Rate the Unit, Day 92: Brave Ephraim & Brave Veronica

[Punished Dayni]

Anna: I honestly think she's the best of the Askrtrio despite her stat spread. Her attack's not amazing but off her high speed she's not too crippled by it. Oddly she has a higher res and a quite eh defence but it does give her a neat niche with dragons, especially when only two have WTA at present (though she'll likely need support to take out the newer green dragons and F!Grima). She's also the most suited to take on mages of the Askrtrio, though DC is highly desired and others can do it better. She's the best of the three to run speedster skills like Depseration, made more convincing because she has the highest speed of infantry axes (which only Raven can match with +Spd). Noatun also has the best effect of the Askrtrio weaponsin ER2, allowing her to run back to allies after taking a heavy hit and either get healed or provide boosts off her C slot or take out a vulnerable enemy close to an ally who she might double with her stats. I think she's the best, though that's as much because she has less competition (though those that do blow her back hard).

6/10 because of the bonus, she would have been 5/10 otherwise.

Barst: Probably one of the better fodders because most of the units who still use brave builds are axes and Reposition is best movement skill. Sadly another I don't have experience with at 5* and oh boy would those boosts help him. His stats are alright, but others are more focused on certain traits like Raven who can easily outdo him with the brave axe for speed and might and has Basilisikos to tip the scales entirely in his favour. Barst does have a pretty good defence stat on top of his high HP, making him an actually decent unit for attacking most blues and quite a few greens, though his defence isn't that stellar and reds do quite a bit to him, with mages knocking him right out with his awful resistance. He benefits from a change in weapon as well because of his at least alright speed, especially with refines also doing good for his HP (which makes him better for infantry pulse/panic ploy). Other than that, not much else to say. The hatchet chops alright, but don't expect exceptional chopping without great investment or for him to be great at much else.

5/10. Investment can make him a lot more, but others can do what he can with less investment.

[Silverly]

Oh, this looks up my alley. I think I'll join the crew here.

Anna

• Stats - Anna has 158 BST, which is pretty standard as far as most infantry goes. One of Anna's highest selling points is her whopping 38 speed, which can allow her to block many double as well as potentially make some of her own. Her HP serves her well too. 29 attack might have have been average back at FEH's infancy, but now it's decided mediocre. While her defense is nothing to write home about at 22, her resistance is fairly competent sitting at 28.  
• Weapon/Kit - Anna has a unique weapon in Noatún. While it might seem tempting due to it's 16 might, the added effect is pretty underwhelming being Escape Route 2. Thus it might be worth it to replace it with a Slaying Axe or Giant Spoon should you have a spare Spring Alfonse. Her skills aren't doing her favors either; she doesn't make great use of Vantage (unless she's given DC to combat mages but we'll get to that) and Spur Res is completely outclassed by Drive Res. Astra is a horrendous special for her due to her below average attack and the cooldown being on the high side. If you plan to use Anna, at least optimally, she'll require a complete makeover. Recommended skills would include Fury, Wrath, a Drive or Smoke Skill, and Moonbow/Iceberg. 
• Availability - As of writing Anna cannot have more one single copy of her, and there likely never will be outside of an alt. That means she can't change her IVs or be merged. That being said, she's available from the start of the game and can never be sent home, so Anna will always be there should you need her. 
• PvE/PvP effectiveness - Anna is a fairly common unit that is needed to complete quests, so she should be dusted off every once in a while. Outside from that she likely won't see much action. In terms of competitive play, should you lack all other bonus units,  Anna can be handy in a pinch if she is a bonus unit for Arena during that particular week (and she will be improved further thanks to the stat bonuses coming in the future update). 

Overall: Anna does her job decently as a starting unit, and she packs some of the best base speed for an axe infantry. However, she's held back by her attack and is outclassed by the likes of Raven and Spring Chrom offensively. She has the option to differentiate herself by utilizing Distant Counter, but that begs the question of if she even does that role exceptionally well. While not a unit I find to be bad, she doesn't really bring much to the table. 5/10

*Personal Experience: I actually upgraded Anna in the early days of FEH, and I actually used her fairly often mostly because I like her look and he flaws weren't quite as glaring at the time. Plus I didn't have many axe users.  However, I don't think I used her regularly since June. I also gave her Distant Count back when skill inheritance was new, and I really regret it in hindsight.

