aether raids Aether Raids Offense Team & Unit Building

[Landmaster]

1 minute ago, XRay said:

Sure. I just added you. My name is "金剛$€£¥!X¤Ray" in game.

Just accepted! I'm Watamote, leading with Keaton~

[XRay]

59 minutes ago, Landmaster said:

I will admit, this isn't really a consistent team besides Yune, as I usually change the Legendaries for the Season and I've just added Roy recently, but I've seen some good results. So I'll probably keep Alm and L!Azura, at the least, if you think it's working. I'm also thinking of adding Fallen Delthea to it for some WOM nuke potential.

I am not sure if you get defense replays, but I have Counter-Vantage Laevatein and I got her to the Bolt Trap so I just killed everyone except LD!Y!Tiki on the first Enemy Phase turn, and then I have all the time in the world to get the pots and finally kill LD!Y!Tiki.

The first mistake players make is making Bolt Traps easier to access than Heavy Traps. Unlike Heavy Traps, Bolts Traps are a double edged sword; while they are okay against offensive players' Enemy Phase dominant teams, they are absolutely horrible against offensive players' Player Phase dominant teams or if they have Counter-Vantage units. Heavy Traps have absolutely no upside for the offensive player to try to trigger, so you want to arrange your Traps in a way that players will generally trigger your Heavy Trap first and you want to use your Bolt Trap as a backup "Heavy Trap" placed further in the back, more to freeze units than to damage them. I also do not recommend upgrading the Bolt Trap at all, but it is too late for that now.

You want to have at least three units who can bypass Vantage or take it head on. Bypassing Vantage involves running Firesweep Weapons, Festival in Hoshido Weapons, or Hardy Bearing. Alternatively, instead of bypassing Vantage, you can have a Bold Fighter armor unit who can reach 100+ bulk to tackle them head on.

Since you only have 1 Yune, I recommend moving her to a more central position in the middle two columns, so it forces players to either take her out on the first turn and be overstretched, or suffer her debuffs if they do not take her out.

I also recommend separating your Aether Fountain and Aether Amphorae to make it more difficult to break all of them. I recommend placing them in opposite upper corners.

Edited May 11, 2019 by XRay

[Landmaster]

12 minutes ago, XRay said:

I am not sure if you get defense replays, but I have Counter-Vantage Laevatein and I got her to the Bolt Trap so I just killed everyone except LD!Y!Tiki on the first Enemy Phase turn, and then I have all the time in the world to get the pots and finally kill LD!Y!Tiki.

The first mistake players make is making Bolt Traps easier to access than Heavy Traps. Unlike Heavy Traps, Bolts Traps are a double edged sword; while they are okay against offensive players' Enemy Phase dominant teams, they are absolutely horrible against offensive players' Player Phase dominant teams or if they have Counter-Vantage units. Heavy Traps have absolutely no upside for the offensive player to try to trigger, so you want to arrange your Traps in a way that players will generally trigger your Heavy Trap first and you want to use your Bolt Trap as a backup "Heavy Trap" placed further in the back, more to freeze units than to damage them. I also do not recommend upgrading the Bolt Trap at all, but it is too late for that now.

You want to have at least three units who can bypass Vantage or take it head on. Bypassing Vantage involves running Firesweep Weapons, Festival in Hoshido Weapons, or Hardy Bearing. Alternatively, instead of bypassing Vantage, you can have a Bold Fighter armor unit who can reach 100+ bulk to tackle them head on.

Since you only have 1 Yune, I recommend moving her to a more central position in the middle two columns, so it forces players to either take her out on the first turn and be overstretched, or suffer her debuffs if they do not take her out.

I also recommend separating your Aether Fountain and Aether Amphorae to make it more difficult to break all of them. I recommend placing them in opposite upper corners.

I don't think I can see Replays from mock battles, but I do see this is a problem. I also lost to a DC Vantage Keaton earlier, but I don't have much for him unless I do end up adding Darkthea and giving her Hardy Bearing. I could also add HS!Micaiah to the team, but I assumed L!Azura would be more useful since she's Legendary. The reason I had the trap there was to try nonsensical WOM, ER shenanigans (Tiki has Escape Route, it was just something I was testing out)

I had Yune where she was because I had a suggestion to give her Harsh Command to refresh Alm in the case of Aversa, but I can move her if you think it's best. I also find that even when I have losses, they usually never get a chance to take the pots, but I can move one of them~ Thanks a lot for these suggestions!

