New to game. Need build advice

[KusanagiShiro]

What should I Build Corrin as? Any specific builds you find effective?

[SavageVolug]

Here are some of my preferred builds.

1) Paladin

2) Hero/Vanguard

3) Berserker (this one can be a lot of fun with the right crit bonuses)

4) Wyvern lord (a great option but can be kind of a risk/reward class in this game)

5) Blacksmith/Oni Chieftain

For Hero, Vanguard and Blacksmith I prefer this skillset, Aether, Strengthtaker, Savageblow , Swordfaire, Axefaire. When doing Paladin I like to have Aether, Strengthtaker, Savageblow, Lancebreaker, Renewal. Berserker and Oni Chieftain gets, Aether, Strengthtaker, Axefaire, Deathblow, Certainblow. Wyvern lord gets, Aether, Strengthtaker, Savageblow Axefair Bowbreaker. 

[Shadow Mir]

Personally, I like Robust/Clumsy with a Cavalier talent (despite that, though, I very rarely have Corrin leave their default class).

1 hour ago, SavageVolug said:

Here are some of my preferred builds.

1) Paladin

2) Hero/Vanguard

3) Berserker (this one can be a lot of fun with the right crit bonuses)

4) Wyvern lord (a great option but can be kind of a risk/reward class in this game)

5) Blacksmith/Oni Chieftain

For Hero, Vanguard and Blacksmith I prefer this skillset, Aether, Strengthtaker, Savageblow , Swordfaire, Axefaire. When doing Paladin I like to have Aether, Strengthtaker, Savageblow, Lancebreaker, Renewal. Berserker and Oni Chieftain gets, Aether, Strengthtaker, Axefaire, Deathblow, Certainblow. Wyvern lord gets, Aether, Strengthtaker, Savageblow Axefair Bowbreaker. 

How is Wyvern Lord a risk/reward class but Berserker isn't???

[SavageVolug]

45 minutes ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

How is Wyvern Lord a risk/reward class but Berserker isn't???

Because Wyverns and fliers in general will get one shotted (in almost all cases) by bows, are vulnerable to magic, and of course beastkiller for pegasai and dragon slayer for wyverns. I just meant that with Wyverns they have the reward of high and unrestricted movement BUT you do need to be wary of units like archers thus the risk. Berserkers on the other hand don't get one shotted by anything except for critical attacks but then that could happen to any unit. I have found Berserker to be pretty good especially if one is not using gamble in fact I am convinced that Arthur's problem is his personal skill and with Charlotte she should really be using an Iron axe not steel. Berserkers have high amounts of HP, Str, and Sp and thus I enjoy using this class and have found it to serve me well. Also I enjoy axe units in general, and I have found that Corrin, Xander, Camilla, Beruka, Keaton and Benny all fare quite well in this class they seemed to have good accuracy the only downside was  being locked to one weapon and in the case of Xander, Camilla and Beruka reduced movement.

By the way you have an interesting Boon and bane for cavaliers, I usually go Robust/Unlucky or Strong/Unlucky with a preference for Robust/Unlucky, and I like changing Corrin's class as I dislike the avatar being in a preselected class plus I enjoy classes like cavalier, mercenary, fighter, wyvern rider etc. better than a character specific class. Out of curiosity why do you choose clumsy as your bane?

 

Edited November 10, 2017 by SavageVolug

[Dean]

I think the most effective traits you’d look for in a Corrin build are:

Good 1-2 range (either a good magic base to use tomes / magic-based weapons with, or shuriken access)

High movement

Access to strong skills and good HP and defense

 

Wyvern Rider into Malig Knight fits all the above criteria, you’d probably look at +Mag or Speed and -Luck

Dark Mage into Dark Knight does the same

Cavalier into Paladin has low Magic but the level 1 cavalier skill is effectively +3 damage which alleviates this somewhat. Also retains sword rank from Corrin’s base class.

 

if you don’t want a flier / horse (e.g. don’t want to stack weaknesses) then classes like +Mag Oni Savage into Oni Chieftain or +Strength Ninja into Master Ninja work well.