Barst

• Stats - Like Anna, Barst has a basic stat total of 158 BST. At 46, his HP is quite high, if fairly bloated, so he's a potential Panic Ploy/Infantry Pulse user. Offensively Barst is competent with 33/32 attack and speed respectively, though the latter will be lowered by 5 should you stick with Brave Axe. His defense is quite solid at 30, but his resistance is a rather poor 17. It's imperative he stays away from mages and dragons alike. Good boons would be speed and attack, while taking a bane to his unsalvageable resistance.
• Weapon/Kit - Overall, it's pretty meh. Barst starts off with a Brave Axe, and while he's not a terrible user of it, Brave weapons in general are getting phased out due to them being unable to be refined as well as giving a harsh speed penalty. Thus it might be better to go for Slaying Axe or Giant Spoon. For his skills, Knock Back is useless while Spur Attack is a decent start that can be replaced down the line. Reposition is a keeper as it is a great assist for getting your allies to strike or retreat. 
• Availability - Barst is available at 3/4* rarity meaning coming across him shouldn't be too difficult, and seeing as green units have a fairly small pool compared to the others, finding an ideal Barst should take little time. This also means merging him will be much much easier.
• PvE/PvP effectiveness - Barst is certainly not a slouch in terms of combat. With an effective kit he can hold his own, though in Arena he'll have to watch out for fast sword units like Ayra, Mia, Hana, Soleil etc as well as mages who will turn him to mincemeat.

Overall: In place where infantry axe units tend to either slow and tanky like Brave Ike/Bartre/Dorcas or speedy and squishy like Anna/Raven/Legion, Barst is somewhat in the middle. Outside of his high HP and cruddy resistance, Barst's stats are good but not great. He's not someone who really suffers from launch date syndrome compared to his peers, but at the same time he wishes that maybe, just maybe some of that HP could have gone into his attack, speed, or even defense. It's hard to recommend him over Raven or Legion, with the former having a personal weapon with a great refine and the latter being free. Nonetheless, Barst is decent should you decide he's worth using in the long run. 6/10

*Personal Experience: Uhhh I never used Barst ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edited May 3, 2018 by SilvertheShadow

[Humanoid]

Anna isn't a unit I've really used beyond 4* quest completion. On the surface, she's yet another character who suffers from the difficulty of getting DC fodder and her role is badly compromised without it. Unlike Alfonse and Sharena, even a breaker can't really save her against physical threats which really leaves her without a role in my barracks. 1/10

Barst is a reasonably handy unit out of the box with a Brave Axe+ and Reposition meaning he needs next to no inheritance to function. However his fairly even stat spread means he's not the best user of this skillset, with units like Bartre, Raven and Legion filling the role better. Defensively, he's up against powerhouse units like Dorcas and Ike so there's no space for him there either. Ultimately he suffers from a similar problem to Sharena, but at least he has access to natures and is ready to go out of the box. I do have a 5-star copy partly for this reason (and also for eldest-of-three reasons). 3/10

[Shiki]

21 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

who suffers from the difficulty of getting DC fodder and her role is badly compromised without it. Unlike Alfonse and Sharena, even a breaker can't really save her against physical threats which really leaves her without a role in my barracks. 1/10

Sorry but this is one of the votes I will have to throw out unless you want to edit it into something more reasonable.

On 1.5.2018 at 7:32 PM, The Priest said:

You have to clarifiy what you mean with that. If you are giving a rating, assume that they are in their best possible state (skill inheritance, merges, 5* rarity) that you see fit.

Don't penalize units for requiring expensive SI, especially since that doesn't directly hamper with a unit's performance.

[Humanoid]

19 minutes ago, The Priest said:

Sorry but this is one of the votes I will have to throw out unless you want to edit it into something more reasonable.

Don't penalize units for requiring expensive SI, especially since that doesn't directly hamper with a unit's performance.

Eh, to be honest practicality has been my number one criteria for all my ratings. Even if I had a dozen Hectors I still wouldn't ever give Anna DC. With that in mind, all the scores I've previously given are compromised because "is it worth the effort" is a large component of the grading.

It's a fair call though, I'll withdraw the score, and will probably abstain from putting in votes for the vast majority of characters because I can't realistically give a reasonable estimation of their whaled performances. I'll stick to units I can and would build.

EDIT: The Barst vote would be just as invalid really because I then wouldn't be rating him on his Brave Axe+, but instead do something like Slaying Axe+ or Giant Spoon+. But it's something I would never actually consider, and thus can't realistically grade.

