#mod lucius

[tacticsroom]

Ninian: Oracle of Destiny (Unit Review)

Available at 5★ (Heroes’ Path Reward)

Lvl 40 Stats (Flaw/Neutral/Asset)

HP: 39/42/45 Atk: 21/24/28 Spd: 30/33/36 Def: 20/23/26 Res: 23/27/31

Neutral BST: 149

Max Dragonflowers: 10

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Skills

Weapon: Light Breath+ (300 SP)

Mt: 13. Rng: 1. If unit initiates combat, grants Def/Res+4 to adjacent allies for 1 turn after combat.

Breath. Can be inherited. Can be refined (Upgraded Effect).

Upgraded Effect:  Mt: 14. Rng: 1. After combat, if unit attacked, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 to unit and allies within 2 spaces of unit for 1 turn. If foe's Range = 2, calculates damage using the lower of foe's Def or Res.

Assist: Dance (150 SP)

Grants another action to target ally. (Cannot target an ally with Sing or Dance.)

Cannot be inherited.

Special: None

A: None

B: Escape Route 3 (240 SP)

If unit's HP ≤ 50%, unit can move to a space adjacent to any ally. 

Can be inherited.

C: Fortify Dragons (200 SP)

At start of turn, grants Def/Res+6 to adjacent dragon allies for 1 turn.

Can be inherited. Breath only.

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Analysis

With a Gen 1 dancer’s BST, Ninian doesn’t have much to offer in combat. Of course, this means very little as Ninian will likely spend almost all of her turns refreshing allies. In fact, Ninian’s stats are quite decently distributed with hardly any Atk in favor of decent bulk to help her survive rather than kill.

Aside from being a dancer, Ninian’s most notable asset is her relatively high and easily stackable HP and Res. There are several support skills that involve a HP check like Panic Ploy and Infantry Pulse, as well as Res checks like stat Ploys and Sabotage skills. Using such skills allows Ninian to contribute as much as possible even despite her ability to directly fight the enemy.

On the other hand, Ninian is fairly hindered by being a dragon unit. With an extremely limited pool of inheritable breath weapon skills to choose from, not to mention many of them favoring combat-heavy playstyles, Ninian’s weapon skill slot can essentially end up being a waste of a slot, whereas most other refreshers can equip defensive, type-effective, or even debuffing weapons to extend their utility.

Ninian prefers boons/assets in Res and HP. Her preferred bane/flaw is Atk.

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Similar Units

Rinea: Reminiscent Belle (38/30/33/23/28)

Ninian: Oracle of Destiny (+4/-6/+0/+0/-1)

Lene: Yearning Dancer (35/28/35/23/28)

Ninian: Oracle of Destiny (+7/-4/-2/+0/-1)

Reyson: White Prince (37/29/34/24/26)

Ninian: Oracle of Destiny (+7/-5/-1/-1/+1)

Olivia: Blushing Beauty (36/28/33/27/26)

Ninian: Oracle of Destiny (+6/-4/+0/-4/+1)

Azura: Lady of the Lake (36/31/33/21/28)

Ninian: Oracle of Destiny (+6/-7/+0/+2/-1)

Ninian: Bright-Eyed Bride (34/28/33/18/27)

Ninian: Oracle of Destiny (+8/-4/+0/+5/+0)

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Builds

Budget/Low Investment:

The first build rounds out Ninian as much as possible to survive fights in emergencies, particularly stacking up her Def. If Ninian can safely attack an enemy, Light Breath+ and Atk Smoke can significantly turn the tide for that turn by buffing nearby allies for +5 all stats and debuffing enemies for -7 Atk. Her default Escape Route can help her get in position to make the most of these two effects as well as to gain Atk/Def Bond’s stat boost, although Wings of Mercy is easier to set up as Escape Route requires Ninian to take significant damage beforehand. Spd Smoke can be used as the Sacred Seal instead for even more debuffs.

The second build is more specialized, namely for dueling sword units and other red units. Using both Triangle Adept and Swordbreaker significantly improve Ninian’s ability to tank damage from reds and even deal more of it herself. With doubled weapon advantage, guaranteed follow-ups, and a Moonbow proc, Ninian’s pitifully low Atk may still keep her from landing kills, although may be just enough to take out low-Res swords.

Magic Wall:

27 neutral Res isn’t exactly stellar, but with investment Ninian can stack up her Res quite well.

The first build uses Warding Stance 4 and Warding Stance 3 together for +14 Res in the enemy phase, with Lightning Breath+ to let her retaliate against mages and charge her special faster against them. This build puts her at 48 Res which is plenty for tanking red dragons and mages and Warding Stance 4 prevents such units from bursting her down with special damage. Water Breath+ can be used to further increase her survivability (with 52 enemy phase Res) if so concerned with counterattacking mages.

The second build is more focused on utility, increasing her visible Res as much as possible in order to apply Ploy debuffs. Wings of Mercy is arguably the most utile B Skill a dancer can have, however a Sabotage skill can be quite useful in conjunction with Ploys for as many debuffs as possible.

Infantry Support:

As aforementioned, Ninian can rely on her HP quite well to support her team passively through start-of-turn effects and preserving her actual actions for refreshing. Infantry Pulse can set up some especially powerful builds, particularly those that abuse Special Spiral effects. Using both Sudden Panic and Panic Ploy increases her reliability in applying the Panic effect whereas if using only one or the other she would either be restricted by positioning or leaving it up to the enemy AI behavior. If fully investing in Ninian, B Duel Infantry can of course be used instead of HP +5.