 

BUT in the end Corrin will be effective in pretty much everything so pick something you like and have fun :)

[Shadow Mir]

2 hours ago, SavageVolug said:

Because Wyverns and fliers in general will get one shotted (in almost all cases) by bows, are vulnerable to magic, and of course beastkiller for pegasai and dragon slayer for wyverns. I just meant that with Wyverns they have the reward of high and unrestricted movement BUT you do need to be wary of units like archers thus the risk. Berserkers on the other hand don't get one shotted by anything except for critical attacks but then that could happen to any unit. I have found Berserker to be pretty good especially if one is not using gamble in fact I am convinced that Arthur's problem is his personal skill and with Charlotte she should really be using an Iron axe not steel. Berserkers have high amounts of HP, Str, and Sp and thus I enjoy using this class and have found it to serve me well. Also I enjoy axe units in general, and I have found that Corrin, Xander, Camilla, Beruka, Keaton and Benny all fare quite well in this class they seemed to have good accuracy the only downside was  being locked to one weapon and in the case of Xander, Camilla and Beruka reduced movement.

By the way you have an interesting Boon and bane for cavaliers, I usually go Robust/Unlucky or Strong/Unlucky with a preference for Robust/Unlucky, and I like changing Corrin's class as I dislike the avatar being in a preselected class plus I enjoy classes like cavalier, mercenary, fighter, wyvern rider etc. better than a character specific class. Out of curiosity why do you choose clumsy as your bane?

 

The critical hit vulnerability is a really big problem in my view (even worse than being weak to Stealth Rock, if you ask me), in large part because crits are generally a death sentence for a unit assuming they're taking any remotely respectable amount of damage. As for Arthur and Charlotte, I don't have much to say other than they're just terribad. Also, I think Berserker Xander is nothing short of a flat-out losing trade - giving up Siegfried, and with it reliable range, AND 15 crit evade (10 from Siegfried itself, and 5 more from the crit evade drop Berserkers have)... and what do I get out of this crap that could possibly salvage it??? Absolutely nothing! Long story short, I'd rather not have to gamble on every freaking attack.

Well, the thing is, I like having SOMEONE who can take more than one hit, especially on Birthright where most Hoshidans crumple into a lifeless heap after two hits, maybe three. And as for clumsy as the bane, I don't think skill has done a very good job of being relevant as a stat, frankly - and I think a main character who's liable to cause random game overs because a grunt got a crit in is, to put it bluntly, a reset hazard. As for Corrin's class, I generally can't be bothered to leave it because I like the skills, especially Draconic Hex. Well, that, and the limited quantity of Heart Seals for the majority of the game.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[SavageVolug]

47 minutes ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

As for Corrin's class, I generally can't be bothered to leave it because I like the skills, especially Draconic Hex. Well, that, and the limited quantity of Heart Seals for the majority of the game.

Yeah, Draconic Hex along with Dragon Fang ARE very good skills, I just prefer Corrin better in something he/she can make full use of. As Nohr prince his/her effectiveness with both tomes and dragonstones (which for some reason you can't double with) is based on magic which because of my Boons that I usually pick this stat is always alright meaning that Corrin is always doing more damage with a physical weapon so I would rather be in a class where I can make full use out of all weapon types available.

There is a way around the limited Heart Seal problem if you visit castles with a maxed out Staff/Rod shop built.

[Shadow Mir]

1 hour ago, SavageVolug said:

Yeah, Draconic Hex along with Dragon Fang ARE very good skills, I just prefer Corrin better in something he/she can make full use of. As Nohr prince his/her effectiveness with both tomes and dragonstones (which for some reason you can't double with) is based on magic which because of my Boons that I usually pick this stat is always alright meaning that Corrin is always doing more damage with a physical weapon so I would rather be in a class where I can make full use out of all weapon types available.

There is a way around the limited Heart Seal problem if you visit castles with a maxed out Staff/Rod shop built.

Perhaps so.

