Fire Emblem Heroes Topic: You knew this was coming!

[Luther Lansfeld]

I got a +Atk Elincia on that banner. Get dunked on, universe.

[Dark Holy Elf]

FEH not calling Zelgius by his name in 2017 is something I don't really get; do we still care about spoilers? Admittedly they only switched over to calling him Zelgius in the final act of the second game he appeared in so I guess the name "Black Knight" had a lot of time to stick, but I still find it kinda strange. Might be just me!

That's the paradox though, right?  If I can clear it quickly, then it probably isn't as interesting.  I actually sorta enjoyed my L40 runs where I had to worry about various disasters, oh how do I deal with the Lancebreaker on this slow mage who's gonna murder me, etc.  If I had an optimized enough team to safely beat it quickly, that means it's become easier.  And then I wonder why I'm grinding up easy uninteresting battles rather than playing a different game.

I dunno, I have interesting enough battles in TT and the only question is whether I get 1.5 or 1.4 on speed. Playstyle differences I guess, I'm not sure; I even run a true healer! (I never stall out fights for more heals though; the nice thing about Rehabilitate + Imbue is you usually don't have to.) I tend to run at least two high-offence mage units which may help; not sure what your team comp is.

Tana with -Res has the same Res as neutral Subaki (and only 4 less HP) so she's really not much worse at mage tanking. Archers sure but that's the last unit you want to bait archers with anyway unless you're running Flier Emblem (at which point you should probably use either Iote's Shield or Triangle Adept Raventome on someone).

For the bonus unit, I thought the bonus unit had to be in your final party and also survive?  Can run it in your initial party and still get the bonus even if it dies?

Yep. As long as they enter battle at any time during the run, you get the bonus.

[SnowFire]

Useful to know, thanks (re bonus unit).

My Flyer Emblem team would occasionally need to unfortunately find a "volunteer" to bait an archer, or alternatively deal with Takumi (Back In the Day, I only restarted recently), and Subaki was usually the call there, yes.  (Sometimes Cherche if I was running her, which I usually wasn't.)

For BK, I think the logic is that
A) It's an FE9 banner, and he's only known as the Black Knight in FE9, and
B) Crossover games love absolutely any excuse to release the same character multiple times (see: Lucina, Masked Marth, Eggcina, Spearcina).  "Black Knight" being his Path of Radiance form and "Zelgius" (maybe not wearing the helmet?) being his Radiant Dawn form wouldn't be shocking.

[DjinnAndTonic]

My team is still struggling to clear the L35 Tempest Trials, but dear god are they fun. It's just a bonus that it happens to be the best map for getting score.

I still do not have a Dancer/Singer/Turnshifter. I'm doing this totally F2P and only recently restarted, but I've already sunk like 60 orbs into the current banner with no 5-star anything.

I wish I hadn't blown everything trying to get Ninian... But I really wanted Dragonstone Dancer. It always bugged me that she couldn't transform in FE7, and now that she can, I feel like I was supposed to have her on my team. Also, my Blue options are limited to a single lucky pull of an Ephraim, so Ninian would be a welcome addition for a more well-rounded team if I can't use Eph for whatever reason.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Olivia is available from the daily rotation of battles which appear under "Special Battles" (they'll be below the Warriors map, right now). Not sure when Olivia is up next but it'll be within the next two weeks at most. You can only get a 1* and 2* version that way, but promoting to 3* for Dance is dirt cheap and highly recommended, you can go further if you need the stats/more potent Hone Atk.

[Lord Ephraim]

I put 100 orbs and got three Azuras and two Olivias.  Probably my best outing for orbs since Hero Fest 2 where I got six Ikes.

My Azura has higher attack than my +1 Black Knight, Brave Roy, Amelia, and Lilina. Scary.

[DjinnAndTonic]

I'm not sure how, but I cannot seem to get Olivia from the daily rotation battle. She is not in my party either. So I assume I must've somehow deleted her because I hate Olivia and didn't realize that Dance was a thing waaaaaaay back when I first started (I must've been half-asleep when I played it...)

