Aether Raids General Thread

[Seafarer]

I would really appreciate some way to tell whether a successful defence victory counts or not. I'm 60 Lift above the cutoff for T20, so I need to kill at least 1 enemy on the next defence that counts.

This morning I woke up to a successful defence... but I have no idea whether it counted or not, so I can't celebrate in case I still have a chance to get screwed. :-(

Still, I managed this with 1 Eir and only 150 max Aether, so... not bad?

[Lemmy]

Eked my way into 18, but I’ll likely need to make a new team to hope surviving there, it will still be a few weeks for I can upgrade my lvl 2 forts.

[Anacybele]

I got close to tier 17, but couldn't get there this time. Next time though, I'll put Bunny Palla and her Disarm Trap skill to use and see if that helps. My defense improved since I finally added a fifth unit to that team though!

[Icelerate]

I would love DC fodder. Surtr would do a lot better with it. Maybe I should sacrifice my only Nailah? 

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

Doing that sounds like a good way to just get jumped by Wings of Mercy. Surtr generally doesn't have enough damage to one-shot things unless Sinmara has already hit his targets and putting Vengeful Fighter over Wary Fighter is a good way for him to get gibbed (especially if he gives up Steady Stance 4). Losing out on the perma-Guard effect is probably the biggest blow, though. If you're really looking to just straight-up counter-kill stuff, may I suggest utilizing something more suited to it like Vantage L!Hector (or Vantage anything with a similar stat-line) or Vantage-CC-Blarblade+ Rein?

[Ice Dragon]

56 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

I would love DC fodder. Surtr would do a lot better with it. Maybe I should sacrifice my only Nailah? 

I'd personally wait for a Hector or Hrid banner and hope to get lucky. Legendary Hector is scheduled to be back next month (April Legendary Hero banner), and Hrid is scheduled to be back the month after that (May Mythic Hero banner).

 

38 minutes ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

Doing that sounds like a good way to just get jumped by Wings of Mercy. Surtr generally doesn't have enough damage to one-shot things unless Sinmara has already hit his targets and putting Vengeful Fighter over Wary Fighter is a good way for him to get gibbed (especially if he gives up Steady Stance 4). Losing out on the perma-Guard effect is probably the biggest blow, though. If you're really looking to just straight-up counter-kill stuff, may I suggest utilizing something more suited to it like Vantage L!Hector (or Vantage anything with a similar stat-line) or Vantage-CC-Blarblade+ Rein?

Blarblade is just asking to get hit by Aversa's Night.

But you can always go with Moonbow/Glimmer + Quickened Pulse/Ostia's Pulse for a simple counter-kill solution.

[Strullemia]

Managed to get into tier 18 this week and I'm getting closer to tier 19 by the day. Currently lift 7.660 and rank 65.021. If I'm lucky I'll probably get into tier 19 next week.

The only thing that sucks is that the players are getting a lot better and because of that my defense team doesn't work anymore. Hell, the only win I got was a fight where the guy who fought me gave up at the very start. I've got no idea why though his team looked good enough to take mine on.

 

[Garlyle]

6 hours ago, mampfoid said:

You too? Cool! Saw you in the list, but wasn't sure if you already promoted last light season. Congrats to you! 

Interesting to read all that about your approach, nice teams (mine where not that well planned). I might comment on those later. 

The base team was actually the old mages going in killing and stuff - Azura used to be the Rein counter dancer, Lilina the Surtr counter, Rein the overall badass as he is, Aversa the debuffer, and Eir for the bonus score. Aether Raid sure changed a lot since then, but I kept faith in my offense team, and only modified them slighly. Even when I reached Tier 20 I called this the budget raid team, and I was proud of them. But Tier 20 - that was something else.

Feel free to comment if you have the time. I didn't pay too much attention to this topic lately, so I wonder what kind of offense did you put together. (I am still not sure if my defense is decent or not, so I'll keep it a secret for now).

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

Blarblade is just asking to get hit by Aversa's Night.

But you can always go with Moonbow/Glimmer + Quickened Pulse/Ostia's Pulse for a simple counter-kill solution.

Tactics buffs are a thing. Also, even failing to have Tactics buffs, the Panic and debuffs will fall off once the Vantage tank moves into position. Pretty sure @DehNutCase uses this build with success and I've seen it used against my own defense before—including when I used to have Aversa on my defense team (spoilers: I kicked her off because she really wasn't helping there, since smart players can easily get around her).

