Rate the Unit, Seasonals & Legendaries. Oct. 26 - Nov 2: Niles (Forbidden Tease), and Kagero (Beverage Ninja)

[Usana]

Bridal Caeda - Pass since I have never pulled her.

Bridal Charlotte - 7/10. Admittedly I have a -ATK one so my experiences with her are a bit colored. However the DEF superboon+her HP+First Bite actually makes for halfway decent bulk. Still though, there are better lancers over all. However, she does have the highest HP and ATK of all the foot lancers, so if you are doing a panic set or a Brave set she is a very solid candidate. Still I would probably use Donny Boy over her for a brave set and Lukas for panic ploy. Not bad, not great, rather average.

[LordFrigid]

Caeda: 6.83, Charlotte: 7.08.

Day 4

Lyn, Bride of the Plains

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
35/39/42
24/28/31
31/34/37
20/23/26
21/24/28

Base Skills:

Candlelight+
Rehabilitate+
Swift-Winds Balm

( - )
Dazzling Staff 3
( - )

Cordelia, Perfect Bride

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
33/36/40
32/35/38
32/35/38
16/19/22
19/22/25

Base Skills:

Cupid Arrow+
Rally Atk/Spd
( - )

( - )
Escape Route 3
Breath of Life 3

 

[Alexmender]

Bride Lyn. Statwise she's basically Maria with 1 more Atk, more Hp and significantly worse Res. Her Atk is passable enough to use more than Pain+ but she'd better stick to it as her Atk is still on the low side of the spectrum. Thanks to having Dazzling staff by default she's not as expensive to build as other healers, but in an optimal setting that's not something to account for. That aside she doesn't do a lot to differentiate herself from Maria and thanks to her low Res she loses a bit in the utility department because Maria has enough Res to use ploys. 

Rating: 5/10

Bride Cordelia. Her stats focus on Atk/Spd with everything else being bad. Bridelia had the title of best archer until the release of B!Lyn and despite the increase in bulk of the meta she still is one of the top 5 archers in the game. Her good offensive spread allows her to use a Brave Bow or Firesweep Bow and deal devasting amounts of damage with them. Bridelia lacks a bit of flexibility thanks to her non-existant bulk which forces her to be offensive, although her default weapon Cupid's Arrow can make her an offensive support if one wants to try funky sets. She's a bit of a one-trick pony but she excels at her one trick, the increase in bulk hurts her viability as she'll need either Reposition or Dancer support in order to remain safe if she's unable to kill her opponent. Archers have taken a hit from the dominant Dragon/Armor meta but Bridelia is still top 5 in her class and is still the best infantry archer to date.

Rating: 8/10

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Lyn: Bride of the Plains: Lyn is my personal top pick for infantry healers. She's surprisingly versatile, all things considered, and can function in several different roles. While she probably won't be knocking out tons of opponents, she has good enough stats to dish out decent damage for a healer. And she comes with Dazzling Staff, which means her damage output is free! Plus, with the Wrathful Staff refine, her output is increased even more, and with her great speed stat she'll double often enough. Then of course she performs well in her main role of healing, coming equipped with some good options in Rehabilitate+, Imbue, and Swift-Winds Balm. And if you want her to heal differently, most skills she wants aren't terribly expensive, plus you can get a free skill with the Live to Serve Sacred Seal. 8/10

I unfortunately have not summoned Bride Cordelia, she's eluded me in EVERY banner she's appeared in so far.

[eclipse]

Lyn - She's the only Lyn I don't have that isn't -Atk or -Spd, by virtue of the fact that I never pulled her.  Her weapon and her innate B skill means that she can safely poke things, and they can't poke back.  Her stats were later echoed by Nanna, though Nanna does a slightly better job with tanking.  Does her staffbot duties well enough, but she's more for support than nuking.  Fun gimmick, though.  6/10

Cordelia - 35/35 on an archer is still godly, only matched by Takumi (who IMO is better only because he flies).  She can seriously consider quad Brave, or let loose with Firesweep.  While she can't take a hit, she doesn't need to - if she initiates, the enemy will probably regret everything.  Archers aren't favored in the day and age of Armor Emblem, but IMO she still does her job as an offensive glass cannon very well.  8/10

Edited August 3, 2018 by eclipse

[MacLovin]

Bridelia gets an 8/10

She does her infantry archer thing amazingly well. 

[Xenomata]

Bride Lyn

Spoiler

Lyn's focus is mostly on Speed, as her Attack isn't really anything to speak of, and her defensive ability is lacking. HP is modest at best.