[Lord Ephraim]

The next time Olivia in on the daily Hero battle is next week.  Even if you obtained and deleted Olivia you should still get access to the battle.  There you can find out if you actually deleted her or not.

[Dark Holy Elf]

The new banner is called the "Threaten Speed" banner but does anyone actually give a shit about Threaten? Every character on it is better-known for access to a much better skill (Desperation, Life and Death, Close Counter).

And of all the banners I've drawn from, it's not the one I'd have chosen to get a 5* focus character on the first try, but still, can't complain. Got a Jaffar who I'm sorely tempted to just sacrifice because holy shit, 42 atk after Life and Death is just embarrassing. Why are dagger users so bad? Just have to figure out who will get LaD3...

[VySaika]

Well, I drew Inigo. +Spd, -Res. Think I'm gonna go with that "raventome + triangle adept" strat, I hope triangle adept will be enough to save him vs horse emblem Reinhart despite the -Res.

[Shale]

I drew a +ATK/-HP Olivia and +SPD/-DEF Sonya from the performers banner, both of whom should be solid additions. Finally a dagger unit worth using, and Sonya gives me a proper blitzing green mage type to complement Soren, who's all-in as a Reinhardt/archer counter.

[Meiousei]

Got a Shigure with +Spd, -Atk. Going to make a psedo healer so I can use him in conjunction with my Elise/Priscilla. Meanwhile got a Takumi and pondering how to sacrifice him.

[DjinnAndTonic]

I did some pulls and got... Olivia!

Oh wait. 4* Red Sword generic Olivia. Come ON, game, really?

At least I finally got a Dancer, but...

[Meiousei]

Hey it's a good step in the right direction, to be fair.

[SnowFire]

So, while FE Heroes drew me back in via the bamboozle of "hey have some FE9 characters you like!" (lolno), I am pleasantly impressed with a lot of the changes they made during the months I was out.  The biggest one by far: having Friday & Saturday seem to always be "normal SP" days, when the game is usually on half-SP mode.  SP gain was just too damn low before.  They'd be better off if they stopped calling it a 2x bonus and just made that the normal SP rate officially, but it's still a huge step forward in making it less mindlessly grindy.

I also like that Arena Assault and Chain Challenge suggests building a team, rather than "optimize 3 characters really hard and everyone else only exists to be sacrifical altar'd to them." 

Anyway, in the realm of advice-seeking...  I was *going* to maybe 5* Clarisse so she could be something more than an armed neutral for bonus point purposes, but then I drew Dance Dance Dagger Revolution Olivia, so I guess that'll be slot #4 for bonuses.  But I'll take accessible skillz advice if anyone has it for my tentative arena team.

Black Knight (Neutral) - Alondite, Swap, Dark Luna, Steady Stance, Vantage, C-???, Panic Ploy? (or Speed +1?).  S-Support with Tana.
Tana (+Atk, -Res) - Vidofnir, Reposition, Moonbow, Spd/Def 2, B - ???, Guidance, HP+3.
Cecilia (Neutral) - GronnRaven+, Draw Back, Moonbow, Triangle Adept, G Tomebreaker, Hone Cavalry, Attack +1.  Yes, Hone Cav is worthless, it's for my Horse Emblem team.  Has an S-Support with Eliwood.

Any good (budget) suggestions?  Notably Tana-B, BK C, and BK Seal, although anything works if it's obviously wrong.  (I could arguably break up with Carrot Xander and date the BK instead, but I'm not sure normal Xander would forgive me, as far as Summoner Supports.)  I think that Bow Lyn is popular enough that G Tomebreaker might be better as Bowbreaker for Cecilia too, for all that she still checks Bow Lyn...  just she gets hurt a lot doing it as it stands, and the likes of Julia are kinda still a bad matchup even with that.

[Laggy]

Anyway, in the realm of advice-seeking...  I was *going* to maybe 5* Clarisse so she could be something more than an armed neutral for bonus point purposes, but then I drew Dance Dance Dagger Revolution Olivia, so I guess that'll be slot #4 for bonuses.  But I'll take accessible skillz advice if anyone has it for my tentative arena team.

