Fury, does 36/45. That's a heavy hit.

   Manakete single hits deal 30 damage (24 + 6).

Dealing with Blues:

   This won't be friendly to Eldigan, due to common names hitting super hard. Fortunately, only F!Corrin and Linde have the power to outright ORKO the guy (by a huge margin). Eldigan needs +4 res to survive F!Corrin, who doubles him for natural 26, and Linde for 36...just kiss Eldigan goodbye. Remember though, that Eldigan OHKOs neutral HP/Def Lindes with neutral atk and a full buff before charging in. Odin doubles for 20, and with Fury, puts Eldigan at 0HP. Olwen and Reinhardt amazingly fail to ORKO on enemy phase even with Brave tomes, but again, stuff him down to 1HP with Fury. It'll be safe to assume that Ursula can OHKO him with Blarwolf's effective bonus applying 50% bonus damage, as 43 Atk Ursula will ORKO him with the bonus (accounting for effectiveness), and 43 is only 2 points more than Reinhardt and his brave tome.

   From Melee, you can expect common hits averaging from around 12 all the way up to 20 per hit. Sharena (20) Peri (15) Azura (14) Catria (13) and Shanna (12) all double Eldigan, while Nowi (32) Effie (29) Abel (12 or 12*2) and Cordelia (14 or 14*2) don't double, but still hurt a lot. Remember that Eldigan has Fury, so apply an extra 6 damage to the end of each battle and Eldigan's not living that long, especially against the common runs like Sharena/Nowi/Effie.

Dealing with Colorless:

   Since there are no effective weapons in this batch to combat Eldigan with, nobody will ORKO him. Lachesis can smack her brother for 23 damage, and Elise doubles him for 20 (putting Eldigan to 1 HP). The rest is silly (Felicia hits for 11*2 + 6, Takumi for 9*2 + 6, Jeorge for 9*2 + 6, and Gordin for 4*2 +6 from Brave). Hilariously, Klein brave-strikes Eldigan for 0 twice, dealing 6 damage with Fury alone.

Dealing with Greens:

   This is pretty amazing, but that's to be expected. Nino (14*2) and Merric (10*2) deal the most damage to Eldigan, and avoid counters, so it's still a 2RKO from the best and the fastest of the mages. Julia hammers him for a hard 17, while Fae and Cecilia for 14. With Fury's 6 damage, that can still add up. F!Robin and her effective tome deal a mindblowing 14 damage to the guy with WTD.

In terms of melee threats, Minerva is the biggest threat, doubling Elgidan for 4*2 damage. With Fury, that's 14 damage in total. Cherche does 7 + 6, and Hector does 4 + 6. Nobody else crosses into the double digits even with a Fury bonus helping them out, and if I didn't mention that unit by name, it's because they probably hurt him for 0 (well, 6). I suppose Bartre should be complimented for his 3 damage, but again, the next best after Bartre is 0.

The above calculations assume that you're running Eldigan with no Defensive buffs, and that there's no Gunter and Reinhardt boosting your Speed. If you're on the receiving end of a Goad & Hone Cavalry, you go from 27 to 37 speed, and can only be doubled by opponents with a speed of 42. Only the stoic swordsman, Lon'qu is capable of reaching this naturally, and requires some sort of buff in order to do so. Lon'Qu hits for 3*2 at this point. You don't have much to worry about. If you're running a neutral speed Eldigan and your opponent is running a +Spd nature, then they likely have +3 to their speed, and can only double buffed Eldigan if they are naturally at 39 speed, which includes Fir (who hits for 0), Linde (who blows him away), and Hana (who continues to deal her impressive 15*2 damage). Few units come close to this benchmark and require speed buffs from elsewhere, like from Marth's Spur Res 3, Caeda's Rally Speed or other speed buffs on top of a +Speed nature.

As a note, Eldigan's Rating is top knotch, so running him will give you high ratings for earnings in the Arena. It's worth mentioning that running a +Spd nature on Eldigan gives him a natural 30 speed, which is arguably more valuable than giving him more attack via a +Atk nature, because it ensures that he will run 40 speed from full buffs. 40 speed allows him to double every sword unit that isn't a Myrmidon-based red (Lon'qu/Hana/Fir/Lyn), as well as Lucina and Caeda, Azura, Linde, Anna, Minerva, Felicia, Setsuna and Gaius). Again, +Spd Eldigan can only be doubled by +Spd Lon'qu naturally.