Also, I doubt Camilla, Benny, Keaton or Beruka would be all that great as Berserkers (the former is already crit prone enough as is,  Benny is slow no matter what you do, Keaton... well, I can think of better things to do than waste a Heart Seal on him just to put him into a class that gives up most of the perks of being a beast unit, particularly the Cev bonus, and Beruka loses most of what would make her worthwhile as a Fighter). Also, with Fates being what it is, I'd rather not be locked to the least accurate weapon type in the game.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[SavageVolug]

3 hours ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

Also, with Fates being what it is, I'd rather not be locked to the least accurate weapon type in the game.

I can see and understand that reasoning, it is definitely a drawback to axe only units or even equipping an axe for that matter. At least until the unit in question's skill stat raises to the point where this is either less of an issue or non existent.

[DragonFlames]

My choice for Corrin is either have them stay in their standard class and focus swords or dragonstones, sincefocusing tomes is next to worthless since the highest rank you can get is B as a Nohrian Noble, or make them another sword-using class, since giving up on using the Yato never feels right to me, especially not since the thing is the only way you can really do good damage against the final bosses without grinding.

As for Boon and Bane, I usually like to go for a Skill boon, since high hit rates are very, VERY important with Fates' wonky RNG, and a Luck bane, which might seem detrimental at first, but you get a Goddess' Icon in the first village you visit, to increase your Luck stat by 4 points, which should be enough to supplement the decrease in Luck growth, which should still be somewhat high, considering Corrin has a high base Luck growth to begin with. 

You could also go for a Magic bane if you don't mind sacrificing the Dragonstone, which is really only good on Conquest and early Revelation, anyway, although a Magic bane will also decrease your Speed growth a bit, which can screw you over if you're particularly unlucky. If you go for a Magic bane, consider a Speed boon, so you don't sacrifice too much Speed and gain some extra Luck and Skill, too. This setup is especially nice if you plan on using physical weapons exclusively. I found that a Samurai / Swordmaster with this combination is extremely strong.

If you want to focus on the Dragonstone, I recommend going for a Magic boon and a Speed bane. You can't double with the Dragonstone, so you want to maximize your damage output by increasing Magic and sacrificing Speed doesn't hurt when you can't double attack anyway. If you want to do this, however, I'd suggest going for Knight as a secondary class and Heart Seal into General (use a Master Seal on a Knight at level 20 or Heart Seal from another promoted class) at level 4 promoted, so you can grab Wary Fighter (a skill that prevents you and the enemy from executing double attacks) at level 5, then use a second Heart Seal to go back to Nohr Noble (Nohr Noble has the higher Magic cap and growth, so for Dragonstone Corrins, this class is better, in my opinion).

In general, my Corrins either stay in their standard classes and focus on swords or Dragonstones, or I'll switch them to Swordmasters, since Swordmaster is my personal favourite class in Fire Emblem.
If I plan on staying as a Hoshido or Nohr Noble, I choose my secondary class depending on Corrin's spouse (if I plan on grinding for skills) or just any class at random.

[Shadow Mir]

4 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

As for Boon and Bane, I usually like to go for a Skill boon, since high hit rates are very, VERY important with Fates' wonky RNG, and a Luck bane, which might seem detrimental at first, but you get a Goddess' Icon in the first village you visit, to increase your Luck stat by 4 points, which should be enough to supplement the decrease in Luck growth, which should still be somewhat high, considering Corrin has a high base Luck growth to begin with. 

25% base growth after a Luck bane isn't exactly what I'd call "high"... That ties with Camilla and only beats out Nyx, Kaze, Reina, and Arthur.

4 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

You could also go for a Magic bane if you don't mind sacrificing the Dragonstone, which is really only good on Conquest and early Revelation, anyway, although a Magic bane will also decrease your Speed growth a bit, which can screw you over if you're particularly unlucky. If you go for a Magic bane, consider a Speed boon, so you don't sacrifice too much Speed and gain some extra Luck and Skill, too. This setup is especially nice if you plan on using physical weapons exclusively. I found that a Samurai / Swordmaster with this combination is extremely strong.

