Ayra Update: Where do you stand?

[Michelaar]

Have to agree that Ayra is the definition of powercreep for no good reason. She really annoys me.

[Prince Endriu]

Ayra is a great unit - the way she was introduced wasnt great at all - disastrous

The worst thing was of course the older units. Lets say somebody already owned a +10 Eldigan, and now what? Eldigan is pretty useless when it comes to skill inheritance, he got an exclusive weapon, so much for that. In order for somebody to +10 Ayra, its just plain Eldigan hell.

On the other hand, its a gacha game and apparently anything goes.

[MrSmokestack]

3 hours ago, Sayyyaka said:

She straight up outshines every infantry sword, which by definition is powercreep.  Get off people's asses.

 

3 hours ago, Michelaar said:

Have to agree that Ayra is the definition of powercreep for no good reason. She really annoys me.

I’m siding with @XRay. Ayra is not powercreep.

Just because something is better than what was there before doesn’t make it powercreep if the original “something” was hardly being used in the first place, or is weaker compared to using something else.

Ayra does not have 3 Mov. Ayra does not have a brave weapon. Ayra does not have access to movement-based buffs. Ayra is not a ranged unit.

Can you name one unit that has all four of those characteristics? Reinhardt. A unit with all of those characteristics while having better matchups compared to Reinhardt would be actual powercreep. But there has been no unit like Reinhardt ever since he was released. Not even Brave Lyn, because she hits Def, not Res.

There is no unit that has been more widely available, is easier to use, and offers significantly more return compared to using any other unit. Full Reinhardt defense teams—or really, any ranged 3 Mov defense team—is much more difficult to deal with compared to, say, a full Ayra defense team. The former would need careful positioning and baiting to avoid losing a unit and killing your streak, while the latter would just get kited to death.

Actually, Ayra is not powercreep by default because 1 Rng weapons are by nature inferior on the offensive compared to 2 Rng weapons. But I digress.

tl;dr

Good =/= Powercreep

Better than something that was never being used =/= Powercreep

Better than Reinhardt = Powercreep

[XRay]

6 hours ago, Sayyyaka said:

She straight up outshines every infantry sword, which by definition is powercreep.  Get off people's asses.

That is not the definition of power creep. I do not like it when people use terms incorrectly as it contributes to the misconception and it devalues those terms. For example, calling a politician that you do not like a Nazi or Communist when they are not contributes to misconceptions on what Nazis or Communists are, and it devalues those terms to nothing more than political insults. Power creep is a serious issue, but it is just randomly thrown around by players who do not like what the game developers are doing to address the meta.

6 hours ago, Michelaar said:

Have to agree that Ayra is the definition of powercreep for no good reason. She really annoys me.

Ayra is not power creep and she has a good reason to be buffed. Melee units' higher stats are not enough to address the difference in power with ranged units. While I do not agree with their method of buffing melee units with straight up stat increases, it might be necessary to prevent the meta from devolving into how many Reinhardts a player can muster. I prefer the developers to address the meta with only skills and better stat distribution, but I am not a game designer.

So far, new units who have been stat buffed are the type of units who have trouble in the current meta. Sigurd and Ayra are melee units lacking in range while TOD!Henry and TOD!Jakob are armor units lacking in mobility.

Edited November 6, 2017 by XRay

[Ice Dragon]

6 hours ago, Sayyyaka said:

She straight up outshines every infantry sword, which by definition is powercreep.  Get off people's asses.

Being the best member of one of the worst classes in the game is not "by definition power creep".

Power creep specifically means raising the bar. Rendering other choices obsolete does not necessarily raise the bar.

[Tsak]

I don't think Ayra is powercreep. However if some new skill combo, or sacred seal pushes red infantry over the edge. Ayra will be one of the best options (or if somehow reinhardt gets nerfed lolz)

[Troykv]

Ayra is very special case even without talking about how she was introduced in the game.

