Micaiah - Priestess of Dawn

[TheNiddo]

Micaiah - Priestess of Dawn

Having been introduced into Fire Emblem Heroes with both her Thani tome and general stat line from Radiant Dawn intact, Micaiah quickly made herself one of the strongest TT/GHB/Chain unit in the game. Having bonuses against horse and armour units at her disposal along with fantastic attack, Micaiah is able to tear through even heavily inflated stats with ease. As well she comes tied with the 2nd highest possible Res in the game for base stats, if not the highest in the game period thanks to Thani's additional +3 Res, meaning that she's both a fantastic magic tank and Ploy user. On top of all of this, she's the only unit in the game thus far with a unique Support skill, meaning she is the infantry mage with the highest available score value for arena play. All in all, Micaiah is an excellent 5* unit to invest into, even with sub-par IVs. I speak from experience as somebody who's only Micaiah is -Attack, but still rips through Inferno difficulty enemies. 

5* Level 4 Stats:
HP: 32/35/39
Atk: 32/35/38
Spd: 24/28/31
Def: 14/18/21
Res: 32/35/38
Total: 150 ~152

IV Recommendations: 
Single Player Content - If your focus for Micaiah is strictly single player content, you want +Attack or +Res for sure. +Attack allows her to squeeze out additional effective damage against inflated units which can make or break critical kills for GHBs. +Res allows her more easily handle enemy mages and dragons, or allow her Res to hit over 41 with her tome factored in: enough that she may be able to successfully use Ploys against even inflated enemy mages. For the bane, -Def or -Spd is the way to go: even with Thani chipping in some protection against arrows and daggers her physical defence is too low to rely on her ability to take a physical hit when not on a defensive tile. On top of that, due to her low speed most single player opponents will easily double her, even some of the armoured units. Because of this, -Spd also works. An alternative is to aim for +Speed/-Def: Micaiah has one build that can take advantage of +Spd and it may push her just far enough to not be doubled.

Arena Content - Because we want to take full advantage of Micaiah's naturally higher score, we want to avoid -Spd or -Def if at all possible. While both banes are ideal in terms of her stat spread, both are superbanes. This makes -HP her optimal bane: while it does hurt her magic bulk it doesn't hurt her ability to use ploys and its making no noticeable impact on her already flimsy physical bulk. +Attack or +Res when paired with this bane is ideal. If these are unobtainable, +HP/-Def or Neutral are perfectly serviceable: both keep her arena score in tact and the former adds to her magical bulk. If one doesn't intend to have Micaiah use Ploys, -Res is a perfectly acceptable bane as 32 Res along with an additional 3 from Thani is more than enough for most enemy mages. Just keep in mind that enemy dragons are most likely hitting her def with their ranged counterattacks, so in most situations Micaiah cannot tackle them regardless of her IV layout outside of Adult Tiki and possibly Young Tiki. 

Default Skills:
Weapon: Thani - Grants Res+3. Effective against armored and cavalry foes. Against armored and cavalry foes using bow, dagger, magic, or staff, damage from first attack received by unit during combat reduced by 30%.
Assist: Sacrifice - Converts penalties on target into bonuses. Restores target's HP = unit's current HP -1. Unit's HP reduced by amount restored.
Special: [-]
Passive A: Distant Defence 
Passive B: Guard
Passive C: Drive Attack

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Priestess Of Dawn (Budget Build)
-General Use, Any IV

Spoiler

Weapon: Thani
Assist: Sacrifice/[Flexible]
Special: Moonbow/Glacies/Iceberg/Draconic Aura
Passive A: Distant Defence/Fury
Passive B: Guard
Passive C: Drive Attack/[Any] Ploy
Sacred Seal: [Any] Ploy/[Any] Tactics/[Any] Drive/Heavy Blade/Distant Defence/Quick Riposte

A true budget built for any IV for anyone who pulls a Micaiah and isn't sure what to do with them. Her starting skillset is fantastic: nothing strictly speaking needs to be changed. Distant Defence allows her to tackle almost any mage with mage and potentially survive a dagger when combined with her tome's effect, but if you want more offence and bulk out of her Fury is perfectly acceptable. Guard allows her to no-sell any special activation from mage after mage as long as no physical units have a chance to knock her down out of Guard range,. 

If you don't like her Sacrifice skill and don't plan on using her in Arena, Reposition is acceptable. As for her special, you can go about it any variety of ways. If you want quick activation due to her low speed, go with Moonbow. If not you can either take advantage of her fantastic Res or Attack.

