Fire Emblem Heroes Topic: You knew this was coming!

[Grefter]

Proof finally exists.  A 0 star level up does in fact feel worse in a Gatcha game, but also in fact feels worse than losing at a Gatcha pull.   Thanks for the science game!  That 4 SP I am sure was worth it.

[Meeplelard]

Ok, did what will be my last 5 pull on the initial banners.

Got another 5*! ...it was Roy...aka a unit I didn't really want and covers an area I already have.  Great.  Still, a 5* is a 5* I guess.  Also got a 4* Ogma (ANOTHER Red Unit -_-), another 3* Nino and Est, and a Lissa.  Yeah, let's just wait for the next banners now!

[Captain K]

Beat 9-5 on Normal.  9-4 is a strategy check and 9-5 is just a stat check.  Veronica is bullshit.  Also fully upgraded castle.

[Hunter Sopko]

One final pull on this banner, as well as some castle upgrades.

3* Cherche, Selena, Gunter, Gordin annnnnnd 4* Roy. That makes two banner 5's I pull at 4.

[TranceHime]

Beat 9-5 on Normal.  9-4 is a strategy check and 9-5 is just a stat check.  Veronica is bullshit.  Also fully upgraded castle.

stat checks don't get much better come 7+ hard and Lunatic

[Grefter]

Isn't everything in the game a stat check?  I mean outside of cheesing AI with bottle necks and healing, so far everything is just rubbing sets of stats together and bigger ones win for me.

I also for reference I got Hector on my reset spam and then Sakura on a regular orb pull.  Then I finally worked out the rename account is under FAQ/Etc.  SO some of you got a random Kiran send friend invites that are me and now will show up as me.

[TranceHime]

Isn't everything in the game a stat check?  I mean outside of cheesing AI with bottle necks and healing, so far everything is just rubbing sets of stats together and bigger ones win for me.

Normal difficulty is actually pretty well balanced.

I also for reference I got Hector on my reset spam and then Sakura on a regular orb pull.  Then I finally worked out the rename account is under FAQ/Etc.  SO some of you got a random Kiran send friend invites that are me and now will show up as me.

Hector is pretty badass. Sakura is a good healer too.

[Shale]

Proof finally exists.  A 0 star level up does in fact feel worse in a Gatcha game, but also in fact feels worse than losing at a Gatcha pull.   Thanks for the science game!  That 4 SP I am sure was worth it.

Good(?) news, mathcrafty types have determined that stat growth follows one of a few predetermined paths for each character, and which one is chosen at the time of acquisition, so it's impossible to get RNG-screwed/blessed. It seems RNG literally doesn't exist in this game outside of gatcha and picking arena opponents.

(Also: 9441493824)

[Laggy]

Reference to what Shale is talking about: https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemHeroes/comments/5s605i/hey_guys_working_on_a_table_to_determine_the_base/

Basically your level up stats always converge to a base set of stats for the character at level cap (40), and then you apply a Pokemon nature-esque effect to it where one stat gets a penalty to the base and one gets a bonus. The value of the penalty/bonus can vary (a char can have their Speed penalty/bonus be -2/+3 or -3/+2 for instance, and the numbers for other stat bonuses/penalties are independent as well) but said variance tends to be low.

So yeah, no bad luck will hold out in the long run (though of course you can get RNG screwed temporarily while leveling, but it corrects itself), although there is still a bit of differentiation between chars and thus some randomness. I'm sure hardcore whales will not be happy with a +Res bonus on their Takumis or whatever.

[Twilkitri]

Game finally deigned to let me join the 5* crew with Camilla and Maria.

Sadly, Maria - at least skillset wise - looks generally inferior to the Wrys 4* I got in the same drawing, and Camilla has gotten a distressing amount of 1/2-stat levelups so far (although given the previous post, maybe that's just going to lead to a heap of great levelups later). Also, green was probably already my best colour.

Now to start stockpiling orbs I guess.

[Grefter]

8-4 is a stat wall I can't overcome yet.  Terrain makes out maneuvering pretty impossible, can't lean on 5* stars because everything hits Res and I have Hector.  He does clear a lot out, but not enough to get ahead.  Training up a Mage replacement for Virion.

[Meeplelard]

Just beat 8-5 myself.  8-4 took a couple of attempts, since yeah, you need to manipulate the AI into a scenario where they can't take full advantage of the terrain.  in my case, I also needed Virion dead just so Est couldn't be sniped at.