She represents what it would be the new standart for the Red Sword Fighters, one of the most outclassed class in the game, having enough power to kill some units that normal units of her kind can't.

She received Preferencial treatment with her BST, stat spread and base skills, she definitely can look like a powercreep character; and it's one the best offensive characters that doesn't have Ranged Cavalier Brave Options.

But there is a detail... she somehow... don't ended up being oppresive, and that is because her kind is already a weak kind of niche; and that makes her unable to properly being powercreep.

We'll get powercreeped the day appears a Ranged Mage Trainee Cavalier with a  Brave Weapon... Because right now, the best option to have easy win in Arena Defense is just Spam Reinhardts with a Dancer.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Troykv

[Noise]

I think she is a powercreep but she is amazing. When I got mine I quickly replaced my Hana with her. and she is so much more useful and doesn't die as easily.

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Noise said:

I think she is a powercreep but she is amazing. When I got mine I quickly replaced my Hana with her. and she is so much more useful and doesn't die as easily.

She is not power creep though. Power creep is something entirely different, as it refers to the performance ceiling being moved up. Ayra is nowhere near the performance ceiling set by Reinhardt.

[Rezzy]

I'm going to have to disagree with some people's interpretation of power creep.  Power creep is not just only raising the ceiling of the most powerful characters, it's taking old units and rendering them obsolete by being objectively superior to them in every way.  Ayra outshines Lucina in pretty much every way, making her the inferior option for almost everything except a Falchion Medic build.

Googling Power Creep gives a definition of "Power creep is a process that sometimes occurs in games where new content slowly outstrip the power of previous alternatives. This leads to players abandoning previous options in favour of the latest and more powerful alternatives, resulting in an inevitable increase in power throughout the game."

Also " (collectible games, video games, role-playing games) The situation where updates to a game introduce more powerful units or abilities, leaving the older ones underpowered. "

Some definitions may demand that only becoming the single most powerful unit would qualify as power creep, but none of definitions that rise to the top on Google have that qualifier.

If new thing A is better than new thing B, it's power creep, even if thing B wasn't the pinnacle of power in the game.  It's also the case since, even in most games with even a semblance of balance, no one thing exists that can't be countered by multiple other things.

Extra Credits did a nice video on power creep a few years ago.

 

One nice thing they talk about is intangibles, which is a nice way to introduce new characters without just making everything BIGGER NUMBERS.  Things like the Firesweep weapons or the Panic and Ploy skills are nice new intangibles, because they shift some of the focus of the game, but don't invalidate old units, because they can still exist in their niches.  Ayra is power creep, because she has higher stats, a better weapon, and a personal skill that makes her the best option for infantry sword that doesn't have innate Distant Counter.  She's the obvious infantry sword.  Just because she's in a weaker movement/weapon type doesn't make her not power creep.  Whether it's game breaking power creep, no it's not, but it's still power creep.  If the next batch of units introduces Hone/Fortify Infantry and/or Infantry March, they could become a bigger threat again, but we have the pre-existing power creep that would make Ayra still the superior option, but now in a weapon/movement type that is actually a threat again.

Part of the reason I'm so outspoken against so many units getting the BST bonus is because it makes this type of power creep much more likely.  If all units of a given type have to use the same BST to work with when making their stats, it's hard for one unit to outright outstrip another.  You might get a unit that has +5 speed versus the older unit, but that means they will have to either pull from Atk and not hit as hard or be squishier.  If the new unit just has +5 BST, they can just pump it into Speed and have none of the drawback.

[BANRYU]

Ayra is hands-down one of the power-creepiest units we've seen in this game to date, no doubt.

...but damn if she isn't cool and I want her ;-; RIP chances of that now that her banner is over, though. 

[XRay]

3 hours ago, Rezzy said:

I'm going to have to disagree with some people's interpretation of power creep.  Power creep is not just only raising the ceiling of the most powerful characters, it's taking old units and rendering them obsolete by being objectively superior to them in every way.  Ayra outshines Lucina in pretty much every way, making her the inferior option for almost everything except a Falchion Medic build.