If you're slightly richer in terms of fodder, you can make her a Ploy bot for your team with 38 neutral res via Thani. But if not, Drive Attack is still solid. 

When it comes to the Seal, it depends on what you expect to be doing at the moment. Ploys, Tactics, and Drives are the go-tos if you're ever unsure: Micaiah can assist her team with any of them and easily expect the Ploys to land. Heavy Blade, particularly when combined with Fury, can easily be pulled off and allow her to use some slower specials more frequently. Distant Defence allow her to laugh at almost any mage you'll find in the game while also stacking up enough ranged defence to survive most daggers and a good number of bows. Quick Riposte is always a solid option as well, particularly if you want her killing mages on counter attack.

 

General of Daein (Offensive Nuke)
-Arena Offense, Inferno Difficulties, +Atk IV

Spoiler

Weapon: Thani
Assist: Sacrifice
Special: Iceberg
Passive A: Death Blow (recommended)/Fury
Passive B: Desperation
Passive C: Odd Attack Wave (recommended)/Res Ploy
Sacred Seal: Brash Assault

You want something dead? This is how you make something dead. The build is designed to take full advantage of Micaiah's great attack, and the horse/armour effective bonuses. The corner stone behind the build is how Desperation and Brash Assault interact, allowing Micaiah to double almost any unit in the game without fearing a retaliation. It allows her to get around the fact that dragons will target her flimsy Def on counter attack, or green units with high magic bulk. Either Sacrifice or Fury will allow Micaiah to drop safely down to the required range, after that the raw damage from her new found ability to double will tear through everything. Odd Attack Wave is a relatively new skill, one that can push her over the edge: with no merges and Death Blow + Odd Attack Wave + Brash Assault active Micaiah is dealing out 64 x 2 damage damage. That is before any special skill activation, or bonus damage from hitting a horse or armour unit. Against non-horse/armour units, only Lilina has more potential damage with this style of build for infantry units not using a Bladetome. 

Despite all of this offensive might, Micaiah isn't throwing alway all defences either. She still has fantastic Res and can continue to tank mages as long as their special won't activate while in combat with her. 

 

Queen of Daein (Defensive Build)
-Single Player content, Arena Defence, Inferno Difficulties, Chain, +Def/+Res IVs

Spoiler

Weapon: Thani
Assist: Sacrifice/[Flexible]
Special: Aegis (Recommended)/Escutcheon/Pavise/Sacred Cowl/Miracle
Passive A: Distant Defence (recommended)/Close Defence/Attack+Res Bond/Brazen Def+Res/Warding Stance
Passive B: Dull Range (recommended)/Guard (recommended)/Shield Pulse (recommended)/Cancel Affinity/Renewal
Passive C: [Flexible]
Sacred Seal: Distant Defence (recommended)/Close Defence/Deflect Magic/Deflect Missile/Quick Riposte

This build focuses on taking advantage of Thani's defensive bonuses instead of its offensive bonuses and make Micaiah as resilient as possible, relying on either her allies or natural high attack to win the day. 

The specific Special, A, B, and Sacred Seal slots depend on specifically which content you're going after. The recommended ones are for general use, with the other ones being listed as good options for specific Inferno situations or Chain situations. For the seals in particular, its rare that Deflect Magic or Deflect Missile will come into play. However against dragons or firesweep/brave bows respectively they can make the difference between Micaiah surviving or not. Play around with the options if you get stuck on some single player content, don't forget that Micaiah is more than just a slaying unit. 

 

Godslayer (Anti-Dragon/Close Counter Build)
-Arena Offence, +Res

Spoiler

Weapon: Thani
Assist: Sacrifice/[Flexible]
Special: Moonbow/Luna
Passive A: Close Counter
Passive B: Guard/Vantage/Affinity Cancel
Passive C: [Flexible]
Sacred Seal: Close Defence/Quick Riposte

Due to how the majority of dragons are built in arena, Micaiah cannot ever afford to take a counter attack from them. Either she needs to be wiping them out in one go, or they need to be attacking her. While the General of Daein build is for wiping them out, the Godslayer build is for soaking up their offence. When dragons initiate the attack they have to attack Micaiah's Res, leaving them striking at a 47 Res wall to over come (or 41 Res with doubles for retaliations), more with supports added in on top. In turn, Micaiah is able to strike back each turn and slowly win the attrition battle against the majority of dragons. The Tikis can be dealt with no worries, while blue dragons for the most part can be handled as long as Guard is still online. Against green dragons Micaiah can hold out for a turn or two, but Grima will still be a problem due to colour advantage, bold fighter, and having the highest attack in the game.