[Johann]

5 hours ago, Landmaster said:

I know this is a thread for Offensive Team building, but is it possible to ask for suggestions for Defensive Teams, especially now that we have the mock battle option available?

I would prefer someone make a separate thread for that, or use this existing thread I suppose. Primarily because I have no intention of adding Defensive tips to the guide section here, and also because I don't want this thread getting cluttered with people posting their defense maps asking for suggestions when the focus here is on improving Offense teams and understanding AI.

[Landmaster]

8 minutes ago, Johann said:

I would prefer someone make a separate thread for that, or use this existing thread I suppose. Primarily because I have no intention of adding Defensive tips to the guide section here, and also because I don't want this thread getting cluttered with people posting their defense maps asking for suggestions when the focus here is on improving Offense teams and understanding AI.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know we had a thread for Defense~ Thank you!

[Roflolxp54]

I've been contemplating building OG Eirika as a Null tank for Light season for a while and I do have a +Atk Eirika. Need a bit of help with the possible team comp and maybe skillset.

The hypothetical Eirika (with +6/6/6/6 to all stats and with 2 Eirs during Light season; no fort advantage):

I am willing to take suggestions on her build, like weapon (generally stuck on Armorsmasher, Sieglinde, and Barrier Blade).

Team comp is where it gets tricky. I do have 2 Eirs and only 2 remaining open spots. Thinking about Seth with Silverbrand, Def Tactic seal, Atk/Res Link, and Smite, PA Azura (+3/3/3/3 instead of +6/6/6/6), and/or, of course, my 5+10 68 HP (during Light season) Aversa.

Edited May 15, 2019 by Roflolxp54

[Johann]

1 hour ago, Roflolxp54 said:

Team comp is where it gets tricky. I do have 2 Eirs and only 2 remaining open spots. Thinking about Seth with Silverbrand, Def Tactic seal, Atk/Res Link, and Smite, PA Azura (+3/3/3/3 instead of +6/6/6/6), and/or, of course, my 5+10 68 HP (during Light season) Aversa.

With 3/5 of your party established, your remaining slots are going to be a few possibilities:

• Bonus unit: Naturally, when Eir isn't a bonus unit, you're gonna need that slot. Eirika is strong enough that she should be ok to take on just about anything. Bonus units are not usually worth a big investment, so giving them Smite and maybe some buff/debuff skills/seals is good enough generally.
• Dancer: Whichever one suits you. I have Light-blessed Performing Azura for this role (when it's not Water+Light), with Drive Res in C and Drive Def seal. A green TA dancer might not be a bad idea just in case there's something particularly dangerous.
• Aversa: She's really an MVP for AR and since the team would be 3/5 fliers at that point, you can give her a Tactics skill if you want.
• Healer: I only bother having Halloween Mia (which is not great advice if you don't have her), the real problem with healers is their lack of positioning skills. Witchy Wand is useful in case you're up against a Pulse team spamming Luna or Glacies/Ignis and you can't disrupt it on turn 1. Other staves are usually nice but hard to use on approach, which is where you need them the most.
• Seth: I'm reluctant to suggest a unit who can only buff, unless their buffs are beyond what normal units can do (Corrin M, Marth, and Kaden) or at least are suited for taking on foes that your tank can't handle. Similar support can mostly be covered by a bonus unit anyway.

Some thoughts about Eirika herself:

• +Spd might be better. You're likely to see many maps against units with the Spd boost from Yune, and being able to double can be necessary.
• Sieglinde is probably a weak choice since the best strategies might not ensure she'll be able to use its effects. Armorsmasher and Barrier Blade are both good, you'll have to decide for yourself which would be more useful, though neither is strictly necessary, just a boost.
• Special is flexible, I've never tried using Sol since I prefer having extra damage just in case. You might want to test it on some Mock Battles if you have the opportunity.