So besides the above, we have one of the more interesting seasonal units to grace our presence. Candlelight and Dazzling Staff together are the precursor to what would become the Healer Nuke, with Dazzling Staff canceling out all opponent counterattacks, and Candlelight inflicting a debuff on the target that prevents them from counterattacking at all. Candlelight+ inflicts the debuff on everyone within 2 spaces of the target as well. This means Lyn can safely inflict the equivelant of a Firesweep debuff on enemies and almost force a win based solely on that. Rehabilitate+ isn't much to speak of just based on Lyn's default Atk alone, and Swift-Winds Balm is okay I guess.

Lyn has everything going for her to be a deadly Healer nuke, only really requiring a decent A Skill, Atk/Spd Push or Atk/Spd Bond being the most effective while Atk/Spd 2 is the most everlasting if weakest, and Wrathful Staff refine on Candlelight. Miracle can overwrite Swift-Winds Balm if you anticipate Lyn needing to absorb a deadly hit, and as for C skill, consider Savage Blow, since the enemy will be forced to take 7 damage plus the Candlelight debuff.

There's really only one bad that I specifcally want to mention, though if it matters Lyn's defensive ability can be lacking in some areas. Anyways, in my opinion, Candlelight is the hardest of the offensive staves to take full advantage of. Sure it has a powerful effect in disabling enemy counterattacks, but unlike Pain, where the effect of heavy AoE damage is immediate, or Gravity, which stops the movement of the enemy and the healer nuke can be positioned away from the enemy to keep them alive, Candlelight requires you to be ready to lead an assault on the enemy while they are debuffed, which if it isn't obvious is only useful on player phase. If you simply work to pull Lyn away to safety, you've effectively wasted the debuff.

It's still a powerful effect to inflict though. If you can work to get the full benefit out of it, then you will have yourself one powerful healer nuke in Bridal Lyn.

Rating: 7.5/10 I know rating should take into account maximum potential and such, but Lyn comes by default with one of the deadlier, if harder to use, effects among Healers: the ability to disable enemy counterattacks. Without that one benefit, every weapon on your side becomes a Firesweep Weapon, and you can sweep units safely without worry of triggering deadly specials or generally powerful attacks. Herself though, Lyn is on the faster yet weaker side of things.

 

Bride Cordelia

Spoiler

And here we have the Archer who dominated the Archer scene for a long while until Brave Lyn was released. Equally good Attack and Speed with meh defensive stats, Cordelia was to be feared with the right weapon.

That weapon, in most cases, isn't really Cupid Bow. The forge effect is neat, but Cordelia herself does not have the ability to really take advantage of it herself, given how bad her defensive stats are. Escape Route is okay with how low her Defenses are combined with her Speed letting her only need to take one attack to trigger it, but it has no effect on her offensive ability, while Breath of Life is meh overall. Rally Atk/Spd is the most notable part of her base kit, and boosts the offenses of any ally slightly all at once.

To use Cordelia, please refer to the Brave Bow, which at maximum potential Cordelia is among the fastest and strongest users of, or the Firesweep Bow, which Cordelia is... still among the fastest and strongest users of. To free up the B slot for something like Chill Def, go for Fishie Bow's built in Desperation. For a slightly better Player Phase, Coconut Bow is an option.

The Defensive ability on Cordelia is lacking, but it is enough that if she needs to trigger something like Brash Assault, she can. Also hurting Cordelia, at least compared to other bows, is her mobility: Being an offensive infantry these days doesn't count for much even if you are ranged. Her competition for a Firesweep set is Brave Lyn, and for Brave Bow it's LA!Roy, so she is no longer the strongest user of either anymore.

But she is not to be underestimated even still. One wrong move can be enough to trigger the wrath of a powerful bride.

Rating: 8/10 Cordelia may not be THE strongest Bow anymore, but she is still one of the strongest bows available to lucky seasonal summoners. An emphasis on Attack and Speed where some of the best bows are both Strong AND Fast is only hurt by Cordelia being an Infantry unit.

