Fire Emblem Heroes 1-Year Anniversary: What are your predictions?

[Zeo]

Just now, Ice Dragon said:

Seliph and Ogma can be pulled at 4-star rarity.

I edited my post to account for the fact that some are *4-*5. Seliph might get a pass since he's a prf weapon user, but I don't want to pull Ogma at *5. 

[Ice Dragon]

7 minutes ago, Zeo said:

I edited my post to account for the fact that some are *4-*5. Seliph might get a pass since he's a prf weapon user, but I don't want to pull Ogma at *5. 

Objectively speaking, there's no reason to be so negative against Ogma unless you don't like him as a character, which is not an objective measure. Offensively, he's behind Hana by the exact same margin that Abel is behind Oscar (as less behind when compared to Hinoka compared to Cordelia), and Hana was the strongest Brave Sword infantry in the game until about a month ago.

As for the rest, almost all of them have a powerful skill that is still 5-star exclusive (many because it's exclusive to that character specifically), which allows them to deserve their spot. (And Karel is there because Wo Dao was exclusive to him for a very long time.)

[Zeo]

21 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Objectively speaking, there's no reason to be so negative against Ogma unless you don't like him as a character, which is not an objective measure. Offensively, he's behind Hana by the exact same margin that Abel is behind Oscar (as less behind when compared to Hinoka compared to Cordelia), and Hana was the strongest Brave Sword infantry in the game until about a month ago.

As for the rest, almost all of them have a powerful skill that is still 5-star exclusive (many because it's exclusive to that character specifically), which allows them to deserve their spot. (And Karel is there because Wo Dao was exclusive to him for a very long time.)

I have nothing against Ogma as a character. In fact he's one of the characters I liked more when I first started heroes and I happened to pull him at *5 with the optimal nature of +SPD/-RES. But there currently exists an ever growing pool of *5s with more and more units with these exclusive and powerful skills that you've mentioned including units that have blatantly powercreeped Ogma himself. In a game where the rarest pool outnumbers the common pool by what's likely a 3-1 margin (no I don't have the exact numbers, I'm sure you do.) there needs to be at the very least a precedent of quality in those units, particularly in this game where the units released are almost always better than the ones released before them.

Quite a few of these units have or had a skill that was considered new or premium but have since lost that privilege or simply aren't as deserving of that rarity later in the game. Karel in particular did deserve the *5 spot I'll agree. But at this point you can get comparable to better units at *4 and he shouldn't clutter the *5 pool.

Personally there are quite a few skills that I think are annoyingly still locked behind *5 that shouldn't be like Swift Sparrow, Life and Death and Quick Riposte. From a business standpoint I guess it's good because people will pay for those skills so that's just a gripe. But none of the units that I listed have skills so highly coveted that it justifies them being *5 exclusives. Fire Boost, Shield Pulse, Firesweep Bow, Hone Fliers, Slaying Weapons, Res Ploy. All good skills, but not good enough to lock them behind *5 on usually a single unit in a roster over 100+.

Slaying weapons are understandable from a business standpoint, you can pull for those units with those weapons or sacrifice refining stones to upgrade a killer weapon from an easier unit. That makes sense, the rest of the locked skills do not. It's not even justifiable for a paying player. Sure you have a better chance of getting that specific skill if you spend, but it's a gacha. You can spend 100s of dollars and not pull a single copy of the unit you want, even if they are the focus, and if they aren't, you're spending 1000s more.

No, absolutely not.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Zeo

[Fire Emblem Fan]

What I want:

-A huge surge of new characters. Lewyn, Brigid, Leif, Nanna, Finn, Altena, Micaiah, and Sothe as 5-stars. Ced, Dagdar, Tanya, Karin, Asbel, Mareeta, Salem, Linoan, Saias, Brom, Haar, Kieran, Edward, Leonardo, Nolan, Laura, Aran, Jill, Zihark, Ilyana, as 3 and 4-stars. As well as a few FE6 characters, they've gotten like no love.

-3 new story chapters. One for Gunnthra, one for Leif, and one for Micaiah. In addition, 1 paralogue for Lewyn and Brigid.

-New Year's Corrin.

A Grand Hero Battle with Lyon.

What I expect:

The very first two banners brought back, one new banner likely with Fates and/or Awakening characters, a single story chapter, a GHB, and a Tempest Trial.

[Ice Dragon]

5 minutes ago, Zeo said:

In a game where the rarest pool outnumbers the common pool by what's likely a 3-1 margin (no I don't have the exact numbers, I'm sure you do.) there needs to be at the very least a precedent of quality in those units, particularly in this game where the units released are almost always better than the ones released before them.

In fact, I do. It's currently exactly 2 to 1. There are 98 characters in the 5-star pool and 49 in the 3-star pool.

And even if he is now outclassed, Ogma is still a damned good unit. Best-of-class is by no means a requirement to get the job done in this game.

 

10 minutes ago, Zeo said:

Fire Boost, Shield Pulse, Firesweep Bow, Hone Fliers, Slaying Weapons, Res Ploy. All good skills, but not good enough to lock them behind *5 on usually a single unit.

Luke is there for Panic Ploy, not Fire Boost. Likewise, Saber is there for Slaying Sword. Firesweep Bow is currently still the best bow in the game. Hone Fliers is the single skill that makes or breaks a team of flying magic users (we got spoiled by the fact that Gunter and Jagen have the cavalry buffs). Slaying weapons are still there to nudge players to use the refinery. So, yes, they are good enough to keep locked at 5-star rarity, at least for the time being.

