Flier Emblem Guide
A Guide To Flier Emblem
While not as popular as the infamous “horse emblem”, Flier emblem is nevertheless an extremely strong movement-based team featuring some of the most offensively powerful units in the game. There are more powerful offensive fliers in the game than there are from any other movement type barring infantry. Another merit of flier emblem is that it’s so fun to use. You can just fly over any obstacles that would block any other unit. This allows you to kill Cavalry units with much more ease thanks to your free movement over forests.
In this post I will be going over the most important skills for fliers, all the fliers currently in the game, the strengths and weaknesses of flier emblem, and how to use a flier emblem team effectively. Disclaimer: While I have worked with most of these units, since I am F2P there are still a few that I haven’t had the luck to pull. Feel free to tell me my unit analysis is crap.
Building a Team
Building a team of fliers is hard. Who gets Hone Fliers? What Color do you double up on? Hopefully this guide will clarify some of those questions for those of you interested in trying Flier emblem.
Essential Skills
There are a few skills that are absolutely essential for any flier emblem team. These skills will massively enhance teams that you build.
Reposition: Since by using any complete movement class team you are depriving yourself of a dancer, Reposition is an absolute necessity to move units around and pull allies out of danger.
Hone Fliers: Ah, Hinoka’s exclusive skill. This skill hugely increases the damage output of any flier team. The only time it is acceptable not to use it is if you are not using a blade tome mage on your team, where stacking Goads is often a better option.
Fortify Fliers: Also necessary for blade tome mages
Goad Fliers: Used to fill up any C slots after hone and fortify fliers have been taken.
All the Fliers
There are a lot of Fliers in the game, so how do you know which to use? Which color to double up on? In this section I’ll go over what are the good and bad fliers to use, give each a rating /10, and discuss their merits and downfalls. Feel free to murder me in the comments if I rate a flier that you think is good poorly, but at least tell me your build. Note that the fliers are rated in comparison to their own pool of fliers. Their ratings are not indicative of their performance against the general pool of fliers, or all units. I will be rating them based on offensive or defensive potential, ease of merging, and build diversity.
Blue Fliers
Blue is by far the most crowded color for fliers, and is the color where fliers face the most competition. Unlike the other colors, Blue fliers are set in a kind of “Superiority Chain. There is often not much a lower classed Flier has over a higher ranked one, and lower ranked fliers often do not have a specific Niche.
Ideally, this is the color to double up on. Blue is the color of units you will use to kill pretty much everything, regardless of color, since their offenses are high enough that they can usually take the kill even at a color disadvantage.
Summer Corrin: 11/10
Yes, she is that good. I felt it would be unfair to the other blue fliers if she was included in the rating. I personally think that Corrin is the best offensive unit in the entire game. Her damage potential is absolutely incredible, her defenses are enough to survive a hit for desperation range, her speed is enough to reliable double all but the fastest units. The only units she doesn’t kill are green units who have TA/emerald axe and 27-28+ res, as well as greens with 36-37+ res.
Pros
-stupidly powerful (pretty much highest possible damage in the game)
-can even consistently kill low-mid res green units which trouble flier emblem teams (looking at you, Brave Ike)
-Did I mention powerful?
Cons
-very expensive to build
-fragile
-rare, difficult to obtain
Builds
”I am Become Death; Destroyer of Worlds”
-Best IV’s: +spd, -def / -hp (any IV’s work though, even -spd. She is that strong)
-Weapon: Blarblade+
-Assist: Reposition
-Special: Draconic Aura/Miracle/Moonbow
-A: Life and Death / Swift Sparrow / Fury (budget) / Darting Blow (budget)
-B: Desperation
-C: Fortify Fliers / Goad Fliers
-S: Spd +1 / any
The only set she should ever be running, this set provides an incredible amount of destruction. Blarblade+ gives her +24 damage when fully buffed alongside its high 13 Mt. Draconic Aura provides spurts of massive damage and can allow her to do ridiculous things like killing Emerald Axe Camilla/Titania. Desperation allows her to kill units like Julia, Nino, Soren, Hector, and Sonya without getting killed on the first counter. While it requires running fortify fliers twice, fortify is good on her because she will always be near whoever has hone fliers, who will often be a bulky unit who benefits from fortify.