Other Synergy and Team Options:

• Gunter
  • As explained above and in Reinhardt's analysis, Gunter's Hone Cavalry skill is unmatched in terms of importance. +6 Atk/Spd is paramount to letting Reinhardt prepare to strike, and is even more important for Elgidan, letting him secure some OHKOs and keep safe from getting doubled. If you're going to bait your opponent in, this is the most important buff you can give him
• Reinhardt
  • +4 Atk/Spd from Goad Cavalry stacks with Hone, giving +10 to Eldigan. What's better is that you can have a straight line of Reinhardt/Gunter/Eldigan, and they'll both buff him. Gunter as the core bestows +6 Atk/Spd to Reinhardt and Eldigan in this setup, and when they disperse, they'll be set to hit incredibly hard. If you're not running Reinhardt with Eldigan, it's because you don't have him or you're not running a Cavalry team.
• Leo/Peri
  • Leo arguably runs pretty well in this setup, not as a damage dealer, but as an AOE chipper with Savage Blow. Often, Eldigan comes just shy of being able to OHKO an opponent, especially without buffs. The damage from Savage Blow (5 at 4* or 7 at 5*) can make a real difference in giving Eldigan the last little push he needs, and without setting off skills like Vantage that proc at low %s for opponent health being low. Leo also enjoys the buffs given by G/R, and with 53 [R] attack and 32 speed, can be a real threat with his weapon's innate Gravity effect of limiting movement distance. This can set up Eldigan to more safely assault others, in addition to the threat of 53 attack over Res dealing fair neutral damage to popular reds and even enough to Blues to let buffed Eldigan what he needs to score the KO.
  • Peri's a good Res buffer, with 33 speed and 33 Res. She can tank incoming hits from Lindes and shrug them off with some bruises her life still intact, while Eldigan can brute through the common green threats. As a followup, she runs Threaten Def, which cuts enemy Defense by 5and therefore lets Eldigan do his job even better by effectively buffing his Atk by debuffing the enemy and letting him score KOs that he might otherwise miss, mainly on other reds.
• Frederick/Eliwood
  • Frederick as a melee green loves the offensive support and functions great as an anti-blue. With full support, Fred boasts a mighty 57 attack (that's effective against Armors) and 35 speed let Fred blow some of the more threatening blues away. 68 Effective MT against Effies with a Hammer is hard to ignore, and neutral nature 5* Fred OHKOs Effies that lack buffs, while giving Eldigan and co a little bit more defense to wall out other common melee threats like the Sword-Lords and other Brave users. Running Fred provides fair defense support with Fortify Def giving +4 Defense, and 41 Defense to Eldigan is extremely safe even with WTD. Wings of Mercy lets him warp to Eldigan if in danger, which is pretty helpful if the team splits up.
  • Eliwood provides a different kind of support. With Durandal, Eliwood is a second heavy hitting Red that can tank some Magical damage instead of Physical, but the big benefit comes from Ward Cavalry, that gives Eldigan and the rest of the group +4 Def/Res. The offensive overlap isn't quite as appealing as Fred's ridiculous hammer, but Eliwood and Durandal have Death Blow plus some impressive offensive stats, and approaches 57 Atk/40Spd with buffs from Gunter/Reinhardt before Deathblow kicks in.
• Jagen
  • Jagen runs Fortify Cavalry, giving +6 Def/Res, which is hard to ignore, as well as decent attack and speed himself plus Res that allows him to tank incoming magical threats with ease from the Hone Goad speed support. Jagen's help provides more sustainability to the team by offsetting some damage that might otherwise be lost through Fury burn, and can help primarily with Manaketes and some typical sword lords / blue threats.
• Cain
  • Cain's Threaten Attack is more helpful here, to let Eldigan and the others do their thing, more. It's decent sustain in the form of an aura, but not as imperative as one might think, when you're blowing everything away. It can still help turn losing 1 unit into losing 0 units though, which matters for Arena rewards. Wings of Mercy also lets Cain quickly zip around, as it means Eldigan can attack most units up close and Cain can port over to help if enemies are nearby/adjacent to eachother, or get out of the way depending on the scenario.
• Abel/Stahl
  • As covered already, Reinhardt blows away reds, so a Brave Lance won't be terrible to add to the mix. Abel could more safely tank a blue while the others prepare to followup.
  • The same goes for Stahl, who can effortlessly tank incoming green hits and prevent opponents from getting around with Obstruct. Arguably, his obstruct is superfluous, when corridors are impassable anyway and wide areas let your team go wherever they want, but it helps moreso with the rare flier that you encounter, like Camilla and Beruka.
• Sully
  • Sully carries a Sapphire Lance and Swordbreaker, letting her decimate reds, but that overlap with Reinhardt isn't often necessary unless you're dealing with a horde of sword lords and have no terrain coverage to hide behind. Her Draw Back lets her pull Eldigan out of danger after dealing chip damage and lets Gunter/Reinhardt position for a followup kill if necessary, or just block a harmed Eldigan and give him a chance to reposition safely
• Cecilia
  • Cecilia can boost res via Rally Resistance and let him dash ahead while maintaining the buff, which can allow a fully buffed Eldigan to survive being ORKO'd by F!Corrin and Linde, but that's her primary utility for support. The team does lack an effective Blue killer as a green though, due to Gunter's importance of maintaining himself in the middle for buffs rather than strict offense. Fortunately, Reinhardt's neutral vs blue and 51 attack brave strikes are very nice. Gronnraven's effectiveness against colorless is relateively unimportant, since Cecilia doesn't want to get hit back due to her squishy exterior.
• Clarine/Elise
  • Both Clarine and Elise will be best off healing Eldigan's minimal physical damage and Fury burn, and they can arguably do the job just as well as one another, so they're relatively interchangable as strict Eldigan support. Elise gets more from the benefits of Gunter/Reinhardt, with her higher attack being bolstered even more than Clarine, but the arena is crowded already and it's risky to put your support up front. 
• Olwen
  • Olwen's not quite as bad in this team what with potential 46 through Attack buffs being set as her brave offense, and her higher speed lets her double a few others, but the blue brave overlap between her and Reinhardt and the lack of buffs that she gives to the team make her not as worthwhile in a team approach and stretch Gunter and Reinhardt's buffs a bit too much, especially in crowded areas.

