Special Heroes Coming! Spring Festival Vol. 2 - From March 22nd! (Now with VIDEO: Sharena, Alfonse, Catria, Kagero)

[Von Ithipathachai]

2 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

They're no bigger than in the art for her normal version. They're just unrestrained.

...

Everything she eats goes there instead of elsewhere. Best superpower.

*tries and fails to curse under breath*

[Ice Dragon]

Just now, Othin said:

I think it's more forgivable on a Chill effect, since Catria doesn't have to be in proximity to the enemy to use it. It won't make her own attacks more effective, but it's fine for supporting physical-attacking allies.

I'm more just annoyed that's it's pretty much restricted to supporting physical allies instead of ethereal allies whereas Sharena's actually benefits herself without a need to take up her B slot.

And the fact that Sharena gets 5 skills, but Catria only gets 4. Catria deserves better than that.

Though now that I think of it, lowering the Res of the opposing unit with the lowest Res seems rather pointless. So I guess that's more fine. I guess. Still doesn't help her any to lower their Def.

[silverserpent]

I should be able to grind out the TT to get up to 150 orbs tomorrow. I hope that can get me a full set...

[Lewyn]

1 hour ago, Water Mage said:

 I agree as well. When did the Fire Emblem become so...prudish? I mean, the Fire Emblem fandom get bad reputation because of people like this.

I mean I'm sure depicting slave girl body of an eight year old Nowi being forced to do tricks in Awakening (isn't it great you can marry her too?), or her version and Halloween version in Heroes is much worse for reputation. 

Edit: I do have to agree that the base is kind of torn with what Fates/Awakening did.  The petting, child marriages, Camilla being so over the top, the house visits, yadda yadda.  Fanservice, beautiful women were always a part of the game, but people don't want it to dominate the game.  Echoes was great.  Lovely attractive characters, you got some flirting some nice outfits, but over the top fanservice is mostly absent.  

Edited March 21, 2018 by Lewyn

[Arthur97]

13 minutes ago, Lewyn said:

I mean I'm sure depicting slave girl body of an eight year old Nowi being forced to do tricks in Awakening (isn't it great you can marry her too?), or her version and Halloween version in Heroes is much worse for reputation. 

Edit: I do have to agree that the base is kind of torn with what Fates/Awakening did.  The petting, child marriages, Camilla being so over the top, the house visits, yadda yadda.  Fanservice, beautiful women were always a part of the game, but people don't want it to dominate the game.  Echoes was great.  Lovely attractive characters, you got some flirting some nice outfits, but over the top fanservice is mostly absent.  

You seem to think that was all those games did. Also, Fates is really the one that introduced most of that (not sure what you mean by child marriages; literal child marriages or second gen?). Don't lump.

[Tactician_Iris]

1 hour ago, Poimagic said:

I do want to know what that music on the trailer was, cause it’s actually kinda neat

 

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

Sounds like a festive remix of the Fire Emblem theme. I like the whistle and percussion, though it makes me feel like it would be better on a summer banner instead

Fwiw it's from Awakening's Harvest Scramble DLC map. 

All three Scramble maps in Awakening had one remix each of the main theme (Harvest, Summer, Hot-spring).

[Lord-Zero]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

Still doesn't help her any to lower their Def.

It doesn’t need to “help” her. Chilling Res is already helping her a lot. Her weapon just softens an enemy for a physical ally to finish off. Her default kit is just designed for her to be in a mixed team with physical allies instead of an all-magical team. S!Sharena, on the other hand, can work much better in a all-mage team. “Takes a B slot”? It doesn’t look like she’ll be speedy so she can just get the Quick Riposte seal. I could be wrong. Well, the eventual datamine should clear things out. 

[Ice Dragon]

10 minutes ago, Lord-Zero said:

“Takes a B slot”?

The passive B slot is the slot with the most competition. Running Chill Res means she's not running things like Dull Ranged or Guard, and Quick Riposte as the Sacred Seal means she isn't running Distant Def.

Not to mention there is exactly one Quick Riposte seal available to each player, and not only do a lot of units want it, but also none of the alternative skills for that slot, like Dull Ranged, Guard, and Shield Pulse are yet available as Sacred Seals.

