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

[Jingle Jangle]

Gordin: 4/10 A bulky archer and doesn't offer much in most teams.

Jeorge: 6/10 Outside his niche of being a range killer, he is outclassed by more offensive archers.

[eclipse]

Man, I missed a bunch of days. ;/

Anyway. . .

Gordin - My first Brave Bow archer.  31 Atk is mediocre, and 25 Speed isn't going to quad anything.  His selling point IMO is his Defense - 35 with +Def means that the only one that can potentially beat him is Jakob. . .but Jakob is stuck with armor movement, is a seasonal unit, and is better off with +Atk anyway.  Still, with a Guard Bow (defense) and the Distant Defense seal, Gordin can safely bait physical ranged units and live to tell about it.  Or, he can run a weird mixed build with Guard Bow (defense), Close Counter, and Close Defense for 44 defense on EP (and very painful Bonfires).  He's an extremely niche unit, but his niche amuses me, so he gets a 3/10.

Jeorge - He can, uh, bait Reinhardt with an upgraded Parthia and the Deflect Magic seal, but why would you do such a thing?  32/32 offenses are passable, so he can maybe run a Brave Bow build if he's +Atk.  He's more versatile than Gordin, at least.  4.5/10

[Ae†her]

Gordin - Skill-wise Gordin doesn't really come with much other than a Brave Bow+ which helps him because he's slow. He can't give off Vantage for Skill Inheritance because it's locked to 5*s, but he is a common unit to promote and kill for Brave Bow. Atk+3 can be useful when a unit really needs it just to perform a certain niche in a PvE map, but for the Arena it's practically garbage other than on certain healers. 4/10

In combat Gordin is still pretty bad, he can't run his default Brave Bow set well because he has slightly-low Atk and not to mention garbage Spd. His Guard Bow build is also trash because while he does have decent Def his Res is at the very low tier of the stat. 3/10

Overall I give Gordin a 3.5/10.

Jeorge - Jeorgey boy doesn't have that many good skills for skill inheritance other than Seal Atk, which is not very useful in Arena. However, he does come with Parthia which is refinable and helps him out a lot (but only when Refined). Parthia in fact carries his deafult set for him. Spur Spd is locked to 5 stars, but it's a good skill in general for any unit to have, and you need Parthia anyways for Jeorge to be good so it helps him. 6/10

In terms of stats, Jeorge actually has a very decent Atk/Spd combo, and although it is far outclassed by better archers such B!Cordelia or other bows who go extreme on the Atk/Spd stat, it is still relatively good. Jeorge's Parthia is really what lets him shine in combat because it gives him an additional Atk+6 against ranged units, and once Jeorge reaches 35 Spd, and runs Swift Sparrow he's actually a very decent Attacker (138/4/86 on Kagero Chart if he has 49 Atk and 35 Spd and is using Swift Sparrow 2 with the Refined Parthia). Plus he can tank a first hit from many mages thanks to his Parthia making him very dangerous to try and kill with a mage unless you have Desperation. 7/10

Overall Jeorge gets a 6.5/10

Score Calculations:

Spoiler

Since I need .5s and whole numbers this method is easier and a lot simpler:

1. Default Skills and Usefulness for Skill Inheritance - 50%

2. Stats and Combat Performance - 50%

 

Edited May 5, 2018 by Ae†her

[Fire Emblem Fan]

4 hours ago, LordFrigid said:

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

 

4 hours ago, The Priest said:

@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.

Oh, okay cool!