Black Knight (Neutral) - Alondite, Swap, Dark Luna, Steady Stance, Vantage, C-???, Panic Ploy? (or Speed +1?).  S-Support with Tana.
Tana (+Atk, -Res) - Vidofnir, Reposition, Moonbow, Spd/Def 2, B - , Guidance, HP+3.
Cecilia (Neutral) - GronnRaven+, Draw Back, Moonbow, Triangle Adept, G Tomebreaker, Hone Cavalry, Attack +1.  Yes, Hone Cav is worthless, it's for my Horse Emblem team.  Has an S-Support with Eliwood.

Any good (budget) suggestions?  Notably Tana-B, BK C, and BK Seal, although anything works if it's obviously wrong.  (I could arguably break up with Carrot Xander and date the BK instead, but I'm not sure normal Xander would forgive me, as far as Summoner Supports.)  I think that Bow Lyn is popular enough that G Tomebreaker might be better as Bowbreaker for Cecilia too, for all that she still checks Bow Lyn...  just she gets hurt a lot doing it as it stands, and the likes of Julia are kinda still a bad matchup even with that.

I would not ever 5* a unit just to have a temporary bonus hero for arena. You'll want to stick to the Askr trio for that, but as NEB has pointed out even this is not really an efficient use of feathers (worst case bring them as 4*). 5* stuff you actually like/want to use long term.

Build wise... Pivot's recommended for armored units, so I'd put that on BK, though of course taking advantage of Tana's Guidance is great too. Panic Ploy's cool. Hone Attack should be on at least one person on your team if you aren't running Flier/Horse Emblem, better on BK than Tana if it's not on your third unit if you're looking for a C slot for him. Steady Stance is kinda meh, Steady Breath is incredible on him but requires a B. Ike being sacrificed. Fury is also an option.

Tana's probably fine. If you want to take advantage of Vidofnr, I'd probably run Quick Riposte and Fury. A breaker (Sword or Lance) is also an option, or if you're looking for something more pve oriented, Renewal is decent filler. Your IVs are ideal for a brave build (Brave Lance+ / Hit and Run or Drag Back / Death Blow 3 or Swift Sparrow 2) but that's a huge investment, so probably off the table now. QR3 is 5* exclusive though so you'll have to settle for 2, which is unfortunate as the threshold is 80% (i.e. easy to fall under).

I agree that Bowbreaker is a better pick than G Tomebreaker on Cecilia if you're running Raven tome.

[Shale]

Azura get! I can finally stop spending all my orbs on that banner. She's +DEF/-RES, which is perfectly fine.

[Meiousei]

Well after the hell that was the last gauntlet (Hector and Lyn lost...I was sad), we FINALLY got a FE7 winner in the gauntlet: Ninian. I am actually happy about that.

[Shale]

The Geneology banner really likes me. Free summon was Sigurd, then a full summon gave me Deidre. Both are glass cannon IVs - ATK boon with a bane to the defensive stat that already sucks, i.e. RES for Sigurd and DEF for Deidre. Jeez, where was this luck in CYL?

[SnowFire]

I'd just like to say that I still enjoy the Grand Hero Battles with scrubbier teams.  While everybody else worries about Infernal, Lunatic is still plenty to keep my hands full and me entertained.  (As best I can tell from YouTube, Infernal involves ferrying around a Brave Bow Brave Lyn or a Reinhardt to kill everything where it stands, since the boosted HP scores really require brave'd units to kill quickly...  meh.).  All the horseslayer + forests everywhere incidental hate for Rein also makes team composition exciting, as I end up with an excuse to use units I don't normally use.  Notably...  *Selena* freaking came through again for me, sporting TA3 & Reposition, both of which are great for GHBs (despite Selena being pretty terrible for, say, Arena).  She can safely kill the Axe Armor that spawns in the upper left of the map, and then my team can basically huddle up in that corner with careful baits and Repos to survive through Arvis's horde.  Cool stuff.  (My team ended up being Selena, Raven, Dagger Olivia, and Vidofnir Tana.  They get totally wasted by Infernal though so take with a grain of salt.)