I do agree that Karel deserves a drop at least to 4-star to match with Athena, though. Eventually, they do have to start dropping characters down, but your list looks more like an "I want these characters to be more available" list than a "these characters have a justifiable reason to be dropped" list.

 

13 minutes ago, Zeo said:

You can spend 100s of dollars and not pull a single copy of the unit you want, even if they are the focus, and if they aren't, you're spending 1000s more.

You should never try pulling for a 5-star exclusive unit that does not have an increased acquisition rate, so that situation is not relevant. (If you are trying, you're either rich or dumb or both.)

Eighty USD (150 orbs) gives you about a 60% chance to pull a specific character that is on-banner, which isn't horribad, so you're just exaggerating for effect at this point.

[gralbeord]

17 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

You should never try pulling for a 5-star exclusive unit that does not have an increased acquisition rate, so that situation is not relevant. (If you are trying, you're either rich or dumb or both.)

Eighty USD (150 orbs) gives you about a 60% chance to pull a specific character that is on-banner, which isn't horribad, so you're just exaggerating for effect at this point.

as someone who pulled 3 5* boeys within $80 on the brave banner trying to get BIke, I can say that no amount of statistics is going to be comforting in a gacha game. that said, it is a gacha game. It comes with the territory and you learn to accept it.

[Zeo]

15 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

In fact, I do. It's currently exactly 2 to 1. There are 98 characters in the 5-star pool and 49 in the 3-star pool.

And even if he is now outclassed, Ogma is still a damned good unit. Best-of-class is by no means a requirement to get the job done in this game.

On that we agree, but my point stands.

15 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Luke is there for Panic Ploy, not Fire Boost. Likewise, Saber is there for Slaying Sword. Firesweep Bow is currently still the best bow in the game. Hone Fliers is the single skill that makes or breaks a team of flying magic users (we got spoiled by the fact that Gunter and Jagen have the cavalry buffs). Slaying weapons are still there to nudge players to use the refinery. So, yes, they are good enough to keep locked at 5-star rarity, at least for the time being.

I do agree that Karel deserves a drop at least to 4-star to match with Athena, though. Eventually, they do have to start dropping characters down, but your list looks more like an "I want these characters to be more available" list than a "these characters have a justifiable reason to be dropped" list..

You wouldn't be able to tell me Firesweep Bow is the best bow in the game when it's quite literally the rarest bow seen and Brave Bow/Brave Lyn is a dime a dozen. Maybe Firesweep Bow+ is more common the higher you get in arena, but now we're starting to involve P2W and even if we are, there's no real reason why Firesweep Bow+ should be so exclusive when both Firesweep Sword and Lance are more accessible. At this point we're likely just waiting for another archer to come with the bow and they'll be demoted, but that's speculation only.

Why should Hone Fliers be treated as the rule rather than the exception? Both hone/fortify armor and cavalry remain either free or relatively easy to obtain and an emblem of those types can be built in some form or another. Hone Fliers remains the hardest boosting skill to get for an emblem team and for what reason? Cavalry Emblem remains the easiest offensive emblem to utilize and Armor Emblem remains the best option for arena points. So why is the Hone skill for arguably the least remarkable emblem team the hardest to obtain? There's no good reason for it and Hinoka is unremarkable as a unit otherwise.

Flying magic units should not be the standard. These are seasonal units that you can miss entirely if you don't acquire them during their time on a banner. Even with the versatility (and fun) they bring to the table, archers still make quick work of them unless you're running a raven build and.... I don't know why I'm trying to justify why this skill doesn't need to be exclusive.

23 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

You should never try pulling for a 5-star exclusive unit that does not have an increased acquisition rate, so that situation is not relevant. (If you are trying, you're either rich or dumb or both.)

Eighty USD (150 orbs) gives you about a 60% chance to pull a specific character that is on-banner, which isn't horribad, so you're just exaggerating for effect at this point.

True, but the point is that you pull for a unit sometimes more than just for said unit, sometimes it's the skill that only they have. And if they aren't on a banner and locked at *5 you have almost 0% chance of pulling them/acquiring that skill until they show up again on a banner or another unit is introduced with said skill. For certain premium skills and characters this makes sense. For others it's nonsense and it limits availability for skills that don't deserve said privilege or rarity.

"I just missed the Mist banner yesterday, now I have to wait 3 months for her to appear again in order to put Spur DEF/RES on another unit." Why is that? What is so spectacular about this unit or her skills that warrants this? That's my point.

[Ice Dragon]

5 minutes ago, Zeo said:

You wouldn't be able to tell me Firesweep Bow is the best bow in the game when it's quite literally the rarest bow seen and Brave Bow/Brave Lyn is a dime a dozen. Maybe Firesweep Bow+ is more common the higher you get in arena, but now we're starting to involve P2W and even if we are, there's no real reason why Firesweep Bow+ should be so exclusive when both Firesweep Sword and Lance are more accessible. At this point we're likely just waiting for another archer to come with the bow and they'll be demoted, but that's speculation only.

Availability is obviously the primary reason Brave Bow is more common than Firesweep Bow. You can pull Gordin as a 3-star unit.