[Florete]

3 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Does every single seasonal banner thread have to devolve into another cesspool of fanservice rants?

If it doesn't appeal to me specifically, it's offensive garbage that shouldn't exist.

[Lord-Zero]

15 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

The passive B slot is the slot with the most competition. Running Chill Res means she's not running things like Dull Ranged or Guard, and Quick Riposte as the Sacred Seal means she isn't running Distant Def.

Not to mention there is exactly one Quick Riposte seal available to each player, and not only do a lot of units want it, but also none of the alternative skills for that slot, like Dull Ranged, Guard, and Shield Pulse are yet available as Sacred Seals.

It’ll totally fall on her stat spread. Yes, no Distant Defense seal would suck but you can always try to give her that skill to her A slot if you happen to have the necessary fodder. Like I said, her stat spread will determine her future builds. She could be a blue Boey for all we know.  

Dull Ranged, Guard and Shield Pulse will most likely be turned into sacred seals in the future. If not then, meh, I’ll make do with what’s available. 

[Ice Dragon]

32 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

The passive B slot is the slot with the most competition. Running Chill Res means she's not running things like Dull Ranged or Guard, and Quick Riposte as the Sacred Seal means she isn't running Distant Def.

Not to mention there is exactly one Quick Riposte seal available to each player, and not only do a lot of units want it, but also none of the alternative skills for that slot, like Dull Ranged, Guard, and Shield Pulse are yet available as Sacred Seals.

@Lord-Zero

Building on this even more because I keep thinking of things:

One of the biggest problems with enemy-phase teams (to clarify, not a problem with the team itself, but a problem with the game design around them) is its reliance on Quick Riposte. When the Quick Riposte Sacred Seal was released, the first thing I remember seeing about it was celebration that there was no longer a need to get 5-star Subakis to get the skill, but I'm willing to bet that most of the players thinking this didn't play more than one enemy-phase unit on their team at once.

An enemy-phase team effectively needs all four members to be running Quick Riposte (or Vengeful Fighter), which means that at best, with the Quick Riposte Sacred Seal, you can have at most one free passive B skill on your team. That's pretty shit compared to player-phase teams where three of the most common build archetypes (slow Brave, Firesweep, dancer) have a completely free B slot, and a fourth also-common build archetype (fast Brave) doesn't always need its B slot to function, giving the possibility of another free B slot. Without things like Chill skills, Dull Ranged, Guard, and Shield Pulse available as Sacred Seals, enemy-phase teams have virtually no variety in their B skill options.

 

Meaning that if Catria does, in fact, have a stat spread that suggests an enemy-phase build as optimal, Catria may as well have no default B skill at all because it'll immediately be replaced with Quick Riposte.

 

23 minutes ago, Florete said:

If it doesn't appeal to me specifically, it's offensive garbage that shouldn't exist.

Yeah. That's pretty much how I read all of those posts.

I wouldn't be so annoyed by them if interesting points were being brought up that could facilitate a discussion, but, no, it's always the same thing every time.

Edited March 21, 2018 by Ice Dragon

[NoirCore]

3 hours ago, Anacybele said:

Yeah, I agree with this post entirely.

Granted, I will admit I like seeing hot muscular guys, but I don't care about anything else, including anything below their waists. And I wouldn't want them to go around shirtless for the sake of it. Which is why I only wanted shirtless Ike and shirtless Freddy for something like a summer banner (I still can't believe the latter actually happened! Well sorta, since Freddy isn't entirely shirtless there). A reason I love RD Ike's design so much is that it looks reasonable and cool without being too sexual and yet it still shows how muscular he is as well as a bonus. And I like these guys for much more than just their appearance.

It also bothers me a lot when people just like characters for the "waifu" thing. And I also hope seasonal banners won't start being mostly female or all female unless a good reason is given like the bride thing. But even then, why not have some grooms too, especially since we got a groom Marth in FE Warriors?

I mean, isn't liking the personalities part of how people decide "waifus"? I think you may have a slightly different definition of "waifu" from what I usually hear. And I don't see too much of an issue of at least liking the character design but not the personality, or even caring about it.