The second build uses the Infantry Breath skill, freeing up melee infantry allies’ A Slots from using a Breath skill themselves. This allows for incredibly powerful builds as such allies can thus combine a greater number of powerful effects together in the enemy phase (such as a unique weapon effect with Distant Counter or a Distant Counter weapon with a powerful A Skill such as Bonus Doubler or a tier-4 skill). Because Infantry Breath only has a range of 1, using it can compromise Ninian’s safety, so using defensive Bond skills and Glittering Breath+ help her avoid putting herself in too much danger.

The third build uses Infantry Rush/Flash to free up allies’ A or Sacred Seal slots from Heavy/Flashing Blade. The rest of her kit revolves around allowing her to safely apply Dark Breath+’s AoE debuffs, making it easier for her allies to pass the Atk/Spd checks and soften up enemies outright. By both boosting her Res and denying enemy follow-ups in the player phase, Mirror Impact helps Ninian safely attack magic enemies while Windsweep and Phantom Spd allow her to avoid being counterattacked entirely by physical enemies assuming they have 48 Spd or lower.

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[tacticsroom]

Peony: Sweet Dream (Unit Review)

Available at 5★ (Mythic Hero, Book IV Hero)

Lv. 40 Stats (Flaw/Neutral/Asset)

HP: 34/38/41 Atk: 28/31/34 Spd: 33/36/39 Def: 12/16/19 Res: 21/24/28

Neutral BST: 145

Max Dragonflowers: 5

Mythic Effect: Light Boost: HP+5, Spd+4

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Skills

Weapon: Flower of Joy (400 SP)

Mt: 14. Rng: 2. Grants Res+3. Grants Atk/Spd+3 to any ally in a cardinal direction from unit during that ally's combat.

Blue Tome. Cannot be inherited. Cannot be refined.

Assist: Gentle Dream (400 SP)

Grants another action to target ally. Grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+3 and the following status to target ally and allies in cardinal directions of unit and target (excluding unit): "Unit can move to a space adjacent to any ally within 2 spaces." (That turn only. Cannot target an ally with Sing or Dance. This skill treated as Sing or Dance.) 

Cannot be inherited.

Special: None

A: B Duel Flying 3 (300 SP)

Grants HP+5. If unit is 5★ and level 40 and unit's stats total less than 170, treats unit's stats as 170 in modes like Arena. (Higher-scoring opponents will appear. Stat total calculation excludes any values added by merges and skills.)

Can be inherited. Blue, Flying only.

B: Wrath 3 (240 SP)

At start of turn, if unit's HP ≤ 75% and unit's attack triggers Special, grants Special cooldown count-1, and deals +10 damage when Special triggers.

Can be inherited. Cannot use: Cavalry, Flying, Ranged.

C: Even Atk Wave 3 (240 SP)

At start of even-numbered turns, grants Atk+6 to unit and adjacent allies for 1 turn. (Bonus granted to unit even if no allies are adjacent.)

Can be inherited.

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Analysis

A new free unit with the arrival of Book IV, Peony’s addition provides players with a powerful refresher support unit with unique skills that although are not potent enough to outperform Legendary Azura are enough to make her nearly as powerful at virtually no cost.

Being a flying refresher is incredibly valuable in itself due to the additional mobility and flexibility that comes with the typing. However, Peony’s unique skills, Flower of Joy and Gentle Dream, are truly what provide her unmatched utility. Gentle Dream in particular holds immense value by providing full +3 buffs on refresh, something that other refreshers would either need a unique weapon or Dance skills to achieve, as well as granting her allies a warping effect in an AoE which significantly increases her allies’ amount of options in battle and at present no other unit can provide the same level of mobility. Flower of Joy also holds a powerful niche, capable of providing full +3 stat boosts in cardinal directions regardless of distance. Combined with Gentle Dream, Peony is thus capable of boosting all of a units stats by +6 with ease and only with two skills.

While Peony lacks any meaningful stats with workable Spd but poor Atk and mediocre magical bulk, Peony lacks any real potential for direct combat, though with her immense utility on the field this hardly poses a problem as she more than pulls her weight without fighting. Additionally, with a unique weapon and assist, a Duel skill, and maximum SP skills in her B and C Skill slots, Peony’s low BST as a refresher doesn’t hold back Arena scoring even without investment, bar her empty Special slot.

Peony prefers boons/assets in Res (superboon) and Spd. Her preferred banes/flaws are Def (superbane), HP (superbane), and Atk.

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Similar Units

Azura: Vallite Songstress (33/30/35/17/24)

Peony: Sweet Dream (+5/+1/+1/-1/+0)

Ninian: Bright-Eyed Bride (34/28/33/18/27)

Peony: Sweet Dream (+4/+3/+3/-2/-3)

Ishtar: Thunder’s Waltz (36/34/36/16/22)

Peony: Sweet Dream (+2/-3/+0/+0/+2)

Rinea: Reminiscent Belle (38/30/33/23/28)

Peony: Sweet Dream (+0/+1/+3/-7/-4)

Shigure: Dark Sky Singer (34/31/29/21/24)

Peony: Sweet Dream (+4/+0/+7/-5/+0)

Azura: Young Songstress (36/33/29/17/25)

Peony: Sweet Dream (+2/-2/+7/-1/-1)

Rinea: Reminiscent Belle (38/30/33/23/28)

Peony: Sweet Dream (+0/+1/+3/-7/-4)

Corrin: Novice Vacationer (34/31/34/22/26)

Peony: Sweet Dream (+4/+0/+2/-6/-2)

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Build Suggestions

Note: At the time of writing, fehstuff.com’s unit builder does not have Flower of Joy registered as a skill for Peony: Sweet Dream. Please treat the appropriate builds as though they have Flower of Joy equipped rather than Shine+ and as though the stats are not buffed.