Gordin: I seem to like Gordin way more than most people and I personally think ya'll are being a tad harsh. I like his defense, he can take a hit and that's always something good for an archer to have. I like his weapon, he'll strike at least twice on Player Phase no matter what. I like his natural access to Vantage, his defense let's him get in range to use it without dying, and at that point any mage will already have been damaged. Sure, he doesn't hit as hard as other archers, but they're not all going to, really. And if nothing else, he can be good skill fodder. 6/10

Jeorge: He has access to a fancy personal weapon and that alone makes him pretty decent. He can't take a hit like Gordin, but he has better attack, combine that with his personal weapon and his RES is fixed a little too. 6.5/10

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Gordin -  I don't recommend getting cute with the Slaying Bow, Gordin's speed is very poor, and he's not bulky enough to competently serve as an enemy phase archer like Jakob. Leon wields it better anyway. In fact, Leon is just better in many respects, only missing out a bit on physical and magical bulk due to less HP. Archers wielding brave bows are all fairly comparable in terms of performance with them all meeting or barely exceeding 31 Atk. I rate him a noncommital 5 out of 10. Most archers really are "average"

Jeorge - His weapon's a bit weird. Not really committing to player or enemy phase after refinement. Thanks to his low HP, his general bulk is pretty low for an archer, but if he can avoid doubles, he will probably survive a mage. With only 32 attack, I'd keep him on the Parthia rather than making him another brave bow. Failing to pick up kills on melee units sucks but he won't want to take a Distant Counter retaliation anyway. 5.5 out of 10 for having a niche, but some archers already come with natural magical bulk. I'm particularly enthusiastic about Innes.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Glennstavos

[LordFrigid]

Day 6

Abel: The Panther

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
35/39/42
30/33/36
29/32/35
22/25/28
22/25/29

Base Skills:

Brave Lance+
( - )
Aegis

HP +5
Swordbreaker 3
( - )

Linde: Light Mage

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
32/35/39
32/35/38
23/36/39
11/14/18
23/27/30

Base Skills:

Aura
Ardent Sacrifice
( - )

Speed +3
( - )
Fortify Res 3

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by LordFrigid

[Alexmender]

Abel the OG! Lance cav. He has a solid offensive spread which lets him fill different niches with his default Brave Lance, a Slaying Lance or even a Firesweep Lance if he has Hone Cavalry/Spd Tactic support. Despite his above average spread he finds a lot of competition for the Lance Cavalier spot from units like Peri and Oscar that sport more min/maxed spreads and Camus who has DC in his weapon to fill a completely different role. Still, don't sleep on Abel because if you're not careful enough you'll find yourself for a nasty surprise in hands of the Panther.

Rating: 7.5/10

Linde to this day still holds the best offensive spread for infantry blue mages which makes her a threat to take into account at all times (even if her rarity and lack of banners means that she'll never be common). She has the ability to go full offense with Blárblade, take a semi healer approach with her default Aura or take a buffing role with Dark Aura. Linde has a lot of versatility which can make her somewhat unpredictable. Her main downsides are her paper-thin defensive stats but this shouldn't be a big detriment if Linde's able to finish the enemy before they retaliate back. Sadly the meta has started to shift from hyper offense to mix phase tanks that sport high Def/Res and skills like Dull Ranged, while niche, mean that a blade tome isn't the answer to every threat anymore.

Rating: 9/10

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Abel - Abel still competes with other lance cavs. Most launch units that were above average for their unit type at launch no longer are, but Abel has kept up far better than his partner. My Abel kept his Brave Lance because it was free and there were marginally better firesweep users, including Roderick who already has the weapon. But an optimal Abel would prefer the Firesweep Lance if only for his own safety. Besides lacking one or two points of speed, Abel is only markedly worse than Legendary Ephraim with his awesome personal weapon and ability to get merged. But a 33/32 offensive spread isn't going to set the world on fire even with full buffs, so I'd dial him back to a 5.5 out of 10. All the other potentially greater lance cavs lack access to merges such as Berkut, Camus, and Finn

Linde - I don't own her but wow that 35/36 spread. With Dark Aura she can boost her melee attacking allies or be a blarblade user. A fully merged Linde (who in the world would ever have one of those?) would be top of the line, at least among infantry blue tomes. And as for other movement types, she only suffers from more restrictive team support due to reliance on Tactics skills. 9 out of 10. I want one.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Glennstavos