Also, funny you mention worrying about mostly/all-female banners when we got 3 guys in the Valentines banner compared to two girls (including the TT reward). :P Cancel out this one with Valentines, and the bride banner is the only odd one out.

[Lord-Zero]

@Ice Dragon Reading all that stuff makes me really glad I’m not a competitive player. Anyway, yes, enemy-phase teams could really use better seals instead of stuff like...Obstruct. I guess a Pass Sacred Seal isn’t really that far off in the future...

That update and datamine can’t come soon enough. 

Edited March 21, 2018 by Lord-Zero

[Lewyn]

1 hour ago, Arthur97 said:

You seem to think that was all those games did. Also, Fates is really the one that introduced most of that (not sure what you mean by child marriages; literal child marriages or second gen?). Don't lump.

I was referring to how you could marry Nowi and have kids with her.  It isn't all Fates did, Conquest was great map design and gameplay there are some memorable characters. 

[Ice Dragon]

9 minutes ago, Lord-Zero said:

Reading all that stuff makes me really glad I’m not a competitive player.

Yeah, it really only matters for competitive play.

That said, I know I'd still be thinking about it even if I didn't play competitively because analyzing game mechanics is just something I take interest in.

 

9 minutes ago, Lord-Zero said:

Anyway, yes, enemy-phase teams could really use better seals instead of stuff like...Obstruct. I guess a Pass Sacred Seal isn’t really that far off in the future...

I'm actually looking forward to Pass because I'm sure more than just a few people will drop it on a unit on their Arena defense team just to screw over players that weren't paying attention. I remember back in the old days before Skill Inheritance, you actually did have to worry about things like Draug, Beruka, and Eldigan screwing you over with Lunge.

EDIT: A Lunge Sacred Seal would also be awesome, especially if it stacked with Drag Back or Knock Back.

Edited March 21, 2018 by Ice Dragon

[Anacybele]

10 minutes ago, NoirCore said:

I mean, isn't liking the personalities part of how people decide "waifus"? I think you may have a slightly different definition of "waifu" from what I usually hear. And I don't see too much of an issue of at least liking the character design but not the personality, or even caring about it.

Also, funny you mention worrying about mostly/all-female banners when we got 3 guys in the Valentines banner compared to two girls (including the TT reward). :P Cancel out this one with Valentines, and the bride banner is the only odd one out.

It doesn't seem like it when characters like Camilla and Tharja are basically walking fanservice. I remember seeing people say they were going to marry them even before those games came out, so they didn't know anything about their personalities.

I'm not saying I don't think absolutely anyone chooses "waifus" based on personality, but I definitely think some people just go "she's sexy!" and that's it.

And yes, that's true, which is why I'm not THAT worried right now.

[Cute Chao]

19 minutes ago, NoirCore said:

Also, funny you mention worrying about mostly/all-female banners when we got 3 guys in the Valentines banner compared to two girls (including the TT reward). :P Cancel out this one with Valentines, and the bride banner is the only odd one out.

I wish it did cancel out. Two guys and three girls sort of thing... but three girls and one guy, overall it still makes five seasonal girls to four seasonal guys, plus the four on the seasonal banner. 

Oh well, I know they're not interested in balancing anything when it comes to gender / fanservice (and haven't really been for a long, long time, if ever). They do at least give us something, which, again, is more than many games do. 

We have had more male focussed banners of late, though, so at least there's that :) 

And, since I only want one of the characters (maybe two if Sharena pity breaks me, which I wouldn't mind happening once), I'm hoping I'll still have plenty of orbs left over for the upcoming banners :) 

45 minutes ago, Florete said:

If it doesn't appeal to me specifically, it's offensive garbage that shouldn't exist.

I'm hoping not to come across that way, but I probably do. I just want to see more differences here and there where the focus for females don't seem to be on boobs and butts all the time, but as a gamer who tends to like JRPGs, it's all I'm ever going to see. FE Echoes did it quite nicely - the outfits were nice, there was some fanservice but also a lot of more sedate outfits. I liked a lot of the designs there even if I didn't always like the characters. Fates and Awakening have just made me worried that soon all we'll have is fanservice outfits for females. I mean, I know FE has always had mini-skirted girls, etc... but it also had its armoured women not have to have random gaps there (although I will admit, some later ones gave their females random mini-skirts instead). Heroes comes along and gives Gwendolyn hotpants. That sort of thing just... I don't know... wears me down a bit and I feel the need to sigh or complain, but then that gets shot down 'cos 'people are always complaining about it'. Maybe there's a reason they are (although we are probably the vocal minority since Heroes will go with where the cash is). 