Firesweep Sword and Firesweep Lance are less powerful than Firesweep Bow because Firesweep Bow is a ranged weapon (and is colorless). By default, this means it's harder for you to reach an opponent with Firesweep Bow on your player phase and it's easier for them to reach you on theirs. Firesweep Sword and Firesweep Lance don't have that. Fliers can emulate it a bit with Hit and Run, but that still doesn't let them hit though walls.

 

10 minutes ago, Zeo said:

Why should Hone Fliers be treated as the rule rather than the exception? Both hone/fortify armor and cavalry remain either free or relatively easy to obtain and an emblem of those types can be built in some form or another. Hone Fliers remains the hardest boosting skill to get for an emblem team and for what reason? Cavalry Emblem remains the easiest offensive emblem to utilize and Armor Emblem remains the best option for arena points. So why is the Hone skill for arguably the least remarkable emblem team the hardest to obtain? There's no good reason for it and Hinoka is unremarkable as a unit otherwise.

Flying magic units should not be the standard. These are seasonal units that you can miss entirely if you don't acquire them during their time on a banner. Even with the versatility (and fun) they bring to the table, archers still make quick work of them unless you're running a raven build and.... I don't know why I'm trying to justify why this skill doesn't need to be exclusive.

I'm willing to claim that it was a mistake in the first place to make Hone Cavalry available on a unit that can be summoned at 3-star rarity. The developers probably think the same thing considering they've spent months trying to fix that mistake. You may recall that the interval between Ursula being obtainable and Gunnthra being added (there were no tome cavalry units between them) is nearly 10 months.

Hone Armor and Fortify Armor are mostly a joke because Goad Armor, Ward Armor, and Armor March are simply better options (unless you are using Henry or Tharja with Litrblade). The fact that armor units are virtually guaranteed to remain within 2 squares of each other, allowing them to stack combat buffs, means that there was no reason to use 1-range field buffs that don't stack.

I'm not sure where you get the idea that Flier Emblem is the least remarkable of the movement-type specific teams. Perhaps you simply don't have experience using this type of team composition because it's hard to obtain, but you are seriously mistaken if you think Flier Emblem is at all inferior to the other movement-type specific team compositions.

Furthermore, Hinoka is certainly not unremarkable. I'm not sure how 35/32 offenses with access to movement-type buffs is unremarkable when melee cavalry was stuck at 33/33 for the longest time.

 

29 minutes ago, Zeo said:

True, but the point is that you pull for a unit sometimes more than just for said unit, sometimes it's the skill that only they have. And if they aren't on a banner and locked at *5 you have almost 0% chance of pulling them/acquiring that skill until they show up again on a banner or another unit is introduced with said skill. For certain premium skills and characters this makes sense. For others it's nonsense and it limits availability for skills that don't deserve said privilege or rarity.

Pulling for the unit is the same as pulling for the skills the unit has. Why are you assuming I think the two are different?

Some skills simply just have to be casualties, and in general, it makes more sense to do it this way. Atk/Res Bond, for example, is an extremely niche skill that is very good on specific builds and is locked to characters that are not only 5-star-exclusive but also limited. The fact that it isn't a spectacular skill except in very specific circumstances actually justifies its rarity because while it is low supply, it is also low demand. At the very least, this is a far better balance than having a low-demand skill in high supply (who doesn't groan when they summon another Oboro or Est). High-demand skills in low supply (Distant Counter, Steady Breath) make sense from a marketing perspective as long as you don't have too many of them and they aren't build staples, and high-demand skills in high supply (Fury, Reposition, Quick Riposte) also make sense for obvious reasons.

 

32 minutes ago, Zeo said:

"I just missed the Mist banner yesterday, now I have to wait 3 months for her to appear again in order to put Spur DEF/RES on another unit." Why is that? What is so spectacular about this unit or her skills that warrants this? That's my point.

You're going to need to use a better example than that. Spur Def/Res is so unspectacular that being locked to a 5-star-exclusive character doesn't matter, and Mist is so unspectacular that being a 5-star-exclusive character simply means she isn't making the 3-star and 4-star pools of characters you are actually likely to pull worse.

[Vaximillian]

6 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

high-demand skills in high supply (Fury, Reposition, Quick Riposte)

I still can’t figure out why there is no blue Reposition fodder. And no, Olwen is not fodder thanks to being five-star exclusive.

Also there is no green Moonbow. And QR3 is still five-star exclusive.

[Ice Dragon]

11 minutes ago, Vaximillian said:

I still can’t figure out why there is no blue Reposition fodder. And no, Olwen is not fodder thanks to being five-star exclusive.

Also there is no green Moonbow. And QR3 is still five-star exclusive.

A 5-star-exclusive skill available from 3-star and 4-star characters is still high supply (especially when the second-tier version of the skill is entirely serviceable if Arena scoring is not a priority).

EDIT: After all, you only need 6 units for Arena scoring.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Ice Dragon

[Humanoid]

For all the talk about the unit list, I wouldn't mind seeing the skills list tidied up a bit too. Merge Spurs with Drives for example. Maybe buff the +stat A-skills to 2/3/4 and boost their SP value.

I also don't like how the ones that boost two stats work at the moment but fixing those would be a bit messier and I don't have a good idea how to do so yet.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Humanoid

[Zeo]

52 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Availability is obviously the primary reason Brave Bow is more common than Firesweep Bow. You can pull Gordin as a 3-star unit.

