Your top 5 wanted units to get demoted in star rating.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Why top 5? Because the truth is we probably wish EVERY character were demoted so that we can pull them more often for the sake of optimal natures. In order to make more nuanced answers, we should limit ourselves to five characters.

Disclaimer: yes, I'm aware of how the three star pool hasn't increased since launch and that there's no evidence it WOULD increase in the future. This is purely a what-if thread.

#1: Katarina from 5 star to 4-5 star. I was pretty peeved to see her not get demoted. The other -owl spells are not locked to 5 star. Not to mention this weapon type is not good enough to lock behind 5 stars to begin wtih. But even worse than that is she's yet another red tome locked to 5 star. There are 9 red tome mages in Heroes. 4 are locked to 5 star, and 3 of those 4 were introduced since launch. Blue and Green mages do not have this problem, so Katarina would be my first pick in remedying this situation. Definitely not Leo since F2P players already have far too many options for a great Cavalry team.

#2: Genny from 5 star to 4-5 star. Sheep daughter has Wrathful staff.  Wrathful staff validates healers with decent attack stats. Bring sheep daughter home.

#3: Kagero from 4-5 star to 3-4 star. I was initially torn because the last thing the 3 star pool needs is more Fates retainers. However, Kagero is the only owner of the Poison Dagger, which appears to be far and away the most ideal weapon for dagger units as offensive units. It has cut out the discussion for all other daggers, the same way the Brave Bow has overshadowed every other bow. If the poison dagger were made more available, we may see a greater array of dagger wielders becoming viable through skill inheritance. Kagero is also the only source of daggerbreaker, though that's not an especially high demand skill. 

#4: Hinoka from 5 star to 4-5 star. The Flier skills are much harder to get than cavalry skills, and I think making Hone fliers more accessible would be the quickest means of making flier teams easier to build. Minerva is a good option as well with Ward Fliers, but she's the only 5 star axe flier and feels unique enough to keep there.

#5: Sheena from 4-5 star to 3-4 star. I personally just want to pull her, and we're lacking an armor axe at 3 star level. Granted, we're lacking armor units in general. Sheena also possesses fortify armor, and svallin shield, which are unique to her.

[Magical Glace]

• Elise, from 5* only to 4-5* just because I want to have her already
• Leo, from 5* only to 4-5* because SOMEONE needs to be Quick Riposte 3 fodder.
• Hinoka and Minerva to 4-5* because Ward/Hone Fliers need to be 4* skills.
• Eirika from 4-5* to 3-4* because game please I want my girl already I don't care how many feathers I must spend ;~;

[X-Naut]

1) Faye because she's a remake-exclusive bit character who just happens to have an incredibly rare weapon.
2) Luke for the same reasoning as Faye except he's not remake-exclusive.
3) Genny, same reasons as the previous two.
4) Rebecca should be in the 3-4 pool tbh, she's an earlygame archer who brought nothing new to the table.
5) Jaffar so we can have a Life or Death at 4 stars.

[eclipse]

1. Tharja - Of the -blade users, she's the only one that's 4-5.
2. Klein - So that Death Blow 3 isn't such a PITA to pull.
3. Ogma - I have uses for Defiant Atk.  I'd really rather not have to rely on a 4* pull for them.
4. Lucina - See Ogma, but for Defiant Spd.
5. Peri - This is mostly to remove her from the 5* pool. IMO, she doesn't bring enough to the table to warrant her position.

[Sunwoo]

1) Rebecca: there's really no justification for keeping her at 5-stars aside from the "trend" of every new character added being 4- or 5-stars only (drop to 3- and 4-star)

2) Hinoka: not only does she have one of the two 5-star exclusive flier skills, but I'm not sure why she's 5-star only in the first place? Three of the Hoshidan siblings are locked to 5-star (the only one available as a 4-star is also a healer), while only two Nohrian siblings are 5-star exclusive and everyone has a chance to get Xander (make available at 4-stars as well)

3) Kagero: is there any reason she's supposed to be a rarer drop than the 3- and 4-star Fates retainers? Plus, Kagero is the only character with both poison dagger and daggerbreaker, and it sucks that they're locked behind a character that won't be easy to pull (drop to 3- and 4-star)

4) Peri: like Kagero, I'm not sure why she's rarer than most of the other retainers (drop to 3- and 4-star)

5) Elise: I'm actually kind of borderline on this, but I can't think of a fifth character who'd be more deserving to drop. Genny should stay as a 5-star exclusive because of her skill, and Mist because I'd argue that she's more important in her story than Elise is in hers -- and has a unique skill (make available at 4-stars as well)

One character I would like to move UP to the 4/5-star pool is ... Eliwood. Both of Lyn and Hector are available as 5-star only units, so why is Eliwood the only one who gets kicked off to the side as a common unit? At the very least, he should've been 4/5-star.