[Ice Dragon]

11 minutes ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

Tactics buffs are a thing. Also, even failing to have Tactics buffs, the Panic and debuffs will fall off once the Vantage tank moves into position. Pretty sure @DehNutCase uses this build with success and I've seen it used against my own defense before—including when I used to have Aversa on my defense team (spoilers: I kicked her off because she really wasn't helping there, since smart players can easily get around her).

Oh, you were talking about on an offense team. I was talking about on a defense team.

I normally assume an offense unit simply handles things just fine whereas defense units fall prey to more varied things.

[Icelerate]

2 hours ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

Doing that sounds like a good way to just get jumped by Wings of Mercy. Surtr generally doesn't have enough damage to one-shot things unless Sinmara has already hit his targets and putting Vengeful Fighter over Wary Fighter is a good way for him to get gibbed (especially if he gives up Steady Stance 4). Losing out on the perma-Guard effect is probably the biggest blow, though. If you're really looking to just straight-up counter-kill stuff, may I suggest utilizing something more suited to it like Vantage L!Hector (or Vantage anything with a similar stat-line) or Vantage-CC-Blarblade+ Rein?

Eh, WoM isn't a big problem because Surtr can usually choke a point because people love to put a lot of obstacles making the path narrow. My Surtr is +3 +2 with S SS and M!Corrin S support. His attack reaches 63 which is enough to one shot most of the fragile glass canons in AR. What about special fighter and QR3 SS? 

Don't have L!Hector. Probably spent around 300 orbs for him. Haven't built many bulky units yet. None of the dragons except Myrrh but she's only at +1 merge. 

I could try using blade tome Nino but she doesn't have light blessing since she's part of my arena core. These blessings limit my options as the only enemy phase unit I have is Surtr and Nailah. M!Corrin is +10 though so maybe he can work with a different weapon. 

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

I'd personally wait for a Hector or Hrid banner and hope to get lucky. Legendary Hector is scheduled to be back next month (April Legendary Hero banner), and Hrid is scheduled to be back the month after that (May Mythic Hero banner).

 

Oh boy it took me 300 orbs to get my first OG!Hector. Spend 300 orbs on Hrid's recent appearance and only got H!Micaiah and two pity breaker F! Adrift Corrins. I've also spent like 300 orbs for L!Hector, never got him. I hope we get a two person Heroes with DC banner with OG Hector and Nailah. 

What do you guys think of these three Surtr builds?

Weapon: Wogun

Special: Noontime

A Skill: DC

B Skill: Special fighter

C Skill: Surtr's Menace

SS: QR3

Or

Weapon: Slaying axe

Special: Noontime

A Skill: DC

B Skill: Wary Fighter

C Skill: Surtr's Menace

SS: Fierce stance 3

Or 

Weapon: Wogun

Special: Sol

A Skill: DC

B Skill: Special Spiral

C Skill: Surtr's Menace

SS: Fierce Stance 3

[Chrom-ulent]

As expected, I get knocked back into T19. I swear, if I don't make T20 after the remaining Mythic elements are released and I pull for them, I'm nuking both of my accounts.

And this upcoming season is going to be more treading water. L!Tiki +1 is my "best" option (armor + low merge = dead weight).

[Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi]

42 minutes ago, Ice Dragon said:

Oh, you were talking about on an offense team. I was talking about on a defense team.

I normally assume an offense unit simply handles things just fine whereas defense units fall prey to more varied things.

Ah. Yeah, I guess DC Surtr would be okay on defense, since he's probably not super tanking and just wants to get in way enough to waste enemy actions while his friends get to take free pot shots.

42 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

Eh, WoM isn't a big problem because Surtr can usually choke a point because people love to put a lot of obstacles making the path narrow. My Surtr is +3 +2 with S SS and M!Corrin S support. His attack reaches 63 which is enough to one shot most of the fragile glass canons in AR. What about special fighter and QR3 SS? 

What do you guys think of these three Surtr builds?

I'm just thinking every time Light season rolls around, peoples' hate for Surtr seem to reach a boiling point, because I keep seeing WoM Armorsmasher+/Slaying Hammer+/Drunken Micaiah  coming out of the woodwork (where sometimes there's multiple of that list opposing teams). They're usually a bit farther back to protect them from getting picked right away, so Surtr usually isn't in danger of eating Armorsmasher to the face if face-tanks ranged, then deals damage with Sinmara, compared to dealing direct damage and giving the enemy a chance to warp stuff in.