Edited May 4, 2018 by Humanoid

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Anna: Anna is about as good as Sharena, just with an axe. She's one unit I've actually used a little beyond just quests. She's still definitely not my preferred axe unit and I only use her occasionally if the mood strikes me. She can hold her own, but again, she's not really much better than Sharena.
4/10

Barst: Barst is actually not too terrible. Definitely not the greatest, but not terrible. He comes equipped with Reposition and Brave Axe, so that's always a plus, and he can hold his own in combat with some building. It's a shame he falls behind a lot of other axe users, I'd honestly pick Bartre over him.
5/10

[LordFrigid]

Anna

• Offense-oriented stat line with solid Spd and decent Atk and Res, but low Def. After the May 2018 version update, she will gain +10/4/4/4/4 stat boosts when she is a bonus unit, which is the main use case for her and thus worth factoring into her rating.
  • Bonus unit stat boosts make her powerful in lower score ranges, and help keep her competent in higher score ranges.
  • Nóatún (built-in Escape Route 2) is situationally useful, allowing her to warp around to provide positioning support once she can no longer fight.
  • Giant Spoon+/Moonbow gives her decent matchups against blue foes. Her low Atk makes her green matchups lackluster, however, suffering against bulky units such as Fae, Myrrh, and armors.
  • Low Def makes a defensive set difficult to justify, though she can use Distant Counter to check mages.
• Has the Res to run Ploys, though high-Res mages and armors will not get caught. Nóatún, if used, provides some positioning support options when at low HP. Can provide basic field or combat buff support with her C slot.

Overall, I give her 7 for combat (decent blue matchups and alright green matchups on offense, but suffers against bulky greens), and 1 for support (basic field/combat buffs, ploy potential), for a total rating of 6.5/10.

Barst

• Physical stat line with decent Atk and Def, mediocre Spd, and very low Res.
  • On offense, he can run a Brave Axe+ set with solid blue matchups but poor green matchups that suffer against bulky units. He could run a Slaying Axe or Giant Spoon set, but is hampered a little by his Spd stat.
  • Has a solid Slaying Axe+ (Def)/Steady Breath melee defense set, though he takes a decent chunk of damage from dragons (especially the green variety). If he opts for a Distant Counter defense set, he will take a lot of damage from mages.
• Cannot provide much team support beyond the standard C Passive field or combat buff.

Overall, I give him 7 for combat (solid defensive performance against blues, and decent performance against greens, though Steady Breath sets cannot counter at range and Distant Counter sets take a lot of damage from mages), and .5 for support (basic field/combat buffs), for a total rating of 6.5/10.

~

Scoring method:

Spoiler

Units are evaluated based on both their combat performance and their team support capabilities (i.e. their whole contribution to a team).

• Combat performance is judged by matchups, especially against enemies that are at triangle disadvantage or neutral to the unit. Performance against more relevant meta threats is more valuable than performance against units that are rarely seen. Scale of 0 to 10.
  • Sustainability and filling a useful niche are given small bonuses, when applicable.
  • I will look at least one PP-focused and one EP-focused skill set for each unit, but only evaluate based on performance for whichever phase I deem the unit to be stronger on. Units that are highly capable on both phases will be given a small bonus.
• Support capabilities are decided by how much support a unit can provide (without horribly compromising their combat capabilities), and how valuable I feel that support is. Scale of 0 to 3.
• At the end, the combat and support scores will be weighted (with a heavy focus on combat performance), combined, and rounded to the nearest .5 to obtain the total rating. Dancers and Singers will get +1 point to their total rating (not to exceed 10), because I value Dance/Sing utility highly.

This method of evaluation essentially compares each unit to a hypothetical "god unit" who is stellar at everything, instead of each unit to each other.

All my ratings.