If you want a more rounded option that's less focused on dragons, Vantage works in the B slot. While it reduces Micaiah's odds of winning against green dragons by a noticeable degree (dragging it down to "can she use her special in time"), it does allow her to deal with any red melee units that engage her, as well as some blue melee units. Keep in mind however that Thani's defensive bonuses against armor/horses do not work at melee range, though the offensive bonus still does. 

 

Yune's Chaos (Life and Death Build)
-General Use, +Spd IV

Spoiler

Weapon: Thani
Assist: Sacrifice
Special: Moonbow/Luna/Draconic Aura
Passive A: Life and Death (recommended)/Brazen Atk+Spd
Passive B: Chill Speed/Chill Res/Desperation/Quick Riposte/Windsweep/Watersweep
Passive C: Spd Smoke (recommended)/Even Spd Wave (recommended)/Res Smoke/Atk Smoke
Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade/Speed Smoke/Speed+3/Brash Assault/Distant Defence/Phantom Speed

A more off the wall build, particularly for those stuck with a +Spd Micaiah and don't know what to do with her. With +Spd she's up to a meager 31 speed: far from fantastic. However, if you slap Life and Death onto her, she's now looking at 36 speed, 42 on even turns if you can afford to use Even Spd Wave on her. That's enough to avoid a fair amount of doubles if not gain one or two: at the same time she's boosting her already high attack to insane levels. This build is all about going all in on a bad IV, aiming for high risk, high reward. Use the seals to either further tank enemy speed or speed up Micaiah's special activations. The chills are excellent options if you can afford to drop one on her, but the Desperation/Brash Assault combo from the General of Daein build still works great here. Quick Riposte can be used if you still want her to duel mages and kill them, particularly in tandem with the Heavy Blade seal. If you want to try to get fancy you can break out the Sweep skills as well, though I would say Phantom Speed is an absolute must if you go that route along with a Smoke in the C slot. 

While this does drop Micaiah's res down to 30, that's still plenty serviceable and she can still duel most mages just fine and you can use the Distant Defence seal if you want to bring it back up to neutral. However, her def is down to 13, 9 if a -Def bane! There's no way around this: with this set up you have to go in with the mindset that any physical unit will kill her if they can ever attack her. Jakob in range, looking harmless in the back with his daggers? Run away. He might kill her. 

You can also use Brazen Attack+Spd instead for a stronger boost. However, it can be somewhat tricky to safely get her down into range if there's no Sacrifice target nearby. 

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This was my first write up like this, so I appreciate any and all feedback you may have to offer. However I do believe that I've brought options for almost every IV to the table, as well as shown off how flexible Micaiah is in terms of both single player and arena content. 

Edited June 18, 2018 by TheNiddo

[Ice Dragon]

32 minutes ago, TheNiddo said:

IV Recommendations: 

I would personally put this in each individual write-up instead of as a general section because optimal natures change depending on the build and intended role.

 

33 minutes ago, TheNiddo said:

Because we want to take full advantage of Micaiah's naturally higher score, we want to avoid -Spd or -Def if at all possible. While both banes are ideal in terms of her stat spread, both are superbanes.

Her super banes don't matter at all for Arena scoring. Her stat total drops from 151 to 150, which doesn't change her score. Stat totals are grouped in buckets of 5, meaning stat totals between 150 and 154 (inclusive) are all worth the same number of points.

 

General:

• Blarblade+ is an option for any non-budget build. It's less powerful against cavalry and armor, but more powerful against fliers and infantry and goes well with her high Atk stat. It's pretty much the same build as pre-refine Sanaki.

General of Daein build:

• I feel like the B and S slots should be marked as flexible. Brash Assault is hard to set up without dying to a single hard hit or a double counterattack from fast armors or Quick Riposte or Vengeful Fighter, and Fury doesn't deal enough recoil damage to reliably enter Brash Assault range in a reasonable amount of time.
• Attack +3 or a Ploy are optimal for the Sacred Seal slot when not running Brash Assault. Heavy Blade is also an option.
• I'm not entirely sold on Wave skills because they're only active every other turn, which is not particularly reliable.

Queen of Daein:

• Ranged units cannot learn Escutcheon, Pavise, Sacred Cowl, Aegis, or Shield Pulse.

Godslayer build:

• The activation requirement for breath weapons' effect is if the opponent has a ranged weapon type, not if combat occurs at 2 range. Micaiah will always be targeted on her lower defensive stat regardless of who initiates combat (even if she has no weapon equipped) because she is a blue tome unit.