Budget/Low Investment:

While B Duel Flying doesn’t directly contribute much to fights, there should hardly ever be much reason for Peony herself to engage in combat, thus Peony’s base kite does not require any changes to be effective. There are a wide variety of support/utility Sacred Seals available, though Chill Atk in particular works well in improving her team’s survivability combined with her Fortify Res 4 and unique skills. Aerobatics provides her with extra mobility on mixed teams to then refresh and provide the same mobility to the rest of her team.

Fury 3 notable improves Peony’s bulk and Spd to help her make it through a fight in the event that she must, with Moonbow to slightly improve her offenses. Wings of Mercy can be used instead of Aerobatics especially with allies that take recoil damage.

Utility:

Though Peony’s base Res is middling, her access to a superboon and Flower of Joy’s +3 Res allows her to push it quite high anyway, thus allowing her to further support her team with debuffs from Sabotage and Ploy skills while also being fairly capable of taking enemy mages. Fury 4 and Resistance +3 increase Peony’s visible Res while also giving her offenses a boost, though she can also completely forgo her offenses and use Fort. Def/Res 3 in the A Skill slot and Fortress Res as her Sacred Seal with an Atk bane, putting her at 42 visible Res.

Peony can also use Triangle Adept and breaker to help her team cover more ground, being a simple counter to whatever weapon type is chosen. Using a Raven tome allows her to also somewhat counter colorless enemies, though she can also simply keep Flower of Joy and counter just red enemies.

Arena Core:

With such incredible utility and well-scoring default skills, Peony is an excellent candidate for an Arena Core/Support unit. The Special, B Skill, C Skill, and Sacred Seal are flexible. Blue Flame notably can work well with Peony’s playstyle as she and her allies will often and easily be adjacent due to Gentle Dream’s effect.

[tacticsroom]

Berkut: Debonair Noble (Unit Review)

Available at 5★ (Special Hero)

Lvl 40 Stats (Flaw/Neutral/Asset)

HP: 38/41/44 Atk: 33/36/39 Spd: 20/23/26 Def: 34/37/41 Res: 21/24/28

Neutral BST: 161

Max Dragonflowers: 5

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Skills

Weapon: Verðandi (400 SP)

Mt: 16. Rng: 1. If Sing or Dance is used, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 to target.

Lance. Cannot be inherited. Cannot be refined.

Assist: Dance (150 SP)

Grants another action to target ally. (Cannot target an ally with Sing or Dance.)

Cannot be inherited.

Special: None

A: B Duel Infantry 3 (300 SP)

Grants HP+5. If unit is 5★ and level 40 and unit's stats total less than 170, treats unit's stats as 170 in modes like Arena. (Higher-scoring opponents will appear. Stat total calculation excludes any values added by merges and skills.)

Can be inherited. Blue, Infantry only.

B: None

C: Distant Guard 3 (240 SP)

Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic, or staff, grants Def/Res+4 during combat."

Can be inherited.

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Analysis

Like the other new 2019 dancers, despite the dancer BST penalty, thanks to powercreep over the years especially for infantry units, Dancer Berkut is able to pull his own weight in combat with a solid 161 neutral BST and nicely min-maxed stats.

For the most part, D!Berkut fills the standard defensive role of an infantry lance unit. With high Def and respectable Atk, he can reliably withstand physical damage and counterattack with decent damage in return. With the proper kit of skills, D!Berkut will function much the same as other commonly available lances like Lukas, Oboro, and Donnel, but D!Berkut’s ability to refresh his allies on top of this is what really sets him apart.

Unfortunately for him, D!Berkut doesn’t have much of a base kit to speak of in terms of direct influence in battle. His unique weapon is the most influential, allowing him to buff an ally’s stats by +4 all around upon using Dance. This is essentially a stronger version of Azura: Lady of Ballads’s Urðr and Olivia: Sky-High Dancer’s Skuld, both giving only +3. While Verðandi can be kept for a purely supportive role, D!Berkut has much greater potential with other, inheritable weapons that improve his performance in combat. D!Berkut does notably introduce the B Duel Infantry skill to FEH, and while it can be useful for scoring in the Arena, it is of course not a significant help in most modes.

D!Berkut prefers boons/assets in Def (superboon), Res (superboon), and Atk. His preferred bane/flaw is Spd.

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Similar Units

Oboro: Fierce Fighter (40/32/26/35/24)

Berkut: Debonair Noble (+1/+4/-3/+2/+0)

Lukas: Sharp Soldier (45/35/22/38/17)

Berkut: Debonair Noble (-4/+1/+1/-1/+7)

Donnel: Village Hero (43/35/29/32/23)

Berkut: Debonair Noble (-2/+1/-6/+5/+1)

Silas: Loyal Knight (40/35/24/36/21)

Berkut: Debonair Noble (+1/+1/-1/+1/+3)

Berkut: Prideful Prince (43/34/22/31/24)

Berkut: Debonair Noble (-2/+2/+1/+6/+0)

Xander: Dancing Knight (38/35/17/34/16)

Berkut: Debonair Noble (+3/+1/+6/+3/+8)

Azura: Lady of the Lake (36/31/33/21/28)

Berkut: Debonair Noble (+5/+5/-10/+16/-4)

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Builds

Budget/Low Investment:

Berkut doesn’t need much to make use of his statline. By using Steady Stance, he can boost his Def to 43 unbuffed in the enemy phase, and Bonfire gives him bursts of 21 damage scaling with said Def. Quick Riposte allows him to not only attack twice in the enemy phase with his solid Atk but also activate Bonfire every fight assuming he gets doubled, making him a true threat to melee physical units. Of course, in the end, Berkut is a dancer, and while it is helpful to have one that can fend for themselves, Berkut’s mere ability to support his team with refreshing and buffs makes him a valuable asset as it is. Wings of Mercy helps him reach low-HP allies to refresh them regardless of distance.