Edited May 5, 2018 by LordFrigid

[Poimagic]

Anna: A fast axe who is held back by her low atk. She can be a good unit, with Fury/Desperation/Nouatun, allowing her to double easier, only other fast axes outclass her in merges and iv’s. Rating: 5/10

Barst: Essentially the same thing as Anna just with a slighty better starting skill set. Rating: 5/10

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Anna - the best among the Askr trio, but has fallen from grace considerably due to meta shifts. 38 Speed is excellent, you can count on her to avoid doubles from mages and thus put that Res to use. Fury + Desperation is a cheap, generalist build that allows for her to sweep to some extent, as well as warp around with her personal weapon which is always. But axe infantry units that used to be terrible have caught up thanks to the weapon refinery. In serious Arena use, Anna wants Distant Counter and a slaying Axe in order to check mages. Anna's Atk stat is not huge. She can wallop mages just fine, but she may fail to pick up kills on dragons whom she will also be expected to engage. Even blue dragons can be expected to survive if Anna has no skill proc. By sticking to this niche rather than chasing the old player phase build, I rate Anna a 4.5 out of 10. Better performance against dragons would have bumped her up higher. Good player movement and baiting can take care of mages with any set of units, but dragons are the real monsters. I'm also anticipating how well she performs with uber bonuses after the next update.

Barst - Brave builds are so 2017. Honestly, everything I can think to do with Barst, Bartre does way better. And non infantry units like Cherche, Michalis, and Frederick also are way more optimized for both the brave build and slaying axe. Barst's points in speed are just wasted. The average blue unit is sitting on 32 speed, too high for Barst to double. Arthur's got pretty much the same mediocre stat spread but makes up for it with natural access to Emerald Axe and Lancebreaker. That same build may be the best chance Barst has in making a difference in the Arena. 3 out of 10. Come back when you've got a personal weapon, kid. 

[Shiki]

Anna gets a 5.35, Barst a 5.56.

We do not have a lot of votes and it is declining bit-by-bit. I was expecting around 15+ as average but the last 2 rounds had only 10 and 9 people respectively.
Come on, folks, participate. Or die.

 

Cain, the Bull

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
39/42/45
29/32/35
29/32/35
24/27/31
18/21/24

Base Skills:

Brave Sword+
( - )
Escutcheon

( - )
Wings of Mercy
Threaten Atk

Draug, Gentle Giant

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
47/50/53
26/30/33
29/32/35
36/39/42
15/18/21

Base Skills:

Brave Sword+
( - )
Pavise

( - )
Lunge
Ward Armor

 

[Jingle Jangle]

Cain 4/10: Has nothing too special, and suffers from now standing out from the other choices. 

Draug 6/10: The budget choice of an armor team. Decent, but faces tough competition.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Cain - There are some great red swords out there, and Cain isn't one of them. He doesn't have one of those fancy personal weapons. As a brave sword user, he under performs compared to Luke who has 2 more points in attack. A firesweep sword is what I would recommend most for Cain. Give him swordbreaker to pick up doubles on the biggest chunk of units that will prove too fast for him. On a cavalry team he ought to perform well enough. What keeps him down is how many great sword cavs there are out there. Brave Roy, Sword!Reinhardt, and Siegbert are excellent player phase picks, while Horse!Chrom, Eldigan, and Xander are great physical tanks. Cain has better access to merges than those six characters, but if we assume everybody is +10, then I have to rate Cain a 4 out of 10. He's not what I would call "average" among his unit type, but you can make him work.

Draug - finally a unit I don't have much experience with. I still don't know what to make of Draug. The only thing that's clear is how great that Def is, so focus on bonfire procs with a slaying edge or Wo Dao. Arden is a more min maxed version of Draug with considerably better performance with that Brave Sword. But Draug and Zelgius are the only sword armors that can possibly reach a max merge level, so he starts to eke out an edge through that. I want to say Draug gets the job done in the highest tiers of Arena but I can honestly only speculate. 7.5 out of 10

@The Priestare we really going to assume +10 merges for characters for units that can't possibly attain that status? Some GHB units get halfway there, but when we get to Tempest Trial reward units, then it really becomes improbable. I think units should be judged at their current maximum merge level, or elsewhise be judged at +0 merge level.

Edited May 4, 2018 by Glennstavos

[Hawk King]

Cain 2.5/10 - Not as good as Cain from the Bible

Cain has average stats right across the board, and no personal weapon. He can run whatever build you want on him, but there is nothing that he is the best at. I would even say that Stahl has the edge over him with his superior bulk. This leaves Can at the bottom of the Sword Cavalier group.

Draug 9/10 - He chokes points

Draug has stupid good stats, and is very common which makes him easy to merge. As long as he stays away from mages and dragons who can double him he is winning most match-ups. He is best suited for defensive builds which rely on Bonfire/Ignis procs for lethal damge by running Slaying Edge or Woa Dao with Steady Breath, QR/Guard and Close Def/QR seal. His lowish Atk and lack of an Alondite or Black Luna keep him from being at top of the Red Armor group.