[LordFrigid]

Abel

• Offense-focused stat line with medium Atk and Spd, and mediocre Def and Res.
  • Strong offense matchups against red and blue foes with a Brave Lance+/Life and Death and Hone Cavalry. Matchups are largely unaffected by his B Passive and Special slots, leaving both flexible. Notable options for these slots are Escutcheon (survives Steady Breath/Bonfire Nowi), Desperation (immediate 4x against slower foes, as he can 2HKO most of the fast red cast), Chill Def (debuff support, helps him land 2HKOs on bulkier Reds like Zelgius), and Sword- or Lancebreaker (helps break through very heavily Def-stacked Sword or Lance foes). He can also use other lances (Harmonic, Slaying, Firesweep), but these will have trouble dealing with faster/Spd-stacked foes unless he also carries a -breaker skill.
  • Capable of running a DC enemy phase set, but his stat line is better suited to an offense set.
• As a cavalry unit, he can carry a cavalry field or combat buff in his C Passive slot. He can run a Chill in his B slot if he's not using Desperation or a -breaker.

Overall, I give him 8.5 for combat (strong red and blue matchups with a Brave Lance set), and 1.5 for support (cavalry field/combat buffs, Chill potential), for a total rating of 8/10.

Linde

• Heavily offense-focused stat line, with high Atk and Spd, decent Res, and poor Def.
  • Aura (built-in Breath of Life 2) is lackluster as a personal weapon. Dark Aura is a little more useful, providing a +6 Atk buff to melee allies, but cause her own matchups to suffer a bit.
  • Very strong offense matchups against red and blue foes with Blárblade+, but requires buffs to operate (matchups were run with +4/4/3/3 buffs on Linde and +3/3/3/6 buffs on enemies). She benefits the most from a mixed team using Tactic buffs. Sustainability through Desperation.
  • Poor enemy phase capabilities.
• Cannot provide much team support beyond the standard C passive field or combat buff (unless Dark Aura is used).

Overall I give her 9 for combat (very strong red and blue matchups with Blárblade+, small sustainability bonus), and .5 for support (basic field/combat buff), 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. 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.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Abel: I think Abel is a pretty great choice for a lance cavalier. He doesn't have a personal weapon and he isn't a Legendary like Camus and L/Ephraim, but as far as all the lance cavs in the permanent pool go, he's a much better choice than the likes of Peri. I like his offense-oriented stats and his weapon is good despite not being a fancy personal one. 7.5/10

I'll have to refrain from Linde, I haven't summoned her yet.

[XRay]

Took a break yesterday.

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.
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.
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:

 

— — — — — — — ◾Abel◾ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 8/10
Range: 0/10
Ease of Use: 4/10
Player Phase Performance: 7.71/10 — 202:26:17
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 5.43/10
[+Atk, -Res, Brave Lance, Moonbow, Death Blow, Guard, Quickened Pulse, 6/6/0/0]
Enemy Phase Performance: 7.35/10 — 191:22:32
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 4.69/10
[+Spd, -Res, Harmonic Lance [Spd], Moonbow, Distant Counter, Quick Riposte, Speed +3, 6/6/0/0]
Independence: 7.06/10 — 161:55:29
[+Atk, -Res, Brave Lance, Moonbow, Death Blow, Guard, Quickened Pulse]
Support: 0/10
Other: 0/10

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

Summary:

Abel got good mobility and combat performance. Other than, he does not have much else going for him.

— — — — — — — ◾Linde◾ — — — — — — —

Mobility: 5/10
Range: 10/10
Ease of Use: 7.5/10
Player Phase Performance: 6.86/10 — 185:34:26
Player Phase Weighted Performance: 3.71/10
[+Spd, -Def, Blárblade, Moonbow, Swift Sparrow, Desperation, Speed +3, 4/4/0/0]
Enemy Phase Performance: 5.86/10 — 170:53:22
Enemy Phase Weighted Performance: 1.71/10
[+Atk, -Res, Blárowl [Def][1 Ally], Moonbow, Close Counter, Quick Riposte, Close Def, 4/4/0/0]
Independence: 5.27/10 — 67:40:138
[+Spd, -Atk, Blárblade, Moonbow, Swift Sparrow, Desperation, Speed +3]
Support: 3/10
Other: 0/10

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

Summary:

Linde is easy to use and got decent performance. Similar to other mages, she is mostly held back by her reliance on buffs and her lack of bulk to eat counters.