[Roflolxp54]

1 hour ago, Johann said:

With 3/5 of your party established, your remaining slots are going to be a few possibilities:

• Bonus unit: Naturally, when Eir isn't a bonus unit, you're gonna need that slot. Eirika is strong enough that she should be ok to take on just about anything. Bonus units are not usually worth a big investment, so giving them Smite and maybe some buff/debuff skills/seals is good enough generally.
• Dancer: Whichever one suits you. I have Light-blessed Performing Azura for this role (when it's not Water+Light), with Drive Res in C and Drive Def seal. A green TA dancer might not be a bad idea just in case there's something particularly dangerous.
• Aversa: She's really an MVP for AR and since the team would be 3/5 fliers at that point, you can give her a Tactics skill if you want.
• Healer: I only bother having Halloween Mia (which is not great advice if you don't have her), the real problem with healers is their lack of positioning skills. Witchy Wand is useful in case you're up against a Pulse team spamming Luna or Glacies/Ignis and you can't disrupt it on turn 1. Other staves are usually nice but hard to use on approach, which is where you need them the most.
• Seth: I'm reluctant to suggest a unit who can only buff, unless their buffs are beyond what normal units can do (Corrin M, Marth, and Kaden) or at least are suited for taking on foes that your tank can't handle. Similar support can mostly be covered by a bonus unit anyway.

Some thoughts about Eirika herself:

• +Spd might be better. You're likely to see many maps against units with the Spd boost from Yune, and being able to double can be necessary.
• Sieglinde is probably a weak choice since the best strategies might not ensure she'll be able to use its effects. Armorsmasher and Barrier Blade are both good, you'll have to decide for yourself which would be more useful, though neither is strictly necessary, just a boost.
• Special is flexible, I've never tried using Sol since I prefer having extra damage just in case. You might want to test it on some Mock Battles if you have the opportunity.

I don't see Witchy Wand being used at all on offense (based on my replays and replays I've seen from others) so I have absolutely no idea on how to use a staff unit on AR offense aside from Wrathful Pain+ with CC, Vantage, and Savage Blow 6 and typical healer duty. Using a staff user offensively such as to shut down IP teams is out of my depth right now. I do have Witch Mia but she doesn't often see usage and I'm not that willing to fodder her off right now.

In regards to bonus units, I generally ignore them unless it's a unit I actually have and could slot into my teams (Eir being the easiest fit). More likely going to use a bonus unit during Astral seasons than during Light seasons.

I may need a second opinion. I would like to use Eirika because of favoritism and that she can be good though I've also heard good things about Fir, who can spam damage-boosted Noontime procs and has similar stats as Eirika. However, my Fir already has DC so I'm reluctant on foddering Nailah to her and I currently don't have a +Atk copy anyways (she's +Spd). Heard good things about Donnel but I don't have a +Res copy and he has his own issues (poor Spd compared to other options, could have issues with survival even with proper support).

Edited May 15, 2019 by Roflolxp54

[XRay]

1 hour ago, Roflolxp54 said:

I would like to use Eirika because of favoritism and that she can be good though I've also heard good things about Fir, who can spam damage-boosted Noontime procs and has similar stats as Eirika.

In my opinion, outside of maybe LL!Ephraim, I do not recommend running self-sustainability skills on a combat unit (unless you are in an easy mode like Arena or Tempest Trials). Sustainability is almost always better being offloaded and handled by a separate unit like Eir, Herons, healers, and HP batteries running Renewal-Ardent Sacrifice/Reciprocal Aid.

For team carriers/super tanks, killing power and damage reduction are far more important than sustainability. If you properly buff your carrier (or debuff enemies), they should be taking little to no damage against a vast majority of units. Against nukes that can threaten them with insane damage output such as Ophelia, SK!Alm, and flier balls you might want to use a different strategy altogether.

1 hour ago, Roflolxp54 said:

However, my Fir already has DC so I'm reluctant on foddering Nailah to her and I currently don't have a +Atk copy anyways (she's +Spd).