The game really wants me to run a Brave Tana build, it seems.  It gifted me another 5* Hawkeye for Deathblow, and I have a 4* Clair lying around for hit & run.  Would just require blowing the 20K feathers for the Brave Lance+.  I'm not sure I actually want to do it, but it's there.

Also, I was considering spending 20K feathers to get a Swift Sparrow 3 off my Katarina to give to Eliwood, but...   with all the current fears of power creep, I wonder if continuing to invest in Eliwood is wise.  Might hold off for a bit on this.

[Luther Lansfeld]

I got 3 Seliphs while trying to draw Sigurd. 

[Dark Holy Elf]

Some people are apparently really angry about Ayra being in a separate banner, for all that it seems confusing to me. If you specifically want Ayra for whatever reason, it's actually easier to get her from a 3-person banner than a 4-person one (1% chance per orb at base vs 0.75%, and no the chance of Eldigan ruining your pity bonus does not offset this). I can never predict what makes people angry about gacha games and what doesn't.

Anyway, Infernal Arvis for anyone still looking for ideas:

Eirika with the usual hone+9 setup
Tharja (R Tomebreaker)
Reinhardt (Lancebreaker)
Olivia (literally any dancer will do, though obviously a C buff like Olivia's Hone Atk is recommended)

Everyone except Olivia has Reposition; Draw Back would work too but Swap isn't recommended; there are often situations when a mage can ORKO -anyone- so more ways to avoid that are good.

Opening turn has Rienhardt kill the red mage, Olivia dance, Reinhardt Reposition on Olivia and the everyone hide from the blue mage. Turn 2, Reinhardt kills both the blue mage and the sword general who appears, while Tharja kills the axe general.

The map has a lot of red/blue mages (with 52 atk and 40 speed, so they're extremely dangerous!), red/green armour (super-buff, they were wearing down my Xander and TA Eirika until I brought in Tharja), and blue/green cavaliers. Reinhardt can kill every red, and every lance-user thanks to Lancebreaker. Tharja can kill every general, as well as green cavaliers. R Tomebreaker allows her to take a hit from the red mage and ORKO back, though she can only do this once. The blue mages are the toughest for this team; Reinhardt needs 52 attack to OHKO them. Mine is +Atk with Death Blow 3, so he has this if he's buffed by Eirika/Olivia (and not Atk Ployed by Arvis, but note that letting him act and then dancing for him removes the debuff but not the buff) OR he has a limit ready to fire. That was enough flexibility thanks to Olivia that I pretty much was always able to get 'em.

Otherwise, just have to watch for the fact that the green cavaliers have Drag Back and are placed to draw you into Arvis' range (and Arvis has a pre-charged limit which will erase almost any non-blue), so don't let them engage unless you're certain you can OHKO them on the counter (and this isn't easy; watch for Ward Cavalry).

[Dark Holy Elf]

Notably...  *Selena* freaking came through again for me, sporting TA3 & Reposition, both of which are great for GHBs (despite Selena being pretty terrible for, say, Arena).

Actually... you can build a pretty effective Selena for arena; TA3 and Reposition are great there too. You just really want to give her a useful C skill (such as Hone Atk/Speed) because with her lower Atk she will act primarily as support, buffing and repositioning allies, while TA lets her check any green. She's basically a discount Eirika (who is absolutely one of the very best reds for the arena); obviously the lack of doublebuff is noticeable, but on the other hand Selena is highly available and can be built on a budget.

[Meiousei]

Saved up for today, rolled my only roll for the tablet. So along with my Performing Inigo, I now have a +Atk, -HP Ayra to work with.

[Shale]

The new tempest trials has Guidance and Brash Assault seals among the rewards. That's awesome, although one of the lunatics who's gotten them already says Guidance is locked to flyers, so my short-lived plans to troll the arena with Guidance Effie will come to naught. laaaaaaaaaaaaaame.