Linde can also buff her teammates with Dark Aura.

If you are running a Player Phase team, Linde is an overall solid unit, but she is not as crucial as your Firesweep archers/staff healers.

Edited May 6, 2018 by XRay

[eclipse]

Abel - It's not that he's bad.  It's that he's outclassed, no matter which way he steps (Oscar in terms of offense, Peri/Jagen/Mathilda in terms of Resistance, several others in terms of defense and HP).  +Atk means that he can keep his native Brave Lance, and I guess he can Firesweep with +Spd.  The arrival of Finn means that he absolutely needs an offensive boon, or he'll be inferior.  But in the interest of those that didn't get Finn, I'll give him a 6.5/10, because he's still a horse guy with a good offensive weapon who can safely bait swords by default.

Linde - The original light-and-fast blue mage!  She's no longer queen of raw offense (Mae/Delthea/Lute beat her, and Micaiah ties her) or speed (Caeda beats her, and Lyn/Lucina tie her), but being second-place in both by one is still pretty good.  For the most devastating results, she wants a new everything.  But once she gets her full kit (and buffs), there isn't much that'll stop her once she attacks.  She absolutely doesn't want to be on the other end of an attack, unless it's default Sanaki.  8/10

[Shiki]

Gordin earned himself a 4.21, Jeorge gets a 5.64.

@XRay You know, at this point I'm doubting that you are capable of giving a score outside of ~5.
Aside from Reinhardt earning an automatic 10/10 of course.

Edited May 6, 2018 by The Priest

[XRay]

52 minutes ago, The Priest said:

Gordin earned himself a 4.21, Jeorge gets a 5.64.

@XRay You know, at this point I'm doubting that you are capable of giving a score outside of ~5.
Aside from Reinhardt earning an automatic 10/10 of course.

Using my rating system, Reinhardt actually gets a 7. It is ~6.81 to be a little more exact, but I rounded it up.

I gave BH!Lyn an 8, broken down as ~7.02 plus an extra point for being able to run Firesweep.

I gave WOF!Hinoka a 9, with ~7.03 plus 0.7 from support and another 1 from being able to run Firesweep.

TOD!Jakob also got a 9. TOD!Jakob is the only armor unit who can run Armor Boots indefinitely effectively since he has access to Firesweep Bow, so he is treated as if he were an infantry unit, but with 6 points instead of 5 since he is unaffected by forests. The score break down is ~7.99 with an extra 1 point for running being able to run Firesweep Bow.

Edited May 6, 2018 by XRay

[kirauza343]

I've been refraining from rating characters I haven't used much/at all (hopefully that's okay), but Linde was part of my original team so I feel like I have enough experience with her to adequately rate her. 

Linde: her spread is fantastic, arguably the best of the infantry blue mages. She does prefer Blárblade which means she is reliant on her team for buffs, but with tactics skills that's less of a problem (even if attack and speed tactic, the two she wants the most, are harder to acquire). Other than her spread though she doesn't have much to set her apart from other blue mages, but she does fill the role of cookie cutter bladetome well. Rating: 8/10

[Punished Dayni]

Missed yesterday, sorry.

Day 5:

Spoiler

Gordin: So, I don't have him at 5*, but his default set isn't changed that much with 5*. He's a unit with alright attack for what he's using in the Brave Bow, good HP and defence and low speed and resistance. Others can do the Brave Bow better offensively though. One thing most others can't use as effectively is the Guard Bow, due to his good defence for an archer he can use it well with or without CC to help him. He does need investment to be able to do much, but it's not like he's utterly useless.

