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

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Fir - Fir has the lowest attack stat of any sword user in the game, tying with Ceada and Selena. Like them, Fir can clutch an attack superboon. Special procs will be her main source of damage. We should also compare directly to Karel who also owns the Nameless Blade. Karel has five more points of attack and only one less point of speed at base, though he does not benefit from the utility of a high res. Instead he carries a very high HP stat (47) for panic ploy and that's not a terrible trade. Fir was definitely skirting the bottom tier of sword wielders before her personal weapon though I hesitate to rank her as average when she's still competing for the highly competitive sword slot on a team. Being better than Selena is not a great achievement when it comes to stats, and I think Karel wields the sword better. 4 out of 10.

Eliwood - Sword cav is a stacked class. 31 is the lowest attack stat owned by any sword cav, and it's a tie between Eliwood and Stahl. There are thirteen sword cavs in the game and nine of them have a personal weapon, including Eliwood, who got to pick up his son's for an upgrade. To compare directly to Brave Roy, Eliwood has -1 Attack and -4 speed with only a very high Res stat to show for it. As well as better arena scoring provided you don't take the HP superbane. Eliwood has pretty high magic bulk, however Helpful!Chrom can one shot dragons while Sigurd has superior magic bulk against tome users when equipped with his unique skills. So this leaves Eliwood as a slower Brave Roy with access to Def Ploy, and he's not terrible. 5.5 out of 10. Eliwood is totally viable, but sword cavs are just so stacked with incredible power while Blazing Durandal has started to fall off a bit with the release of the Heavy Draw seal. 

Past Ratings 

Spoiler

1. Aflonse - 3
2. Marth - 7
3. Sharena - 3
4. Jagen - 1
5. Anna - 4.5
6. Barst - 3
7. Cain - 4
8. Draug - 7.5
9. Gordin - 5
10. Jeorge - 5.5
11. Abel - 5.5
12. Linde - 9
13. Minerva - Abstain
14. Merric - 3.5
15. Maria - 6
16. Wrys - 3.5
17. Ceada - Abstain
18. Ogma - 4
19. Catria - 4
20. Est - 6
21. Sheena - 6.5
22. Cecilia - 4
23. Clarine - 6.5
24. Matthew - 4
25. Palla - 2.5
26. Roy -7
27. Gwendolyn - 7.5
28. Shanna - 4.5
29. Bartre - 7
30. Fae - 7.5
31. Serra - 4
32. Lissa - 2
33. Tiki - 8
34. Lilina - 7
35. Florina - 1.5
36. M!Robin - 3.5
37. Hector - 8
38. Raven - 8.5
39. Gaius - 4 out of 10
40. Virion - 3.5
41. Raigh - 1.5
42. Sophia - 3.5
43. Sully -2.5
44. Cordelia -7
45. Hawkeye - 5.5
46. Nino - 8
47. Felicia - 6.5
48. Jakob - 1
49. Fir - 4
50. Eliwood - 5.5

Ratings I would change in retrospect: Drop Gordin to a 2.5 and Linde by a point

 

Edited May 26, 2018 by Glennstavos

[Kaden]

13 minutes ago, Glennstavos said:

Like them, Fir can clutch an attack superbane.

Don't you mean the opposite? -Atk Fir and Caeda and Selena dropping down to 21 attack from 25 would have been awful.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

4 minutes ago, Kaden said:

Don't you mean the opposite? -Atk Fir and Caeda and Selena dropping down to 21 attack from 25 would have been awful.

Right, my mistake.

[Alexmender]

Fir Where are you daughter?! FIIIIIIR. Her stat line focuses on Spd and Res which makes her good as an anti-dragon unit but she has a hard time against melee units thanks to her pathetic Def, thankfully her Spd is quite high so doubling her isn't going to be easy. While Fir has a pathetic base 25 Atk which can be made below average with her Atk superboon but she doesn't have to rely to heavily in this stat thanks to the fantastic Nameless Blade which combines a Slaying Edge with a Wo Dao, this lets Fir proc specials faster and have +10 Dmg each time the special triggers (it doesn't work with Galeforce) and due to her status as a melee infantry unit she can use Wrath to further increase her damage. Her high Res also allows her to use Ploy skills to disrupt the enemy and make herself stronger. With that said, Fir is competing in the crowded infantry sword class where monsters like Ayra, Mia and Soleil are. Despite her newfound power she's still heavily outclassed but if she's your favorite character she'll work wonders.

