Tempest Trials: A Gift of Peace!

[Prince Endriu]

I hope this is gonna be a TT mini - two weeks with a 40% bonus is gonna kill me. Madked Marth would actually be good for me - have been using her as a fae killer in AA and wouldnt mind a free merge.

[Thane]

A TT reward unit would make for the 200:th Hero in the game. While it's possible we'll just get a mini one and as such not get a free unit, who do you think it could be in case we do end up getting one? I could see Sumia, as I don't believe we'll get a second generation character here, but Aversa could be cool as well so that everyone could get a flying mage.

[May]

Any word that the Tempest Trials will be this month or next month?

[Tybrosion]

27 minutes ago, Aera said:

Any word that the Tempest Trials will be this month or next month?

None that I'm aware of though if the x1.4 heroes are the Winter's Envoy heroes, I'd imagine it'd have to start relatively soon. For reference:

Moment of Fate (09/23/17) started eight days after Dauntless Crimeans (09/15/17) went up.
Genealogy of Light (10/23/17) started a week after World of Holy War (10/16/17) went up.
Less Than Heroic (11/21/17) started six days after Farfetched Heroes (11/15/17) went up.

[Johann]

2 minutes ago, Tybrosion said:

None that I'm aware of though if the x1.4 heroes are the Winter's Envoy heroes, I'd imagine it'd have to start relatively soon. For reference:

Moment of Fate (09/23/17) started eight days after Dauntless Crimeans (09/15/17) went up.
Genealogy of Light (10/23/17) started a week after World of Holy War (10/16/17) went up.
Less Than Heroic (11/21/17) started six days after Farfetched Heroes (11/15/17) went up.

I think it's notable that those banners included 3 characters, which went on to become 40% bonus heroes, and the remaining hero appeared on a separate Tempest banner.

[Opdepov]

That map looks a bit like the one where you protect Emeryn(?). Emeryn as TT reward? Or Panne as first beast unit?

[Sayyyaka]

I'll silently hope for a Morgan reward, but in the back of my mind I know it'll be nothing new

[Iridium]

Somebody post the raw banner for "To Die on the Battlefield". I want to see it.

[Othin]

1 minute ago, Iridium said:

Somebody post the raw banner for "To Die on the Battlefield". I want to see it.

This one?

Huh, it says "mini". Welp.

[Iridium]

Thank you, and you're welcome.

By the way, this doesn't necessarily mean it isn't a repeat of Masked Marth or Tobin or whoever. It may simply just mean that the developers view the Tempest Trial mini format as too generous, which is certainly in line with how horrendous their practices appear to be from the outside lately.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Iridium

[Othin]

So this is breaking precedent in one of three ways:

A) Being the first TT where the free unit gets added after all the other assets

B) Being the first full-length TT without a new unit

C) Being the first TT mini with a banner that doesn't say "mini"

Given that A and C don't actually make sense because there's no reason for them to break precedent in those ways, I'm going with B.

[NegativeExponents-]

4 hours ago, Falter said:

That map looks a bit like the one where you protect Emeryn(?). Emeryn as TT reward? Or Panne as first beast unit?

That’s because it’s the same map but decorated for the holidays. (I say “holidays” but it’s really just Christmas) Gosh, I would love for Panne to appear as a unit even if it’s not as a beast unit.

 

34 minutes ago, Othin said:

So this is breaking precedent in one of three ways:

A) Being the first TT where the free unit gets added after all the other assets

B) Being the first full-length TT without a new unit

C) Being the first TT mini with a banner that doesn't say "mini"

Given that A and C don't actually make sense because there's no reason for them to break precedent in those ways, I'm going with B.

If it’s not A then I hope it’s not B because a full-length TT with no new unit sounds like drudgery. 

Edited December 20, 2017 by NegativeExponents-

[bottlegnomes]

52 minutes ago, Iridium said:

Thank you, and you're welcome.

By the way, this doesn't necessarily mean it isn't a repeat of Masked Marth or Tobin or whoever. It may simply just mean that the developers view the Tempest Trial mini format as too generous, which is certainly in line with how horrendous their practices appear to be from the outside lately.

Horrendous? I'm going to have to disagree rather strongly.

[May]

39 minutes ago, bottlegnomes said:

Horrendous? I'm going to have to disagree rather strongly.

Me too. I think, in the grand scheme of things, even in the last few weeks, IS has been generous.

[Iridium]

59 minutes ago, Aera said:

Me too. I think, in the grand scheme of things, even in the last few weeks, IS has been generous.

I can't say I agree. A limited-time seasonal banner containing extremely powerful skills, with units that have the highest BST in the game in a very rare class of units (i.e. armors; Tharja is the only red tome armor, and Robin is one of very few lance armors), immediately preceding a confirmed Legendary Hero banner and a potential New Year's Banner (that will likely be subject to the same boons) is not my idea of 'generosity'. That's what someone not invested in the game would refer to as "drastically increasing the gap between whales and everyone else", a process that has already been tremendously expedited by many of the things introduced in 2.0 (such as blessings, which add to Arena score in a manner that only whales can possibly take advantage of.)