Who I suggest to run?

• Under normal circumstances, running Reinhardt implies that your team craves reactionary offense rather than defensive counters to hit your enemies.
  • Gunter. Reinhardt's Goad Cavalry and Gunter's Hone Cavalry give the staple +10 Atk/Spd that you'll find soon in any typical Cavalry team.
  • Reinhardt, because see above.
  • Peri: Res coverage and Threaten Def let Eldigan do his job better by drawing in common mages (M!Robin, Linde, Tharja, Manaketes) and set Eldigan to burst more damage out. 4* Peri can be subbed in through this scenario and still pull her weight. Abel does offense better but Peri helps set up Reinhardt and Eldigan better. Additionally, Peri runs one of the higher Ratings, for reward handling. 
  • Leo: Savage Blow and some non-blue ranged support are helpful, but the red stack is less helpful than the Savage Blow benefits.
  • Frederick: Fred's incredible offense, especially when buffed, and coverage to Effies, which probably wall Eldigan the hardest.
    • Abel: Brave Lance and anti-sword handling skills let Abel trounce over reds that Eldigan and co would prefer to avoid
    • Cain: Brave Sword and Threaten Attack are juicy with buffs but the overlap can seem redundant.

 Final Words

A Cavalry team is fun, in the right maps. Bad maps, like those with...any terrain, really screw you up. Forests create narrow corridors that opponents can just fly or walk over, and all that does is set you up for pinser attacks and put you on the immediate defensive. Reinhardt and Eldigan are the muscle of your team, so you need to be careful with how you engage in combat. Eldigan/Gunter/Reinhardt/Peri run 663 pts on average, which is not too bad but brought down by Reinhardt's terribly low rating Eliwood and Javen provide a few more points over Peri, if you wanted to sub them in for a bit more credit, as they both provide roles that boost the team's defensive capabilities over offensive, which may suit your style more (even though they cramp my style, and are harder to utilize). 4* Eliwood's a struggle but 4* Jagen is alright.

Eldigan's a great unit on his own, and boasts one of the highest stat averages in the game. Fury limits his long term use, but with proper play, he'll be blowing away opponents before he gets to die anyway, even if he does take a hit early on. Sharena or a Dancer (Olivia/Azura) help push his attack up if not being run on a Cavalry team, and if you're looking for some other units to just dump with him, any strong Blue, strong Green and Dancer/Tank would help a ton. I'd personally run him alongside Julia/Azura/Effie if not on a Cavalry-based team. Eldigan thrives on taking small buffs in big ways, so if you get him, definitely use him. He'll have a spot as a strong red on any team.