Googling Power Creep gives a definition of "Power creep is a process that sometimes occurs in games where new content slowly outstrip the power of previous alternatives. This leads to players abandoning previous options in favour of the latest and more powerful alternatives, resulting in an inevitable increase in power throughout the game."

Also " (collectible games, video games, role-playing games) The situation where updates to a game introduce more powerful units or abilities, leaving the older ones underpowered. "

Some definitions may demand that only becoming the single most powerful unit would qualify as power creep, but none of definitions that rise to the top on Google have that qualifier.

If new thing A is better than new thing B, it's power creep, even if thing B wasn't the pinnacle of power in the game.  It's also the case since, even in most games with even a semblance of balance, no one thing exists that can't be countered by multiple other things.

Extra Credits did a nice video on power creep a few years ago.

 

One nice thing they talk about is intangibles, which is a nice way to introduce new characters without just making everything BIGGER NUMBERS.  Things like the Firesweep weapons or the Panic and Ploy skills are nice new intangibles, because they shift some of the focus of the game, but don't invalidate old units, because they can still exist in their niches.  Ayra is power creep, because she has higher stats, a better weapon, and a personal skill that makes her the best option for infantry sword that doesn't have innate Distant Counter.  She's the obvious infantry sword.  Just because she's in a weaker movement/weapon type doesn't make her not power creep.  Whether it's game breaking power creep, no it's not, but it's still power creep.  If the next batch of units introduces Hone/Fortify Infantry and/or Infantry March, they could become a bigger threat again, but we have the pre-existing power creep that would make Ayra still the superior option, but now in a weapon/movement type that is actually a threat again.

Part of the reason I'm so outspoken against so many units getting the BST bonus is because it makes this type of power creep much more likely.  If all units of a given type have to use the same BST to work with when making their stats, it's hard for one unit to outright outstrip another.  You might get a unit that has +5 speed versus the older unit, but that means they will have to either pull from Atk and not hit as hard or be squishier.  If the new unit just has +5 BST, they can just pump it into Speed and have none of the drawback.

I am going to take Extra Credits' word over Google's search results since they are game designers.

Their second video about power creep in Hearth Stone on 1:53 goes deeper on why stat boost alone is not power creep. New content simply outclassing earlier content does not mean that the new content is power creep if the old content is far below the power curve. Ayra is nowhere near the power curve because she is melee, infantry, and red.

With how powerful ranged units are (Blades have raw power when buffed; Brave Bow ignores color triangle), melee units are further outclassed by their lack of reach even if their Weapons are a few Mt higher normally. Infantry units' mobility problem is not as bad as armor units', but they are still at a disadvantage compared to cavalry; infantry is also the worst class for getting support since they have no Hone or Fortify Infantry. Being red is a disadvantage with how common Reinhardt is in the Arena.

To be on the power curve, a unit should be ranged and cavalry; ideally, a unit should not be red, but being red is okay as long as the unit is ranged and cavalry so they can avoid Reinahrdt. Since Ayra is none of that, her stat boosts need to be huge to make up for that.

46 minutes ago, BANRYU said:

Ayra is hands-down one of the power-creepiest units we've seen in this game to date, no doubt.

...but damn if she isn't cool and I want her ;-; RIP chances of that now that her banner is over, though. 

She does not push the ceiling up, so she is not power creep. Reinhardt and BH!Lyn actually raises the ceiling.

[Ae†her]

57 minutes ago, XRay said:

I am going to take Extra Credits' word over Google's search results since they are game designers.

Their second video about power creep in Hearth Stone on 1:53 goes deeper on why stat boost alone is not power creep. New content simply outclassing earlier content does not mean that the new content is power creep if the old content is far below the power curve. Ayra is nowhere near the power curve because she is melee, infantry, and red.