[TranceHime]

A total of 30 incoming free orbs spread out over 5 weeks, with 6 orbs each week being distributed via 3 maps multiplied by 2 difficulties

I would recommend saving these orbs for the next banner next week or for castle upgrades if you somehow haven't already sunk 25 orbs for double EXP.

Personal observations regarding popular 5*/4* units I've faced in arena and high level training tower, might be helpful for some of you:

• Takumi: Literally god-tier. Not many counters aside from hoping you have something that can tank his attacks. A high-leveled Hector with Distant Counter is probably the best solution I can think off-hand. Or you can throw someone at him who has  brave weapon (Camilla, etc.) and hope you can kill him in one round - his defense isn't that high after all. Pray for salvation if you face a Takumi who's accompanied by a dancer
• 5* Sword Lords/Myrms: As generic as it gets. They hit you hard, they also get hit hard since they generally all have below average DEF and RES. Don't let Lyn get too many attacks on you otherwise she triggers Galeforce. Mages should wreck them handily though. You can also use manaketes against anyone not named Lucina, Marth or Chrom
• Hector: Can only really be killed off by magic or armorslayers. Don't throw too many bodies at him since distant counter is dumb.
• Ryoma: He's like Hector except probably faster and probably slightly less physically tanky with a bit higher Res
• Manaketes: Very dangerous if you don't have any Falchion users. Otherwise they're food if you can get the jump on them
• Camilla: Gets wrecked by range attacks, but otherwise can run rampant on your team if you don't have any physical tanks.
• Leo: Has savage blow, so he can deal a huge amount of collateral damage as mage, he hit from range. Better kill him ASAP with melee characters. Can also neuter your own mages/archers/ninja by making their attack range 1. Is kind of squishy though so can be dealt with with some smart movement
• Robin (M): His tome lets him get WTA on colorless enemies. That's about it. Still very dangerous as he hits hard. A recurring trend that most of the dangerous characters in the game hit really hard but are squishy.

[Grefter]

NEW META

[Shale]

It's kind of a relief to see people talk about how ridiculous Takumi is, because after a few rounds of using him as my only 5* my first assumption was that the tier is stupidly unbalanced in general.

[Grefter]

It is.  The gap between most 4* and 5*s I have seen is big.  3-5 is nearly insurmountable without big level advantage and WTA.

[Captain K]

There are counters for everything, but they're very specific, so it's just a crapshoot if you have the right characters or not.  Takumi is indeed handled by Hector or Robin, but if you don't have them, good luck.

[Meiousei]

Given I'm running two accounts, I can agree on the Leo assessment. Leo works well with a manakete (I would say in particular Nowi because of her second ability, though I have her only on the Main account).

Also, do note that the weekly is up now for a total of 6 orbs. I need to start doing more research on some of these characters, especially the ones I have at 3*. Since all characters can become 5* with lots of grinding, it might be good to figure out what would fit what situation.

[Grefter]

Given I'm running two accounts

Like not to judge anyone's steez, you do you.  But fucking why?

[Meiousei]

I do the same on FGO and FFBE. I'm used to multi-tasking. I run a cellphone and a tablet. And given I am away at work, it lets me relax on the cellphone when I have business...especially given some of the family issues at times keeps me away from home that I'd not like to talk about.

It's also one of the reasons I'm not giving the second ID just yet.

[TranceHime]

There are counters for everything, but they're very specific, so it's just a crapshoot if you have the right characters or not.  Takumi is indeed handled by Hector or Robin, but if you don't have them, good luck.

setsuna has bowbreaker so she's worth looking into as a takumi counter

[metroid composite]

7181246750

I am a noob, but I have a 5 star archer dude (Takumi).  Rest of my team is assorted 4 stars.

[TranceHime]

7181246750

I am a noob, but I have a 5 star archer dude (Takumi).  Rest of my team is assorted 4 stars.

You're pretty much set for life, depending on who your 4* are

[Shale]

"Life" meaning "until the first round of power creep" anyway. I assume we're going to see more characters (both playable and as high-level AI foes) with WTA over colorless opponents, after experiencing firsthand just how badly a decently leveled Robin can wreck Takumi's shit.

[Meeplelard]

Not to mention the inevitable appearance of 6* Bases somewhere down the line.  I'm going to be bold and predict Ike is going to be the first of those!