Rating: 5/10

Eliwood. He is in a weird spot. His stat spread is pretty balanced which makes him relatively mediocre in every stat except for his unusually high Res. His weapons have great effects but one of them is shared by another unit that uses it better and the other suffers from being a gen 1 weapon. Eliwood's niche compared to the other red sword cavaliers is being able to use Ploys to weaken the enemy and he does this well. Outside of that he is outclassed by more powerful cavaliers like B!Roy and Ares. He does his work fine but there are better alternatives.

Rating: 5/10

[LordFrigid]

Fir

• Magically bulky stat line featuring good Spd, decent Res, mediocre Def, and poor Atk.
  • Nameless Blade (accelerates special trigger), with the effect refinement (+10 damage when special triggers) is a powerful offensive tool.
  • She has decent green and mediocre red coverage for her first round of combat on offense. She has trouble dealing with Spd-stacking foes in her first round of combat, as she needs to take +Atk to patch up her poor base of 25. However, after she hits the 75% HP threshold, she can utilize Wrath to auto-charge Moonbow at the start of every turn and deal +20 extra damage, giving her strong green and decent red OHKO coverage. She can, however, be walled by bulkier reds, and greens that heavily stack Def. She can use Desperation over Wrath, which is fine on slow enemies that do not inhibit her follow-up attack, but is generally inferior to her OHKO set.
  • She has a passable Distant Counter set on defense, leveraging her decent Res stat to check mages, but is generally better off using the Enemy Phase to set up Wrath against a melee foe (it will apply to her Moonbow activation during that combat as well, if the attack brings her below 75% HP), and using her A Passive slot to bump up her low Atk.
• In addition to the standard C passive field/combat buff, she can run ploys reasonably well if she isn’t using Life and Death. Def Ploy, in particular, can help her matchups.

Overall, I give her 7.5 for combat (strong green, decent red coverage with some setup required, sustainability bonus), and 1 for support (basic field/combat buff, some ploy capability), for a total rating of 7/10.

Eliwood

• Magically bulky stat line with decent Res, mediocre Atk and Spd, and low Def.
  • Durandal (built-in Death Blow 2) is a decent offensive sword, albeit outclassed by newer weaponry.
  • Blazing Durandal (built-in Heavy Blade 3, Attack +3) is a powerful offensive tool, allowing Eliwood to more easily charge specials for one-round activation.
  • Good green and ok red matchups on the player phase with Hone Cavalry active. He really wants to double enemies and ideally uses Blazing Durandal to secure one-round 3-charge special activations. As such, he struggles with enemies that have enough Spd to avoid being doubled. He also takes a lot of damage from physical enemies due to his low Def.
  • Can run a DC set to check green and some red mages on the enemy phase, utilizing Blazing Durandal to guarantee 3-charge special activations against foes that do not double him.
• As a cavalry unit, he can run a cavalry field or combat buff in his C passive slot. He also has the Res to run ploys reasonably well.

Overall, I give him 6 for combat (good green, ok red matchups on offense), and 1.5 for combat (cavalry field/combat buff, ploy potential), for a total rating of 6/10.

~

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.
• 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.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Fir: Before getting the Nameless Blade, Fir was one of the worst sword units in the main summoning pool. But since getting her weapon, she's improved drastically! She's not the best unit, but no longer is she on of the worst, she's moved up to being a pretty good one that's much more viable should one want to use her. Getting her with an attack boon and the NB patches up her attack well enough, mix that with her fantastic speed and great resistance (for a red infantry unit, anyway), and suddenly you have a good glass canon! She's still outclassed by the likes of Ayra, Mia, and some others, but if you like her, she'll function good enough. 6.5/10

Eliwood: Eliwood is great for buffing, and his personal weapon improves even more when it's upgraded to Blazing Durandal. He has good resistance, which allows him to work well with the Distant Counter skill to counter green mages, and his attack is decent enough for melee combat. Especially when his weapon has built-in Death Blow and Heavy Blade! Brave Roy and Sigurd are a bit better, but Eliwood still works. 6.5/10