With how powerful ranged units are (Blades have raw power when buffed; Brave Bow ignores color triangle), melee units are further outclassed by their lack of reach even if their Weapons are a few Mt higher normally. Infantry units' mobility problem is not as bad as armor units', but they are still at a disadvantage compared to cavalry; infantry is also the worst class for getting support since they have no Hone or Fortify Infantry. Being red is a disadvantage with how common Reinhardt is in the Arena.

To be on the power curve, a unit should be ranged and cavalry; ideally, a unit should not be red, but being red is okay as long as the unit is ranged and cavalry so they can avoid Reinahrdt. Since Ayra is none of that, her stat boosts need to be huge to make up for that.

She does not push the ceiling up, so she is not power creep. Reinhardt and BH!Lyn actually raises the ceiling.

That's the problem I see with your argument. You claim that Reinhardt and Brave Lyn raise the ceiling up because they can nuke things, but why does being able to nuke a lot outshine Ayra being able to outclass nearly all melee swords at close range and run 3 different types of A skills at once, or Arden being able to quad attack nearly everything at close range, and more than likely kill it. Right here even you said if something is not Cavalry, and can't counter or out-nuke Reinhardt they don't push the ceiling up, I find your assessment of power in this game very misleading. There are already counters for every unit, and there are different spectrum of powers in FEH, and in one of them Ayra is raising the limit of it's power. 

[Xenomata]

Meh.

She might be good on OFFENSE, but on defense she can't take a round of combat from Reinhardt, she can't really dent certain forms of Nowi before being nuked, and the most common forms of Ayra sacrifice her defensive ability, be it by not letting her counter-attack (ranged units) or outright sacrificing her defensive ability (Life and Death 3).

And as stated somewhere else, she is just an Infantry Sword unit at the end of the day.

She is also ruined by Swordbreaker.

She's good for Arena Score inflation I guess, but so was Brave Ike, and I don't remember anyone going insane over him. I'm only infuriated that they gave her the BST AND Legendary weapon treatment despite being a mostly normal unit in her original game. Last I checked, didn't even have Major Holy Blood.

That's the problem I see with your argument. You claim that Reinhardt and Brave Lyn raise the ceiling up because they can nuke things, but why does being able to nuke a lot outshine Ayra being able to outclass nearly all melee swords at close range and run 3 different types of A skills at once, or Arden being able to quad attack nearly everything at close range, and more than likely kill it. Right here even you said if something is not Cavalry, and can't counter or out-nuke Reinhardt they don't push the ceiling up, I find your assessment of power in this game very misleading. There are already counters for every unit, and there are different spectrum of powers in FEH, and in one of them Ayra is raising the limit of it's power. 

The thing is that Reinhardt and Brave Lyn are ranged Cavalry, granting them a massive range of attack, who can wield Brave weapons. If you don't have, say, a Green Gronnraven TA3 user, then you run a very high risk against them otherwise.

Ayra with her strongest kit is still just a Sword Infantry. You don't need to pack specific counters to her because A. she only beats non-Armor March armors in mobility and B. she is vulnerable to the most popular units in the game anyways, INCLUDING Reinhardt.

She is purely a Player Phase unit in my book.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Xenomata

[Shiki]

6 hours ago, Rezzy said:

I'm going to have to disagree with some people's interpretation of power creep.  Power creep is not just only raising the ceiling of the most powerful characters, it's taking old units and rendering them obsolete by being objectively superior to them in every way. 

Lukas is better than Oboro. Introduced way back in April.
Leon is better than Gordin.
Innes is better than Niles.
All the Brave Heroes are better than anyone that can be remotely compared to them (Cain <-> Roy, Sharena <-> Lucina, Bartre <-> Ike).
To have some examples. Didn't hear the complaints back then.

They very nature of a gacha game dictates that even within set limitations better optimized characters will appear at some point.
Let's assume that Ayra gets a -5 BST to make her equal to Lucina. If IS decided to take it away just from Res then Ayra is still better than her despite having the same BST.
Considering this powercreep is something you better get used to. Older characters will be worse than new ones, IS has to sell these Heroes after all.