[maybe]

seconding leo, for the same reason. i wanted to get QR on tobin but I already spent 20k getting him a killing edge+ so I was kinda hesitating on dropping 22k on a subaki just to get him QR3. we really do need someone who has it at 4 stars.

i feel like most of the healers should at least have a 4 star version, since aside from being mounted/unmounted, there's not much different about them.  i'm fine with genny being 5 star only, since she's the only character with wrathful staff, but elise and mist being 5 star only while clarine and serra can be 3 stars just seems kinda unfair to people who like the 5 star ones. i don't think healer stats really matter much unless for some reason you decided to drop them on a defense team, so if you already have a healer I don't think there's anything too exciting about getting another 5 star one, unless it's a character you really like. i guess mist does have a sorta special skill? but they can just make that her 5 star skill so I think it'd be fine for her to get pushed down.

clair, since there aren't many fliers who are 3-4 stars. there's est, palla, beruka and shanna, but discounting GHB units, I think that's it? it doesn't have to be clair specifically, but I do think they should demote one of the fliers. or at least, add more 3-4 ones, since I guess demoting from 5 or 4-5 to 3-4 might not be a great idea.

finally, soren. i just want him. i've got 2 hectors, 4 4 star camillas, around 7 cecilias and at least 8 gunters. if i had the same chance to get him as gunter that'd be cool i've got over 20k feathers saved for him come on IS pls give 

oh yeah and I guess if that second one wasn't two, ephraim because eirika's a 4 but not him

Edited July 10, 2017 by unique

[DLNarshen]

1: Hinoka.  Hone Fliers being locked behind a rare 5* is pretty lame, plus I'm still bitter that my only one is -Atk.
2. Katarina.  I would love to have Swift Sparrow fodder on a number of my units.
3. Ephraim.  Eirika can be pulled at 4*, why not him?
4. Genny.  Like with Hinoka, it's pretty dumb that the only means to make healers worthwhile on offense is limited to a 5* only character.
5. Sheena.  We have a sword and lance armor obtainable at 3*, Sheena would be nice to round out the armor colors especially for those who haven't fortunate enough to pull Hector.

 

[SakuraFish]

1. Hinoka: Hone Fliers to be locked behind a rare 5* hurts flying Units so much.

2. Genny: Pretty much the same reason like Hinoka, only for staves.

3. Azura: While I already have 2 Ninians, seeing at least one of the blue dancers be less rare would be kinda nice too, since one simply can't have enough dancers (also mainly because I want an Azura)

4. Fae: The other Colors all have a Manakete at 4-3*, so green should have one too (and again I want one, that damn chicken dragon avoids me like death)

5. Catria: Simply because her sisters don't have the luxury to be pullable at 5*.

[Ice Dragon]

I wouldn't mind if a few characters dropped from 5 to 5-4 (namely a source of Life and Death 3 or Quick Riposte 3 at 4-star rarity), but not from 5-4 to 4-3. Ever.

The reason being is that 220,000 feathers is a shit ton of feathers to spend to make a +10 5-star out of a character that is not available as a 5-star pull. There is a reason why all of my current high-merge units are characters that can be pulled naturally at 5-star rarity and that's because it didn't take a mountain of feathers to promote them for merging.

 

16 minutes ago, eclipse said:

3. Ogma - I have uses for Defiant Atk.  I'd really rather not have to rely on a 4* pull for them.

Awakening Tiki has Defiant Atk 3 available at 4-star rarity and can be pulled at 3-star rarity.

 

18 minutes ago, eclipse said:

4. Lucina - See Ogma, but for Defiant Spd.

Raven has Defiant Spd 3 available at 4-star rarity and can be pulled at 4-star rarity.

 

13 minutes ago, eclipse said:

5. Peri - This is mostly to remove her from the 5* pool. IMO, she doesn't bring enough to the table to warrant her position.

The best player-phase melee cavalry in the game isn't enough on the table?

[eclipse]

1 minute ago, Ice Dragon said:

I wouldn't mind if a few characters dropped from 5 to 5-4 (namely a source of Life and Death 3 or Quick Riposte 3 at 4-star rarity), but not from 5-4 to 4-3. Ever.

The reason being is that 220,000 feathers is a shit ton of feathers to spend to make a +10 5-star out of a character that is not available as a 5-star pull. There is a reason why all of my current high-merge units are characters that can be pulled naturally at 5-star rarity and that's because it didn't take a mountain of feathers to promote them for merging.

 

Awakening Tiki has Defiant Atk 3 available at 4-star rarity and can be pulled at 3-star rarity.

 

Raven has Defiant Spd 3 available at 4-star rarity and can be pulled at 4-star rarity.