If you do insist on running a DC build, the one with Special Fighter is probably your best bet, though you might want to consider something more offensive like Moonbow or Glimmer. His extended bulk will be fairly compromised a this point, so he doesn't want to leave stuff alive to take another shot at him.

 

[Icelerate]

8 minutes ago, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi said:

I'm just thinking every time Light season rolls around, peoples' hate for Surtr seem to reach a boiling point, because I keep seeing WoM Armorsmasher+/Slaying Hammer+/Drunken Micaiah  coming out of the woodwork (where sometimes there's multiple of that list opposing teams). They're usually a bit farther back to protect them from getting picked right away, so Surtr usually isn't in danger of eating Armorsmasher to the face if face-tanks ranged, then deals damage with Sinmara, compared to dealing direct damage and giving the enemy a chance to warp stuff in.

If you do insist on running a DC build, the one with Special Fighter is probably your best bet, though you might want to consider something more offensive like Moonbow or Glimmer. His extended bulk will be fairly compromised a this point, so he doesn't want to leave stuff alive to take another shot at him.

 

I'm in tier 20 and I see mostly blue units like L!Azura and Ophelia. H!Micaiah can't double. The most threatening units for Surtr are Lilina and Celica. Even Aversa does little damage. I barely see non ranged units so armour smashers aren't that common. 

I use a galeforce team with the four laguz birds. I have a question, I have three link skill fodder and would love to use it on the Askr trio if they are permanent bonus units. Is it true they are perma bonus units or are there weeks where none of them are? They can be useful smite bots. 

[XRay]

3 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

I have a question, I have three link skill fodder and would love to use it on the Askr trio if they are permanent bonus units. Is it true they are perma bonus units or are there weeks where none of them are? They can be useful smite bots. 

Askr Quartet (Alfonse, Sharena, Anna, and Fjorm) are permanent bonus units like in Arena.

[Icelerate]

1 minute ago, XRay said:

Askr Quartet (Alfonse, Sharena, Anna, and Fjorm) are permanent bonus units like in Arena.

But Fjorm no longer has any screen time in the story. Why is she considered the Askr quartet?  

[XRay]

Just now, Icelerate said:

But Fjorm no longer has any screen time in the story. Why is she considered the Askr quartet?  

She still appears as a bonus unit in Arena, Aether Raids, and quests (e.g.: GHB rerun quests). For game play purposes, she is no different from the other three except she can be merged and sent home.

[NekoKnight]

Woo, finally made it to T22 because of a Fortress advantage and favorable bonus units which let me facetank most compositions with double blessed Myrrh. Time will tell if it was even worth it now that I'll be swimming in the same pool as the whales but I'm a little proud of myself.

I heard flier teams and IP shenanigans are common up here. I wonder what new strategies I'll need to stay afloat. Currently my most common teams are Myrrh with Brinian + Kaden support and NY!Laev using CC + Pain and dancer team. Maybe something with Galeforce but I don't know who would be best besides L'Ephraim and Tibarn who I don't have.

Edited March 26, 2019 by NekoKnight

[mampfoid]

13 hours ago, Garlyle said:

The base team was actually the old mages going in killing and stuff - Azura used to be the Rein counter dancer, Lilina the Surtr counter, Rein the overall badass as he is, Aversa the debuffer, and Eir for the bonus score. Aether Raid sure changed a lot since then, but I kept faith in my offense team, and only modified them slighly. Even when I reached Tier 20 I called this the budget raid team, and I was proud of them. But Tier 20 - that was something else.

Feel free to comment if you have the time. I didn't pay too much attention to this topic lately, so I wonder what kind of offense did you put together. (I am still not sure if my defense is decent or not, so I'll keep it a secret for now).

Interesting, I started AR in cheesing stuff with my Blade-Fliers, but that didn't work for long. 