Yune's Chaos

• Spd Smoke doesn't really help her much because she can't take advantage of it herself without Dancer support. She'd prefer an ally run it instead.
• Spd Ploy is a more reliable way to control enemy Spd, given her massive Res stat.

[TheNiddo]

Well then, chalk that up as one thing I missed when checking gamepress, and another thing that's... never been clear to me in game? "If foe's range = 2" always read to me as the foe being 2 squares away for the def/res check to activate. Leaves me with two fairly large retools to do. Probably changing Godslayer to just a general CC/Vantage one. For Yune's Chaos I didn't see Speed Ploy listed as being out but I probably just missed it, I was looking for that one for that set. 

When it comes to Blarblade+... it exists yes but I'd be hard press to find it ever to be a good option. Without Thani she's losing Res, some amount of ranged defence, and is taking a penalty to cooldown while not being particularly great at doubling. She's losing a lot for what is rather minimal gain. I can throw it in as a variation for General of Daein but I don't think it would ever be optimal. Hurts arena score a bit as well I'd imagine, unless the difference between Thani vs Blade+ isn't enough to drop in bucket value?

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As for the IV section I do see where you're coming from. However I wanted to format it more as somebody going "Okay I have X IVs, is this one good for Arena or Single Player content more?" and then from there scroll down the list to see what options they have for that. It is a 5* locked unit after all: a lot less people looking for optimal IV set ups and more people going "what can I do with this since I have her?"

Edited June 18, 2018 by TheNiddo

[Ice Dragon]

37 minutes ago, TheNiddo said:

Well then, chalk that up as one thing I missed when checking gamepress, and another thing that's... never been clear to me in game? "If foe's range = 2" always read to me as the foe being 2 squares away for the def/res check to activate.

You can blame the localization team for that one. They're using the same wording for two different checks.

In Japanese, you have the wording

• Sacred Cowl, Aegis, Ice Mirror: "敵の２距離攻撃...", "An opponent's 2-distance attack..."
  • Refers to an attack that happens from 2 distance, meaning combat is occurring at 2 distance.
• Crusader's Ward: "２距離攻撃の敵...", "An opponent that attacks from 2 distance..."
  • Refers to an opponent that attacks from 2 distance, a static property of the opponent, not the instance of combat.
• Breath weapons: "射程２の敵...", "An opponent with 2 Range..."
  • Uses wording specifically mentioning the "Range" stat. Refers to an opponent whose weapon type has 2 Range, a static property of the opponent, not the instance of combat.

Of course, the Japanese text uses three different wordings for two different checks, but it's at least more clear which one does what.

 

1 hour ago, TheNiddo said:

When it comes to Blarblade+... it exists yes but I'd be hard press to find it ever to be a good option. Without Thani she's losing Res, some amount of ranged defence, and is taking a penalty to cooldown while not being particularly great at doubling. She's losing a lot for what is rather minimal gain. I can throw it in as a variation for General of Daein but I don't think it would ever be optimal.

The loss of Res isn't a particularly big issue. She already has 35 neutral base Res, which is 1 point less than the highest in the game, meaning she can pretty much hit everything that matters with Ploys anyways. Her goal is to one-hit kill everything she engages in combat with due to her low Spd, and her 70 magic bulk is more than enough to survive one hit when baiting for pretty much everything that matters.

The Special cooldown penalty wouldn't matter much because a one-hit kill unit doesn't attack or receive attacks often enough to make much of a difference.

Blarblade+ is a side-grade compared to Thani, so I think it at least deserves a mention. Thani receives about +30 to +40 Atk against cavalry and armor, but +0 to +6 Atk against everything else. Blarblade+ receives +19 Atk (counting the Mt different with Thani) against everything that doesn't negate buffs when running full Hone buffs (+4/4/4/4) or +29 Atk when running full Tactic buffs.

 

1 hour ago, TheNiddo said:

Hurts arena score a bit as well I'd imagine, unless the difference between Thani vs Blade+ isn't enough to drop in bucket value?

It can't be assumed that a player cares more about their Arena score than a unit's performance.

 

1 hour ago, TheNiddo said:

As for the IV section I do see where you're coming from. However I wanted to format it more as somebody going "Okay I have X IVs, is this one good for Arena or Single Player content more?" and then from there scroll down the list to see what options they have for that. It is a 5* locked unit after all: a lot less people looking for optimal IV set ups and more people going "what can I do with this since I have her?"

Makes sense. It might be easier to make it a bulleted list instead of a paragraph in that case. It'll be easier to read and find what you're looking for.

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

I'm happy to see this! Micaiah is probably THE most used unit I have, I love her.

She's kinda insane in terms of her damage xD