 

The best player-phase melee cavalry in the game isn't enough on the table?

No, I don't feel like multiquoting.

1. I have other uses for Tiki, like Bonfire.
2. Remember my gripe with Ogma?  It also applies to any other skill that requires a 4* pull.
3. I much prefer Abel/Cain for player-phase melee cavalry.

[a bear]

I dunno, any of em. All of em.

Luke definitely so I can feed his stupid ass face to everyone for Panic Ploy.

[Armagon]

I just want Azura to be demoted to 3-Stars. She's my favorite Fates character and i've been trying to pull her since day 1.

Besides her, i would like to see Elise and Leo demoted to 4-Stars. Their Hoshidian counterparts are available at 4-Stars, so why not them as well?

[Sunwoo]

3 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Besides her, i would like to see Elise and Leo demoted to 4-Stars. Their Hoshidian counterparts are available at 4-Stars, so why not them as well?

Takumi isn't available at 4-stars. Camilla, on the other hand, is. (That's part of the reason I suggested downgrading Hinoka.)

[Ice Dragon]

39 minutes ago, eclipse said:

1. I have other uses for Tiki, like Bonfire.

Robin (M) also has Bonfire and can also be pulled at 3-star rarity. Surely that's more than enough 3-star sources of Bonfire to sacrifice a few copies of Tiki for Defiant Atk if you want it.

40 minutes ago, eclipse said:

2. Remember my gripe with Ogma?  It also applies to any other skill that requires a 4* pull.

You'd get more bang for your buck (and a bit more of my indignation for the merging reason) if you have Raven be dropped from 5-4 to 4-3 instead of having Lucina be dropped from 5 to 5-4.

42 minutes ago, eclipse said:

3. I much prefer Abel/Cain for player-phase melee cavalry.

Whether or not you prefer them over her, Peri is still objectively the best player-phase melee cavalry in the game (even if it's only by 1 point over Abel and 2 points and a color over Cain), which is plenty to put on the table.

There's also the fact that making Peri more common by dropping her rarity dilutes the pool with her rather unimpressive default skill set.

[Armagon]

2 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

Takumi isn't available at 4-stars.

He's not? Could've sworn he was. Anyway, then yeah, make Hinoka a 4-Star.

[Flying Shogi]

Most of my picks have already been mentioned but I think Hawkeye and Clair should drop to the 3*- 4* pool. Hawkeye has Threaten Attack @ 4* and Clair is currently the only unit with Hit and Run. 

 

[Tessiro]

1. Lyn, because she's only been a focus once and she's pretty much the hardest to get unit in an over saturated pool of 5* reds.

2. Hinoka, because flier emblem teams are way too hard to make, also Camilla is 4-5* too.

3. Minerva (see above)

4. Sanaki, because I need that forehead...

5. Elise, because she's the best horse emblem healer and because Sakura is 4-5*.

[Zeo]

1. Hinoka - Reasons already stated.

2. Genny - Reasons already stated.

3. Katarina - Barely any red mages that aren't *5 and that Swift Sparrow 2 desperately wants to go around.

4. Jaffar - LnD3 at *4 needs to be a thing. He's still inferior to Kagero anyway.

5. Olwen/Ephraim - It's not as if they are any more special than their siblings, why are they still *5?

[XRay]

1. Jaffar - Life and Death 3

2. Genny - Wrathful Staff 3

3. Hinoka - Hone Flier

4. Leo - Quick Riposte 3

5. Hector - Distant Counter, Goad Armor

Those are my top five, but I also want the following as well:

6. Takumi - Close Counter

7. Katarina - Swift Sparrow

8. Luke - Panic Ploy

 

[r_n]

6 minutes ago, Zeo said:

1. Hinoka - Reasons already stated.

2. Genny - Reasons already stated.

3. Katarina - Barely any red mages that aren't *5 and that Swift Sparrow 2 desperately wants to go around.

4. Jaffar - LnD3 at *4 needs to be a thing. He's still inferior to Kagero anyway.

5. Olwen/Ephraim - It's not as if they are any more special than their siblings, why are they still *5?

I feel like SS2 would still be a 5* skill, and instead marginally less useful Attack Ploy 3 would be the 4* skill. Speaking of, if there's any reason Katarina should be a 4* unit its because she gets two (currently) unique skill lines.

While we're on that subject, Luke should also be 4*. He seems kind of a random pick to be 5* exclusive in the first place, but he also has 2 entire lines to himself! Either Panic Ploy or Fire Boost would be cool to mess with if you could pull them at 4*

[Magical Glace]

1 minute ago, XRay said:

2. Genny - Wrathful Staff 3

Gonna take a sec to point out Genny if demoted wouldn't get Wrathful Staff 3 as a 4*, since all healers get the third level of their natural passive at 5*.

