Summoning Tactics/Habits

[mcsilas]

How do you spend your orbs? Or what gets you to do a summon?

Is it new units? Or new skills on new units? Or do you wait until the new units become possible 4 stars in the next banner?

Or do you wait for 5 star versions of characters that don't normally come in 5 stars (for example, Henry in current male mages banner). In this case do you actually want the character or just for skill inheritance fodder (ex. Raudrraven+ for your units so you don't have to spend feathers).

Maybe it's the fact there's less or more of one colour you need?

Do you always do 5 full pulls or do you hunt summon? Do you just do 1 Orb per pull to up your 5 star rate?

Any tactics you'd like to share? (besides sacrifices for Anna/Sharena or summoning circles)

Originally, being f2p, I always used to do full pulls but now as my barracks have almost filled up, I just do hunt summons for missing niches in my team (ex. green infantry axes, red tomes). I find myself lacking any good red/colorless units so I think I'm going to start hunting for those (and maybe try my luck for Genny with Wrathful Staff- otherwise, I'm not too fussed on any of the new units) 

Always curious to know how other people try their luck

 

 

[Punished Dayni]

It's simply if the units in the focus are interesting enough. For example, I spent enough to get 10% 5* units on Spring Festival just to get one, and I'm also trying to get something out of Rite of Shadows (So far, I've gotten Peri. :( ).

So far, I usually pull all 5 orbs, as I'm F2P and I can't really convince myself to spend for the game.

[Mackc2]

If I get enough orbs to do a full summon I do a full summon, focus characters are irrelevant I have only ever drawn the focus twice in my thirteen or so 5* as for waiting for new characters to become 4* its not like I have all the units from old banners who have become 4* like I recently drew Rebecca for the first time, so there is still a  chance I will get someone new, most importantly I am impatient and a F2P 

[chirp]

32 minutes ago, mcsilas said:

How do you spend your orbs? Or what gets you to do a summon?

(...)

Do you always do 5 full pulls or do you hunt summon?

(...)

Any tactics you'd like to share?

I mostly summon in order to see new faces. I have no interest in optimizing specific units, and I make do with what I get.

I go for full summons, but I made one exception when Hector was at 5% (success) and another one with Linde/Cordelia (failure).

As for tactics, I buy the orbs I plan to spend beforehand and I stop summoning when the orbs are exhausted, or when the desired units show up, whichever occurs first.

[Korath88]

I summon for characters I like. Because of that, the most efficient way of getting them is to hunt summon (Besides praying and sorcery).

If a banner has no units I like (i.e. Bunny banner), I don't summon on it and save orbs for the banners I want to summon on.

Of course, there are some cases like with the current banner and the FE7 one where I like all the units on the banner, I will do full pulls, but only after getting the character I want most from hunt summoning.

Since I've been lucky enough to pull nearly all my faves (except Hector and Eirika), I'm probably going to spend the rest of my orbs on this banner then save for when the rest of the Sacred Stones cast arrives.

[Big Smoke]

I summon whevener I have 20. Usually don't care about most focuses. Sometimes I'll hunt for a focus that I really want, like Ike, or a type I really need, like colorless/green. Otherwise, I just pull whatever I get.

[TheNiddo]

If there is nobody I really want: save up orbs (duh)
If there is somebody I'm mildly interested in I might throw one or two pulls at them (Hellooooo Alm with only two orbs opened)
If its a decent banner I might do one full summon
If its a good banner I'll probably blow all of my orbs
If there's one really good character I want I'll snipe pretty heavily for them
If its a banner with stupid good odds of summoning a 5* due to how the math works like the Wyvren Banner, I'll blow all 80 of my F2P orbs that I had been saving for Ike because I needed Green 5*s badly and there's no way Ike's banner is just right around the corner right? ;_;

[Lucıůs]

I do one full session to bump up the rates, then I hunt for the orb I like. Results are pretty promising this way

Spoiler

Especially when I summon at 2 AM bahaha!