The only real way to gauge powercreep in a gacha game like this is the ceiling. Brave Lyn is the only one after SI Reinhardt that introduced a whole new level of threat to be prepared about. She literally forced people to build counters for her and and Reinhardt. Raven Tome + TA + Bowbreaker suddenly became quite relevant compared to their previously niche status.
These kind of things forces people to adapt or they sink with it. That is powercreep. I would rather consider Sigurd to be powercreep than Ayra because he throws a wrench in the whole ORKO meta (like the man is indestructible, I swear). Against her you only need to use the counters that are already established, so she doesn't affect the game as a whole.

[Rezzy]

2 hours ago, Talandar said:

Lukas is better than Oboro. Introduced way back in April.
Leon is better than Gordin.
Innes is better than Niles.
All the Brave Heroes are better than anyone that can be remotely compared to them (Cain <-> Roy, Sharena <-> Lucina, Bartre <-> Ike).
To have some examples. Didn't hear the complaints back then.

They very nature of a gacha game dictates that even within set limitations better optimized characters will appear at some point.
Let's assume that Ayra gets a -5 BST to make her equal to Lucina. If IS decided to take it away just from Res then Ayra is still better than her despite having the same BST.
Considering this powercreep is something you better get used to. Older characters will be worse than new ones, IS has to sell these Heroes after all.

The only real way to gauge powercreep in a gacha game like this is the ceiling. Brave Lyn is the only one after SI Reinhardt that introduced a whole new level of threat to be prepared about. She literally forced people to build counters for her and and Reinhardt. Raven Tome + TA + Bowbreaker suddenly became quite relevant compared to their previously niche status.
These kind of things forces people to adapt or they sink with it. That is powercreep. I would rather consider Sigurd to be powercreep than Ayra because he throws a wrench in the whole ORKO meta (like the man is indestructible, I swear). Against her you only need to use the counters that are already established, so she doesn't affect the game as a whole.

Power Creep is insidious, and there are varying degrees of it.  Power Creep on the weakest of units is not bad in and of itself.  It's the outclassing rather than being roughly equal or with a different niche of the strongest unit of a given type that causes outcry.

[NekoKnight]

2 hours ago, Talandar said:

Lukas is better than Oboro. Introduced way back in April.
Leon is better than Gordin.
Innes is better than Niles.
All the Brave Heroes are better than anyone that can be remotely compared to them (Cain <-> Roy, Sharena <-> Lucina, Bartre <-> Ike).
To have some examples. Didn't hear the complaints back then.

Those units were also following the BST parameters of other units in their class and didn't have character locked skills (besides CYL, which people assumed was a one-time thing). Inevitably, we'll get more min-maxed characters, but they didn't need to raise the bar on what those classes can do.

[Shiki]

1 hour ago, Rezzy said:

Power Creep is insidious, and there are varying degrees of it.  Power Creep on the weakest of units is not bad in and of itself.  It's the outclassing rather than being roughly equal or with a different niche of the strongest unit of a given type that causes outcry.

You know that this is a double standard, right? You can't accept "power creep" on weaker units and criticize it if someone stronger gets the same treatment. But even then, Red itself is in a really bad state. Lucina herself isn't impressive anymore and falls right there in being another red unit. Ayra being better doesn't make Lucina less relevant because she was irrelevant in the first place.

59 minutes ago, NekoKnight said:

Inevitably, we'll get more min-maxed characters, but they didn't need to raise the bar on what those classes can do.

BST is a pretty limiting factor. I agree that of all people Ayra does not deserve that favoritism (especially before the 2nd places of CYL). However, as I showed in my example, the boost doesn't matter that much. They could have min-maxed Ayra without the 5 points and people would still cry about "power-creep".
Though I completely agree with exclusive skills. Especially Regnal Astra since that Astra is a million times better than its regular line.