[Alexmender]

Cain the Red Bull. He has a balanced offensive-esque stat spread which lets him run a variety of builds, but his balanced spread makes him inferior to other sword cavaliers like B!Roy, BK!Chrom and Siegbert. His bulk is below average despite his superboon in case he were to be +Def so he won't compare to tankier cavs like Stahl, Seth and Sigurd. He can work if one invests a lot into him but even at max potential he'll be outclassed by cavs with more specialized stats.

Rating: 3/10

Draug the giant wall. While his Atk stat is low-ish and his Res is pathetic he makes up for it by having a decent Spd stat and a wonderful Def stat that allows him to fire off nuclear Bonfire/Ignis. As an armor he has access to Bold and Vengeful Fighter which makes every armor unit ridiculous at the very least. With a Wo Dao/Slaying Edge and DC very little will be able to survive a round against him. Still, his Res makes him extremely weak against the ever popular Dragon meanace but his Spd will help him survive at least 1 round of combat.

Rating: 8.5/10

[XRay]

I changed my criteria a bit. Hopefully, it should give me a little more score variation. Here is how my criteria are now scored:

Spoiler

Mobility:
Armor units are 0/10. Infantry units are 5/10. Cavalry units are 8/10. Flying units are 9/10. Units with unique mobility skills will bump up their score.
Range:
Melee units are 0/10. Distant Counter Weapon melee units are 5/10. Ranged units are 10/10.
Ease of Use:
This is an average of the mobility and range scores.
Player Phase Raw Performance:
This is based on the W:L:I ratio. Enemies will have a set up of +5, +Spd, Moonbow, and Fury. The unit will be +0, may not use Breakers, and will not have Chills or Ploys activate. Units may have access to buffs (usually, +4 to any two stats for infantry and armors, and 6/6/0/0 or 0/0/6/6 for cavalry and fliers). I would also list the build used to achieve that ratio. I think the following formula is pretty reasonable:
(W%) - (L%*0.5) = Raw Performance
Player Phase Weighted Performance:
Since most units can get a raw performance score of at least 5, setting 5 as 0 for the weighted performance makes more sense in judging how good a unit is.
(Raw Performance - 5) * 2 = Weighted Performance
Enemy Phase Raw Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance:
See Above.
Independence:
This just means how reliant the unit is on buffs. If I take off the buffs and the unit still performs pretty well, they will get a good score. Independence will be based on the higher of Player Phase or Enemy Phase raw performance. The formula is this:
(Raw Performance without buffs) / (Raw Performance) = Independence
Support:
Most units by default will be 0/10. Units with 30+ Res start from 1/10. Healers start from 2/10. Buffers start from 3/10. Fliers start from 4/10. Dancers/Singers start from 5/10. Other unique support skills may further boost their score.
Merges:
This is based on the number of extra copies available, so summonable units will be 10/10 while most Tempest Trials units will be 1/10.
Other:
If the unit has some unique application or fun build, it will be noted here. For example, since Raven mages have a performance penalty, they will get some extra points here for being relevant and viable in certain team compositions.

Familiarity/Experience:
This just means how familiar I am with this particular unit or type of unit in Arena. If it is a low number, that means you should take the following rating number with a grain of salt since I do not have much experience with this particular unit or type of unit.
Rating:
The rating is how good I think a unit is. Here is how I weigh each criterion:
Ease of Use 4/10
Weighted Performance: 4/10 (The higher of Player Phase or Enemy Phase will be used.)
Independence: 1/10
Support: 1/10
Other: If the unit got some unique application or fun build, they will get a boost to their rating.

Notes:
A unit's build in raw performance will not take into account a unit's support build, Raven build, or any other builds. Likewise, a unit's ease of use, support, and other criteria will not take into account the unit's raw performance build.

Disclosures:
I have a strong bias for non-armor Player Phase ranged units. My experience with melee and armor units in Arena is pretty minimal, so my rating for them is mostly based on theory. My Arena core consists of BH!Lyn, Reinhardt, and Olivia. I am usually in Tier 20, but I may drop to Tier 19 if I do not fish for points.