My teams: 

1. Usually my light element core (160 lift/match) consists of
   1. Eir (vanilla, Draw Back, Hardy bearing seal),
   2. Eir (WoM, Smite, Hone SPD seal)
   3. HS!Micaiah (WoM, ATK Tactic, RES Tactic seal),
   4. Minizura (WoM, Hone SPD, ATK/DEF Bond seal) +
   5. bonus unit. This time L!Marth with Swap & ATK/SPD Bond seal 
2. Didn't put much thought into my teams this season, I just tried out Vantage BK and Galeforce L!Hector on a 130 Lift team which was fun in the first days. 
3. and had L!Lucina on another team, but I didn't use her (like you). She is great on my defense map though. 
4. My GF team consists of my BH!Roy +5 (LnD, SPD smoke, QPseal), light blessing and the light element core (see team #1) for 140 lift. Second most used team this week. 
5. My anti Ward armor team has a simple pain/savage blow Azama with my light element core (140 lift), but was used only 1-2 times. 

I lost a lot of units in the beginning of the week (therefore I was surprised about my good score on Sunday), but I was lucky and got most pots for the extra match in the end. My original plan was to wait for an earth/light week with L!Tiki as a bonus week, but I won't complain that it worked out this way. :-) 

23 hours ago, Garlyle said:

Here's what I had:

  Hide contents

Later I gave more Hp seal and Axebreaker for Aversa, and Marth got Reposition, but that's about it. Lilina was +10, Rein was +5 and Lucina had +1, although I haven't used her in the end. I've collected some memories I got from this week, I actually learned a lot just this week for AR.

Good Idea to run Hrid, I found him very useful in his bonus season.

You had only 1 Eir (and thus lower max score), respect that you managed it regardless! 

I see you didn't have an über-tank either, which seems to be a common strategy. I'm happy I didn't need to merge a dragon to reach tier 21 in the end. 

Didn't get any of the maps you showed, but I had to use Marth as a tank 1-2 times as well. It only works if my tactic room by chance blocks blue nukes. 

 

 

 

 

[XRay]

12 hours ago, NekoKnight said:

I heard flier teams and IP shenanigans are common up here. I wonder what new strategies I'll need to stay afloat. Currently my most common teams are Myrrh with Brinian + Kaden support and NY!Laev using CC + Pain and dancer team. Maybe something with Galeforce but I don't know who would be best besides L'Ephraim and Tibarn who I don't have.

Against Ophelia, I try to take her out immediately, although I often times have to sacrifice a unit to win.

Against Ward Flier balls, I have not really found a good way to deal with them except poking them with an archer and retreat and hope for the best. If it is a Goad Flier ball, then it is not too bad if you have a Counter-Vantage unit unless they run Hardy Bearing.

[NekoKnight]

9 hours ago, XRay said:

Against Ophelia, I try to take her out immediately, although I often times have to sacrifice a unit to win.

Against Ward Flier balls, I have not really found a good way to deal with them except poking them with an archer and retreat and hope for the best. If it is a Goad Flier ball, then it is not too bad if you have a Counter-Vantage unit unless they run Hardy Bearing.

I suppose now that I've reached T21 sacrificing a unit isn't as concerning as it once was. Still, I want to try my best to win without losses. Ophelia is bad but Lilina is more often the bane of my existence because Myrrh is my best unit for surviving the first wave.

I did encounter one flier ball so far but they didn't have Lazura so it was pretty manageable. I kind of wish I had CC fodder so I could make a vantage Archer but alas, my free Takumi went to Laevatein.

[Diovani Bressan]

Hm... for me it's very common to find Legendary Azuras without her weapon equipped.

[Ice Dragon]

4 hours ago, Diovani Bressan said:

Hm... for me it's very common to find Legendary Azuras without her weapon equipped.

I love it when I find that the enemy dancers have no weapon. For Azura, it means no buffs, and for the herons, it means no 3 movement.

And it means I have an enemy unit that's easy to keep alive at the very end when I go break the Aether structures.

[Icelerate]

1 hour ago, Ice Dragon said:

I love it when I find that the enemy dancers have no weapon. For Azura, it means no buffs, and for the herons, it means no 3 movement.

And it means I have an enemy unit that's easy to keep alive at the very end when I go break the Aether structures.

I actually ended up unequipping the herons so that they don't attack but it ended up making them worse due to not transforming. Too lazy to change my defense though. 

Edited March 27, 2019 by Icelerate

[Diovani Bressan]

@Ice Dragon @Icelerate

Yeah, unequipped dancers, like L!Azura and the Herons, are a good thing because it's one less foe attacking you and they lose at least one ability that makes them unique, but I also had a situation that if AR battles were 6 turns instead of 7, I would had lost because a unequipped L!Azura was running away from me at the end and I manage to defeat her in the last turn.