Most of the units that ultilize Brave Bow+ well don't have great speed but have decent attack. Faye is prime example of how unremarkable Firesweep Bow+ is if you can't double. Regardless, Brave Bow is more common so fine. But they are comparable for all but a few archers, not worth locking behind a *5 wall but now we're getting opinionated so I'm done there.

52 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I'm willing to claim that it was a mistake in the first place to make Hone Cavalry available on a unit that can be summoned at 3-star rarity. The developers probably think the same thing considering they've spent months trying to fix that mistake. You may recall that the interval between Ursula being obtainable and Gunnthra being added (there were no tome cavalry units between them) is nearly 10 months.

Hone Armor and Fortify Armor are mostly a joke because Goad Armor, Ward Armor, and Armor March are simply better options (unless you are using Henry or Tharja with Litrblade). The fact that armor units are virtually guaranteed to remain within 2 squares of each other, allowing them to stack combat buffs, means that there was no reason to use 1-range field buffs that don't stack.

The damage was already done, considering the next mage cavalry they released is just as ridiculous as the others with added bonuses that make her even more dumb, we may as well assume they gave up. Not releasing more mage cavs isn't going to stop Reinhardt from doing what he's been doing. 

Got me on the armor buffs. And in that regard Goads are locked to Hector who's rare and Armor March to Amelia, But Wards do their part and an emblem team can still be more or less put together with some wards and a hone/fortify, that was my point more than anything, but no it's not optimal I know.

52 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I'm not sure where you get the idea that Flier Emblem is the least remarkable of the movement-type specific teams. Perhaps you simply don't have experience using this type of team composition because it's hard to obtain, but you are seriously mistaken if you think Flier Emblem is at all inferior to the other movement-type specific team compositions.

Furthermore, Hinoka is certainly not unremarkable. I'm not sure how 35/32 offenses with access to movement-type buffs is unremarkable when melee cavalry was stuck at 33/33 for the longest time.

I have a Hinoka, a fully built Cherche and an S!Corrin with Blarblade+. I know Flier Emblem can be great, it has it's perks: mobility above all. But we're going to be a bit relative with my use of "unremarkable". Yes, a fully built Flier Emblem team consisting of 3 limited units and a 5 star locked unit can do great things. But you can use a just as powerful emblem team with more options and easier use at a much, much cheaper cost with Cavalry Emblem. Even an Armor Emblem team is easier to build. Now, I'm using unremarkable relative to the difficulty of building said Flier Emblem team for results comparable to an optimized Cavalry Emblem team.

The results are no more or less cancerous to justify the difficulty and exclusivity of the skills and units needed to build it. It isn't any easier to build a Flier Emblem team now than it was when the game launched and we're about to approach the first anniversary and there's no justifiable reason for it. Cavalry Emblem being the presence that it is may have been a mistake, IS may have even realized that, but it's too late and making Flier Emblem exuberantly difficult to build as a tradeoff isn't going to change anything.

Hinoka is a pretty good unit. But she's outclassed by Cordelia, is comparable to Est with a Brave Lance+ and has since been outclassed by Tana. She's not locked to *5 because she's an amazing unit, she's locked because of Hone Fliers which, at this point shouldn't be a premium skill anymore.

52 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Pulling for the unit is the same as pulling for the skills the unit has. Why are you assuming I think the two are different?

Some skills simply just have to be casualties, and in general, it makes more sense to do it this way. Atk/Res Bond, for example, is an extremely niche skill that is very good on specific builds and is locked to characters that are not only 5-star-exclusive but also limited. The fact that it isn't a spectacular skill except in very specific circumstances actually justifies its rarity because while it is low supply, it is also low demand. At the very least, this is a far better balance than having a low-demand skill in high supply (who doesn't groan when they summon another Oboro or Est). High-demand skills in low supply (Distant Counter, Steady Breath) make sense from a marketing perspective as long as you don't have too many of them and they aren't build staples, and high-demand skills in high supply (Fury, Reposition, Quick Riposte) also make sense for obvious reasons.

I assume nothing. There's more than one reason to pull for a unit is the point.

I don't have any issue with skill choices on Limited units. Those units are the premiere reason to spend money on the game and they are used to entice players to pull for them. They're unique, usually powerful and a glimpse at a new skill to come on a standard unit likely in the months to come. 

Using the lack of enticement factor isn't a great reason to limit a skills availability. The game has it's meta and optimization but it promotes creativity and limiting other, even sub-optimal choices "just cause" is a poor practice. Low demand skills in high supply is the reality, but when you mix in other skills into that pool then the general supply pool starts to even out, this is why expanding the *3 pool is a good thing. Less Reposition and Fury and good skills like that admittedly, but also less Ests and Oboros as well. A balance is possible.

52 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

You're going to need to use a better example than that. Spur Def/Res is so unspectacular that being locked to a 5-star-exclusive character doesn't matter, and Mist is so unspectacular that being a 5-star-exclusive character simply means she isn't making the 3-star and 4-star pools of characters you are actually likely to pull worse.