[XRay]

Here is how my criteria are rated:

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.
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%*0.25) = 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
Player Phase 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. The formula is that same as the raw performance:
(W%) - (L%*0.25) = Independence
Enemy Phase Raw Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Independence:
See Above.
Ease of Use:
This is an average of the mobility and range scores.
Performance:
This consolidates the weighted performance and independence scores into one score, and uses the higher of Player Phase or Enemy Phase. This also means that the build used in weighted performance may not necessarily be their best build, since there may be an alternative build with a slightly worse performance but have much higher independence.
(Weighted Performance * 0.8) + (Raw Performance * 0.1) + (Independence * 0.1) = Performance
Support:
Most units by default will be 0/10. Units with 30+ Res start from 1/10. Dagger units 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.
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 and/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
Performance: 5/10
Support: 1/10
Other: If the unit got some unique application or fun build, they will get a boost to their rating.

Notes:
1. 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.
2. Since healers' Firesweep build [+Atk, Pain [Dazzling Staff], Attack +3, Wrathful Staff, Attack +3] requires the user to do two rounds of combat to measure how good it is, that overwhelmingly skews the combat results for healers, so I decided to tone down their performance by using Brazen Atk/Spd-Desperation and taking away 10 HP or 25% of max HP, which ever is greater.
3. The build used in raw/weighted performance might not be the build with the best score. If there is an alternative build with a slightly less performance but much higher independence, that build will be used instead.
4. Axe and dagger versions of Wo Dao are not available in the regular summoning pool yet, but I think they will be added in the future, so I am using Giant Spoon and Lethal Carrot.

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
Player Phase Raw Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Player Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Player Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]
Enemy Phase Raw Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Enemy Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]

Ease of Use: /10
Performance: /10
Support: /10
Other: /10

Familiarity/Experience: /10
Rating: /10

Summary:

_______ got bad/okay/good/stellar combat performance.

She/He can the support the team with Ploys.

She/He can support the team with daggers/Light Breath and Dark Breath.

She/He is a great mobility support unit as a flier.

She/He can also run Firesweep-Hit and Run as a flier unit.

She/He can run a Firesweep-Poison Strike-Poison Strike.

She/He can run Wrathful Staff-Dazzling Staff to emulate Firesweep archers.

She/He can run a Raven set.

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

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

Ease of Use: /10
Performance: /10
Support: /10
Other: /10

Familiarity/Experience: /10
Rating: /10

Summary:

_______ got bad/okay/good/stellar combat performance.

She/He can the support the team with Ploys.

She/He can support the team with daggers/Light Breath and Dark Breath.

She/He is a great mobility support unit as a flier.

She/He can also run Firesweep-Hit and Run as a flier unit.

She/He can run a Firesweep-Poison Strike-Poison Strike.

She/He can run Wrathful Staff-Dazzling Staff to emulate Firesweep archers.

She/He can run a Raven set.

 

— — — — — — — ◆Fir◆ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 5/10
Range: 0/10
Player Phase Raw Performance: 6.91/10 — 182:29:42
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 3.81/10
Player Phase Independence: 3.94/10 — 107:29:117
[+Spd, -Res, Nameless Blade [special], Moonbow, Life and Death, Desperation, Speed +3, 4/4/0/0]
Enemy Phase Raw Performance: 6.51/10 — 169:17:67
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 3.02/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 4.86/10 — 129:24:100
[+Spd, -Res, Nameless Blade [special], Luna, Distant Counter, Quick Riposte, Speed +3, 4/4/0/0]

Ease of Use: 2.5/10
Performance: 4.14/10
Support: 1/10
Other: 1/10

Familiarity/Experience: 0/10
Rating: 3.5/10

Summary:

Fir got okay combat performance. She can the support the team with Ploys. She got an extra point for being able counter mages

— — — — — — — ◆Eliwood◆ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 8/10
Range: 0/10
Player Phase Raw Performance: 6.6/10 — 176:36:41
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 3.2/10
Player Phase Independence: 2.41/10 — 70:36:147
[+Spd, -Res, Wo Dao [Spd], Moonbow, Life and Death, Desperation, Speed +3, 6/6/0/0]
Enemy Phase Raw Performance: 6.89/10 — 182:31:40
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 3.77/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 3.75/10 — 111:64:78
[+Spd, -Res, Wo Dao [Spd], Moonbow, Distant Counter, Quick Riposte, Speed +3, 6/6/0/0]

Ease of Use: 4/10
Performance: 4.08/10
Support: 1/10
Other: 1/10

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

Summary:

Eliwood got okay combat performance. He can the support the team with Ploys. He go an extra point for being able to counter mages

Edited May 26, 2018 by XRay

[Shiki]

Today we have reached the lowest amount of votes yet. Ouch.