Enemy Phase:

As with his other two forms, D!Berkut functions fairly well as a mixed tank, focusing on both Def and Res at the same time. Fort. Def/Res 3 helps him do exactly that, and Berkut’s Lance+ and Steady Stance together put Berkut at 49 Def and 45 Res in the enemy phase.

Alternatively, he can also focus purely on Def. The second build combines Vanguard+ and Steady Stance for 59 total Def in the enemy phase, with Quick Riposte and Bonfire allowing him to proc Bonfire every fight for 29 bonus damage. Using Distant Counter lets him tank and fight bow and dagger enemies in addition to melee but can be swapped for another Def-stacking skill like Steady Stance 4.

The third build is more damage-focused, activating Bonfire on every counterattack. Slaying Lance+ reduces Bonfire’s cooldown to 2, being fully charged by a single attack thanks to Steady Breath. With Quick Riposte, Berkut can thus apply Bonfire twice every combat against melee enemies for a total of 48 extra damage, making him an incredibly dangerous target.

The fourth build is specialized for dueling armored units. Because many of them rely on skills and effects to guarantee or deny follow-ups, Null Follow-Up is perfect for maintaining the upper hand against them, with Slaying Spear+ significantly increasing his damage output.

Brave Lance:

Berkut also performs fairly well with Brave Lance+ due to his solid Atk. With both Death Blow 4 and Sturdy Blow 2, Berkut gains +12 Atk in the player phase for 59 total. While this can absolutely tear through frailer enemies, tanks will likely shrug the damage off with ease. He can alternatively use Sturdy Impact for safer initiations, especially to help apply any after-combat effects.

Arena Core:

Considering the fact that Berkut comes with B Duel Infantry, he can make for a solid Arena core option if you intend on investing in him anyway. Most of the skills here are chosen for their high SP values, bar Dance. To maximize his scoring potential, Dance should be swapped for a 400 SP Assist skill such as a Rally+ or Harsh Command+.

[tacticsroom]

Altina: Dawn’s Trueblade (Unit Review)

Available at 5★ (Mythic Hero)

Lv. 40 Stats (Flaw/Neutral/Asset)

HP: 35/38/41 Atk: 35/38/42 Spd: 17/20/23 Def: 27/30/34 Res: 33/36/39

Neutral BST: 166

Max Dragonflowers: 5

Mythic Effect: Astra Boost: HP+5, Atk+3

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Skills

Weapon: Ragnell-Alondite (400 SP)

Mt: 10. Rng: 1. Unit can counterattack regardless of foe's range. Inflicts Spd-5. Unit attacks twice (even if foe initiates combat).

Sword. Cannot be inherited. Cannot be refined.

Assist: None

Special: Twin Blades (500 SP)

CD: 2. Boosts damage by 40% of unit's Res. Disables non-Special skills that "reduce damage by X%."

Cannot be inherited.

A: Ashera’s Chosen (300 SP)

Neutralizes "effective against flying" bonuses. If unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, grants Atk/Def+6 during combat.

Cannot be inherited.

B: Vantage 3 (200 SP)

If unit's HP ≤ 75% and foe initiates combat, unit can counterattack before foe's first attack.

Can be inherited.

C: Atk/Def Oath 3 (240 SP)

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Atk/Def+5 for 1 turn.

Can be inherited. Cannot use: Armored, Cavalry.

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Analysis

A true hero of legend and the first apostle of Begnion, Altina makes her first true appearance in FEH equipped with a deadly combo of skills and effects to tear down numerous enemies in quick succession, making her one of the strongest enemy/mixed phase threats at current.

Altina mostly benefits from the amount of value she gets out of her unique skills. Ragnell-Alondite, her most powerful skill, provides her both the brave effect and Distant Counter all in one skill slot. This opens up her A Skill slot as she does not need Distant Counter itself to become a solid enemy phase powerhouse, and she fills that available slot with another powerful unique skill, Ashera’s Chosen. This skill essentially provides Iote’s Shield, covering her weakness to bows and thus minimizing her enemies’ control of the field, as well as what is essentially an Atk/Def Solo effect that is active as long as she isn’t adjacent to non-beast/non-dragon allies rather than any allies. Altina’s unique Special, Twin Blades, arguably offers the least value but is still unmistakably powerful, dealing 40% of her Res on a cooldown of 2 with the added bonus of ignoring percent damage reduction effects, meaning that her attack will bypass skills like Deflect Melee or Brave!Ike’s Urvan. Meanwhile, her default B Skill, Vantage, can prevent enemies from landing hits by taking them out before they get the chance especially paired with her other skills, namely Ragnell-Alondite. This severely limits opponents’ options in approaching her, as unless they can OHKO her they will have to withstand her powerful attacks.

Altina prefers a boon/asset in Atk. Her preferred bane/flaw is Spd.