Tana: 9.75/10
An amazing offensive stat spread, combined with flier buffs, alongside a potential to run a strong defensive build as well? Sign me up. She is immensely powerful on player phase with any set, and can potentially be extremely powerful on enemy phase too. The only reason she isn’t 10/10 is because she is a 5 exclusive who has only ever been on one banner, making her very difficult to merge. Fun fact, she has the highest potential offensive stat total of any melee unit in the game
Pros
-amazing offensive potential
-very high potential def; Tanky
-many different build options
Cons
-hard to get and merge
-mediocre res
Builds
Embodiment of Subaki and Catria’s Tears (Budget, Best Defensive)
Best IV’s: +spd, -res
Weapon: Vidofnir
Assist: Reposition (do I even need to say this anymore?)
Special: Bonfire
A: Close Def / Steady Stance / Fury (budget) / Spd/Def 2 (budget)
B: Quick Riposte / Vantage / Desperation
C: Fortify Fliers / Goad Fliers
S: Spd +1 / any
This set allows Tana to tank pretty much any physical hit except green braves and green TA’s. Her speed makes her basically impossible to double without brave/breaker skill, and she can double a lot. This build reaches its peak with Close Def or Steady Stance, but works perfectly well with more budget skills too. Generally if you are running fury then desperation/vantage is better than quick riposte.
Firesweep Killing Machine (Best Offensive)
Best IV’s: +atk / +spd, -hp
Weapon: Firesweep Lance+
Assist: Reposition, what a surprise…
Special: Draconic Aura / Galeforce
A: Life and Death / Swift Sparrow / Heavy Blade / Life and Death 2 (budget)
B: Drag Back / Hit and Run
C: [flier buff]
S: Spd +1 / Quickened Pulse / any
This set allows Tana to kill anything and everything. Her offensive power with L&D and Firesweep Lance is incredible. I find +spd to usually be overkill, since she reaches 47 spd when buffed without it, but maybe that’s just me. If you are running heavy blade, +spd is probably your best bet though. Use Draconic Aura as a special (17 flat damage with +atk) if you are running L&D/SS, and galeforce if you are running heavy blade. While expensive, this makes her one of the strongest player phase units in the game
Cordelia: 9.75/10
Having stats so similar to Tana, she can run most builds that Tana runs. Compared to Tana, she can run every build except for a tank. She is much easier to merge than Tana, but has less build diversity, balancing out to the same score.
Pros
-easy to obtain and merge
-comes with brave lance+
Cons
-not as diverse as tana
-low defenses
Builds
Heart of Courage (budget)
Best IV’s: +atk / +spd, -hp
Weapon: Brave Lance+
Assist: Take a wild guess
Special: Luna / Galeforce
A: Death Blow / Life and Death / Swift Sparrow
B: Desperation / Drag Back / Hit and Run
C: [flier buff]
S: atk +1 / spd +1 / any
With a +atk Cordelia, this build can be very powerful, utilizing death blow to deliver as much damage as possible in 2 hits. With a +spd Cordelia, however, you can opt for a quad build using Life and Death or Swift Sparrow to annihilate pretty much anything. Not many units can take 4 consecutive hits from Cordelia, one of which being a Luna Proc
Firesweep Killing Machine (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +spd, -hp / def / res
Weapon: Firesweep Lance
Assist: sigh
Special: Draconic Aura / Galeforce
A: Life and Death / Heavy Blade
B: Drag Back / Hit and Run
C: [flier buff]
S: spd +1 / Quickened Pulse / any
Whether you go for 1-turn Galeforce shenanigans with heavy blade or stay traditional with the sheer offensive prowess of Life and Death, this is a strong build that will automatically kill 80% of the units in the game upon initiation. It is superior offensively to the brave lance, having higher attack power than a death blow build and being more reliable than a quad build.
Valter: 9/10
While not quite as good as Tana, Valter is a very powerful lance flier with a great defence stat and solid offensive stats enhanced by his unique lance. His attack and speed stats, when buffed, can reach incredible heights, while still maintaining a good defence further emphasized by his near-inability to be doubled. He can also deliver regular and powerful bonfire activations, thanks to his high defense and his lance. Cursed Lance is an amazing weapon and should never be replaced. ~~Also, by putting him on a flier team you are keeping him away from Eirika~~
Pros
-free
-high attack, speed, and defense
-good legendary weapon
Cons
-somewhat outclassed by Tana (still very strong though)
-needs promoting
Builds
More Subaki tears (best defensive)
Weapon: Cursed Lance
Assist: Drag Ba-… just kidding.
Special: Bonfire
A: Close Def / Steady Stance / Fury (Budget)
B: Quick Riposte / Renewal / Vantage
C: [flier buff] / Panic Ploy
S: def/atk/spd +1
With this build, Valter can tank a lot. He never gets doubled, and he doesn’t take much damage from anything physical that isn’t green. Once again, Close Def and Steady Stance work the best, but fury works well too, especially with Renewal. If using Fury, then Renewal or vantage make more sense, while if using close def/steady stance, use Quick Riposte. If you already have every flier buff except Ward and you want to keep panic ploy, that’s fine.