I dare contest this, because Corrin's not exactly a bastion of durability, and it doesn't help that the Yato, being a katana, lowers their defenses, ESPECIALLY in Birthright, where the upgrades don't boost defence.

Edited November 13, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Alastor15243]

You generally want to either go for Nohr Noble, Master Ninja, Dark Knight, or, if you're allowing DLC, Dread Fighter. Something that gives Corrin access to 1-2 range but still lets them use the Yato. I'd go with Nohr Noble or Dark Knight beause while it's a bit harder to make a one-rounding avatar using magic, Master Ninja is fragile as all hell while Nohr Noble and Dark Knight are far more bulky, and if you can one-round with magic then it hardly matters how much harder you could one-round with shurikens.

Your options to make magic work are to give them a magic boon, stack a bunch of damage boosting skills (malefic aura, trample, elbow room and strong riposte), or, since it's far more doable with the avatar, procstack. Procstacking is very effective when you use corrin's level 15 promoted skills and Quixotic, and it's the best way make Corrin capable of one-rounding final bosses (which saves a ton of grief with the Conquest final boss's infuriating bold stance shield gauge shenanigans) but it's not until the lategame that you can really make it work, so be warned that your magical offense won't be great until then.

[starburst]

I would also suggest Nohr Noble with +Magic and -Luck. You want Corrin to have a reliable 1-2 range attack and to endure a few hits, and that is why high magic is your best bet. As a Nohr Noble with high magic, Corrin will keep using the Yato, increase their defence through Dragonstones (whose attack rely on magic), and have an effective 1-2 range attack through a Levin Sword and forged tomes with low weapon rank. And by the time Corrin gets the Draconic Hex skill and the Dragonstone+, they can take various hits (with proper support) and lower all stats of every enemy who attacks them. Not to mention that most enemies have way lower Resistance than Defence.

The Luck bane can be patched via Goddess Icons, which you get very early and no one really needs (perhaps Camilla in Conquest, but her Luck cap is rather low anyway.)

For you first play through, either ignore Corrin's talent or choose it to favour their couple.

[Shadow Mir]

32 minutes ago, starburst said:

The Luck bane can be patched via Goddess Icons, which you get very early and no one really needs (perhaps Camilla in Conquest, but her Luck cap is rather low anyway.)

Everybody SAYS this, but when I ask them about it. everybody also goes hush-hush about just how many goddess icons are there that you get early, which makes me wonder if they're bullshitting... (I can only remember the one from the first 5 chapters)

Edited November 22, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Alastor15243]

On 11/21/2017 at 7:55 PM, Levant Mir Celestia said:

Everybody SAYS this, but when I ask them about it. everybody also goes hush-hush about just how many goddess icons are there that you get early, which makes me wonder if they're bullshitting...

I have an entire lets play of Birthright and Conquest using luck bane, did it ironman style, was extremely paranoid about any situation in which it was even possible for me to lose a unit, and I never found myself in a situation where l had a problem with crit rates.

Edited November 24, 2017 by Alastor15243

[Dean]

Conquest has Chapter 4 village and Invasion 1 (available after Chapter 8 or 9) boss drop.

[Shadow Mir]

24 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I have an entire lets play of Birthright and Conquest using luck bane, did it ironman style, was extremely paranoid about any situation in which it was even possible for me to lose a unit, and I never found myself in a situation where my l had a problem with crit rates.

Well, I think that dueling Ryoma's that much more likely to suck if he has a non-trivial crit chance on you, which is likely if you have a luck bane.

[Alastor15243]

44 minutes ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

Well, I think that dueling Ryoma's that much more likely to suck if he has a non-trivial crit chance on you, which is likely if you have a luck bane.

Yeah, for him I believe i used an ember tome and it was fine, no crit chance.

[Shadow Mir]

9 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Yeah, for him I believe i used an ember tome and it was fine, no crit chance.

Well, you might be "fine" in the no crit chance department, but Ember has a measly 1 might, which means you won't be so fine when you deal piddle damage to him...

Also, I did see your playthrough, and you did lose a unit in the Birthright run iirc.

