What value is even there for merging for casual players?

[shadowofchaos]

As one of the weirdos whose playstyle is to never merge since I think all content should be beatable with base 5 stars...

What is the appeal?

 

My essential take on it is... Since Tier 20 does not give you any benefit other than extra feathers... Why would I spend feathers for a net loss on feathers?

I understand that merges can help in Arena Assault for more refine stones and sacred coins...

But disregarding multiplayer... All you really have is unit bias projects.

So what is the appeal for you guys? Help me understand your perspective more.

[Ice Dragon]

1. The +10 light gold border on the character icon is satisfying.
2. Some 5-star-exclusive characters are absolute trash for Skill Inheritance, and there is no point in keeping the extra copies.
   1. Except that once I finish getting them to +10, all of the additional copies have nowhere to go.
3. I can brag about it on the 5-star compendium thread.
4. +10 armors are broken.

[SSbardock84]

I don't have any +10 yet, but it helps improve units and will make it so I can actually complete more Inferno challenges.

Edited July 10, 2018 by SSbardock84

[Humanoid]

Eventually you just run out of other things to spend feathers on. Hit that point about a couple of months ago.

EDIT: Especially as I don't feel a casual player would be the type to spend 20k feathers to promote a Hana to 5* to pass LnD3 for example.

Edited July 10, 2018 by Humanoid

[redlight]

Hmm. I guess I just want to vastly improve the characters I have. Also, I quite enjoy seeing a heavily merged unit that's considered to be trash in arena if my score is high enough as it shows how much someone is willing to invest in their favorite characters

[CL987]

I do because it helps to clear some difficult maps & challenges. and to proof my allegiance for my own waifu characters.

[Magical Glace]

Proof of bias and nothing better to do with the feathers, pretty much.

At some point I realized I had a lot of unused feathers and just decided to hoard them until Wolt releases in case he was tempest/4-5... then I hit enough to +10 him asap, so I just started merging Roy because why not.  They're my favorite characters, might as well show off my love.

[Michelaar]

I like +10ing units, it makes them feel more special.

[X-Naut]

"I want to make my babies as big and strong as possible!"

That's the mentality I can think of. Alternatively...

"All these copies of ______ are collecting dust, why not?"

[Anacybele]

58 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

1. The +10 light gold border on the character icon is satisfying.
2. Some 5-star-exclusive characters are absolute trash for Skill Inheritance, and there is no point in keeping the extra copies.
   1. Except that once I finish getting them to +10, all of the additional copies have nowhere to go.
3. I can brag about it on the 5-star compendium thread.
4. +10 armors are broken.

Yeah, Ice Dragon pretty much nailed it here.

And for me, I do it so I can make my favorites as strong as they can be. My +10 Freddy is my best and most useful unit since he trivializes more than half the units in the game due to his super crazy Def! lol

[Kurrin]

I only consider merging when there's nothing worth inheriting or nothing that anyone would particularly use/want. Sending home a 5 Star, regardless of usefulness, doesn't seem worth the measly 1,000 feathers you get in return either. This leaves three options: let them sit and collect dust in Barracks limbo (which benefits no one), make a separate build for the lulz or merge. If there's no other use for the extra copy, you might as well put them to good use by self-cannibalizing them. The stats may not be much but 1 extra point in 2 stats is better than 0 extra points in 0 stats.

[Alexmender]

Basically because I like big numbers and showing off my favorites. Also, while everything is beatable by 5*+0 units (and some 4*) having a 5*+10 opens the possibilities to do more funky stuff like solo clears for Infernal GHB/BHB/LHB Although broken stuff like the new Tiki can do it at +0.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I wouldn't know, I don't merge. Just Masked Marth (no skills to pass on), and Young Tiki (no good skills to pass on). My first merge was my old -Atk Lyn into my better Lyn and I regret it since somebody could have used that galeforce. But I am wildly indecisive about giving up 5 star fodder and have no fantasies that I would have SI'd that Lyn by now if I still had her.

I'm trying to collect and optimize all the units, but until I finish with all these low tier projects I won't be getting around to merges within the next few months. I'm more interested in getting these 4 star Masked Marths out of my barracks then I am about having a slightly better Masked Marth

[EricaofRenais]

I merge units I like or that I use a lot and since I am not one who does optimal builds since I don't have a ton of fodder because I am mostly F2P I might as well merge units I like that I get a lot of.  Plus merges help me cheese content when I want too, I have done most of the CCs thanks to merges.  Plus what else am I going to do with all the feathers they hand out every month?  Of course I only use feathers on units I like so 4* Masked Marths get sent home because I am not wasting feathers on them when I have a perfectly good regular Chrom who does the job way better and has IVs.

[Xenomata]

>If the base nature sucks and I get a new one, MERGE!

>If the unit has bad skill inheritance options, or I don't see myself needing the SI options present, MERGE!

>If it's Elincia, HOLY FUCK MERGE I'M SO CLOSE TO +10ING HER.

[Lau]

I don't have any +10 units atm, but my Roy is +5. I ended up having a period where I was summoning nothing but 4* Roys, and as he is one of my favourites, I decided he would be my first +10.

There's really no other reason for me to do so, really. Everyone brags about their +10s, I want to own at least one so I can say - yeah, I have one too. Plus, it gives me a sense of accomplishment - I actually stuck to something and made it happen.