She's just a really average unit in general, a better example of why most healers shouldn't be *5 summonable to begin with more. But a skill as unremarkable as that being as utterly and pointlessly difficult to obtain as it is just an example of bad skill availability distribution. No one even really uses Spurs. It's the principle more than anything.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Zeo

[Hilda]

Quote

Most of the units that ultilize Brave Bow+ well don't have great speed but have decent attack. Faye is prime example of how unremarkable Firesweep Bow+ is if you can't double. Regardless, Brave Bow is more common so fine. But they are comparable for all but a few archers, not worth locking behind a *5 wall but now we're getting opinionated so I'm done there.

The damage was already done, considering the next mage cavalry they released is just as ridiculous as the others with added bonuses that make her even more dumb, we may as well assume they gave up. Not releasing more mage cavs isn't going to stop Reinhardt from doing what he's been doing. 

@Zeo

Gunnthra is by any means not as OP as Reinhardt, she only functions well in conjuction with a debuff partner, and there is a hard counter to her gimmick called "Harsh Command" which really puts a dent into her whole gameplay plan. Noticeable more and more people have at least 1 unit for Harsh Command in their Defense Teams.

Quote

I have a Hinoka, a fully built Cherche and an S!Corrin with Blarblade+. I know Flier Emblem can be great, it has it's perks: mobility above all. But we're going to be a bit relative with my use of "unremarkable". Yes, a fully built Flier Emblem team consisting of 3 limited units and a 5 star locked unit can do great things. But you can use a just as powerful emblem team with more options and easier use at a much, much cheaper cost with Cavalry Emblem. Even an Armor Emblem team is easier to build. Now, I'm using unremarkable relative to the difficulty of building said Flier Emblem team for results comparable to an optimized Cavalry Emblem team.

With the release of NY!Azura and Iotes Shield Seal i do believe that Flyer Emblems are far superior compared to any other Emblem Team imho. The Flyer Teams now really have an answer for everything. I for myself am glad its harder to built a Flyer Emblem Team.

I do Agree tough that some locked skills behind 5 Star make no sense, mostly the ones that infect Infantery units. Infantery Pulse, Shield Pulse, Drive Skills (altough some are available at 4 Star), Windsweep, Quick Riposte. Hell i would even go so far and say that Distant counter and Close Counter should be pullable from 4 Star pool

[Michelaar]

I will be happy with anything IS throws at us :)

[Ice Dragon]

47 minutes ago, Zeo said:

The results are no more or less cancerous to justify the difficulty and exclusivity of the skills and units needed to build it. It isn't any easier to build a Flier Emblem team now than it was when the game launched and we're about to approach the first anniversary and there's no justifiable reason for it. Cavalry Emblem being the presence that it is may have been a mistake, IS may have even realized that, but it's too late and making Flier Emblem exuberantly difficult to build as a tradeoff isn't going to change anything.

You don't fix a problem by drowning it out with more problems.

If my toilet overflows, the solution isn't to flood the rest of my house so that you can no longer tell that the toilet overflowed. The solution is to stop the water and the mop up the mess.

 

47 minutes ago, Zeo said:

I don't have any issue with skill choices on Limited units. Those units are the premiere reason to spend money on the game and they are used to entice players to pull for them. They're unique, usually powerful and a glimpse at a new skill to come on a standard unit likely in the months to come. 

Using the lack of enticement factor isn't a great reason to limit a skills availability. The game has it's meta and optimization but it promotes creativity and limiting other, even sub-optimal choices "just cause" is a poor practice. Low demand skills in high supply is the reality, but when you mix in other skills into that pool then the general supply pool starts to even out, this is why expanding the *3 pool is a good thing. Less Reposition and Fury and good skills like that admittedly, but also less Ests and Oboros as well. A balance is possible.

And here you're contradicting yourself.

Nowi and Takumi having exclusive access to Atk/Res Bond is virtually no different from Mist having exclusive access to Spur Def/Res. Atk/Res Bond is a niche skill that's only really useful for Innes, Niles, and Faye. Spur Def/Res is a niche skill that's only really useful on Litrowl teams. Both are rare skills with low demand and low supply, and both skills are rare not because they are good, but because they are on a character that happens to be rare, i.e. are "casualties".

 

47 minutes ago, Zeo said:

She's just a really average unit in general, a better example of why most healers shouldn't be *5 summonable to begin with. But a skill as unremarkable as that being as hard to access as it is just an example of bad skill availability distribution. No one even really uses Spurs. It's the principle more than anything.

And as I said, skills with low demand on characters with low supply is not a problem. The fact that Mist is rare and has skills no one really cares about is not a problem.

 

48 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

For all the talk about the unit list, I wouldn't mind seeing the skills list tidied up a bit too. Merge Spurs with Drives for example. Maybe buff the +stat A-skills to 2/3/4 and boost their SP value.

There isn't really a reason to modify the old skills. Spur skills are now Sacred Seals, making them actually useful again with their existing effect.

The stat up skills have pretty much always been filler skills for budget builds (with the exception of staff users where the some of the skills are actually optimal), and their low SP cost makes sense for that. I don't think those skills were ever meant to compete with stronger skills like Life and Death and Fury.

 

48 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

I also don't like how the ones that boost two stats work at the moment but fixing those would be a bit messier and I don't have a good idea how to do so yet.

They make more sense in Japanese.

HP +3, HP +4, and HP +5 in Japanese are simply called "HP 1", "HP 2", and "HP 3" like all other skills: a skill name ("HP") with a skill tier ("1", "2", or "3"). Similarly, Attack +1, Attack +2, and Attack +3 are called "Attack 1", "Attack 2", and "Attack 3".