[Alastor15243]

19 minutes ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

Well, you might be "fine" in the no crit chance department, but Ember has a measly 1 might, which means you won't be so fine when you deal piddle damage to him...

Also, I did see your playthrough, and you did lose a unit in the Birthright run iirc.

I did indeed. I had a moment of poor judgment and assumed that because countermagic was a thing, that the counter skill was restricted to physical attacks when in fact it was all melee attacks, and Rhajat died. Not to a crit, but to my own poor decisions.

And as for Ember's low might, I was procstacking, remember, and also, the defensive tiles in that room mean it's nearly impossible to be one-rounded even with criticals. But of course I didn't know about the damage reduction effect going in, what with it being blind ironman, so I made sure I was immune to crits before fighting him.

Edited November 22, 2017 by Alastor15243

[Shadow Mir]

34 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

I did indeed. I had a moment of poor judgment and assumed that because countermagic was a thing, that the counter skill was restricted to physical attacks when in fact it was all melee attacks, and Rhajat died. Not to a crit, but to my own poor decisions.

And as for Ember's low might, I was procstacking, remember, and also, the defensive tiles in that room mean it's nearly impossible to be one-rounded even with criticals. But of course I didn't know about the damage reduction effect going in, what with it being blind ironman, so I made sure I was immune to crits before fighting him.

It's true that you can't get one-rounded, but the thing is that getting criticalled means that you HAVE to heal the turn after. And regarding procstacking, the main obstacles to that are the limited quantity of seals for the majority of the game, as well as needing to spend three levels in a class to get the proc; it doesn't really help that out of the classes that have them, the options that I have to A rank are mostly lackluster (assuming you're playing as a male, Silas or Benny for Luna, Odin for Vengeance, which is also lackluster, and Rend Heaven and Astra are outright inaccessible without having the requisite class as your talent). Quixotic being a double-edged sword doesn't help...

Edited November 22, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Alastor15243]

1 minute ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

It's true that you can't get one-rounded, but the thing is that getting criticalled means that you HAVE to heal the turn after. And regarding procstacking, the main obstacles to that are the limited quantity of seals for the majority of the game, as well as needing to spend three levels in a class to get the proc; it doesn't really help that out of the classes that have them, the options that I have to A rank are mostly lackluster (assuming you're playing as a male, Silas or Benny for Luna, Odin for Vengeance, which is also lackluster, and Rend Heaven and Astra are outright inaccessible without having the requisite class as your talent).

I think we're getting off topic. The point is that there's 8 points of luck in stat boosters you can get before chapter 10 even when you discount path, visit and battle bonuses, and plenty of ways to boost your crit evade further in emergencies, so a luck bane i pretty manageable.

[Shadow Mir]

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

I think we're getting off topic. The point is that there's 8 points of luck in stat boosters you can get before chapter 10 even when you discount path, visit and battle bonuses, and plenty of ways to boost your crit evade further in emergencies, so a luck bane i pretty manageable.

Be that as it may, Conquest already has enough luck-starved units without adding another one to that list... which is NOT encouraging in the least.

Edited November 22, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[joshcja]

On Friday, November 10, 2017 at 5:26 AM, KusanagiShiro said:

What should I Build Corrin as? Any specific builds you find effective?

Late reply but nobody's given the simple answer yet.

CQ: +Mag or +Hp, Wyvern/Diviner/Mage/Ninja. 1-2 range trumps all, always build support for Sorc (+mag)/Be(+hp) reclasses for supportive abuse when bosskilling.

BR: +Mag, Wyvern/DM subclass samurai off one of the bajilion swordmooks for vantage+Lifeordeath and win.

Rev: Same as BR. Just walk forward.

Any build can work but these are the gold standard.

Edited November 22, 2017 by joshcja

[Alastor15243]

8 hours ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

Be that as it may, Conquest already has enough luck-starved units without adding another one to that list... which is NOT encouraging in the least.

You really wouldn’t have such a problem with that if you’d just use guard stance more often. It gives innate +5 dodge.