[Usana]

Bridal Lyn - One of the better Infantry Staffs. Maria is probably her closest foil. Maria has 3 less hp, 1 less attack, and 4 less defense. She puts all of that into res. This makes her a better ploy applicator, but bulk wise I don't think 68vs63 is super huge. Most things that take one of them out will take the other out. At least in my experience. The biggest difference in bulk is Lyn's 62 physical bulk vs Maria's 55.  That is BIG. A HUGE swath of my physical cast can one shot Maria, and yet most would fail to one shot Lyn. Obviously brave weapons put a dampener on this and 34 speed isn't exactly an undoubleable speed tier these days. I would say Lyn has the superior bulk and is fair less susceptible to dragons to boot. While the mounted healers have her best, I do think she is a contender for best Infantry staff. While she may no longer be the sole wielder of Dazzling, nor is Rehabilitate quite as overwhelming as before, nor is Candlelight clearly the best staff(Pain and Gravity certainly give it a run for its money), but she still has a rather solid set going in. I think a 7.5/10 is fair. I really like her and would want to push her higher, but Cavalry is where it is at for healers.

Bridal Cordelia - Still has the best spd+atk for archers. Well Takumi ties with her, but he has Gen 2 BST so that isn't too surprising. She is basically the picture child for min-maxed offense. Being infantry hurts though. To top it off my experience with her has been a bit disappointing since mine is -SPD. However, I think there is a very solid case to call her the best infantry archer around. Sorry Virion, but Cordelia is the archest of archers when it comes to infantry. 8/10. Falls bewteen Innes and the non-infantry archers.

[LordFrigid]

Lyn

• Spd-focused stat line, with good Spd, and mediocre Atk, Def, and Res.
  • Mediocre KO power on either phase, but cannot be counterattacked on offense.
• She can provide heal, status staff, and basic field/combat buff support.

Overall, I give her 3 for combat (mediocre KO power, cannot be counterattacked on offense), and 3 for support (heal, status staff, basic field/combat buff), for a total rating of 4/10.

Cordelia

• Offense-focused stat line, with good Atk and Spd, low Res, and poor Def.
  • Strong KO power on offense with a Brave Bow+ set, though she will run into problems against dragons and armors. She has decent KO power with a Firesweep set as well, which prevents foes from counterattacking her.
  • Poor defensive matchups due to her low defensive stat line.
• She can provide basic field/combat buff support for her allies.

Overall, I give her 7.5 for combat (strong KO power on offense), and .5 for support (basic field/combat buff), for a total rating of 7/10.

~

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. Triangle Adept sets are not considered, though they might be noted. 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.

[LordFrigid]

Lyn: 6.33, Cordelia: 7.83.

Day 5

Robin, Seaside Tactician

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
32/35/38
29/32/35
31/34/37
24/28/31
25/29/32

Base Skills:

Deft Harpoon+
Reposition
( - )

HP/Def 2
( - )
Lance Valor 3

Tiki, Summering Scion

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
32/35/38
33/36/39
27/30/33
29/32/35
21/24/27

Base Skills:

Melon Crusher+
( - )
Sol

Close Def 3
( - )
Axe Valor 3

 

Edited August 4, 2018 by LordFrigid

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Ah man, I'm gonna have to skip everyone up until Summer Xander and Elise. I haven't summoned ANY of the upcoming characters up until them yet.

[eclipse]

First things first. . .

Spoiler

 

Ahem. . .

Robin - 32/34 isn't exactly groundbreaking (think Camus and Oscar), but it's workable.  I guess her weapon's okay, though she's only going to get its effects once.  IMO she's a decent candidate for Fury, since she has weirdly mixed bulk (plus it means that her first attack will be with a +5 to all stats, so not too shabby).  Not quite a true mixed tank, but at least the extra speed keeps her from being doubled.  She definitely wants a healer.  6.5/10

Tiki - She's a bit more attack-oriented than Robin, along with better defensive bulk.  Thus, she can run things like Steady Stance/Breath for giggles, or Fury for better everything.  Or, she can run double Close Def for 44 Def on enemy phase, which is rather impressive.  Since she has a better idea of what she wants out of life than Robin, I'll give her a 7/10 (even if mine is -Atk, which bumps me from a slightly faster Ike to a really frail Lissa).

[Usana]

Summer Robin - She has saved my bacon on a couple occasions due to her mixed bulk. However, Low HP really makes her not as bulky as her Def/Res may first appear. As someone who relies on her speed to take hits she is in that spot where she once had plenty of speed, but now she is almost middling. Plus speed tanks like HP over the defensive stats in many cases, and 35 HP is just kinda sad. Still though she has 63/64 single hit bulk which is not bad. Just not great either. Still like Bridal Lyn if you get her speed high enough she need not fear being one shot by many things. Actually unlike Lyn her weapon refinement will increase her bulk rather significantly. 68/69 isn't easy to break in a single shot, and since she likes Fury so much that is 71/72 even before you add in her weapon's bonus. Her refinement is likely to be speed just cause she really relies on that stat. I think I'll dump her at the same point as Oscar. Their offenses are very similar, but Robin trades 1 move for more RES bulk. Not a super great trade, but not enough for me to knock her down. 7.5/10.