Because of this, the combined skills containing HP don't have any problems in Japanese because "HP Attack 1" obviously just means a combination of HP +3 (the effect of HP 1) and Atk +1 (the effect of Attack 1).

 

21 minutes ago, Hilda said:

I do Agree tough that some locked skills behind 5 Star make no sense, mostly the ones that infect Infantery units. Infantery Pulse, Shield Pulse, Drive Skills (altough some are available at 4 Star), Windsweep, Quick Riposte. Hell i would even go so far and say that Distant counter and Close Counter should be pullable from 4 Star pool

Shield Pulse and Windsweep are both low demand.

Infantry Pulse (I'm not sure why you keep spelling it as "infantery") is a powerful skill that isn't a build staple, so dangling it in front of our noses is reasonable.

Quick Riposte is a skill that functions viably with only its second tier, making the third tier of the skill effectively just a premium for more Arena points most of the time.

Drive skills are in the good, but not amazing, range where I don't think the developers (or much of the player base) care that some of them are 5-star exclusive and some of them aren't. In general, I think the Drive skills that get stuck at 5-star exclusivity are the "casualties" I've been mentioning where there's no good reason for them to be 5-star exclusive, but there's also no reason to prioritize making them available at lower rarities.

 

15 minutes ago, Michelaar said:

I will be happy with anything IS throws at us :)

I like you.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Ice Dragon

[Michelaar]

2 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

 

I like you.

I like you too :D

 

Personally i've always been of the mindset 'Be happy that you get anything at all.' I don't see why people would be mad with getting New Years Corrin along with a login bonus. It gives you a free unit in general,  and you get free orbs to have a chance to summon more new units, which is in general what people want, yes?

[coldhand25]

12 minutes ago, Michelaar said:

I will be happy with anything IS throws at us :)

Well, I remember when Blizzard gave 1 free pack in HS for everyone just because they released the gift system, and people were like "1 pakk rly?! y only 1?....." They were legit mad about Blizzard giving away free stuff. So yeah, seeing that there are still people with good attitude really warms my heart! Keep it up :D

 

[C. Turtle]

On the original topic, for the six-month anniversary, we got a log-in bonus, special quests and maps, and a Hero Fest. I'd expect they'll do something similar, at least with regards to the log-in bonus and the quests/maps. Not sure about the Hero Fest, seeing as we now have Legendary Hero banners competing with them, having more heroes at a time and no off-focus pity breakers. They might just tie January's Legendary Hero banner into the anniversary celebrations instead of doing a Hero Fest.

 

As for what I'd like to see, I'd like to see new units added to the 3*-4* pool, or have units getting demoted, which was actually part of the feedback I left in the survey. The 3*-4* pool has been stagnant for long enough that most players will likely have most, if not all, of the units in said pool. I'd hoped for it to go along with Book II, but if not then, then this would probably be the best time. Getting new units would allow some of the less remarkable characters from the series to get added without needing to be on a banner, and both methods would mean games that weren't represented in the game at launch don't have all their units at 4* and above.

If we're lucky, maybe we can get one of those new modes they hinted at in the survey. Tempest Trials and Voting Gauntlets have just become a bit of slog for me, so having something to look forward to other than just new characters and new story chapters would be nice. I wouldn't mind the Askr trio getting the ability to refine their weapons either, especially if it comes with an intermission that explains how their legendary weapons fit into Askran lore. I care about the story a little more than a probably should.

[Zeo]

Before I go any further I'm going to have to go ahead and say that I doubt any of these pool or skill (what I see as ) issues will be fixed or even addressed and at the end of the day it doesn't matter all that much to me. I don't want to come off as whining or complaining about the game. They do a lot of things right and I genuinely enjoy it. This is merely a discussion and I'm addressing what I see as issues. The last thing I was to come off as is entitled, uneducated or ungrateful.

47 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

You don't fix a problem by drowning it out with more problems.

If my toilet overflows, the solution isn't to flood the rest of my house so that you can no longer tell that the toilet overflowed. The solution is to stop the water and the mop up the mess.

That would assume that making a single skill available to the general population would suddenly give everyone multiple limited availability units with optimized sets, natures and skills to use along with them. A gross exaggeration. If they decide to give out one of the three tome fliers for free ala Brave Lyn after the fact, then you can get back to me.

If my first toilet overflows I stop the water and clean up the mess. That doesn't mean I turn off the water for my second toilet completely, rendering it unusable because I assumed the same thing was going to happen again.

47 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

And here you're contradicting yourself.

Nowi and Takumi having exclusive access to Atk/Res Bond is virtually no different from Mist having exclusive access to Spur Def/Res. Atk/Res Bond is a niche skill that's only really useful for Innes, Niles, and Faye. Spur Def/Res is a niche skill that's only really useful on Litrowl teams. Both are rare skills with low demand and low supply, and both skills are rare not because they are good, but because they are on a character that happens to be rare, i.e. are "casualties".

There are no contradictions involved. These are limited units released in a timeframe. They could be general pool units, but they're limited because they want you to spend for them. It's a business practice exclusively for profit and that's why it's exempt. They aren't even "casualties" because once their banner is gone so is the unit in it's entirety. Skill availability on limited units shouldn't even be a discussion. If you see that as contradictory then that's unfortunate. Skills in that category can't be counted towards the general skill population because they haven't been "officially" added to the pool.