Fir: 5.20
Eliwood: 5.40

Donnel, Village Hero

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
40/43/46
32/35/38
26/29/32
29/32/35
20/23/27

Base Skills:

Brave Lance+
Reciprocal Aid
( - )

HP+
Drag Back
( - )

Nowi, Eternal Youth

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
42/45/48
31/34/37
23/27/30
27/30/33
23/27/30

Base Skills:

Lightning Breath+
Rally Def
( - )

Defense+
( - )
Threaten Res

Oh hey, it's the Hero of MKV's guides. Let's give him 10/10 and be done with it.

Edited May 28, 2018 by The Priest

[Zapp Branniglenn]

14 minutes ago, The Priest said:

Oh hey, it's the Hero of MKV's guides. Let's give him 10/10 and be done with it.

Change the criteria to be 3 star F2P units only and I'm with you.

Donnel - There were a whopping four lance infantry at the game's launch, and Donnel would be at the top if not for Azura being a dancer. Now there are quite a few lance infantry, including some outright better than Donnel such as Brave Lucina, Shiro, and Fjorm. Among lance infantry, Donnel's lack of personal weapon leaves him as the most sensible Brave Lance wielder. Though he could get by with Slaying Lance as well, he'll never wield it quite as well as Lukas could. Brave Lance Donnel is basically Est without Def Ploy utility or flier buffs, and he's not going to be topping any other niche. 3.5 out of 10. Villagers can't afford a Flame Siegmund or Leiptr.

Nowi - Nowi's stats always appear to be just as high as they need to be in order to check threats. She's top of her class in all regards besides the ability to dance like Ninian could. I think the only future unit that could take down Nowi from her top tier position would be a flying or armored blue manakete wielding Expiration. Summer!Grima when? Nowi's availability has shaped the meta, but I do think her time at the top will be cut short by another power creeped choice. 8.5 out of 10.

Past Ratings

Spoiler

1. Alfonse - 3
2. Marth - 7
3. Sharena - 3
4. Jagen - 1
5. Anna - 4.5
6. Barst - 3
7. Cain - 4
8. Draug - 7.5
9. Gordin - 5
10. Jeorge - 5.5
11. Abel - 5.5
12. Linde - 9
13. Minerva - Abstain
14. Merric - 3.5
15. Maria - 6
16. Wrys - 3.5
17. Ceada - Abstain
18. Ogma - 4
19. Catria - 4
20. Est - 6
21. Sheena - 6.5
22. Cecilia - 4
23. Clarine - 6.5
24. Matthew - 4
25. Palla - 2.5
26. Roy -7
27. Gwendolyn - 7.5
28. Shanna - 4.5
29. Bartre - 7
30. Fae - 7.5
31. Serra - 4
32. Lissa - 2
33. Tiki - 8
34. Lilina - 7
35. Florina - 1.5
36. M!Robin - 3.5
37. Hector - 8
38. Raven - 8.5
39. Gaius - 4 out of 10
40. Virion - 3.5
41. Raigh - 1.5
42. Sophia - 3.5
43. Sully -2.5
44. Cordelia -7
45. Hawkeye - 5.5
46. Nino - 8
47. Felicia - 6.5
48. Jakob - 1
49. Fir - 4
50. Eliwood - 5.5
51. Donnel - 3.5
52. Nowi - 8.5

Ratings I would change in retrospect: Drop Gordin to a 2.5 and Linde by a point

 

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Donnel: Donnel is simply not very good. He's totally outclassed by the likes of Ephraim, Fjorm, Lukas, Brave Lucina, and so many others. He's like Florina in that he could really use some kind of refinement to make him better. 2.5/10