 

[Arcanite]

20 minutes ago, Lucıůs said:

I do one full session to bump up the rates, then I hunt for the orb I like. Results are pretty promising this way

I see you changed your profile picture! ;)

 

 

 

I used to summon right when I got 20 for full pulls, but then I realized hunt summing is better. So now its more like "Save a bunch of orbs, then hunt summon for something". Before it would be for what I need, but now I only need a 5 star ax user which is what I have Anna for. As of now I need Fury fodder as well as pivot fodder too

[Lucıůs]

36 minutes ago, Arcanite said:

I see you changed your profile picture! ;)

 

 

 

I used to summon right when I got 20 for full pulls, but then I realized hunt summing is better. So now its more like "Save a bunch of orbs, then hunt summon for something". Before it would be for what I need, but now I only need a 5 star ax user which is what I have Anna for. As of now I need Fury fodder as well as pivot fodder too

Ah you noticed, haha. Indeed! He looks more Lucius-y (if that's even a word) here. 

Spoiler

Where's Spinning Oboro?!

I'm the opposite lol. I, on the other hand, used to hoard lots and lots of orbs back then, but when I blew them all on Ephraim's banner and got nothing good, I've never felt so devastated. Good thing that habit's changed and it yielded good outcome, for me at least.

[Sire]

I always do full summons (up to 42 total pulls now), save for one exception where I desperately tried to do a 3 orb summon since I had a really high 5* rate and the banner would expire. I got no 5-stars that day...

For the most part, I always end up summoning on every major banner release with new characters. For previous character, I tried Hero Fest (failed to get anyone) and one of the Sibling Bonds (got Erika!). If I get a new character I like, that is awesome. If I get an optimized character, things are good. If I get Skill Inheritance fodder, the summoning was not a waste. Otherwise, I'll be a sad man.

[Tarilaan]

When the game started, I only did full pulls. Now that I've gotten most of the 3* and a large amount of 4* characters, I only focus pull for characters I actually want. Mostly favorites or ones with a unique weapon. If there's nobody I absolutely want from the banner, but it's a batch of new characters,  I'll just pull all the focus colors until I get a 5*, then call that good.

The exception being, if the focus 5* chance has gotten fairly high, I'll pull the rest to see what happens. Actually got Genny that way - Pulled red until I got Celica, and Genny was hiding in a clear orb I almost left behind.

I also tend to disregard a banner entirely if it doesn't have a character I want, and nobody on the focus is new - usually the GHB banners.

Edited May 17, 2017 by Tarilaan

[Luna of Dragonblood]

Usually, I just wait for banners with characters I'm really looking for, and prioritize the colors that have the characters I want. If I ever get a 5*, I clear the board.

I'm back in save-up mode at the moment...with my Barracks almost full (181/200 units) and my rate reset for the Male Mages Banner (5* neutral IV Henry and a 5* +HP/-ATK m!Robin on the same board...but I really wanted Leo, since I don't have him yet), I don't know who to focus on/wait for. I do like this new banner, but 20 orbs won't get me anywhere. So, we'll just see where it goes from here, I suppose. :'D

[Cute Chao]

My habits have changed. I was f2p for a bit and pulled for all five orbs. 

Then I went to paying and still used to pull for all five.

Then, come the spring banner, I began to realise I actually had pretty much all the lower units, so there was no point pulling for anything other than the units I wanted. 

Now I hunt summon. I only summon for new characters - if I want a 5* Henry, I'll promote him, not pull for him. You'll get a better unit that way. Plus, it's so much more satisfying to promote than pull imo. I'm now hoarding a few orbs for the next banner. Can't wait to hear who that's about :D 

[Alkaid]

I used to do full pulls, but ever since the princess banner during the first gauntlet where I failed to get Lucina doing full pulls each time, I switched to going for the colors I want. I figured I was just screwing myself from trying to get exactly what I wanted most even if it meant I got more total units out of my orbs.