I think Null C-Disrupt is unnecessary for carriers. In my experience with Sharena, Firesweepers are hardly threatening due to their low damage output and their low damage can easily be healed up by Eir. What threatens Sharena are Special triggers from multiple nukes such as Reinhardt and Yune who can cut her Def/Res down with Moonbow or Luna, so I think Guard is generally more useful.

1 hour ago, Roflolxp54 said:

and he has his own issues (poor Spd compared to other options, could have issues with survival even with proper support).

Spd is not an issue, especially after buffs. 2 M!Corrins can provide 9/9/9/9, or 12/12/12/12 if you allocate his Drives evenly. Neutral Donnel without any skills can reach 35 Spd, so 12/12/12/12 alone will bring him up to 47 Spd. And if that is not enough for you, you can run +Spd and Spd Refinement to crank it up to 53 Spd.

Edited May 15, 2019 by XRay

[Landmaster]

I'd like some suggestions~

I'm thinking about using my V!Mist during Astra Season as a TA Gronnraven tank similar to my Picnic Leo that I use in Light Season. I know on paper that seems pretty foolish, but the copy I have is +Def which puts her at a base of 20 and I have 2 Nagas so she can get up to 30 on her own. Plus I have L!Eirika that I'll use during Astra Season and can give her a Fortify Cavalry Boost to get her to 36/29 Defenses without factoring in DD3 Seal. I'm mainly trying to account for B!Lyn, since I think she should be fine with Veronicas and Reinhardts.

The reason I hesitate is simply because I only have 1 Cecilia left and I don't want to waste my last Gronnraven on Mist if another option would be better. The best I have though is Boey (who I spoke about before, but I'd rather use him on a Light team since he has more than enough Def), Inigo (Neutral at +2, I have seen him work well, but I don't know if I consider him that reliable as an option), and H!Henry (who I also considered but he'd just be so hard to maneuver around unless I rely on Guidance, which I also don't have readily available).

Any advice will be well appreciated!

[Johann]

Cecilia herself might be the best choice since she comes with good Res and Naga patches up her low Def. Even if you've already got one well-built Cecilia and don't want to make her into an AR unit, you could wait til you get more and do a 4*+10 or something. Even a 4* unmerged Cecilia is probably fine with the fortress, blessings, and any buffs you give her. TA Raventome is usually more than enough, especially if you're giving her DD3 as well (though I prefer to save that seal for a super tank).

Alternatively, if you've already got Leo and Boey doing the same sort of job, could change one of them to Anima I suppose.

[Landmaster]

7 hours ago, Johann said:

Cecilia herself might be the best choice since she comes with good Res and Naga patches up her low Def. Even if you've already got one well-built Cecilia and don't want to make her into an AR unit, you could wait til you get more and do a 4*+10 or something. Even a 4* unmerged Cecilia is probably fine with the fortress, blessings, and any buffs you give her. TA Raventome is usually more than enough, especially if you're giving her DD3 as well (though I prefer to save that seal for a super tank).

Alternatively, if you've already got Leo and Boey doing the same sort of job, could change one of them to Anima I suppose.

I should have probably specified the last Cecilia I have is a Combat Manual, so I have Gronnraven available as a fodder but not the unit herself. The other problem is I never built the Boey (it was before Leo came out that I mentioned wanting to do him, so when Leo fit the bill, I just never ended up building the Boey). So I could alternatively just do Boey instead for the other Season~

[Johann]

11 hours ago, Landmaster said:

I should have probably specified the last Cecilia I have is a Combat Manual, so I have Gronnraven available as a fodder but not the unit herself. The other problem is I never built the Boey (it was before Leo came out that I mentioned wanting to do him, so when Leo fit the bill, I just never ended up building the Boey). So I could alternatively just do Boey instead for the other Season~

Yeah Leo's defenses are good for either season, and might not even need Gronnraven. Boey would be more of a Light season unit if you want him to handle mages and Wrathful healers without extra support.

[Landmaster]

17 minutes ago, Johann said:

Yeah Leo's defenses are good for either season, and might not even need Gronnraven. Boey would be more of a Light season unit if you want him to handle mages and Wrathful healers without extra support.

Awesome, thanks!