People can complain that older units are getting outclassed but that's how they sell these characters. Otherwise you're ending up with dozen of clone characters that have roughly the same stats (see Lance Cavaliers) and that causes stagnation.
It really seems like people don't understand that this is something all Gacha games have to do. Just because FEH spoiled us within its 9 months doesn't mean they don't follow the progression of a standard gacha game. Inevitably we will end up with a situation where all characters are supplanted by better ones (ok, maybe not Reinhardt because Brave Tome).

[Rezzy]

6 minutes ago, Talandar said:

You know that this is a double standard, right? You can't accept "power creep" on weaker units and criticize it if someone stronger gets the same treatment. But even then, Red itself is in a really bad state. Lucina herself isn't impressive anymore and falls right there in being another red unit. Ayra being better doesn't make Lucina less relevant because she was irrelevant in the first place.

BST is a pretty limiting factor. I agree that of all people Ayra does not deserve that favoritism (especially before the 2nd places of CYL). However, as I showed in my example, the boost doesn't matter that much. They could have min-maxed Ayra without the 5 points and people would still cry about "power-creep".
Though I completely agree with exclusive skills. Especially Regnal Astra since that Astra is a million times better than its regular line.

People can complain that older units are getting outclassed but that's how they sell these characters. Otherwise you're ending up with dozen of clone characters that have roughly the same stats (see Lance Cavaliers) and that causes stagnation.
It really seems like people don't understand that this is something all Gacha games have to do. Just because FEH spoiled us within its 9 months doesn't mean they don't follow the progression of a standard gacha game. Inevitably we will end up with a situation where all characters are supplanted by better ones (ok, maybe not Reinhardt because Brave Tome).

I'll try to elaborate when I get done with work and not typing on mobile.

Outclassing units that were on the lowest side of power is not bad, and is necessary, unless you want to keep making subpar units.  Outclassing an entire weapon/movement type can snowball quickly.  Units like Lucina were still very viable options, especially for people trying to minmax Arena score.  Ayra just straight up outclassed them.

[Ice Dragon]

7 hours ago, Logos said:

That's the problem I see with your argument. You claim that Reinhardt and Brave Lyn raise the ceiling up because they can nuke things, but why does being able to nuke a lot outshine Ayra being able to outclass nearly all melee swords at close range and run 3 different types of A skills at once, or Arden being able to quad attack nearly everything at close range, and more than likely kill it.

Reinhardt and Lyn are the ceiling because they outclass virtually everything. Ayra is not the ceiling because she only outclasses sword infantry.

 

1 hour ago, Rezzy said:

I'll try to elaborate when I get done with work and not typing on mobile.

Outclassing units that were on the lowest side of power is not bad, and is necessary, unless you want to keep making subpar units.  Outclassing an entire weapon/movement type can snowball quickly.  Units like Lucina were still very viable options, especially for people trying to minmax Arena score.  Ayra just straight up outclassed them.

The problem with your argument is not that you are wrong about Ayra outclassing almost every other sword unit in the game.

The problem with your argument is that you're trying to throw the label of "power creep" on it when it is not.

There is nothing wrong with arguing that Ayra outclassing almost every other sword unit in the game is bad. Trying to apply the label of "power creep" to is it where we are taking issue because "power creep" is an objective measure that Ayra fails to meet.

 

In short, people are throwing around the words "power creep" to vilify the developers for decisions that they do not like. As previously mentioned, that's no different from calling a politician a "communist", "fascist", or "Nazi". It's attempting to use sensationalist language to rile up emotions and add weight to their argument.

[BANRYU]

8 hours ago, XRay said:

She does not push the ceiling up, so she is not power creep. Reinhardt and BH!Lyn actually raises the ceiling.

I'd say you're right in that she's not as influential on the metagame at large as those two are, certainly. However, in regards to her specific niche, red melee units, she definitely, unequivocally IS the ceiling, at least for them. Assuming resources are not a problem and that you care about winning more than using your favorites, there is no reason to use another sword unit that lacks Falchion or a built-in Distant Counter weapon when you could use Ayra, she hard-outclasses them all pretty soundly.