I only spend orbs when there's somebody new I want. I don't feel like I have enough orbs to justify rolling only for skill fodder, as much as I'd like to. I've been trying to hold back for the next exclusive timed banner like the Spring banner, but I ended up blowing 40 orbs trying (and failing) for Celica anyway.

[NekoKnight]

My summoning habbit is to pull exclusively non-focus characters.

When I had few units, I did full pulls each time but now that I have competant units in most weapon types, I do target summoning until I get what I want and save the reminder. Even within a single color, there are usually multiple characters I'm missing or skills that I want so it all works out.

I stopped pulling colorless after I got Elise and Jaffar.

Edited May 18, 2017 by NekoKnight

[The_antithesis]

I always go for a full summon whenever I get my 20th orb. As for which banner I pick, I just go for the one that looks pretty.

The life of a casual is bliss.

[Nightmayre]

Like most people here I just did full summon rings on 20 orbs in the beginning. Then once I had a decent core pool of heroes, I became pickier. I think basically around when Hero Fest kicked in. I wanted all four of the banner heroes and forked over some cash, then target-pulled them (in the beginning I pulled all, when I got Ryoma I started skipping reds, then when I got Takumi I started skipping colorless etc). Thankfully I got all four (+ an extra Hector) well within the budget constraints I had set, which wasn't what I was expecting given the rates (other than them my luck with 5* has been less than stellar)

Afterwards I really haven't spent orbs on anything because no banner that came out interested me enough to do so, except maybe FMages (and while I was on the fence about just blowing my orbs there in hopes of a Julia or Linde, it expired...) Right now I'm sitting on 75 orbs, which I'm thinking of spending on the next banner with a good focus blue/green mage, or any color dragon. But now for me it's gonna be target pulls only for a while, with the rare exception of a banner maybe showing up that all focus heroes interest me and are gameplay-viable.

[dragonlordsd]

The Rules of Summoning:

1. NEVER PICK COLORLESS

The only exception to this is if it's a Takumi or Klein focus and you really want them.

Even ignoring how bad most of the units are, there are literally no good skills that you can inherit from any of the colorless units.

2. If you know you want something, only pick that color.

It's always worth it to spend more orbs and maybe get something you want than to spend less orbs and get something you definitely don't.

3. Ignore the Fodder

For example, on the current banner, there is literally no point in picking anything other than red. Boey and Mae will be demoted to 4-star almost immediately after this, just like Soren and Titania, just like pretty much everyone else before, so you'll definitely get plenty as you try desperately to get something more valuable.

4. Plan in advance, and be happy with what you get

Don't be constantly trying to pull from every banner. Some banners will contain units that are obviously worthless (like the Alm banner). Just ignore those. Save your orbs, and know that you'll eventually get those units accidentally while trying to pull something else.

Furthermore, this game is pretty balanced, to the point that you can make almost anything work if you put effort into it. There will always be better units, but so far, they're never that much better. Sure, Reinhardt is better than Olwen, but if you only have Olwen, you can definitely make good use of her.

Edited May 18, 2017 by dragonlordsd

[shadowofchaos]

1 minute ago, dragonlordsd said:

, there are literally no good skills that you can inherit from any of the colorless units.

You do know Glacies is on Klein and Felicia, right? Fir isn't exactly easy to pull from the huge pool of red units.

[dragonlordsd]

3 minutes ago, shadowofchaos said:

You do know Glacies is on Klein and Felicia, right? Fir isn't exactly easy to pull from the huge pool of red units.

Really? I've got, like, 3 of her. I wish I had 3 Lon'qu's instead, but that's how it goes.

And Felicia is one of the free units, so everyone can easily get 2 of her, plus now we've got an additional one from quests.

And Klein, is of course, obviously good, I'm just saying if you pull colorless hoping for him, you're gonna get a lot of Marias.