4/10, default Brave Bow ain't awful, but there's better for it, while he can work decently with stuff like Guard Bow due to a surprisingly good defence.

Jeorge: So, this guy's gotten a bit better since launch. He actually has a pretty decent offensive spread at 32/32, which is certainly less than others but isn't actually awful. Parthia also sucked, but the refinery gave it an actual good effect with taking less damage from magic to replace Warding Blow 2, as well as gaining Distant Attack, a skill we still don't have elsewhere and makes each hit with the Parthia better again. Before that upgrade he could also join the Brave Bow bandwagon, but there wasn't much point for him to do so.

5/10, better than Gordin, can be a pretty fast bow unit but he won't be the best at it on foot.

Back to today:

Abel: Like Cain, he's surpassed at this point. He's also got a similar offensive build (1 more Atk than Cain), but he has more balanced defences, which both gives him a hope with dragons and makes him more vulnerable to the physical units he's usually facing. He also has the very useful swordbreaker so like Cain he's great fodder and naturally it took forever for me to get a single copy of either one. He sadly has a more arguable powercreep in Finn (Hence named best knight), who is worse in Res but just outdoes him in everything else (if slightly), though Abel can have IVs to benefit him. Like Cain, there's not much he can do I don't see others doing better.

3/10, he's also outdone, but him and Cain being so low isn't because they're trash. (Push Cain up to 3 from me as well)

Linde: Oh boy, I don't even have her in the first place, so this will be all theory. In the early days, she was a terror if you didn't have a suitable counter. Naturally, I was dreading her showing up in the early days of arena. While since then her threat's reduced, she's still a powerful mage, especially with Blarblade due to her 35/36 offensive spread working well with it. Her default weapon isn't exceptional in having BoL2 when other weapons outdo it now (One of which she could inherit), though she can just take Delthea's and use it alongside 1-range allies and they get a great offence boost neat her. Of course, the meta's greens are not half as limited as they used to be, meaning more enemies can fight her and win, while her defence is so paltry that anything gets in her range and it's pretty likely she'll die. Of course a full set of buff from Blarblade is likely to kill nearly anything, but with the increase in stuff like ploys and weapons that ignore buffs (with Null Range newly added), she has to tiptoe around them to make sure she isn't knocked down. Still, a unit from launch worth considering (now, if only she could get a banner!)

7/10, she might be solid offensively, but trying to get enough merges of higher tiers ain't worth it for the upper tiers because of lower stat total for mages.

[AndrewMcC00l]

Abel: He's been thoroughly powercrept. Everything he can do is done better by another unit. Even his merge potential isn't as valuable anymore since Oscar is now in the 3*-4*. He's still serviceable, but there's no reason to use him unless you have merges built up or if you really like Abel. I would have given Cain a 5/10, so I'll give Abel a 5/10.

Linde: She's great. 35/36 is still the best offensive statline of any mage in the game. She can run a -blade build super well or she can stack BoL or Dark Aura for a support roll, and still be able to fight really well. Not everything is perfect, however. Being an infantry unit isn't great, Blue Tome is one of the most over-saturated unit types in the game, with a certain Mage Knight usualy acting as a better nuke. Despite all of this, she's still great. 8/10. 

[Shiki]

@Dayni There won't be any score changing after a round is over. Alfonse was a special case because the Arena change was announced on that day.
Same for counting votes beyond the specified time.

Abel managed to get 5.94, while Linde takes 1st place with 7.88.

Minerva, Red Dragoon

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
36/40/43
28/31/34
30/33/36
29/32/35
19/22/25

Base Skills:

Hauteclere (Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1).)
( - )
Sacred Cowl

Life and Death
( - )
Ward Fliers

Merric, Wind Mage

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
40/43/46
23/26/30
29/32/35
24/28/31
16/19/22

Base Skills:

Excalibur (Effective against flying foes.)
( - )
Growing Wind

HP+
( - )
Spur Res

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

4 hours ago, AndrewMcC00l said:

Abel: He's been thoroughly powercrept. Everything he can do is done better by another unit. Even his merge potential isn't as valuable anymore since Oscar is now in the 3*-4*.