It's absolutely fine if you don't want to merge your units, for example, I don't care about IVs - I'm just happy being able to get a 5* that I wanted - don't worry about what others are doing, you do you. :)

[DLNarshen]

Around this time last year, the idea of spending 20K feathers to add two stat points to a unit was unthinkable to me.  There were too many units I wanted to promote, too many holes in my barracks that I could fill.  After nearly a year and a half of continuous play, that is no longer the case.  I have more or less everything I need to clear the game's content and am mostly satisfied with my AA counters.  It's hard for me to justify promoting random units if they're just going to be sitting on the bench after I've had my fun training/building them. 

With little else to do with the increasingly generous feather income, it makes sense to make my core units as strong as they can be.  I said this once in the general discussion thread, but I think there's something to be said about having a team of units that can reliably clear any content the game throws at us with minimal adjustments.  It puts my mind at ease knowing I have something like that to fall back on. 

[Sunwoo]

Hi Rey, you're one of the few people I've encountered who has the same mindset as me to "never merge".

My friends who play the game do merge their units, though, and their reasons have amounted to either favoritism and/or the feeling of having a super powerful unit on their hands.

EDIT: I guess a third reason was not knowing what to do with extra copies, although I do regularly give them advice on what rare skills are good on other characters.

Edited July 10, 2018 by Sunwoo

[Roflolxp54]

For the case of 5*-locked units, some of them may have little SI-value (ie. Ryoma, Ephraim, Lyn, Azura, YTiki, Eldigan, etc.) and/or are simply so good that they just get only better with merges (ie. Zelgius, Hardin, Grima).

Many people do it out of favoritism (like I would merge all my copies of Brave Lyn as she hasn't reached +10 yet rather than fodder any of copy of her for Swift Sparrow 2 and I have seen stuff like 5*+10 Odin and OG Henry).

And of course, the feeling of having a super powerful unit (ie. having a 5*+10 Reinhardt or Nino).

There's also Arena scoring (especially for Arena Assault as that's the true endgame mode and provides more rewards aside from extra feathers) - this is especially common for players using easily mergeable dragons (ATiki, FCorrin, Fae, Nowi) or armors (Sheena, Gwendolyn, Draug, Effie).

And of course, achieving the possible full potential of a unit - this is especially true for units of questionable combat worth (ie. Odin) or units that make use out of most, if not all, stats (ie. Sheena, Ayra, Felicia, etc.)

[eclipse]

Benchmarks.  Certain thresholds require certain stats.  But this is rare.

The only other time I'll do it is if I pull a duplicate unit with a better boon/bane combo, or if I somehow have extra feathers (which I never do, I can always think of some crazy SI I'd rather do instead).

[Stroud]

Some projects require merges to work with unconventional builds. I'm building a kind of Beruka now I don't dare to show yet, because I know what reaction I would get.
Still, with some merges she will do some unexpected things in Arena Assault full of +10. If I get results to brag about I will show them. But now she is just a project in work.

 

[shadowofchaos]

The only single player mode I can see even close to requiring merges is the Blessed Gardens.

Even then base 5 stars are more than enough for the Lunatic maps.

Otherwise it sounds like mostly unit favoritism and social reasons.

I mean look at the dev maps on Lunatic before.

You're going to be able to beat impossible +20 merge units with base 5 stars with the amount of flexibility this game gives you.

 

A merciless gacha like Aigis, this is not.

[Johann]

4 hours ago, shadowofchaos said:

My essential take on it is... Since Tier 20 does not give you any benefit other than extra feathers... Why would I spend feathers for a net loss on feathers?

There's more of a benefit in AA than regular Arena. In that sense, merging strictly to gain more feathers isn't necessarily your best choice (especially if you like promoting a wide variety of units), but it's worthwhile if you are planning to +10 someone anyway. Might as well get those extra feathers now instead of further down the road.

Frankly, I just want to see my favorites shine. That +10 border be like

[Junkhead]

4 hours ago, shadowofchaos said:

As one of the weirdos whose playstyle is to never merge since I think all content should be beatable with base 5 stars...

What is the appeal?

 

My essential take on it is... Since Tier 20 does not give you any benefit other than extra feathers... Why would I spend feathers for a net loss on feathers?

I understand that merges can help in Arena Assault for more refine stones and sacred coins...

But disregarding multiplayer... All you really have is unit bias projects.

So what is the appeal for you guys? Help me understand your perspective more.

Good question.

I was actually "one of those", until not so long ago. I care about Arena in the sense that it allows me to fight more interesting opponents at a certain score (basically 700+). I don't know how much things have changed in the past year, but the lower tiers were filled with half-assed Horse teams/Lynhardt, and pretty much for the only sake to climb the ladder. That's just one of the reasons I feel Arena has a certain competitive value, but beyond that half of it is paying through and/or selling yourself to certain characters just for the sake of scoring.

To answer your actual question, the only reason I feel a casual player would have in merging is in regards to your very favourites. Like, actual favourites. I'm sure you might get a sense of acomplishment building them up to be very good and able to compete with other competent heroes from others (where ranking well may come in play), and it also helps you stay up at a certain range to do so.

I've only recently started my very first +10 project. I didn't want to feel left out as the only guy who wouldn't, and I also think it'd take far longer and just wasn't worth it. With the way my +7 Henry is coming up, I'm really enjoying Arena ranking more.

 

EDIT:

 

something I really forgot to add is, unless you have an absurd amount of feathers, that 1k (difference between T19 and 20) is not really paying off anytime soon. Hell, you're only missing out on like 2k a month by switching between the two, which is what I do.

Edited July 10, 2018 by Oz ♠

[eclipse]

1 hour ago, shadowofchaos said:

The only single player mode I can see even close to requiring merges is the Blessed Gardens.

Certain GHBs, too.  I ran into issues left and right with Leon because of that.