Nowi: Quite the contrast to Donnel, Nowi is a good unit and still a threat even after so many others have joined the game. She hits hard and can survive even the most dangerous units. She lacks Ninian's dancing, though, and can fall easily to other green dragons like Fae. 8/10

[Alexmender]

Donnel, the former f2p god. He is really underrated imo. His statline is really good with 43 Hp, 35 Atk and 32 Def making him a good duelist against physical units. The trainee BST bonuses allow him to keep up with the newer units in terms of arena score. His main downside is his mediocre base 29 Spd, it isn't high enough to make him a superb duelist like Nephenee nor is it low enough to make him go the tank route. The lack of a Prf weapon hurts him because it means that he lacks a unique niche compared to other lances. He suffers from not being as min-maxed as Lukas/Nephenee but Donnel will work wonders with the proper investment.

Rating: 6/10

Nowi. There's not a lot to say here. She's the strongest blue dragon in the game, period. Ninian has dance utility but pays for this with mediocre stats, F!Corrin has an abysmal Atk stat and M!Kana lacks merges. Nowi has a balanced spread with trainee bonuses allowing her to take whatever path she wishes, be it as a physical tank, a mixed tank or surprisingly a Player Phase attacker. She has a ton of options and will work very well in whatever you choose to do with her. Her main weakness is that her Res is relatively low compared to the other trainee dragons (but it's still above average) and due to her color she's incredibly weak to Divine Naga although she compensates this by not being as weak to Falchion. Underestimate Nowi and you'll find the end of your deathless arena run.

Rating: 8.5/10

[eclipse]

Donnel - That base Atk is nice, and his kit. . .mostly fits his stats.  His biggest drawback IMO is lack of a personal beatstick, something that Ephraim/Shiro have over him (their stat lines are fairly similar).  +Atk/-Spd screams Brave Lance, while +Spd can think about Firesweeping.  Oh, and he's also infantry, which means that he has issues competing with the likes of Hinoka.  IMO his rating will shoot up if he gets a good personal weapon, since his stats aren't that bad.  But for now, he's a solid 6.5/10.

Nowi - So, dragons.  Her mixed bulk synergizes nicely with her high HP, and her weapon comes with innate DC.  To top it off, she has one of the best raw Atk stats for dragons in the game, only beaten by big Tiki and male Robin.  Her speed is meh, so she won't cry too much if she has a bane here.  She absolutely wants nothing to do with Divine Naga, but she'll otherwise function nicely as a mixed tank of sorts.  Her downside is that there's so many creative ways to murder a dragon.  8.5/10

[Nowi's Husband]

Nowi- 10/10 perfection, tanks and kills everything.  When she says she can take on a whole army, she means it. Eats greens for breakfast.

 

[Astellius]

49 minutes ago, Nowi's Husband said:

Nowi- 10/10 perfection, tanks and kills everything.  When she says she can take on a whole army, she means it. Eats greens for breakfast.

 

Julia is hiding. Too bad that pillar is broken, Julia, we can see you!

Edited May 26, 2018 by Astellius

[Lemmy]

1 hour ago, Nowi's Husband said:

Nowi- 10/10 perfection, tanks and kills everything.  When she says she can take on a whole army, she means it. Eats greens for breakfast.

How is no one doubling her?

[Nowi's Husband]

4 minutes ago, Lemmy said:

How is no one doubling her?

Summoner Support, +10 merged, +Spd IV, and Speed refinement on weapon bring Nowi to 39 speed before buffs are even added.  I believe speed is the best defense, if you don't get doubled that's half the damage, much better than making speed the dump stat and taking two hits at reduced damage. That's why I run Drive Speed on the whole team.

Edited May 26, 2018 by Nowi's Husband

[Korath88]

I'm back, now that I finally have some free time.

Donnel

Lance infantry with a balanced stat spread, which isn't bad by any means, but unlike his competition, he lacks a unique weapon, and thus can't compete with the likes of Ephraim, CYL!Lucina, Shiro and Fjorm. Compared to the rest of the lance infantry, he lacks Lukas' minmaxed physical bulk or Nephenee's speed, and thus can't serve as a tanky or fast lancer that well. He can use his brave lance well but brave infantry lance is a dead niche.