47 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

And as I said, skills with low demand on characters with low supply is not a problem. The fact that Mist is rare and has skills no one really cares about is not a problem.

It's not a "problem" just pointless. I sincerely hope you didn't think we were having this discussion because I was genuinely complaining about especially that.

@Hilda Another unit like Reinhardt is a tall order. Just that Gunnthra is a good unit period. But then you give her horse buffs and like all other cav mages (even Leo) she's dumb. It's unavoidable. Then you give her a speciality that allows her to synergize with debuffers after an update that just improved debuffers tenfold. I'm not even complaining. It's just that if you add cavalry mages to the game this is what's going to happen. It doesn't mean IS should ignore them altogether. Cavalry Mages are a part of the franchise and have been for a long time.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Zeo

[Ice Dragon]

7 minutes ago, Zeo said:

That would assume that making a single skill available to the general population would suddenly give everyone multiple limited availability units with optimized sets, natures and skills to use along with them. A gross exaggeration. If they decide to give out one of the three tome fliers for free ala Brave Lyn after the fact, then you can get back to me.

That would be true if tome fliers were the only thing that Hone Fliers is useful for, but it isn't. The top melee fliers have better offensive stats than the top melee cavalry, and by extension, Hone Fliers on them makes them better than the top melee cavalry with Hone Cavalry.

Also, there's the simple fact that Litrblade is broken on pretty much anything that has easy access to +6/6 buffs even without optimal stats or builds. You don't need an optimal Camilla, Corrin, or Nowi to make them absolutely devastating. -Atk or -Spd really doesn't matter all that much when your Atk stat is in the 70's or 80's.

 

16 minutes ago, Zeo said:

If my first toilet overflows I stop the water and clean up the mess. That doesn't mean I turn off the water for my second toilet completely, rendering it unusable because I assumed the same thing was going to happen again.

Leaving Hone Fliers as a 5-star exclusive skill is nowhere near similar to turning off the water in the second toilet because turning off the water in the first toilet wasn't removing Hone Cavalry from the 3-star and 4-star pool. Turning off the water in the first toilet was implementing cavalry-effective weapons and field buff negation on them. Mopping up was implementing Panic Ploy, Deflect skills, and stronger debuffing options.

 

32 minutes ago, Zeo said:

There are no contradictions involved. These are limited units released in a timeframe. They could be general pool units, but they're limited because they want you to spend for them. It's a business practice exclusively for profit and that's why it's exempt. They aren't even "casualties" because once their banner is gone so is the unit in it's entirety. Skill availability on limited units shouldn't even be a discussion. If you see that as contradictory then that's unfortunate. Skills in that category can't be counted towards the general skill population because they haven't been "officially" added to the pool.

You don't seem to be understanding my argument.

FIrst off, I am using the word "casualties" to refer to skills that are unimpressive, but locked to rare units. I could type out "skill that are unimpressive, but locked to rare units" every time, but it's much easier to assign a single word to refer to them. There's no point in arguing the definition; treat the word as shorthand for the full phrase if you must. The banner being gone so the unit and skill are also gone in their entirety from the summoning pool exactly fits the description of "skills that are unimpressive, but locked to rare units".

Next, Mist has a 0.12-0.13% chance (1 in 800 to 1 in 850 chance) of being pulled from a colorless summoning orb at base rate when not on a banner (depending on the colors on the banner). This is, for all practical purposes that don't involve whaling harder than I do, equivalent to not being in the summoning pool at all if you are specifically trying to pull for her.

Therefore, unless you are rich, dumb, or both, if you are trying to pull for Spur Def/Res, you are pulling when Mist is on a banner. If you are trying to pull for Atk/Res Bond, you are pulling when Halloween Nowi or New Year Takumi is on a banner. These situations are literally (no, really, literally) identical and have no reason to be treated differently.

The fact that the developers want you to pull from the limited banner because limited characters is no different from the fact that the developers want you to pull from the not limited banner because haha you're not getting these characters otherwise (referring only to the 5-star-exclusive characters on those banners). (If you think you're getting those characters otherwise, you're either hopelessly optimistic or absurdly lucky.)

 

1 hour ago, Zeo said:

It's not a "problem" just pointless. I sincerely hope you didn't think we were having this discussion because I was genuinely complaining about especially that.

If it's pointless, why are you complaining?

Sure, it makes it harder to experiment with these skills, but let's be honest, how many people would actually experiment with these skills (making joke builds doesn't count) if they were made more available rather than using the characters for something else or sending them home?

There are like five people on the forums that actually use Litrowl on serious builds on characters that actually do well with them despite Blarowl and Gronnowl having decent availability. Drive Def (Roderick) and Drive Spd (Tailtiu) are available on units that can be pulled at 4-star rarity, but I never hear about them being used (Roderick has been in the 4-star pool for more than 6 months, Tailtiu has the entire Drive Spd skill tree available without needing a 5-star promotion).

[Cute Chao]

7 hours ago, bottlegnomes said:

I'd be so hyped about that. A lot of my favorite characters are those unpopular characters and having an actually halfway decent chance of getting them would be amazing. I'd much rather like Fred from FE5 than yet another Fates character unless it's Kaze or Silas.