Abel shared rarity with Oscar before the demotions as well. The only argument for higher merge potential was that Abel existed in the game for six months longer than Oscar.

Minerva - Another unit I don't have. I'll have to abstain from this one. Linde was easy to judge since mages are so simplistic in function. I have a lot of experience with Michalis, but Minerva's stat spread is totally different, and she can also potentially reach max merges unlike her brother. At a quick glance, I'd say she has trouble fitting any sort of role among axe fliers. Cherche and Beruka are more bulky, NY!Azura can sing, and Camilla can mage check. What all those other fliers lack is the incredible refined Hauteclere but I still question the balanced stat spread.

Merric - I've actually gotten more use out of Merric after the Iote's shield seal appeared. Because even though he can't break through it, more people were encouraged by that seal and the greater spread of flier buffs to make their own flier team. Like most launch units, Merric's got too many points in HP and his attack stat is very poor. His speed is respectable, but not high enough to feasibly double the average lance user or avoid doubles from optimized blue mages. I think Boey's got Merric beat as an Owl tome CC tank or as a Raven check. Merric does have Dark Excalibur for more damage, and he can get an Atk superboon as well. Get a +Atk one unless you're okay with a green version of Odin. Pack him with lancebreaker to improve his relevant matchups and he won't be dead weight. But there are so many better green mages out there, namely dragon killers and blade tome sweepers. The only green mage I think Merric is definitively better than is F!Robin. As a bulky mage he's outclassed by Boey, and with Dark Excalibur he fails to match up to Sonya. Neither of those two are particularly noteworthy mages either so I rate him a 3.5 out of 10 when packing dark excalibur. I primarily use him as a flier check in Arena Assault, but this rating is strictly for the other Arena modes.

Edited May 7, 2018 by Glennstavos

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Minerva - Before her refine even exists i personally believe Minerva is one of the most absurd unit in the entire game. Killer weapons are balanced around their MT being really low. Minerva having Killer effect on a 16 MT Legendary is busted as all hell, which lets her several possible set such as Proc Cheese and 2 HIt Galeforce

And then her refine hits, either giving her MOAR stats and her special effect adds a Wo Dao effect, basically pushing a special 1 tier onwards. Minerva's Moon Bow is basically Regnal Astra, Minerva's Bonfire is basically Black Luna, and Ignis just straight up murders you

 

9.5/10 extremely broken specs limited by mediocre all around stats without Flier buff, and lack of broken Breathe to push her onwards.

[Alexmender]

Minerva, princess of Macedon and leader of the Whitewings. She has a balanced stat spread which lets her fill different roles but like every balanced unit she struggles to do an awesome job unlike units with more min/maxed spreads. Thankfully she has access to Hauteclere which she shares with her brother Michalis, this weapon at base is a 16 MT Killer Axe which lets her abuse a good number of specials with Bonfire/Luna standing out in particular. After Hauteclere got it's refinement it got the Wo Dao effect which adds 10 Dmg every time Minerva procs an special, this makes Minerva an extremely dangerous unit to face if one lacks the means to ORKO her.

Rating: 8.5/10

Merric, common pity breaker and Marth's brother-in-law. I won't say much about this dude, he was pretty cool in SD and a bit meh in NM but still usable. In Heroes he has a niche of being an anti-flier mage thanks to Excalibur or I'd like to say so but his low Atk stat means that he'll hit like a wet noodle most of the time, his Spd stat while decent isn't enough to take on the myriad of fast fliers in the game and his defensive stats are just abysmal outside of a mammoth HP (at least for a mage). He also has access to Dark Excalibur which should cover for his low Dmg output thanks to it's Wo Dao effect but he shares this weapon with Sonya who has an actual Atk stat and similar Spd so she outclasses him while using this weapon.