5/10, really mediocre unit

Nowi

I feel like nearly everyone has one except me. And it's not really surprising. Strongest Atk stat of the blue dragons with good mixed bulk and lighting+steady breath access makes her a really strong generalist unit like most other dragons. She can also run TA swordbreaker to be a falchion counter on dragon teams. Depending on her boon/bane combo her standard counters may even have trouble killing her, but thankfully, she can only run one set at a time. However, she lacks in player phase utility outside of swordbreaker builds due to middling speed, but her performance on enemy phase more than makes up for it.

9/10 I wish I didn't hate her so much so I would actually be willing to build one.

[Ae†her]

Donnel - He has nothing good for skill inheritance other than Reciprocal Aid, and Drag Back is kind of a weak option nowadays. Brave Lance+ is nothing special, and is available on Cordelia as well. 2/10 - 10%

In terms of combat, Donnel has high Atk, decent Def, and workable Spd. His HP is in the adequate threshold, and his Res isn't the lowest. Configured with certain refinements and Breath skills he can be built as a very tanky, follow-up stopping, and hard hitting Enemy Phase unit. His decent Res can help him against dragons as well, and his higher BST is helpful in the Arena. 7/10 - 90%

6.5/10

Nowi - Comes with Lightning Breath+ which is like necessary for so many dragons to inherit, and it's perfect for her. Other than that there's really nothing else. - 3/10 - 10%

Combat-wise there's not much to say. She's a dragon with very nice defensive stats, mildly high HP (high with Lightning Breath+ refine), and increasble Spd that can help her become follow-up resistant. With Quick Riposte 3 and/or Vantage 3 somewhere she should be really good, at higher merges she becomes very powerful due to an increase in her overall amazing stat structure. Dragons if they get doubled can make up for it with Steady Breath / Warding Breath and Aether. She's the best blue dragon as of now. 9/10 - 90%

8.5/10

 

[LordFrigid]

Donnel

• Physical-focused stat line featuring a solid Atk stat, good Def, and low Spd and Res.
  • Decent red and blue matchups on the player phase with an Atk-stacking Brave Lance set, but struggles against enemies with high physical bulk.
  • Strong red and good blue matchups on the enemy phase with either a DC or Steady Breath set. His stat line is better suited to the latter, but he's not bad at the former if needed.
• Can capably provide Panic Ploy support with his high HP stat.

Overall, I give him 7.5 for combat (strong red, good blue matchups on the enemy phase), and 1 for support (Panic Ploy capability), for a total rating of 7/10.

Nowi

• Powerful & bulky stat line featuring good Atk, decent Def and Res, and low Spd.
  • Half-decent Spd-stacking player phase set with Hone Dragons active, struggling against similarly Spd-stacked enemies.
  • Very strong red and strong blue matchups on the enemy phase with a Steady Breath/Quick Riposte set.
• As a dragon unit, she can provide dragon field and combat buffs to support her teammates. A high HP stat allows her to capably run Panic Ploy.

Overall, I give her 9 for combat (very strong red, strong blue enemy phase matchups), and 1.5 for support (dragon field/combat buff potential, Panic Ploy potential), for a total rating of 8.5/10.

~

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.
• 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 27, 2018 by LordFrigid

[Thane]

Nowi, together with Black Knight and Hector, probably have a Vantage club where they kick puppies and laugh at the less fortunate together.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Nowi - IMO THE best Blue in the game, bar none. The only other candidate for best blue is Hardin, with some arguing Effie for fair reason so to put it simply the one advantage she have over Dank Emperor is her 420 ability to counter attack into Brave Lyn. One thing to REALLY highlight on Nowi is the power of R!weapons, offering 5 Hp and 2-4 stats depending on choice.  This allows, for example a massive 50/30/33/30 statsline with Distant Counter and Steady Stance. The new addition of Water Breath is notable, allowing Nowi to have 50/30/37/34 statsline while dropping Breath skill for DC which.... is ok. One of few true juggernaut units in the game, that benefits a shit tons with buff stacking to give her Swordbreaker + QR for a solid mix phase performance in places with Adaptive strike. 10/10

 