Summer Tiki - Pass. Despite several attempts she has refused to grace me with her presence.

[Alexmender]

Summer F!Robin. She has a balanced spread with a slight focus on Spd. Her extremely balanced spread gives her a ton of flexibility when it comes to builds, but at the same time it hampers her performance when compared to more specialized units. Her default weapon, Deft Harpoon+, grants her a pseudo Spectrum Push effect by raising all her stats by 2 when she's at full Hp and after the first combat she takes 2 dmg. While not unique to her, this further pushes Robin's role as an all-rounder. She can run every other generic lance effectively, just keep in mind that there are better options if you're looking for a more defined role.

Rating: 6.5/10

Summer A!Tiki. Focuses on Atk/Def with below average Spd/Res and ok Hp. A!Tiki's role is to be an offensive powerhouse during the EP, while her Spd can be usable if she gets a +Spd nature, 33 at max isn't very good these days so don't expect her to double stuff outside of slow armors. Her high Atk will let her deal tons of damage while her good Def will allow her to keep fighting melee units for a while, on top of allowing the use of a strong Bonfire/Ignis. Her Res is a bit troublesome, it is fairly standard for melee units but with the rise of dragons this can spell trouble for Tiki when facing them. Her default weapon, Melon Crusher+, pushes her towards an all-rounder role thanks to it's pseudo Spectrum Push effect and Tiki can make good use of it but it tends to hurt her performance in the long run if she's not running a healing special, Renewal or has healer suppport. All in all Tiki is a very strong unit with a defined role, while she loses to Dorcas due to a lack of in-built DC weapon Tiki manages to keep up thanks to her defensive Spd. 

Rating: 7/10

[Simpsons138]

Oh boy, both are leads in my AA Team, here goes:

• Summer Robin: Amazing speed stat, great balanced bulk and respectable attack stat, easily a great unit if given Distant Counter and Vantage, with the new addition of Flashing Blade and with a weapon that will boost her stats in Deft Harpoon+, she can double a lot of different units if given a speed boost, she can work as both a physical and magical tank, but unfortunately it's limited due to her low HP stat, but if built correctly she can solo most of the maps by herself, easily a 8/10

 

• Summer Tiki: Unlike Robin, Tiki trades some speed and resistance for a high physical bulk and high attack, she will be doubled a lot, but with the correct skills, she won't need to worry about being doubled and she works quite well as a physical tank, even sword units have trouble taking her down if built to take physical hits, due to her resistance being low, she can't take magical hits and her HP is kinda on the low side, so she can't take that many magical hits even against blue units, still, she's a very powerful, heavy hitting and bulky axe unit that should be built to take many hits, 8/10

[Xenomata]

Summer Robin

Spoiler

The Ylissean Summer units all have a slightly deceptive first-round performance thanks to their default weapons, and that isn't any less evident with Robin. Her worst stat is Defense, but even that is sitting pretty at 28, with every other stat being somewhat average, save for slightly worrisome HP.

Deft Harpoon has the Spectrum Push effect built in, boosting all stats by 2 when Robin has 100% HP, then inflicting 2 damage if she attacked. It used to be more comprable to Fury, but now we have a more official name for it. Coming with Reposition, one of the better Positioning assists available, is about the best that can be said about the rest of her kit though: HP/Def 2 is downright weak, and Lance Valor, while useful, doesn't do anything in an actual fight.

Robin is fairly balanced as a unit, even being able to take magical hits fairly well. Fury 3 would help emphasize that balance. A skill such as Renewal would help Robin keep up the Spectrum Push effect for as many battles as possible, but otherwise has no applicable combat effects. For a Special, giving her Bonfire, Iceberg, or their 4 cooldown counterparts depends solely on which of her defensive stats is highest after you've given her the kit you've settled on, or just give her Moonbow/Glimmer if this is too hefty a life choice for your tastes. For a different Lance, she actually has a decent enough Res stat that Berkut's Lance can let her tank magic to a decent extent, though Slaying Lance and Harmonic Lance are both more consistently offensive options.

The balance in Robin's stats is both her best strength and her worst weakness: While she can perform whatever role you need, she won't be the best Lancer in that role by a longshot.

So a balanced Lancer whose performance will be based heavily on how you go about building her. If you're alright with that, then there's really nothing else to say about Robin, because she'll serve you well.