Other:

Spoiler

Template

— — — — — — — ◆Red◆ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ◾Blue◾ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ⬟Green⬟ — — — — — — —
— — — — — — — ●Colorless● — — — — — — —

Mobility: /10
Range: /10
Ease of Use: /10
Player Phase Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Player Phase Weighted Performance: /10
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]
Enemy Phase Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: /10
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]
Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal]
Support: /10
Other: /10

Familiarity/Experience: /10
Rating: /10

Summary:

 

— — — — — — — ◆Cain◆ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 8/10
Range: 0/10
Ease of Use: 4/10
Player Phase Performance: 7.49/10 — 192:17:36
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 4.98/10
[+Spd, -Res, Wo Dao [Spd], Moonbow, Life and Death, Desperation, Speed +3, 6/6/0/0]
Enemy Phase Performance: 7.18/10 — 187:22:36
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 4.37/10
[+Spd, -Res, Wo Dao [Spd], Moonbow, Distant Counter, Quick Riposte, Attack +3, 6/6/0/0]
Independence: 4.82/10 — 97:17:131
[+Spd, -Res, Wo Dao [Spd], Moonbow, Life and Death, Desperation, Speed +3]
Support: 0/10
Other: 0/10

Familiarity/Experience: 0/10
Rating: 4/10

Summary:

Cain's combat performance is decent, although quite a bit dependent on buffs.

He does not have much else going for him though, so his score is a bit low.

— — — — — — — ◆Draug◆ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 0/10
Range: 0/10
Ease of Use: 0/10
Player Phase Performance: 9.45/10 — 232:1:12
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 8.9/10
[+Atk, -Res, Wo Dao [Atk], Luna, Death Blow, Bold Fighter, Sacred Seal, 4/4/0/0]
Enemy Phase Performance: 8.02/10 — 200:7:38
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 6.04/10
[+Atk, -Res, Wo Dao [Spd], Bonfire, Distant Counter, Vengeful Fighter, Speed+3, 4/4/0/0]
Independence: 9.4/10 — 220:3:22
[+Atk, -Res, Wo Dao [Atk], Luna, Death Blow, Bold Fighter, Sacred Seal]
Support: 0/10
Other: 0/10

Familiarity/Experience: 0/10
Rating: 4.5/10

Summary:

With Bold Fighter and Vengeful Fighter, Draug is easily a top tier combat unit, just like other armor units. Like other armor units, buffs are generally unnecessary, although still appreciated.

Draug does not have much else to offer though.

Edited May 5, 2018 by XRay

[Shiki]

2 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

are we really going to assume +10 merges for characters for units that can't possibly attain that status?

I think I mentioned in the OP that we're going to separate the "special" characters from the regular ones. These include the GHB and TT rewards which are capped at their merge potential.

Considering that the Askr Trio have now consistent +10 merges on their seasons I don't think it will be a problem until we reach that point (this will easily last over a month or so just with the regular Heroes).

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Draug: My issue with rating Armors is because Bold Fighter is such a ridiculous value skill, combined with Breathes and QR seal, that you can basically sums up 90% of Armors as "have godlike combat". Draug is the very first one of the group and he already fits the bill. Mediocre attack gots shuffled out from having Bonfire coming out of 43 defense, which can be further boosted with Wo Dao. Speed makes him safe from every Dragon's doubling. You can expect Draug to win 90% of trades against Melee enemies and he comes back with 46 damage Ignis or 36 damage Bonfire to the face. To put this into perspective, an enemy phase

All in all, Draug easilly fits into 9/10 if only because Armor proc cheesing is so OP as a whole

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

2 hours ago, The Priest said:

I think I mentioned in the OP that we're going to separate the "special" characters from the regular ones. These include the GHB and TT rewards which are capped at their merge potential.

Considering that the Askr Trio have now consistent +10 merges on their seasons I don't think it will be a problem until we reach that point (this will easily last over a month or so just with the regular Heroes).

Alright, I just like to compare units to other unit within their weapon and movement type when considering a rating, and I was unsure how to compare limited release units due to their merge caps.

I just upgraded my score for Draug. Letting you know in case you tallied my previous one already.

[Punished Dayni]

Cain: Man I wish you were better. He's another which I only have at 4*. He's a horse with an unnoteworthy stat spread (though 32 Atk and Spd is actually pretty good, funnily better than Eliwood who I have at 5*, despite Brave Sword slowing him down), nothing much to say for himself skill wise and others can do what he does better, with Zweihardt just making a mockery of him last month (It's not that Cain is slow, it's that he's way stronger and can do more with what he has). He does have neat skills for fodder and he can use them alright enough, but I can't see a scenario where I would use Cain over a lot of other units.