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Similar Units

Reinhardt: Thunder’s Sword (40/35/23/31/28)

Altina: Dawn’s Trueblade (+2/+3/-3/-1/+8)

Keaton: Lupine Collector (45/41/24/38/19)

Altina: Dawn’s Trueblade (-3/-3/-4/-8/+15)

Leif: Unifier of Thracia (40/38/22/29/27)

Altina: Dawn’s Trueblade (+2/+0/-2/+1/+9)

Elincia: Lost Princess (35/34/36/24/27)

Altina: Dawn’s Trueblade (+7/+4/-16/+6/+9)

Hríd: Resolute Prince (42/38/19/36/27)

Altina: Dawn’s Trueblade (+0/+0/+1/-6/+9)

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Build Suggestions

Budget/Low Investment:

As described in the Analysis section, Altina’s base kit has perfect synergy with itself and is essentially her ideal skill set, making her completely functional out of the box. Adding Fierce Stance increases her damage output in the enemy phase, making it even more difficult for enemies to approach her. Alternatively, Brazen Atk/Res activates alongside Vantage and increases her damage per hit as well as from Twin Blades’s Res-scaling damage and is also active in either phase. Distant Def improves Altina’s ability to safely take hits from ranged enemies to drop her HP into Vantage range. Heavy Blade makes it so that Altina can activate Twin Blades whenever she is attacked while Vantage is active.

Enemy Phase:

This build is near identical to Altina’s budget build with her effectiveness slightly more maximized to carry out her role. By having an Atk boon, Altina becomes far more consistent, especially as it will improve her ability to pass Heavy Blade’s Atk check. Using Def Smoke will reduce nearby enemies’ Def after each fight, improving her ability to take on multiple units per turn. While this build is geared towards the enemy phase, Ashera’s Chosen’s Atk bonus is still active in the player phase, thus Altina can still ORKO enemies just as well in the player phase as she can in the enemy phase.

Player Phase:

Although arguably not as consistently applicable as an enemy/mixed phase build, Altina can of course excel in the player phase with her high Atk and unique weapon.

Death Blow 4 provides Altina with as much Atk as possible to pass Heavy Blade’s Atk check so that she can activate Twin Blades on every initiation. Hit and Run provides with more safety by creating distance between her and the enemy team after attacking. Her C Skill is flexible, however Altina is notably capable of reliably utilizing Atk Ploy or Def Ploy with her high Res, the former to help activate Heavy Blade and the latter to improve her damage output directly.

Altina can also use Galeforce to allow her to cut down multiple enemies per turn, with Heavy Blade to help her activate it more often. Chill Atk helps ensure that Altina can use Heavy Blade even against enemies with the highest Atk. Def Smoke makes it easier for Altina to ORKO her subsequent targets each turn.

[tacticsroom]

Leif: Unifier of Thracia (Unit Review)

Available at 5★ (Legendary Hero)

Lvl 40 Stats (Flaw/Neutral/Asset)

HP: 36/40/43 Atk: 35/38/42 Spd: 19/22/26 Def: 25/29/30 Res: 24/27/31

Neutral BST: 156

Max Dragonflowers: 5

Legendary Effect: Water Ally Boost: HP+3

Standard Effect 1: Duel If unit is 5★ and level 40 and unit’s stats total less than 175, treats unit’s stats as 175 in modes like Arena. (Higher-scoring opponents will appear. Stat total calculation excludes any values added by merges and skills.)

Standard Effect 2: Pair Up An ability that can only be used under certain circumstances. Pair Up can be accessed from the Interact with Allies menu, and allows this unit to join battle in a group with another ally.

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Skills

Weapon: Meisterbogen (400 SP)

Mt: 9. Rng: 2. Effective against flying foes. Inflicts Spd-5. Unit attacks twice (even if foe initiates combat). When under player's control, unit gains: "If unit initiates combat, foe cannot make a follow-up attack."

Bow. Cannot be inherited. Cannot be refined.

Assist: None

Special: Njörun's Zeal (500 SP)

CD: 3. If unit initiates combat, grants unit another action after combat. (Once per turn.) When Special triggers, inflicts "restricts movement to 1 space" on unit and Pair Up cohort through their next action.

Cannot be inherited.

A: Atk/Res Push 4 (300 SP)

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants Atk/Res+7, but after combat, if unit attacked, deals 5 damage to unit.

Can be inherited.

B: S Drink (300 SP)

If unit's HP ≥ 50% in combat against a blue tome foe, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack and foe cannot make a follow-up attack.

Cannot be inherited.

C: Def Smoke 3 (240 SP)

Inflicts Def-7 on foes within 2 spaces of target through their next actions after combat. 

Can be inherited. Cannot use: Staff.

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Analysis

Legendary Leif presents a new long-ranged threat to the meta of FEH, equipped with his own unique weapon Meisterbogen and plenty of Atk to make good use of it, as well as access to a Galeforce effect, setting him apart from any other cavalry archer, let alone any ranged unit.

L!Leif’s BST is concentrated mostly on his Atk at 38 neutral, with poor Spd and mediocre defenses. This works well with his niche with Meisterbogen being a 9 Mt Brave Bow as L!Leif really doesn’t need much else besides Atk, and its ability to deny enemy follow-ups allows L!Leif to take on fights without worrying as much about being taken out by counterattacks. However, what really lets L!Leif shine is his unique Special, Njörun's Zeal, which is essentially Galeforce on a cooldown of 3. This is a huge deal for L!Leif as no other ranged unit is capable of using such an effect and heavily increases his presence in the player phase. Although it does restrict his movement on his second action, L!Leif would be incredibly difficult to deal with as enemy AI otherwise, and it can even be circumvented with a skill like Restore+ or Harsh Command+. L!Leif’s default S Drink puts Njörun's Zeal on a cooldown of 2 for its first activation, meaning L!Leif can activate it with only two hits.