While I'd like to add Keaton, Kaden and Shigure to the list of characters I want to see from Fates (in addition to Kaze and Silas), I agree here. I always keep hoping for an expansion of the 3-4* pool (or even 3* exclusive, if they really want to go for it) that includes characters that won't make them money. FE has so many characters, but they're adding fewer and fewer, particularly if this month's TT really does have Kimono Corrin as the prize -.-

 

That's pretty much all I want from the anniversary. I don't really care about free stuff (though won't complain there - I'd be happy with anything... though probably not happy with nothing) or anything else. I just want more characters to be added and, hopefully, to make pulling anything other than a 5* exciting again (I am a very mini type of whale, so I have all the 3 - 4* units available just in the course of trying to pull the 5* units I wanted). It doesn't help that fewer units drop to 4* as a consequence of fewer new non-seasonals being added.

[Time the Crestfallen]

They'll bring the first two banners back + a seasonal anniversary one featuring Chrom, Xander, Azura, and Camilla

[Javi Blizz]

Refering to what's being said about demotions (not onlye from 5* to 4*-5*, but stop them being 5*), I think this ones could make complete sense:

-M!Corrin (to 3*-4*): Def +3 and Obstruc 3 are skills that almost no one would be interested for SI. The only thing he has for a 5* unit is his prf weapon, which desperately needs a refinement. 

-Caeda (to 3*-4*): Her useful skills are unlocked at 4*, so it makes no sense to have her in the 5* pool, other than from a marketing perspective of the character.

-Cain (to 3*-4*): Same as Caeda.

-Karel (to 4*-5*): Athena is better than him regarding SI, so if she's in this pool, he sould too.

-Saber (to 4*-5*): Shield Pulse has been given in a F2P unit (Fjorm), and Slaying wapons are much easier to get now, so I think he should move down one pool.

-Lilina (to 3*-4*): Same as Caeda.

-Abel (to 3*-4*): Same as Caeda

-Catria (to 3*-4*): Same as Caeda. (The wiki says she's in 4*-5*, although I think I've a 3* one)

-Claire (to 3*+4*): Marth is Spur Speed 3 fodder since SI exist, and HnR is unlocked at 4*

-Lukas (to 3*-4*): He has a Killer weapon, which is inferior to Slaying weapons, and Fortress Def is yet available in 4* Seth.

-Peri (to 3*-4*): Same as Caeda.

-Olwen (to 4*-5*): Come on, Reinhart is even in this pool while powercreeping her sister, why should she still be 5* exclusive?

-Hawkeye (to 3*-4*): Death Blow at 4* fodder exist, Slaying weapons exist. He has literally nothing to be a 5* pool unit.

-Sheena (to 3*-4*): Same as Caeda

-Merric (to 3*-4*): similar to M!Corrin, even having a refined (or upgraded in this case) prf weapon, his default skills and stat distribution makes it difficult to justify him being in the 5* pool.

-Rebbeca (to 3*-4*): Same as Caeda.

-Jakob (to 3*-4*): He has nothing interesting to offer that justifies him being in the 5* pool.

-Lachesis (to 3*-4*): Same as Jakob.

-Lucius (to 3*-4*): Martyr and Miracle are unlocked at 4*, so there's no point on having him in the 5* pool.

-Maria (to 3*-4*): we don't need lolis Same as Jakob.

-Sakura (to 3*-4*): Same as Jakob.

 

As you can see, my main issue isn't 5* exclusives, but unit's in the 4*-5* pool which doesn't need to continue there. This means 18 5* units less in the pool. I think the problem isn't skills locked to 5* exclusives, but the difficult to get an off-focus 5* exclusive. Other demotions I'd like to see but don't excpect to happen are:

-Alm (to 4*-5*): Marth is still a Falchion user which is available in this pool and Windsweep 3 is avaliable for SI at 4* in a F2P unit.

-Gray (to 4*-5*): we have access to many of the anti-horse weapons in the 4* pool or by F2P units (gronnwolf in F!Robin, blárwolf in Ursula, horseslayer in Mathilda...)

-Ogma (to 3*-4*): although he has good stats, I don't think he should be in the 5* pool, as he doesn't offer much in terms of SI, appart from a Brave Sword +.

-Tharja (to 3*-4*): Nino is in this pool and basically is green Tharja (or even better) in terms of SI.

-Soren (to 3*-4*): the only thing I see for him being in the 5* pool is to skip paying 20000 feathers for Watersweep 3.

-Leon (to 3*-4*): Slaying Bow is the only thing I think keeps him in the 5* pool.

-Mist (to 3*-4*): she doesn't offer anything relatively important. However, I can't see them moving a 5* exclusive to this pool. Maybe to the 4*-5* one.

 

This would mean another 4 units less in the 5* pool, which would be very nice. Also, with these changes and the addition of a bunch of news 3*-4* units (Bantu, Cord, Python...) people would have a reason to pull more for 3*-4* units, at least for a few months.

 

I hope I haven't made too many mistakes while writting, and i'd like to know your opinion guys! :3

[Hilda]

not expecting much honestly. X-mas and new year didnt anything substantional away.

what i wish for is: the Askrtrio getting the CYL treatment as free units so they can ramp up the difficulty (as in the Askrtrio get a free upgrade to 5 Star with CYL weapon and stat upgrade and with each of them maybe sporting a unique passive skill, so each player starts with 3 competent units so they can up the GHB etc difficulties).

[Frosty]

Please, I just want Kieran...

Oh, and event orbs too!