2/10, there's better.

Draug: I'm going to put a lot of the crap I wrote in here, I don't think I wrote it all that well. Final rating below.

Spoiler

Can't say too much that I feel I can back up as I don't have him at 5*. If you're in high tier play he's likely one of the most accessible units to build, especially as he was one of the few who could be before 2.4. If you do that and get those good premium skills you've got a solid, surprisingly fast armour who can work well in your arena team. Outside of it, I don't think he's half as good. His default set is not exactly a great start barring Ward Armour (the OG armour skill). A skills are pretty open based on him being able to go player or enemy phase, while B skills have some amazing items for consideration based on what you want to go with, though Bold Fighter is the best for armours more like himself. His stats also emphasise speed and defence (with low attack yay, though not so bad at 5*), making it apparent that his real damage will come from specials (So he'll want something like a Slaying Edge) and he can make real good use of Bonfire or Ignis, for an obvious example. But out of that level he's not all that great. His low damage makes his attacking poor especially against anything tanky, with high defence greens taking hits pretty well all things considered. Brave Sword only works when he has a good set of buffs and a fitting A skill and his pretty high armour speed takes a hit. 

9/10 in high tiers with serious investment, 3/10 without. I'll split the difference and go with 7/10. He' can be worth something in upper tiers, but only if you can get the resources necessary. There will be a lot needed imo. 4* +10 can also work out pretty well, though that won't be enough in the upper echelons. Doesn't help BK and especially Zelgius are plain better for anything barring Panic Ploy and Arden and Zelgius are better for that and Brave Sword usage.

8/10. Unlike certain other red armours, he's not among the best but he's got a lot going for him and is pretty accessible, with only Zelgius as the other fully mergeable red armour and it's certainly harder to do so with him. He's going to need to be in armour teams to work but if you want the highest points, it's armours you're using anyway.

[LordFrigid]

Cain

• Physical offense/defense oriented stat line with decent Atk and mediocre Spd, Def, and Res.
  • Generally good offense matchups with a Wo Dao/Moonbow set against greens, but misses KOs on some faster foes and loses to common Myrrh variants. The set also has decent red coverage, but struggles with some prominent red threats (notably dragons, Zelgius, and Ayra).
  • Can pull off a Distant Counter defensive set with full cav buffs, but is hampered a bit by his low Res stat.
• As a cavalry unit, he can provide cavalry field and combat buffs through his C Passive, but otherwise provides limited team support.

Overall, I give him 7 for combat (good green and fair red matchups), and 1 for support (cavalry field and combat buffs), for a total rating of 6.5/10.

Draug

• Physically defensive stat line with high Def and HP, mediocre Atk and Spd, and poor Res.
  • Overwhelmingly powerful offense matchups with a Wo Dao/Bonfire/Death Blow/Bold Fighter set. Takes miniscule damage from most physical greens. Can even handle some low-Def blue enemies. Dragons and Close Counter mages that are not OHKO'd will carve a good chunk out of his HP, however.
  • Can run a Distant Counter set with Vengeful Fighter (pure EP) or Bold Fighter/QR Seal (mixed phase), but his poor Res stat causes him to suffer against mages.
• As an armor unit, he can provide armor field and combat buffs through his C Passive, but otherwise provides limited team support.

Overall, I give him 9.5 for combat (stellar offense matchups because Bold Fighter is broken, with a small penalty for high damage taken against dragons), and 1 for support (armor field and combat buffs), for a total rating of 9/10.

~

Scoring method:

Spoiler

Units are evaluated based on both their combat performance and their team support capabilities (i.e. their whole contribution to a team).

• Combat performance is judged by matchups, especially against enemies that are at triangle disadvantage or neutral to the unit. Performance against more relevant meta threats is more valuable than performance against units that are rarely seen. Scale of 0 to 10.
  • Sustainability and filling a useful niche are given small bonuses, when applicable.
  • I will look at least one PP-focused and one EP-focused skill set for each unit, but only evaluate based on performance for whichever phase I deem the unit to be stronger on. Units that are highly capable on both phases will be given a small bonus.
• Support capabilities are decided by how much support a unit can provide (without horribly compromising their combat capabilities), and how valuable I feel that support is. Scale of 0 to 3.
• At the end, the combat and support scores will be weighted (with a heavy focus on combat performance), combined, and rounded to the nearest .5 to obtain the total rating. Dancers and Singers will get +1 point to their total rating (not to exceed 10), because I value Dance/Sing utility highly.