Rating: 1.5/10

[kirauza343]

I don't really have any experience with Merric so I'll just be doing Minerva.

Minerva: On paper, she looks like a pretty great unit: great prf, decent speed/not terrible attack, and respectable bulk. Her resistance is pretty low, but that's pretty standard for an axe flier. From personal experience though it feels like what she can do another axe flier can do better. I mean...Airzura of all people has a comparable offensive spread to her despite her bst penalty, to say nothing of fliers who can beat her bulk. Still, she's a pretty flexible unit with a great prf which makes her a pretty good unit overall. Rating: 7/10

[TadpoleSuperHero]

Don't have Minerva so can't rate, but dang I like her and really hope to pull her someday soon.

Merric: I don't have a 5 star yet (but three 4 stars and a 3 star, so one day I have at least the potential of building him up), but his kit is kind of neat? Dark Excalibur is cool, but stat-wise he heavily relies on buffs. Put him with Marth and PA Azura and he could do some good, but why bother when you have better green mages available like Nino (especially Nino)? If you see fliers without Iote's Shield and with high defense but low res, then send Merric their way, but that's highly situational. I like the character, but gameplay-wise he strikes me as pretty bland. 4/10

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Minerva: A very good flyer unit, in my opinion. She has nice balanced stats and and awesome personal weapon that makes her even better. Her resistance is low, though, and that can be an issue since mages are so common. Combine that with the danger of archers and there's a bit to worry about. She's still an overall good unit, though. 7/10

Merric: Really the only things Merric has going for him are being anti-flyer, Dark Excalibur, and a ton of HP. But he's squishy enough that his HP may not matter and he doesn't hit hard enough for his tome. Like any unit, he can be good with building, but there are many other green mages I'd pick over him. 3/10

[Punished Dayni]

3 hours ago, The Priest said:

@Dayni There won't be any score changing after a round is over. Alfonse was a special case because the Arena change was announced on that day.
Same for counting votes beyond the specified time.

Understood, wanted to get the rating in at least.

Minerva: Sadly this is all theoretical too. She's a flying unit, so infantry bases and being able to move freely in exchange for B!Lyn turning you into chicken sticks. This is not as bad as that sentence implies. Minerva has a good offensive stat spread (31/36 is slightly better than Camilla while Airzura is faster, though the other axe fliers tend to focus on strength and all have lower speeds) making it pretty easy to use a build to take advantage of it and those flier buffs. Her def is actually pretty good at 32 with her alright 40 HP, though her flaw is her low res at 22 leaving her vulnerable to mages. She gets a very good exclusive in Hautclere, with -1 to any proc's cycle and a Wo Dao refinement which makes specials hurt quite a bit and encourage switching to skills like Glimmer. Her default skills are also good choices, with L&D making her stronger and faster while making her defences quite a bit worse (hence why it's worth considering switching and keeping those defences) and the pretty rare Ward Fliers which can be nice for a tanker set of allies. She can work pretty well overall, though she's unlikely to make the highest tiers because she's not got armour bases.

8/10, I wish I had one, Michalis is just too slow.

Merric: Man, you are so disappointing. MotE this is certainly not. His stats are just awkward for what he wants to do. A pretty low 26 Atk (though a superboon dues get him to a decent 30) doesn't work out too well and a 32 Spd isn't doing him any favours among his competition. Meanwhile his high HP doesn't work too well with his 19 Res, though 28 is actually pretty good Def stat among the mages, making it worth considering a raven build, though I would pick a lot of other units for it. He has Excaliber, which doesn't do too well sadly because of his low attack (40 neutral attack is not a good sign as a 5* mage). In general, he's just stuck in a place where others can work better at any of the things he could do. Infantry mages also don't have much relevance higher up for arena so. There's not much point in using him for arena imo.

2/10, my word are you in a woeful place.