Meisterbogen also has the benefit of being usable in the enemy phase as well, although with L!Leif’s range and Njörun's Zeal, he thrives far more in the player phase, and pre-existing units like Keaton or WoT!Reinhardt can essentially fulfill the same role but better. Though, being in effect in both phases will of course make L!Leif quite difficult to deal with safely as an enemy.

L!Leif prefers a boon/asset in Atk (superboon). His preferred banes/flaws are Spd, Res, and HP (superbane).

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Similar Units

Roy: Youthful Gifts (34/35/19/27/30)

Leif: Unifier of Thracia (+6/+3/+3/+2/-3)

Jakob: Devoted Monster (42/35/23/33/32)

Leif: Unifier of Thracia (-2/+3/-1/-4/-5)

Lilina: Beachside Bloom (35/38/25/16/35)

Leif: Unifier of Thracia (+5/+0/-3/+13/-8)

Reinhardt: Thunder’s Sword (40/35/23/31/28)

Leif: Unifier of Thracia (+0/+3/-1/-2/-1)

Keaton: Lupine Collector (45/41/24/38/19)

Leif: Unifier of Thracia (-5/-3/-2/-9/+8)

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Builds

Budget/Low Investment:

Atk/Res Push 4 is a fine A Skill for Leif as it provides him significant Atk in either phase, and while the Res isn’t especially needed it serves as a nice bonus. Def Smoke has nice synergy with Njörun's Zeal, softening enemies after his first attack to secure extra kills in the same turn. The first build is more player phase-oriented, adding the Sturdy Blow seal to increase his damage on initiation. The second is more flexible, simply using Atk+3 to increase his damage overall and with Vantage to keep opponents at bay in the enemy phase when he’s vulnerable.

Meisterbogen:

The first build maximizes Leif’s damage output in the player phase to make him as difficult to avoid as possible. Death Blow 4 and Lull Atk/Def provide him with an effective +11 Atk and will also negate enemy Def buffs. Heavy Blade allows him to charge and activate Njörun's Zeal in two hits without S Drink and thus significantly increases its consistency. Njörun's Zeal can be replaced with a 2 CD damaging Special to secure more kills, though Leif will of course miss out on Njörun's Zeal’s unique refresh potential.

Leif can also take Close Counter to become an even greater enemy/mixed phase threat. Once within Vantage’s and Brazen’s HP threshold, Leif’s aggressors will have to be able to tank two 58 Atk hits and potentially Ruptured Sky before getting the chance to hit him.

Guard Bow Enemy Phase:

While not hardly as optimal as L!Leif’s normal kit, his mixed defenses are decent enough to stack Distant Def effects to become a ranged tank, similar to how Roy: Youthful Gifts is often used either as a Brave Bow nuke or a Guard Bow tank.

With Guard Bow+ and Distant Def 4/3, Leif gains +20 Def/Res in the enemy phase against ranged enemies for 52 and 51 total on top of a Dull Ranged effect. This makes it quite difficult for ranged enemies to ORKO him, and with Quick Riposte, Leif can double and retaliate with Bonfire for 26 burst damage.

Arena Core:

While Leif lacks the supporting capabilities of many other high-scoring units, if already investing in Leif, he may be able push your maximum score up quite a bit thanks to his legendary Duel effect. The skills used in this example are all used for their high SP costs and are flexible.

[tacticsroom]

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (Unit Review)

Available at 5★ (Heroes’ Path Reward)

Lvl 40 Stats (Flaw/Neutral/Asset)

HP: 33/36/40 Atk: 28/31/34 Spd: 32/35/38 Def: 17/20/23 Res: 19/22/25

Neutral BST: 144

Max Dragonflowers: 5

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Skills

Weapon: Gleipnir (300 SP)

Mt: 14. Rng: 2. Grants Res+3. At start of combat, if foe's HP = 100%, grants Atk/Spd+3 during combat.

Red Tome. Cannot be inherited. Cannot be refined.

Assist: Rally Atk/Spd (300 SP)

Grants Atk/Spd+3 to target ally for 1 turn.

Can be inherited. Cannot use: Staff.

Special: None

A: Swift Sparrow 2 (240 SP)

If unit initiates combat, grants Atk/Spd+4 during combat.

Can be inherited. Cannot use: Staff.

B: Desperation 3 (200 SP)

If unit's HP ≤ 75% and unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.

Can be inherited.

C: R Tome Exp 3 (120 SP)

While unit lives, all red tome allies on team get 2x EXP. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

Can be inherited. Red Tome only.

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Analysis

As a Gen 2 ranged cavalry unit, Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (also known as Sacred Memories!Eirika suffers heavily from low BST, and while her offenses are workable, her rarity makes her very costly to invest it for less than spectacular returns compared to her competitors, most of whom will perform far better at the same cost.