This method of evaluation essentially compares each unit to a hypothetical "god unit" who is stellar at everything, instead of each unit to each other.

My ratings list.

Edited May 5, 2018 by LordFrigid

[LordFrigid]

In the absence of The Priest, I'll be starting days 5 and 6.

Today, we're backtracking a bit to cover:

Gordin (Altean Archer)

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
40/43/46
28/31/34
22/25/29
29/32/35
13/17/20

Base Skills:

Brave Bow+
Shove
( - )

Attack +3
Vantage 3
( - )

Jeorge (Perfect Shot)

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
34/37/41
29/32/35
29/32/35
21/24/28
19/22/25

Base Skills:

Parthia
( - )
Blazing Flame

( - )
Seal Atk 3
Spur Spd 3

 

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Cain: I'm late on this, apologies. Basically, Cain is definitely better than the likes of Alfonse, but as far as horse sword units go, I find him one of the lesser choices, but still not bad. 6/10

Draug: I have a hard time using armored units just because they only move one space at a time. That said, Draug is pretty good! Fantastic defense and access to a good weapon make him a solid choice for an armored team. But, still...bad movement. 7/10

I'd rate Gordin and Jeorge but I feel like we should wait for The Priest...

Edited May 5, 2018 by Fire Emblem Fan

[LordFrigid]

Gordin

• Somewhat physically bulky stat line with focuses on HP and Def, with mediocre Atk and poor Spd and Res.
  • His best hope at an offense-focused set is Atk-stacking Brave Bow. This set does well enough against low-Def foes, but suffers against foes with at least a decent Def stat, taking losses to dragons, and DC Armors, DC Ayra, etc.
  • On defense, he can run a Guard Bow/Close Counter set. This set can fend off an assault from a number of physical threats, but takes losses to dragons, mages, and units that focus on activating specials in one round of combat (unless Guard/QR seal is used).
• Cannot provide much team support beyond the standard C passive field or combat buff.

Overall, I give him 5 for combat (ok but not great matchups) and .5 for support (basic field/combat buff), for a total rating of 4.5/10.

Jeorge

• Offense-focused stat line with medium Atk and Spd, and mediocre Def and Res.
  • He can use a mage-checking offense set with Parthia, but has trouble with fast mages that can avoid being OHKOd and does not perform as well against non-mages. He has the stat line to run either a Brave or Firesweep set. The former has the usual issues with foes with good Def, and the latter lacks KO power (which is offset somewhat by the fact that it prevents enemy counterattacks).
  • On defense, Jeorge's low defensive stat line makes it difficult to justify running a CC set. He can act as an enemy phase mage check with Parthia/Vantage, but the usefulness of this niche falls off as score range increases.
• Cannot provide much team support beyond the standard C passive field or combat buff.

Overall, I give him a 6 for combat (ok but not great matchups, situationally useful niche) and .5 for support (basic field/combat buff), for a total rating of 5.5/10.

2 hours ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

I'd rate Gordin and Jagen but I feel like we should wait for The Priest...

He asked me to do this. Feel free to hold off if it makes you more comfortable, though.

Edited May 5, 2018 by LordFrigid

[Shiki]

@Fire Emblem Fan
Basically anyone I credited at the OP has the right to start the next round and bring down the hammer of law if necessary.

Cain got a 4.00, Draug a 7.61.

[Alexmender]

I don't have a lot of experience with those two so I'll keep it short this time.

Gordin: He has decent physical bulk to run a Close Counter set but his lack of Spd and color means that his bulk will last him 2 rounds at best so don't expect him to have the survivability of H!Jakob. His Atk stat has seen better days, while he can work with his default Brave Bow+ in a Atk stacking set with Death Blow, Atk+3 seal and breaker skill of choice more often than not Gordin will be unable to ORKO some key targets due to his need to completely focus on one type of enemy.

Rating: 3.5/10.

Jeorge: He can become a EP mage killer with Parthia's refine or go with the good ol' Brave Bow+ set. He can do an above average job with either of these builds thanks to his decent stat spread but as an infantry BB archer he'll be outclassed by Bridelia and in general by H!Jakob and B!Lyn. 

Rating: 5/10.