[XRay]

Just now, Glaceon Sage said:

Gonna take a sec to point out Genny if demoted wouldn't get Wrathful Staff 3 as a 4*, since all healers get the third level of their natural passive at 5*.

Argh! I forgot. Oh well. At least she will be more widely available.

[Rezzy]

 

3 hours ago, Gustavos said:

#1: Katarina from 5 star to 4-5 star. I was pretty peeved to see her not get demoted. The other -owl spells are not locked to 5 star. Not to mention this weapon type is not good enough to lock behind 5 stars to begin wtih. But even worse than that is she's yet another red tome locked to 5 star. There are 9 red tome mages in Heroes. 4 are locked to 5 star, and 3 of those 4 were introduced since launch. Blue and Green mages do not have this problem, so Katarina would be my first pick in remedying this situation. Definitely not Leo since F2P players already have far too many options for a great Cavalry team.

#2: Genny from 5 star to 4-5 star. Sheep daughter has Wrathful staff.  Wrathful staff validates healers with decent attack stats. Bring sheep daughter home.

#4: Hinoka from 5 star to 4-5 star. The Flier skills are much harder to get than cavalry skills, and I think making Hone fliers more accessible would be the quickest means of making flier teams easier to build. Minerva is a good option as well with Ward Fliers, but she's the only 5 star axe flier and feels unique enough to keep there.

2 hours ago, Glaceon Sage said:

•  
• Leo, from 5* only to 4-5* because SOMEONE needs to be Quick Riposte 3 fodder.
• Hinoka and Minerva to 4-5* because Ward/Hone Fliers need to be 4* skills.

I see that the options I was going to pick got listed already.  I agree with these, to make it an official Top 5

1: Leo: Because I love him and we need Quick Riposte 3 available at 4*.

2: Minerva: But I want her to have Life and Death at 4*, if not her, then Jaffar.

3: Hinoka: We need Hone Flyers at 4*

4: Katarina: Why is Red Owl 5*, but not the others?  I honestly thought she was going 4*.  I'd drop her to 3-4*, since the 3* Red Mages are kinda bad.

5: Genny: Even if it's not Wrathful Staff 3, getting a 4* with WS of any level would be welcome.  Live to Serve 2 is all we can get at 4*, but it's at least available.  I'd honestly put her at 3-4*, because I'm not big on getting Healers breaking up my 5* Pity Bonus.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Luke: Why is this guy 5* exclusive, when Roderick got the drop to 4*?  I'd drop hi to 3* if I could.  We've got enough Swords clogging to 5* ranks.

Faye: Why are you 5* exclusive?  Get thee to 3-4*.

 

I'd take a bunch of 5* off the 5* completely and make them 3*s, but those are the two that I don't really think deserve to be there.
 

[Alexmender]

1. Eirika: I'd like to have a full army of Eirikas and demoting her to 3*-4* would make my dreams easier (albeit expensive). 
2. Genny: Keep Wrathful Staff a 5* exclusive skill, but put Genny in the 4*-5*.
3. Jaffar: He only has his Legendary dagger as an excuse to stay up there but that's not enough. Let him give LnD 3 at 4*.
4. Katarina: The other 2 Owl tome users can be found at 4*, while she has a really nice art that's not enough to keep her as high as she is.
5. Luke: Getting Panic Ploy and Fire Boost at an easier rate would make life much easier.

Honorable mentions: Faye, Peri, the useless healers like Lachesis/Mist/Maria and maybe Hawkeye should go down to 3*-4*. Even if I'm not the biggest fan of Eliwood I believe he should be in the 4*-5* pool instead of his actual 3*-4*.

[Roflolxp54]

So many units to list...

1. Klein: really want Death Blow 3 badly

2. Peri: is she even that popular enough to warrant being a 4-5* drop since release?

3. Hinoka: she's the least popular of Fates' royal siblings - why is she a 5*-only drop?

4. Katarina: Raudrowl isn't exactly impressive and Mae and Boey are both 4-5* drops.

5. Rebecca, Karel, Faye, Ogma, Cain, Abel, Catria, Clair, Lukas, Jakob, Mist, Soren, Sheena, Raven, Titania: why are you all flooding the 4-5* or 5*-only pools?

Honorable mentions:

Lyn: she's a 5*-only drop and she isn't the greatest sword user in the game as she faces stiff competition from the likes of Xander (free mounted DC physical tank), Eldigan (mounted physical juggernaut), Alfonse (free Arena bonus unit), Eirika (buffbot), Lucina (Falchion powerhouse), Marth (Falchion speedtank), Ike (DC unit), and Ryoma (offensive DC unit). Also really want to pull for a Lyn with a better Boon/Bane combo. She also hasn't been featured in a Focus banner since the first 2 weeks of the game's release.