Donnel - BeR!kut Lance solidifes his stats into absurd level, having 30 on almost every stats, a workable speed, and high ATK. Donnel is arguably the very top of no-Prf/no-Armor Lancer which sadly is a high number category filled with very strong unit. This doesn't make him bad per-se, his mixed bulk makes him arguably more consistent than Lukas, but as a whole he's rather uninspiring when you get into hax units like Ephraim. 7/10

[Poimagic]

Nowi - I’d say that she sucks, and is overhyped. F!Corrin can do what she can do. The only downside is maybe the fact that F!Corrin has both less atk and less res than Nowi, but more spd makes up for it 

Rating: 2/10

Donnel: Know nothing bout how he plays in this game, so can’t give a score

[XRay]

Not sure why Donnel is getting some really low scores. His combat performance is about as good as any other top tier lance units.

7 hours ago, Poimagic said:

The only downside is maybe the fact that F!Corrin has both less atk and less res than Nowi, but more spd makes up for it 

That lower Atk is a pretty huge downside though. I run dragons first in Rival Domains and Grand Conquest, and F!Corrin is not exactly reliable at killing bulkier enemies, whereas Nowi has a much easier time dealing with them. I have not notice the lower Res being a problem, as there are plenty of fort tiles and BB!Lyn accompanies F!Corrin's group for healing and doing chip damage

— — — — — — —

Here is how my criteria are rated:

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.
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%*0.25) = 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
Player Phase 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. The formula is that same as the raw performance:
(W%) - (L%*0.25) = Independence
Enemy Phase Raw Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance:
See Above.
Enemy Phase Independence:
See Above.
Ease of Use:
This is an average of the mobility and range scores.
Performance:
This consolidates the weighted performance and independence scores into one score, and uses the higher of Player Phase or Enemy Phase. This also means that the build used in weighted performance may not necessarily be their best build, since there may be an alternative build with a slightly worse performance but have much higher independence.
(Weighted Performance * 0.8) + (Raw Performance * 0.1) + (Independence * 0.1) = Performance
Support:
Most units by default will be 0/10. Units with 30+ Res start from 1/10. Dagger units 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.
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 and/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
Performance: 5/10
Support: 1/10
Other: If the unit got some unique application or fun build, they will get a boost to their rating.

Notes:
1. 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.
2. Since healers' Firesweep build [+Atk, Pain [Dazzling Staff], Attack +3, Wrathful Staff, Attack +3] requires the user to do two rounds of combat to measure how good it is, that overwhelmingly skews the combat results for healers, so I decided to tone down their performance by using Brazen Atk/Spd-Desperation and taking away 10 HP or 25% of max HP, which ever is greater.
3. The build used in raw/weighted performance might not be the build with the best score. If there is an alternative build with a slightly less performance but much higher independence, that build will be used instead.
4. Axe and dagger versions of Wo Dao are not available in the regular summoning pool yet, but I think they will be added in the future, so I am using Giant Spoon and Lethal Carrot.

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
Player Phase Raw Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Player Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Player Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]
Enemy Phase Raw Performance: /10 — #:#:#
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: /10
Enemy Phase Independence: /10 — #:#:#
[+Boon, -Bane, Weapon, Special, A, B, Sacred Seal, #/#/#/#]

Ease of Use: /10
Performance: /10
Support: /10
Other: /10

Familiarity/Experience: /10
Rating: /10

Summary:

_______ got bad/okay/good/stellar combat performance.

She/He can the support the team with Ploys.

She/He can support the team with daggers/Light Breath and Dark Breath.

She/He is a great mobility support unit as a flier.

She/He can also run Firesweep-Hit and Run as a flier unit.

She/He can run a Firesweep-Poison Strike-Poison Strike.

She/He can run Wrathful Staff-Dazzling Staff to emulate Firesweep archers.

She/He can run a Raven set.

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

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

Ease of Use: /10
Performance: /10
Support: /10
Other: /10

Familiarity/Experience: /10
Rating: /10

Summary:

_______ got bad/okay/good/stellar combat performance.

She/He can the support the team with Ploys.

She/He can support the team with daggers/Light Breath and Dark Breath.

She/He is a great mobility support unit as a flier.

She/He can also run Firesweep-Hit and Run as a flier unit.