Rating: 5/10 Robin is a very balanced unit statwise, which works with and against her. No matter what you do, she won't be the best at it, but she is flexible enough that she can still do what you need her to do. It's all in her boon/bane and how you build her.

 

Summer Tiki (Adult)

Spoiler

And here we have Tiki, a unit with a Melon Crusher who has some Melons of her own meheheh-

Ahem. Anyways, she has a bit of balance to her as well, but only in Speed and Defense, both of which are high enough to do their jobs. Tiki's HP is not that great for tanking purposes, and her Resistance is just kinda bad. Her Attack, on the other hand, is quite high.

Melon Crusher's Spectrum Push effect helps Tiki to take a hit and avoid most doubles, as well as provide a small boost to power, but the bulk of her bulk comes from Close Defense, a boost of +6 Def and Res when a melee weapon wielder is attacking her. Sol is nice in theory, but usually the amount healed doesn't do Tiki enough good. Finally, Axe Valor is useless in an actual battle.

Tiki has power, and she can wield a Brave Axe quite nicely as a result. If you'd like to emphasize her bulk, then you can opt to replace Melon Crusher with Sack o Gifts/Handbell for the same boost as Spectrum Push, but not limited to 100% HP. Tiki can also pack a mean Bonfire. Quick Riposte is necessary on her, since she only has the Speed to avoid select doubles, and lastly Wo Gun can pair with Sol or Noontime to keep her healthy and still dealing decent damage.

Tiki's Res is nothing to really speak of, only being high enough to take a hit or two from a Manakete at best. She has Speed, but not enough to double, only avoid them. Melon Crusher's Spectrum Push effect will only really matter to Tiki on the first round of combat, as without a healer or Renewal, it'll be much harder to get back to 100% HP. Last, there are other Axes who can do Tiki's job but better or about the same, but with better availability.

Tiki can take hits well though, especially on a budget.

Rating: 5.5/10 Tiki's not necessarily good enough to warrant using over some other Axe units, but she certainly comes with a good amount of bulk by default. She's also strong, so expect her to be doing at least some damage.

[LordFrigid]

Robin

• Fairly balanced stat line, with good Spd, and decent Atk, Def, and Res.
  • Very strong red, decent blue matchups with the standard offensive lances (Brave, Shell, Firesweep).
  • Very strong red, decent blue matchups on defense with a Berkut's Lance+ or Slaying Lance+ set.
• She has some stat ploy capability with her decent Res stat.

Overall, I give her 7.5 for combat (matchups on either phase will net this score), and 1 for support (basic field/combat buff, stat ploy capability), for a total rating of 7/10.

Tiki

• Physically focused stat line, featuring good Atk, decent Def, and mediocre Spd and Res.
  • Very strong blue, decent green matchups on offense with a Brave Axe+ set. She can also pull off Spd-stacking Wo Gùn+ and Beach Banner+ sets with similar results.
  • Very strong blue, strong green one-range matchups on defense with a Slaying Axe+/Steady Breath set.
• She can provide basic field/combat buff support for her allies.

Overall, I give her 7.5 for combat (matchups on either phase will net this score), and .5 for support (basic field/combat buff), for a total rating of 7/10.

~

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. Triangle Adept sets are not considered, though they might be noted. 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.

[LordFrigid]

Robin: 6.75, Tiki: 6.9.

Day 6

Frederick, Horizon Watcher

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
36/40/43
29/32/35
28/31/34
24/28/31
14/18/21

Base Skills:

Seashell+
Ardent Sacrifice
( - )

Armored Blow 3
Seal Atk/Spd 2
( - )

Gaius, Thief Exposed

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
31/34/37
26/30/33
34/37/40
16/19/22
24/28/31

Base Skills:

Refreshing Bolt+
( - )
Astra

( - )
Vantage 3
Def Ploy 3

 

[Usana]

Summer Freddy - Do not have. Will Pass.