SM!Eirika is mostly held back by two main factors. First, her unique weapon, Gleipnir, is incredibly weak for modern standards and also cannot be refined. Essentially only granting a conditional +3 Atk, Spd, and Def, even the inheritable Rauðrfox+ provides better stat boosts on a condition that is much easier to achieve, and Rauðrblade+ provides an unparalleled amount of potential damage output. Her second setback is her low, mixed Def and Res. There are many more defensive red tomes than offensive, however SM!Eirika has neither the Def nor Res to make use of such tomes, heavily limiting her options as a unit, unlike her main competitor, Titania: Warm Knight, who not only has decent offenses but great Res. These two traits make SM!Eirika a very inflexible unit and, with decent Atk and Spd at best, doesn’t particularly stand out among other mages either. Nevertheless, having SM!Eirika in one’s barracks still provides an extra long-range red unit that can be useful for modes like Arena Assault to be used when necessary.

SM!Eirika prefers boons/assets in Spd and Atk. Her preferred banes/flaws are HP, Def, and Res.

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Similar Units

Titania: Warm Knight (35/30/33/17/30)

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (+1/+1/+2/+3/-8)

Catria: Spring Whitewhing (36/32/35/18/23)

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (+0/-1/+0/+2/-1)

Gunnthrá: Voice of Dreams (37/31/33/19/25)

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (-1/+0/+2/+1/-3)

Tana: Noble and Nimble (35/33/36/20/25)

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (+1/-2/-1/+0/-3)

Mist: Purest Spirit (36/34/34/17/23)

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (+0/-3/+1/+3/-1)

Pent: Fancy Fiancé (37/33/34/19/21)

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (-1/-2/+1/+3/+1)

Morgan: Lad from Afar (37/33/34/20/26)

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (-1/-2/+1/+0/-4)

Celica: Caring Princess (39/32/33/22/22)

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (-3/-1/+2/-2/+0)

Olwen: Righteous Knight (34/30/35/19/27)

Eirika: Anamnesis Lady (-2/+1/+0/-1/-5)

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Builds

Budget/Low Investment:

Eirika’s default Swift Sparrow helps compensate for Eirika’s lacking firepower at neutral. With both Gleipnir and Swift Sparrow, Eirika gains +7 extra Atk and Spd, up to +12 if Atk/Spd Bond is active. This puts her at a potential 57 Atk and 47 Spd unbuffed. Without sky-high Atk, Eirika likely will do more with Moonbow than Glimmer.

Alternatively, Fury is of course an excellent supplement for Eirika’s stats as well, and the recoil damage helps with activating Desperation and Brazen Atk/Spd. At 75% HP or less, Eirika will have both Desperation’s immediate follow-ups and +10 Atk and Spd.

Player Phase:

As mentioned, Eirika doesn’t have many options when it comes to optimal builds, but Rauðrblade+ and Rauðrfox+ do offer her quite a bit of potential as a ranged nuke.

Rauðrblade+ in particular can heavily boost her damage output. With full +6 visible buffs on her, Rauðrblade+ provides +24 Atk on top of a +6 Atk buff. Atk/Spd Push 4 and Brazen Atk/Spd boost her Atk and Spd further by +14, so with all of this in place, Eirika will effectively be at 88 Atk and 58 Spd which is more than enough to blow most enemies away in two or even just one hit.

Rauðrfox+ isn’t as brute force as Rauðrblade+ but is much less reliant on her allies and can also attack much more safely. By using Rauðrfox+ and Sturdy Blow, Eirika effectively gains +8/4/8/4 in the player phase, improving both her offenses and defenses by a noticeable margin. Fury 4 complements these two skills by boosting her stats all-around.

[tacticsroom]

Phina: Roving Dancer (Unit Review)

Available at 5★

Lvl 40 Stats (Flaw/Neutral/Asset)

HP: 37/40/43 Atk: 32/35/38 Spd: 34/37/40 Def: 23/26/30 Res: 20/23/27

Neutral BST: 161

Max Dragonflowers: 5

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Skills

Weapon: Rapier (300 SP)

Mt: 16. Rng: 1. Effective against armored and cavalry foes. Grants Spd+3. If unit’s HP ≤ 75% and foe initiates combat, unit can counterattack before foe's first attack.

Sword. Cannot be inherited. Cannot be refined.

Assist: Dance (150 SP)

Grants another action to target ally. (Cannot target an ally with Sing or Dance.)

Cannot be inherited.

Special: None

A: Spd/Def Form 3 (240 SP)

Grants Spd/Def+X to unit during combat. (X = 2 × number of allies within 2 spaces, + 1; max 7.)

Can be inherited.

B: Geyser Dance 2 (240 SP)

If Sing or Dance is used, grants Def/Res+4 to target.

Cannot use: Staff.

C: None

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Analysis

Despite several pre-existing infantry sword dancers being available, Phina easily beats out the competition not only as a dancer but a sword infantry unit in general with her strong offenses and incredibly powerful unique weapon, Rapier.

As a Gen 4 unit, Phina has a very high BST. Similar to the A Splendid Soiree units, even with a BST penalty as a dancer, Phina performs better than even most sword infantry units and functions nearly identically to those like Athena or Soleil - and that isn’t even taking Rapier into account. The fact that Rapier provides Phina with both two-type effective damage, Vantage, more Mt than either Armorsmasher+ or Zanbato+, and some extra Spd to boot all within a single skill is an absurd amount of value for little cost. Most notably, effective damage and Vantage pair incredibly well together, allowing Phina to OHKO enemies in the enemy phase without taking hits first.

With all this into consideration, being able to refresh units can end up being simply icing on the cake for Phina; if desired, she could be treated just like a normal infantry sword rather than as a support, potentially even unequipping Dance outright so that Phina herself can be refreshed. Although Rapier is arguably the best weapon available to Phina, it should be noted any inheritable builds used on units like Soleil, Hana, Athena, and the like can be used just as successfully on Phina.