Edited May 18, 2017 by dragonlordsd

[Zangetsu]

I no longer try to summon any red's. I spend over $80 to find Lyn & I never got her.

These days I only summon if there's a unit I really really like.

[SakuraFish]

My rules for summoning:

1st: Full summons only
 There are 2 Reasons for this, the first being that every Color still has stuff I want. The second is, that every Orb I won't open would haunt me forever; after all, a 5* or a Character I wanted could be in there. Can't risk that, no no no!

2nd: Summon out of every major Banner at least once
 I want to at least have the chance to not worry about the next season's Bonus Heroes by pulling a focus Unit even if it is small. This however isn't really the case anymore since the Askr-Trio are now rotating as Bonus units, and I have Sharena and Anna as 5* and Alfonse at 4*. Also slightly because new Units are cool and I usually want at least one of them!

3rd: Hoarding isn't fun at all
 I usually just summon as soon as I hit 20 Orbs. I managed to hoard 60 Orbs once, and damn it was hard for me not to just go and burn them immediatly. Made spending them a lot more fun though, so I might consider hoarding more often. It is easier for me to keep at least a few of them if I know that there is a Banner coming I want stuff from though.

4th: There is no Trash
 As I am f2p, my resources a limited, and by being grateful for even the most useless units, summoning is a LOT more fun for me. After all, every Unit has its use, and may it be extremely niche. Also a lot of Units make nice skillfodder and one can't have enough of that, and if all fails, I got at least a few feathers out of it. Every 5* pulled is also the jackpot, even if it isn't what I wanted or I simply don't need it. I could've gotten no 5* after all, and there's no way that would be better.

 

Also summoning at either 10 AM or 10 PM usually had great pulls for me, so I try to always summon at these times.

[dragonlordsd]

2 hours ago, SakuraFish said:

My rules for summoning:

1st: Full summons only
 There are 2 Reasons for this, the first being that every Color still has stuff I want. The second is, that every Orb I won't open would haunt me forever; after all, a 5* or a Character I wanted could be in there. Can't risk that, no no no!

2nd: Summon out of every major Banner at least once
 I want to at least have the chance to not worry about the next season's Bonus Heroes by pulling a focus Unit even if it is small. This however isn't really the case anymore since the Askr-Trio are now rotating as Bonus units, and I have Sharena and Anna as 5* and Alfonse at 4*. Also slightly because new Units are cool and I usually want at least one of them!

3rd: Hoarding isn't fun at all
 I usually just summon as soon as I hit 20 Orbs. I managed to hoard 60 Orbs once, and damn it was hard for me not to just go and burn them immediatly. Made spending them a lot more fun though, so I might consider hoarding more often. It is easier for me to keep at least a few of them if I know that there is a Banner coming I want stuff from though.

4th: There is no Trash
 As I am f2p, my resources a limited, and by being grateful for even the most useless units, summoning is a LOT more fun for me. After all, every Unit has its use, and may it be extremely niche. Also a lot of Units make nice skillfodder and one can't have enough of that, and if all fails, I got at least a few feathers out of it. Every 5* pulled is also the jackpot, even if it isn't what I wanted or I simply don't need it. I could've gotten no 5* after all, and there's no way that would be better.

 

Also summoning at either 10 AM or 10 PM usually had great pulls for me, so I try to always summon at these times.

Lol.

I can only agree with you on point 4. But I think that just proves it more true. To each their own.

I often see stuff in banners I just don't want. Why bother pulling then? But you know what? If your strategy works for you, then that's fine.

[Jedrus Lilac]

I tend to only pull a colorless orb when there is just one in the pool otherwise I back out. The risk of getting useless healers is too high for me.

I havent pulled on the celica banner and I dont know if I will. That is a first. Main reason is that I have have linde and nino and am searching for tharja. So those new mages arent really that important right now..