Summer Gaius - Fastest Archer in the game, along with Setsuna. He effectively min maxes his bulks in order to get a bit more attack and bit more magical bulk. Also the ability to use ploys semi-well. Plus he comes with the coveted Def-Ploy. His attack, however, is quite low. 30 is just barely acceptable. Not quite as well min-maxed as Innes, but the differences are rather minimal. So he gets the same as Innes 7/10. I would be tempted to put him higher since my Gaius sees more use than my Innes but that is the case of one having a rather optimal boon/bane and the other having an attack bane. Due to speed tiers creeping upwards Gaius may have the advantage due to higher starting speed. However, with optimal set ups they perform far too closely for me give one a higher score than the other. That said I have begun to think I low balled Innes by just a touch. 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Usana

[Alexmender]

Summer Frederick. His spread focuses on Atk/Spd with a passable physical bulk and a dump on Res. Frederick is basically the middle of the road between Kagero and Saizo, he has good Atk but not as high as Kagero and he has respectable physical bulk but not as high as Saizo. As a dagger user he suffers from the same problem every unit in the class has, they can become extremely annoying with their debuffs and with certain daggers they can become even better tanks than armor units, but the name of the arena meta is ORKO and that's the place where daggers suffer the most. His middle of the road spread also makes him a very mediocre choice when the best one can do is focus on going either offensive or defensive due to the low BST of ranged units. Now, he may be bad now but with future arena changes he'll probably rise to a good spot in the future bonus unit meta (BST aside, that will never be fixed) but as of right now there's little reason to use him over more min-maxed units.

Rating: 3.5/10

Summer Gaius. A focus on Spd with relatively above average Res, below average Atk and no Def. He is the fastest archer in the game, and his Spd is still good enough despite the recent Speed creep we've been getting. His Res is good enough to use Ploys but not high enough to try tanking mages like Innes does. His Atk is fairly mediocre, forcing him to use high Mt bows like the Firesweep Bow in order to deal damage. He is a good unit in paper, sadly he tends to falter in practice thanks to the general increase in bulk of the meta and being practically forced to run a +Atk nature in order to stay relevant. It doesn't help that his pathetic physical bulk makes him a prime target to the myriad of DC melee units in the game which means that he'll have to use the Firesweep Bow or be killed by a counter attack. All in all, Gaius is decent but what he offers isn't something that many require in this armor meta. Regardless, if the Glass cannon meta comes back Gaius is going to become a wonderful unit for sure.

Rating: 5/10

Edited August 5, 2018 by Alexmender
Re-evaluated Gaius score.

[eclipse]

Frederick - His concept is funny, at least!  He had relatively high Atk on release, but he's since been powercreeped out.  Like Robin, he'll want Fury/a healer so he can run around at 37/36, but even that's a little low by today's standards.  But if I can make Jakob workable, I can probably do something with him, too (except Jakob can off-tank everything, as opposed to physical hits only).  4/10

Gaius - He's a slightly more optimized Rebecca, whatever the hell that means.  Unless he's running something like Fury or is +Res, I wouldn't run Ploys on him (Seaside Robin would do a better job, and I didn't cut her any slack for her Res).  He's fast, but his low Atk doesn't do him any favors, and not even Refreshing Bolt can save that.  Somewhat usable with +Atk, but if he requires a specific boon to shine, that doesn't make him a good unit.  3.5/10

[Xenomata]

Hey @Anacybele, wanna try to take a crack at this one again?

Summer Frederick

Spoiler

As a Dagger user, Frederick was one of the better daggers before they were all given necessary buffs. With more of an offensive emphasis than others thanks to relatively decent Attack and Speed, plus some Defense and HP for tanking physical hits, and no Resistance to speak of. Certainly not typical of ranged units these days, but then at the time it's not like we had much of a frame of reference in the first place.

Seashell is a dagger who's only missing one effect before its forge, and that's the Def/Res Smoke effect given to all modern daggers and post-refine daggers. Otherwise, the Spectrum Push effect is fully intact, letting Freddy go on the offensive from first pulling. Armored Blow lets Freddy soak bow and DC--melee weaponry counterhits on player phase, while Seal Atk/Spd ensures the target is fully nerfed if Freddy can't net the kill. Ardent Sacrifice is a decent Assist to pack for off-healing, and can let Frederick safely enter range for skills like Brazens and offensive B skills.

Offensively, the Seashell might not be the strongest dagger, but it still helps to offset the weakness that Daggers generally aren't strong offensive weapons. Even still, something like Barb Shuriken or Lethal Carrot can replace it if necessary. Since he comes with Seal Atk/Spd, Freddy can also run Atk Smoke and Spd Smoke to mirror the effects of Smoke Dagger refined without giving up Spectrum Push. If better offensive potency is preferred, Atk/Spd Push stacks with Spectrum Push without sacrificing Defense, and Quick Riposte works at full HP, letting Freddy avoid doubles for the most part and retaliating with his own double in return. Close Counter can also let Freddy inflict the massive debuff array much better than if he were to just attack at range.