So sure, have fanservice... just... in the right places. This is the right place, admittedly - an Easter banner... but when it comes on top of the normal outfits and poses... plus again three girls to one guy for such a fanservice type banner... 

Well, that's my thoughts. People can enjoy the fanservice all they want. I just keep wanting a bit more for me, too, since sometimes it's easy to feel forgotten. At least we got the one bunny boy, unlike with the Brides Banner. And we did get more guys in the previous banner, with Hector taking a lot of the heat on that one, even if the boob windows were still semi-inplace for Lyn and Lilina... but they actually looked good and tasteful, so I could enjoy the designs as well. Kagero just looks uncomfortable to me through and through, and I'm not going to enjoy her art in the slightest, personally. I'll leave that to the people it's intended for, but I won't be going anywhere near the character and I will reserve my right to sigh xD 

[Lord-Zero]

17 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Yeah, it really only matters for competitive play.

That said, I know I'd still be thinking about it even if I didn't play competitively because analyzing game mechanics is just something I take interest in.

Yes, game mechanics can be quite interesting. 

 

21 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

I'm actually looking forward to Pass because I'm sure more than just a few people will drop it on a unit on their Arena defense team just to screw over players that weren't paying attention. I remember back in the old days before Skill Inheritance, you actually did have to worry about things like Draug, Beruka, and Eldigan screwing you over with Lunge.

EDIT: A Lunge Sacred Seal would also be awesome, especially if it stacked with Drag Back or Knock Back.

It would certainly catch some people off-guard. Lunge with Drag Back or Knock Back? How would that work? I mean, which one would activate first...? That one would be even better for an arena defense team if Lunge activates first and then Drag Back/Knock Back do their thing. It would also do an interesting combination with Hit and Run. 

[XRay]

46 minutes ago, Lord-Zero said:

Anyway, yes, enemy-phase teams could really use better seals instead of stuff like...Obstruct. I guess a Pass Sacred Seal isn’t really that far off in the future...

 

39 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

EDIT: A Lunge Sacred Seal would also be awesome, especially if it stacked with Drag Back or Knock Back.

Lunge-Obstruct sounds great for a Wings of Mercy beacon like Eldigan [-HP/Def, Mystletainn [special], Fury, Lunge, Goad Cavalry, Obstruct].

That forces players to stay and kill the Obstructionist (HNY!Azura will not save you this time!) to regain access to their Lunged unit if Wings of Mercy enemies did not already ambush that unit.

Edited March 21, 2018 by XRay

[Ice Dragon]

8 minutes ago, Lord-Zero said:

It would certainly catch some people off-guard. Lunge with Drag Back or Knock Back? How would that work? I mean, which one would activate first...? That one would be even better for an arena defense team if Lunge activates first and then Drag Back/Knock Back do their thing. It would also do an interesting combination with Hit and Run. 

For maximum screwage, Drag Back first, then Lunge, Knock Back, and Hit and Run in that order.

[Florete]

2 minutes ago, Cute Chao said:

I'm hoping not to come across that way, but I probably do. I just want to see more differences here and there where the focus for females don't seem to be on boobs and butts all the time, but as a gamer who tends to like JRPGs, it's all I'm ever going to see. FE Echoes did it quite nicely - the outfits were nice, there was some fanservice but also a lot of more sedate outfits. I liked a lot of the designs there even if I didn't always like the characters. Fates and Awakening have just made me worried that soon all we'll have is fanservice outfits for females. I mean, I know FE has always had mini-skirted girls, etc... but it also had its armoured women not have to have random gaps there (although I will admit, some later ones gave their females random mini-skirts instead). Heroes comes along and gives Gwendolyn hotpants. That sort of thing just... I don't know... wears me down a bit and I feel the need to sigh or complain, but then that gets shot down 'cos 'people are always complaining about it'. Maybe there's a reason they are (although we are probably the vocal minority since Heroes will go with where the cash is). 