She/He can run a Firesweep-Poison Strike-Poison Strike.

She/He can run Wrathful Staff-Dazzling Staff to emulate Firesweep archers.

She/He can run a Raven set.

 

— — — — — — — ◾Donnel◾ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 5/10
Range: 0/10
Player Phase Raw Performance: 7.97/10 — 209:29:15
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 5.95/10
Player Phase Independence: 6.85/10 — 184:43:26
[+Atk, -Res, Brave Lance, Moonbow, Death Blow, Guard, Quickened Pulse, 4/0/4/0]
Enemy Phase Raw Performance: 7.97/10 — 204:9:40
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 5.95/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 6.09/10 — 163:36:54
[+Spd, -Res, Harmonic Lance [Spd], Moonbow, Distant Counter, Quick Riposte, Speed +3, 4/4/0/0]

Ease of Use: 2.5/10
Performance: 6.24/10
Support: 0/10
Other: 0/10

Familiarity/Experience: 0/10
Rating: 5/10

Summary:

Donnel got good combat performance.

— — — — — — — ◾Nowi◾ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 5/10
Range: 5/10
Player Phase Raw Performance: 6.08/10 — 155:5:93
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 2.15/10
Player Phase Independence: 2.98/10 — 78:10:165
[+Spd, -Res, Flametongue [Spd], Moonbow, Life and Death, Desperation, Speed +3, 4/4/0/0]
Enemy Phase Raw Performance: 8.43/10 — 215:7:31
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 6.86/10
Enemy Phase Independence: 6.18/10 — 168:47:38
[+Spd, -HP, Lightning Breath [Spd], Bonfire, Steady Breath, Quick Riposte, Speed +3, 4/4/0/0]

Ease of Use: 5/10
Performance: 6.95/10
Support: 1/10
Other: 0/10

Familiarity/Experience: 2/10
Rating: 5.5/10

Summary:

Nowi got good combat performance. She can support the team with Light Breath and Dark Breath.

Edited May 27, 2018 by XRay

[LordFrigid]

2 hours ago, Poimagic said:

Nowi - I’d say that she sucks, and is overhyped. F!Corrin can do what she can do. The only downside is maybe the fact that F!Corrin has both less atk and less res than Nowi, but more spd makes up for it 

Rating: 2/10

Corrin has less blue KO potential due to her lower Atk stat. Higher Spd is nice for preventing enemy doubles and possibly Player Phase presence, but Quick Riposte makes up for Nowi’s lower Spd.

Further, I suspect that this rating is based much more in personal bias than Nowi’s actual capabilities as a unit in Arena gameplay.

@The Priest I’d like to recommend that this rating be omitted from Nowi’s average.

[redlight]

My first "rate the unit" so bear with me as I'll try to participate from now on. Bear in mind that what I consider the perfect unit is that they perform well in the player as well as the enemy phase with the same build.

Because my wifi disappeared when I tried to submit my post, I had write all over from the start. 

Donnel: One thing I like about him is that he's flexible. There are several ways to build him. He's got a superboon in res being able to reach 27 that you could work with for something like DC as well as possibly use fury for ploys, has decent enough speed that if you put in the effort can prevent doubles and possibly double fast units, pretty good overall bulk and a good atk value of 35.
7.5: Overall, a pretty decent unit. Isn't meta defining nor balls to the walls insane, but his flexibility allows you to be creative and it'll pay off.

Nowi: Supposedly "top tier" and "one of the best in the game" unit. Having weakness to Falchion and Naga bumps down her score. But she can run stuff like infantry pulse and panic ploy so that evens it out. Her primary defensive builds lack player phase threat, but she can be decently fast at the cost of consistent enemy phase performance. Lacks the in-combat flexibility that physical melee units have with their weapons such as effective damage, cooldown acceleration, wo dao effect, etc. But she has defensive and support utility with breaths.
8: Solid unit, but overrated. The good: decent attack value, workable speed, good hp value, mobile mixed tank, support utility with breaths, extremely good enemy phase performance, res is usually a dump stat for melee physical units. The bad: usually lackluster player phase, not that great speed, Corrin is a better supportive windsweep/watersweep user, weakness to Falchion and Naga

Edited May 27, 2018 by silveraura25