What hurts the most is that despite being a ranged unit, Frederick has unusable Resistance. Most of the time, magical units far exceed even his Spectrum and Atk/Spd Push boosted Speed and rip through him effortlessly. Despite having the Defense to withstand some melee hits, it's not really enough to withstand hits from the strongest of Melee units, who usually hover above 55 Atk. Also hurting is that his offensive potential is now rivaled by modern dagger users who can take better advantage of the Seashell if they wanted, but usually have their own better weapon anyways.

Freddy isn't necessarily overlooked though. He's had some of the better offensive potential from the start of his release, and still exceeds some of the original expectations set by the original dagger users.

Rating: 6/10 Frederick doesn't really compare to modern daggers that well, but still holds a bit of potential thanks to Spectrum Push on the Seashell. His physical bulk also lets him absorb melee hits better than most daggers could have otherwise. His weakest point is his Magic bulk, so maybe consider keeping him away from the especially fast/bulky/reiny ones.

 

Summer Gaius

Spoiler

Why was Gaius the only one from the original Summer DLC in this banner...?

Well anyways, Gaius is one of the faster Bow users available without sacrificing too much in the Attack department, albeit it's still average. Defensively, horrid Defense, below-par Resistance, and not enough HP to withstand many, if any, hits at all.

Refreshing Bolt helps Gaius to outspeed the enemy and deal out better damage, but beyond that he would want a different weapon if you want him to keep up that output consistently. Astra used to not be worth it, but now... well, it's slightly more reliable? Vantage doesn't really feel like it works with Gaius's average Atk combined with the generally low Might of ranged weaponry. Most notable though, Defense Ploy enables a higher Res physical Attacker, such as Gaius himself, to deal much deadlier damage than he could have before. Gaius isn't the best user of it by a longshot, but he can still enable much better damage with it than he could have with just Spectrum Push and an Atk boosting A passive.

With his high Speed, Gaius is just asking for a Firesweep Bow. He could also run with a Brave Bow for doubling goodness, but he isn't really strong enough to secure much meaningful damage from it. He can also run decently well with a Slaying Bow.

The defensive ability of Gaius is lacking, which hurts when he doesn't necessarily have the power to secure kills reliably. Defense Ploy does help, but Gaius also doesn't have the Resistance to trigger it on meaningful enemies. In my opinion, Refreshing Bolt is the weakest of the Ylissean Summer weapons, since it doesn't enable enough bulk or power onto its holder to be worth keeping, and bow users generally don't want to even be hit, or at least they want to trigger Desperation so they can't be hit before the kill anymore. So putting Sprectum Push on a bow... maybe not a great combo. There's also the issue of the number of new Bow users that he competes with, most of whom are either stronger, just as fast and stronger, or have a better movement type.

There's nothing wrong with Gaius himself though. Just maybe not the most blessed of the three summering Ylisseans.

Rating: 6/10 Gaius has good Speed without sacrificing too much in the way of power, and has the Res to trigger Defense Ploy a fair number of times. He could be considered Setsuna but better in a way, but unlike her Gaius is not good at taking hits at all.

[LordFrigid]

Whoops...nap went a little too long.

Frederick: 4.5, Gaius: 5.38

Day 7

Leo, Seashore's Prince

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
34/37/41
29/32/35
23/27/30
13/16/20
32/35/38

Base Skills:

Tomato Tome+
( - )
Iceberg

( - )
Seal Res 3
Atk Ploy 3

Corrin, Novice Vacationer

Spoiler

Max. Stats:
31/34/37
28/31/34
31/34/37
19/22/25
23/26/30

Base Skills:

Sealife Tome+
( - )
Dragon Fang

Swift Strike 2
( - )
Fortify Fliers

~

Edit: I'll just drop my ratings in here.

Frederick & Gaius, from yesterday (will not count for averages, obviously):

Spoiler

Frederick

• Somewhat balanced stat line, featuring decent Atk, passable Spd and Def, and poor Res.
  • Mediocre matchups on both phases. He doesn't really have the Spd tier to effectively run the Lethal Carrot+ damage stack set or the punch/bulk to properly utilize a Barb Shuriken+ Close Counter set.
• He can provide basic field/combat buff support, and buff/debuff support with his chosen dagger.

Overall, I give him 4 for combat (mediocre combat performance), and 1 for support (basic field/combat buff, buff/debuff support through his dagger), for a total rating of 4/10.

Gaius

• Stat line features good Spd, decent Atk and Res, and poor Def.
  • Decent matchups with a Brave Bow+ or Firesweep Bow+. He will have trouble with armors and dragons.
  • His defensive stat line is not well-suited to an Enemy Phase role.
• He has some stat ploy capability with his decent Res stat.