Blood for Blood (best offense)
Weapon: Cursed Lance
Assist: I’m getting bored of typing this…
Special: Bonfire / Reprisal / Vengeance
A: Fury
B: Desperation
C: [flier buff] / Panic Ploy / savage blow
S: Spd +1
A more offensive build, this set focuses on accumulating chip damage on yourself in order to activate desperation. Reprisal and Vengeance make good specials for this build for chain challenges and tempest trials, since you can hit 1 hp and do massive damage with only a 1 turn cooldown, but Bonfire is still the more reliable option for Arena.
Hinoka: 9/10
Hinoka is a good unit with good stats, that’s for certain. Her problem, however, is that she really needs Hone Fliers to shine, but can’t get it since she herself possesses it. This means she often ends up getting used for skill inheritance to units who can utilize the skill better. Nevertheless, she is a pretty good blue flier who can hit hard and is relatively fast. For the purposes of this I’ll assume another unit is providing hone fliers.
Pros
-high attack
-slightly bulkier than Cordelia
-sole possessor of hone fliers
Cons
-lower spd than Cordelia/Tana; needs a +spd IV for firesweep
-needs hone fliers
-hard to get, and very hard to get 2 of
Builds
Brave Heart (budget)
Best IV’s: +atk, -hp / res
Weapon: Brave Lance
Special: Luna
A: Death Blow
B: Drag Back / Hit and Run
C: Hone fliers (she has it, so she might as well run it)
Pretty much the same as Cordelia, only Hinoka can’t quad. She still delivers good damage and delivers luna once every 2 engagements. She is very strong once given hone fliers (same atk as a neutral Effie with hone atk), but the problem is she needs hone fliers.
Firesweep Killing Machine (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +spd (required), -res / hp / def
Weapon: Firesweep Lance
Special: Draconic Aura
A: Life and Death
B: Drag Back/ Hit and Run
C: Hone Fliers
Works pretty much the same as a neutral Cordelia or Tana running the same set. This build pretty much requires a spd boon to achieve its full potential.
Est: 8.5/10
Our favorite def ploy meme, Est is a decent flier with high atk and good res. While somewhat outshined by the top blue fliers, Est can nevertheless be a killing machine in the right team. She is also one of the easiest units to +10 at 4 stars, since she is available at 3 and 4 star rarity. Her high resistance allows her to run def ploy effectively. But it is a skill limited to a five star exclusive seasonal character, making it one of the rarest skills in the game.
Pros
-great attack
-good resistance
Cons
-mediocre speed
-poor physical bulk
-expensive (her entire kit needs to be replaced, weapon included)
Builds
Bravest Whitewing (Best Offensive)
Best IV’s: +atk, -hp (her speed is high enough to at least avoid doubles)
Weapon: Brave Lance+
Assist: Reposition
Special: Luna/Iceberg
A: Death Blow
B: Drag Back / Hit and Run
C: Defense Ploy / Any
S: Atk +1 / any
This is her standard build, allowing for massive ORKO potential on player phase. Def Ploy is a nice boost to damage but by no means required, and may be replaced with a flier buff. All the rest of her kit plays like any other offensive flier.
Magic Tank
Best IV’s: +res (required), -def
Weapon: Berkut’s lance+
Special: Iceberg
A: Distant Counter
B: Quick Riposte
C: Atk Ploy / Def Ploy / Any
S: Distant Def
While I don’t recommend it over the first build, this build is a decent option to those after an enemy phase mage counter. Blue is the worst color for a mage counter, given the rarity of red mages and the prevalence of greens, but this build can counter blue mages fairly well and annihilates the occasional red mage
Shanna: 8/10
Like Est, Shanna has a fairly high stat in resistance. Her main difference compared To Est is that she inverts her atk with her spd, giving her the potential to run Firesweep builds. While commonly regarded as Desperation fodder, Shanna is certainly a decent flier in her own right. Like Est, she is also available at 3-4 star rarity. ~~also, she has much better art than Est~~
Pros
-high speed
-decent resistance
-very common
Cons
-mediocre attack
-mediocre physical bulk
-has a very valuable skill at 4 stars; might be more useful as fodder
Builds
Firesweep Killing Machine (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +atk, -hp / def
Weapon: Firesweep Lance+
Assist: How about… Reposition?