Meanwhile, content that benefits free players -- things like Grand Hero Battles, non-seasonal new hero banners, and new 4* units -- are becoming increasingly rare. Since the Brave Hero banner four months ago in September, which was probably the turning point, we've had:

• Exactly one new Grand Hero Battle: Arvis. But at least we've got Voting Gauntlets and Bound Hero Battle repeats to entertain us!
• Four normal new character banners (Dauntless Crimeans, World of Holy War, Farfetched Heroes, and Children of Fate) with only 12 characters among them. Ayra and Rhajat were noticeably absent from these banners, and while I don't have the reason for this, several likely options come to mind and none are favorable.
  • Coincidentally, we've had three seasonal banners with 12 characters among them. Said seasonal characters are becoming increasingly powerful: Azura is the first seasonal character with a PRF, Henry and Jakob were the first with boosted BST, and now all four characters are whale fodder. If we have a New Year's banner, too...
• Just three new units added to the 4* pool: Oscar, Tailtiu, and Soleil. It should be noted that prior to Brave Heroes and Sacred World, we received two units per banner.

The removal of Tempest Trial Mini in favor of a normal Tempest Trial for repeats would simply be par for the course.

I mean yes sure they need to put a roof over their head and all that but the game's already making millions so they it's not like they need to go this far. The game found great success in spite of its previous level of "generosity", and I'd like to imagine that tightening the noose would only serve to alienate the playerbase. Though as long as they don't shake off too many whales in the process, it probably won't make a realistic difference in the end, since whales are the only players that actually matter to them for purposes beyond number-pumping, despite any meek protests to the contrary.

Admittedly I never took the game too seriously and stopped playing after the Ayra banner, which -- to me -- was the first sign of trouble and only signaled that things would get worse from there. I have few regrets about doing so and frankly the months that have since elapsed have only strengthened my resolve, but I continue to pay a little attention to the game because I don't really have anything else going on tbh it's probably unfortunately going to define the series for some time and it does well to keep abreast of anything important going on with it.

Anyway that's a pretty long tangent and man I hate being the guy who either writes one-line posts or enormous essays, but to make a long story short, I've got zero faith in Tempest Trials Mini making a comeback. Those are too rewarding and too generous; and as far as I'm concerned, that means they're likely relics of a bygone era.

[redlight]

Looks like it's a regular TT. The datamined image of the previous mini TT had mini written on it's image.

Spoiler

 

Edited December 20, 2017 by silveraura25

[Hilda]

So what Sacred Seals do you think we will get this time? Since the introduction of the Seal Forgery none Seals have been repeated again in TTs are a reward.

The 1. Seal allways was a repeat (which is not the case) or a passive that in itself is considered weak and is underused but usually shines when combined with other skills and very easy to come by(like Savage Blow/Brash assault etc.)

My guess:
Amored Blow Seal

The 2. Seal most of the time was a desirable skill and usefull but not gamechaning like Distant def or Close def or Quickened pulse etc.
Guard Seal

now the 3. Seal allways opened up a slot and made interesting builds possible:
Quick Riposte (this one would open up so many crazy enemy phase builds in combination wiht Vantage and would prolly break the game lulz, and it would make hector into a pure fodder unit, which makes it unlikely they make this inot a Seal.)

[redlight]

1 hour ago, Hilda said:

So what Sacred Seals do you think we will get this time? Since the introduction of the Seal Forgery none Seals have been repeated again in TTs are a reward.

The 1. Seal allways was a repeat (which is not the case) or a passive that in itself is considered weak and is underused but usually shines when combined with other skills and very easy to come by(like Savage Blow/Brash assault etc.)

My guess:
Amored Blow Seal

The 2. Seal most of the time was a desirable skill and usefull but not gamechaning like Distant def or Close def or Quickened pulse etc.
Guard Seal

now the 3. Seal allways opened up a slot and made interesting builds possible:
Quick Riposte (this one would open up so many crazy enemy phase builds in combination wiht Vantage and would prolly break the game lulz, and it would make hector into a pure fodder unit, which makes it unlikely they make this inot a Seal.)

My guess would be renewal, a double stat booster (maybe atk/spd) and drive atk

Edited December 20, 2017 by silveraura25

[GinRei]

Guard and Armor March are my most desired seals, but I'd be okay with Renewal or a Drive/Goad/Ward.

[Poimagic]

I feel like, for the seal, the Hone atk seal, Spd smoke, and maybe armor march. 

But I am all for a QR seal due to how it would make my QR based builds a bit more usable in arena.

[mampfoid]

Armor march seal would be fantastic, but it's unlikely in my opinion. You could combine two armor exclusive buffs with that seal. 

[TheGameingArtist]

... Welp time to get off my lazy bum and train my Julia.... *sighs*

[Vaximillian]

12 minutes ago, Poimagic said:

But I am all for a QR seal due to how it would make my QR based builds a bit more usable in arena.

 

5 minutes ago, mampfoid said:

Armor march seal would be fantastic, but it's unlikely in my opinion. 

Yeah, no way either of these can happen. It will be a bombshell more devastating than QP back when, in April?

[GinRei]

6 minutes ago, mampfoid said:

Armor march seal would be fantastic, but it's unlikely in my opinion. You could combine two armor exclusive buffs with that seal. 

Would it really be THAT different from the Guidance Seal?

[EricaofRenais]

The seal I want the most is distant counter since I have yet to pull Hector and I have several units that want that skill.  I know that won't be coming for a long time.  As to new unit as TT reward I want Priam so much and I think he would be a good choice for a TT unit.