Phina prefers boons/assets in Atk and Spd. Her preferred banes/flaws are HP and Res.

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Similar Units

Soleil: Adorable Adorer (37/38/35/28/24)

Phina: Roving Dancer (+3/-3/+2/-2/-1)

Athena: Borderland Sword (36/31/38/27/24)

Phina: Roving Dancer (+4/+4/-1/-1/-1)

Ryoma: Peerless Samurai (41/34/35/27/21)

Phina: Roving Dancer (-1/+1/+2/-1/+2)

Karla: Sword Vassal (42/35/40/23/22)

Phina: Roving Dancer (-2/+0/-3/+3/+1)

Hana: Focused Samurai (37/35/36/23/26)

Phina: Roving Dancer (+3/+0/+1/+3/-3)

Celica: Imprisoned Soul (40/35/35/27/26)

  Phina: Roving Dancer (+0/+0/+2/-1/-3)

Ayra: Astra’s Wielder (41/33/37/31/21)

Phina: Roving Dancer (-1/+2/+0/-5/+2)

Navarre: Scarlet Sword (42/31/37/23/24)

Phina: Roving Dancer (-2/+4/+0/+3/-1)

Olivia: Blushing Beauty (36/28/33/27/26)

Phina: Roving Dancer (+4/+7/+4/-1/-3)

Lene: Yearning Dancer (35/28/35/23/28)

Phina: Roving Dancer (+5/+7/+2/+3/-5)

Silvia: Traveling Dancer (40/27/36/17/30)

Phina: Roving Dancer (+0/+8/+1/+9/-7)

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Builds

Budget/Low Investment:

Although Phina has great potential for combat, her status as a dancer means she doesn’t need to built to fight to be useful. Adding Blaze/Gale Dance to her default Geyser Dance allows her to buff three of an ally’s stats by +4 after refreshing them. Wings of Mercy is arguably the best support skill for a dancer as it allows them to refresh an adequately injured ally from anywhere on the map. Warping with Wings of Mercy also immediately puts her in position to use a Bond skill as well as her default Spd/Def Form, the latter especially if her allies are grouped together.

Glimmer is easily one of the best Special options for Phina due to Rapier’s dual effectiveness; Phina will often be dealing large chunks of damage with Rapier, so Glimmer makes better use of that fact compared to, for instance, Moonbow.

Distant Counter:

Having Vantage built into a high-damage weapon is an enemy phase unit’s dream, so it’s no surprise that building Phina to be a Distant Counter/Vantage machine is extremely deadly and a huge threat to certain teams as she can OHKO a wide range of units with Vantage priority attacks.

The first build pairs Special Spiral with Glimmer. Once Glimmer has been charged once and Phina is within Vantage’s HP threshold (and thus Brazen’s as well), Phina will always immediately counterattack with Brazen-buffed Glimmer procs, something that many armored and cavalry will struggle to initiate into, not to mention any frail glass cannons. Def Smoke improves her ability to take out large groups of enemies in the same turn. Null C-Disrupt can be used in place of Special Spiral to deny enemies from safe initiations through the use of Sweep effects or Dazzling Staff.

The second build uses Wrath and Time’s Pulse to maximize Glimmer’s uptime while also increasing its damage. While damaged, these two skills will ensure that Glimmer is fully charged at the start of each player phase. Unlike with Special Spiral though, Phina can’t spam Glimmer continuously in one turn with Wrath and Time’s Pulse and leans more towards a mixed/player phase playstyle - it’s a trade-off of consistency for more burst.

 Aggressive:

As aforementioned, Phina can be used as a player phase oriented duelist just like other sword infantry units with high offenses. Note that the skills shown can mostly be mixed and matched, as well as other powerful offensive skills or weapons, to varying degrees of success - no individual build here fills a particularly different role from the others but are rather different styles to meet the same end.

The first build uses Fury to round out Phina’s offensive and defensive stats as well as provide her an easy shortcut to reach both Vantage and Brazen’s HP thresholds. By decreasing her opponents’ Atk and Def, Lull Atk/Def simultaneously increases both Phina’s damage output and bulk. Neutralizing enemy buffs in those stats also limits opponents’ ability to stack those stats up, especially with Bonus Doubler effects. Under ideal conditions, this build allows Phina to attack with an effective 68 Atk unbuffed with dual effectiveness as well as Vantage priority in the enemy phase.

The second build is focused on cutting down enemies with Desperation in the player phase. Atk/Spd Push 4 and Brazen Atk/Spd can grant +14 Atk and Spd for 65 Atk and 57 Spd total which should be plenty to tear straight through most enemies, especially if Phina can proc Luna in the process.

The third build uses Galeforce and Flashing Blade to provide Phina multiple actions per turn. Since Galeforce can only activate in the player phase, Time’s Pulse essentially puts it at a cooldown of 4, meaning that as long as Phina doubles with Flashing Blade, she can activate Galeforce without having to tank a counterattack.

Physical Duelist:

Although not as orthodox, Phina can also be used to duel physical units (namely armors and cavalry) with her Def superboon. Steady Stance 4 not only provides her with a significant Def boost in the enemy phase but also a Guard effect. This notably protects her from accidentally attacking with Vantage priority only to charge her opponent’s Special and in turn be burst down with said Special. Null Follow-Up disables powerful skills that are particularly common on armored units like Bold/Vengeful/Wary Fighter that either guarantee enemy follow-ups or prevent Phina’s.