And as far as red units in general go, red mages tend to be less favored due to the aforementioned ceiling set by Rein; and since there ARE so many strong sword-users with good legendary weapons, they tend to be the meta in their particular regard. And again, Ayra kind of sets the standard there. 

EDIT: I think Blyn and Rein are not really comparable to Ayra in the regard that they carved entirely new niches for themselves (that of brave horse tome-- brave tome in general really-- and horse archer) that set them apart as having unique advantages in terms of their movement range combined with the killing prowess that certain weapons afford them. In a sense, yes, they are definitely the GREATER power creep, but that does not mean that power creep isn't finding its way into this game in other regards-- Slaying weapons VS Killing weapons is a perfect example of where yes, the improved stats ARE power creep because they hard-outclass the old versions-- there is literally no reason to use a Killer weapon if you have access to a Slayer, there is no new niche or advantage afforded, it is just straight up better. That is pretty much what Ayra represents in terms of sword units. She's not so much a metagame-redefiner, but she definitely is the ceiling on her specific class. 

Edited November 7, 2017 by BANRYU

[Shiki]

16 minutes ago, BANRYU said:

unequivocally IS the ceiling

Eh, I would still argue that Ryoma is ceiling. Ayra with DC may match him (or surpass him since she technically has +5 Spd & +4 Def lead without skills at +Spd/-Res) but he has the edge in terms of flexibility regarding with his A passive.

Also Brave Roy is still the best player-phase sword for now. He has more movement range than Ayra and horse buffs make him match her offense. Both have the similar effects with their weapons, too.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Talandar

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

20 minutes ago, BANRYU said:

I'd say you're right in that she's not as influential on the metagame at large as those two are, certainly. However, in regards to her specific niche, red melee units, she definitely, unequivocally IS the ceiling, at least for them. Assuming resources are not a problem and that you care about winning more than using your favorites, there is no reason to use another sword unit that lacks Falchion or a built-in Distant Counter weapon when you could use Ayra, she hard-outclasses them all pretty soundly.

And as far as red units in general go, red mages tend to be less favored due to the aforementioned ceiling set by Rein; and since there ARE so many strong sword-users with good legendary weapons, they tend to be the meta in their particular regard. And again, Ayra kind of sets the standard there. 

EDIT: I think Blyn and Rein are not really comparable to Ayra in the regard that they carved entirely new niches for themselves (that of brave horse tome-- brave tome in general really-- and horse archer) that set them apart as having unique advantages in terms of their movement range combined with the killing prowess that certain weapons afford them. In a sense, yes, they are definitely the GREATER power creep, but that does not mean that power creep isn't finding its way into this game in other regards-- Slaying weapons VS Killing weapons is a perfect example of where yes, the improved stats ARE power creep because they hard-outclass the old versions-- there is literally no reason to use a Killer weapon if you have access to a Slayer, there is no new niche or advantage afforded, it is just straight up better. That is pretty much what Ayra represents in terms of sword units. She's not so much a metagame-redefiner, but she definitely is the ceiling on her specific class. 

 

Ayra lacked Horse, so i'd still pick Brave Roy tbh

[Ice Dragon]

45 minutes ago, BANRYU said:

However, in regards to her specific niche, red melee units, she definitely, unequivocally IS the ceiling, at least for them.

If this game had nothing but red melee infantry or if running a red melee infantry in your party were required, this would matter. But this game has more than just red melee infantry, and red melee infantry is not a requirement on any team.

[a bear]

Going to agree with @Rezzy on her definition of power creep. It's power creep, not power stomp. Ayra firmly establishes a shitty precedent of invalidating an entire class thanks to an optimized stat spread with arbitrary BST and skill lovin' thrown in for good measure. It's all about the new standard, not Ayra herself.