So sure, have fanservice... just... in the right places. This is the right place, admittedly - an Easter banner... but when it comes on top of the normal outfits and poses... plus again three girls to one guy for such a fanservice type banner... 

Well, that's my thoughts. People can enjoy the fanservice all they want. I just keep wanting a bit more for me, too, since sometimes it's easy to feel forgotten. At least we got the one bunny boy, unlike with the Brides Banner. And we did get more guys in the previous banner, with Hector taking a lot of the heat on that one, even if the boob windows were still semi-inplace for Lyn and Lilina... but they actually looked good and tasteful, so I could enjoy the designs as well. Kagero just looks uncomfortable to me through and through, and I'm not going to enjoy her art in the slightest, personally. I'll leave that to the people it's intended for, but I won't be going anywhere near the character and I will reserve my right to sigh xD 

Nah, I don't think you're coming off that way (not here, anyway. I didn't take names as far as the people I might have been referencing). I've voiced my concerns on this matter myself, so I do share the sentiment to an extent. But some people's complaints are much more selfish.

[Ice Dragon]

8 minutes ago, XRay said:

Lunge-Obstruct sounds great for a Wings of Mercy beacon like Eldigan [-HP/Def, Mystletainn [special], Fury, Lunge, Goad Cavalry, Obstruct].

That forces players to stay and kill the Obstructionist to regain access to their Lunged unit if Wings of Mercy enemies did not already ambushed that unit.

I... kind of want to do this.

EDIT: @XRay

I have a [+Atk, -HP] Eldigan in my barracks. So tempting...

EDIT2: Also a [+Spd, -Def].

Edited March 21, 2018 by Ice Dragon

[NoirCore]

40 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

It doesn't seem like it when characters like Camilla and Tharja are basically walking fanservice. I remember seeing people say they were going to marry them even before those games came out, so they didn't know anything about their personalities.

I'm not saying I don't think absolutely anyone chooses "waifus" based on personality, but I definitely think some people just go "she's sexy!" and that's it.

And yes, that's true, which is why I'm not THAT worried right now.

Well, did those people you remember saying such things mean that so passionately (of course, not to marriage levels), or just as a figure of speech to say "hey, she's got a nice design?" Because that's a figure of speech I've heard plenty of times to know it is usually said without really meaning it that hard.

Also, I wouldn't say Tharja is only fanservice (if Ghast's video on her is any indication) and that's it. Looks like her personality (in the English version, at least) was partially intended for comedy (whether it was comedic is a different story) with her obsessive tendencies and her creeping out the others with her dark attitude and talk of spells and hexes. Yes, the "obsessed with Robin" thing gets fanservicy, but it's not the only thing about her personality. Camilla in most cases, however, you got me.

[Anacybele]

8 minutes ago, NoirCore said:

Well, did those people you remember saying such things mean that so passionately (of course, not to marriage levels), or just as a figure of speech to say "hey, she's got a nice design?" Because that's a figure of speech I've heard plenty of times to know it is usually said without really meaning it that hard.

Also, I wouldn't say Tharja is only fanservice (if Ghast's video on her is any indication) and that's it. Looks like her personality (in the English version, at least) was partially intended for comedy (whether it was comedic is a different story) with her obsessive tendencies and her creeping out the others with her dark attitude and talk of spells and hexes. Yes, the "obsessed with Robin" thing gets fanservicy, but it's not the only thing about her personality. Camilla in most cases, however, you got me.

I'm not sure exactly. It was a good few years ago, so...

And yeah, but some people who didn't get many of her supports or anything might see her as just sexy looking fanservice anyway.

[Jave]

4 hours ago, Water Mage said:

 I agree as well. When did the Fire Emblem become so...prudish? I mean, the Fire Emblem fandom get bad reputation because of people like this.

I feel it's always been a thing on this fandom. It's just gotten worse over the years due to the series becoming more popular.

I mean, remember when the Tellius games where new and the cool thing among the fanbase was to constantly rant on how those games ruined the franchise? ("What is this furry animu shit?!")