Overall, I give her 6 for combat (decent matchups on offense with a Brave Bow+ or Firesweep Bow+ set), and 1 for support (basic field/combat buff, some stat ploy capability), for a total rating of 5.5/10 (barely misses that round-up).

Leo

• Magically bulky stat line featuring good Res, decent Atk, low Spd, and poor Def.
  • Strong red and green matchups with a buff-dependent Rauðrblade+ one-shot set.
  • He's surprisingly strong with a Rauðrowl+/Close Counter set on defense, with very strong green and mediocre red matchups against foes who are affected by his Atk Ploy. He will take a lot of damage from swords, but interestingly deals with Axes quite well. Matchups were run with 2 adjacent allies and +4/0/4/0 combat buffs (as usual for -owl tome sets). He can also use a Distant Def stacking set (or Mirror Stance+Distant Def) to act as a mage check.
• He is capable of providing stat ploy support with his good Res stat.

Overall, I give him 7 for combat (Rauðrblade+ OHKO set), and 1 for support (basic field/combat buffs, stat ploy capability), for a total rating of 6.5/10.

Corrin

• Offense-focused stat line with good Spd, decent Atk, passable Res, and low Def.
  • Very strong red, strong blue matchups on offense with a Blárblade+ set on offense when Hone Fliers is active. Buff-dependent and sustainable through Desperation.
  • Her stat line is not very well optimized for an EP set.
• As a flier, she can provide flier field/combat buffs for her allies.

Overall, I give her 8.5 for combat (very strong red, strong blue matchups on offense), and 1 for support (flier field/combat buff), for a total rating of 8/10.

~

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. Triangle Adept sets are not considered, though they might be noted. 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 August 6, 2018 by LordFrigid

[eclipse]

Leo - Fun fact, a +Spd/-Res Leo is roughly equivalent to a +Res/-Def Raigh, with the biggest difference being defense (but with both being sub-20, it's a moot point IMO).  Unlike Gaius, Leo has the Res to run Atk Ploy, which helps him to absorb magic - one of the few things he's good at doing.  32 Atk is on the lower side these days, and 27 Spd is rather disappointing.  If he turns himself into a pure EP unit, he can deal with his lower speed via QR.  But other than making mages miserable, his stats aren't too inspiring.  4.5/10

Corrin - She was amazing on release because she was the light, fast mage flier as opposed to Camilla's one-hit shenanigans.  Then Camilla came back and ruined her day, but this isn't about Camilla in a swimsuit!  She's fast, and she'll have some Res stat to speak of when she attacks, but her Atk is on the low side for blue mages.  Her tome is a bit more useful than Leo's IMO, because she comes with Fortify Fliers, which means she wants to be near her buddies (who, in turn, will benefit from the aura).  She can think about running -blade, if she has Hone Fliers on her side, since she's fast enough for it IMO.  Was good until other blue mage fliers showed up, then became outclassed.  5/10

[Usana]

Summer Leo - Pass. Don't Have.

Summer Corrin - Got powercreeped by Summer Camilla. Camilla has 2 more attack, 2 more speed, 5 more HP, and 1 more defense. Corrin gets 7 more resistance. This isn't a good trade offensively or defensively. However, Summer Camilla doesn't actually perform that much better. The 2 Attack is pretty minimal once Blade is taken into account and apparently(according to the duel simulator) the speed doesn't come into play quite as often as I would have thought. Assuming they are built the same way and take a spd boon/bane in their higher defense stat then the difference is about 4 wins and 4 losses on Sundere's list and 2 wins 0 losses on the 700-710 tally list. It is a bit more noticeable on the Moonbow/Fury Overwrite standard. A 10 win difference there. Or basically it isn't just Camilla that has creeped Corrin. The meta getting faster has left her in a somewhat awkward spot. And that +2 to each offensive stat is what Camilla needed to 'keep up' when utilizing Corrin's offense stat line. That said Corrin does have enough RES to try and ploy the difference between them. RES Ploy can actually close the gap on Sundere's and the 700-710 tally lists. So what is my point? They are pretty similar. Camilla is a bit more optimized and has gen 2 bst so I could see her earning a .5 on top of Corrin simply for that. But they should be in a similar ball park to one another. As such I will drop Corrin at 8/10. No longer the best flying blade. I would have let them both tie at 8.5, but between the need to try and ploy and the fact that Camilla needs a speed boon far less than Corrin does means that I do think Corrin has dropped a bit.