Special: Iceberg / Luna
A: Life and Death
B: Drag Back / Hit and Run
C: [Flier Buff] / Def Ploy / any
S: Spd +1 / any
Plays the same as any other Firesweep Lance build. She needs +atk to make up for the damage difference between her and other fliers, and 46 spd with Life and Death and Hone Fliers is plenty anyway.
March of Winter
Best IV’s: +spd, -hp
Weapon: Slaying Lance+ / Killer Lance+ (budget)
Special: Iceberg
A: Fury / Swift Sparrow
B: Desperation
C: [Flier Buff] / any
S: any
This build is a bit more of an all around build. She can tank a hit from most blue mages, and hit back hard on the next turn. Iceberg with Killer/Slaying Lance has a charge of 2, meaning it should activate pretty often for a boost of 15 flat damage, allowing Shanna to kill a lot of opponents.
Catria: 8/10
Catria has very similar stats to Shanna, but has her def and res flipped in comparison. She has one less speed that Shanna but gains one point of attack. She is a better duelist than Shanna, but not as good with a Firesweep Lance set. While outclassed in stats by both Tana and Valter, Catria is nevertheless a strong blue flier who can take and deal damage, avoid pretty much any doubles, double most of the cast, and activate Bonfire for decent flat damage.
Pros
-good defense
-decent speed
-decent attack
Cons
-mediocre resistance
-poor base skillset
Builds
Queen of the Ashes (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +spd / def, -res
Weapon: Slaying Lance+ / Killer Lance+ (budget)
Special: Bonfire
A: Fury
B: Desperation
C: any
S: Spd +1 / Def +1
While it is build for short matches like Arena rather than prolonged multi-map modes, this is certainly a strong build for her to run. The idea behind this build is to take damage on her first engagement, and then hit back hard with a 15 damage bonfire activation and a double, leaving very little alive. It is incredibly easy for her to set off bonfire, with its two charge, quickened pulse, and desperation, and it causes almost certain death to everyone who isn’t an armor/green/Lukas.
Earthwing
Best IV’s: +spd / def, -res
Weapon: Slaying Lance+ / Killer Lance+ (budget)
Special: Bonfire
A: Close Defense / Steady Stance
B: Quick Riposte
C: any
S: Spd +1 / Def +1
A tanky build that can also hit back hard with Bonfire. While expensive, this build reaches a solid 45 defense with the right IV’s and buffs, while keeping solid offensive stats which make her a player phase threat as well. She can bait pretty much any physical unit which isn’t an archer or a very high attack red, or a red with TA/brave sword
Clair: 6.5/10
Clair is similar to Subaki, but has high resistance instead of high defense. Her attack stat is one higher than Subaki, but is still pathetic. Her speed is pretty impressive, and is high enough that she doesn’t need a +spd IV to double, opening up lots of possibilities.
Pros
-great resistance
-great speed
Cons
-poor physical bulk
-abysmal attack
-poor base skillset
Builds
Bane Of Magic (best defensive)
Best IV’s: +res, -def
Weapon: Berkut’s Lance+
Special: Iceberg
A: Distant Counter
B: Quick Riposte / Vantage
C: any
S: Distant Defense 1 / Attack Ploy 1
With Fortify Fliers, Clair can counter Reinhardt with this build. Naturally, red mages barely scratch her, and she can take hits from most green mages as well, since they will almost never double her. This build is expensive, and frankly I don’t recommend that you sacrifice a Hector to Clair unless you really like her. Distant Defense 1 allows her to survive any Reinhardt up to +8 (DB/Hone cav/QP/Moonbow). Attack Ploy 1 is a little harder to utilize but allows her to counter any Reinhardt.
Subaki: 6/10
Subaki has a Niche of being the tankiest blue flier. Unfortunately, he is only slightly tankier than Tana and Valter, while losing a massive 9 base attack in comparison. He is clearly outclassed by Valter, who is also free. Nevertheless, Subaki is a solid tank with high speed, and If you are running S!Corrin already it’s debatable how much more killing power you need. Also, mages eat Subaki alive, so keep him away from them.
Pros
-high speed
-great defense
-good hp
-good starting kit
Cons
-one of the lowest base attack stats in the game; hits like a baby turtle
-terrible resistance
-pretty much limited to fighting reds
Builds
Bane of Swords (budget)
Best IV’s: +atk, -res / hp
Weapon: Sapphire Lance+
Special: Bonfire
A: Fury
B: Quick Riposte
C: any
S: Spd +1 / Def +1
A Build that can bait and kill any red. This build allows Subaki to survive most blues, and take down any red on enemy phase with a bonfire activation. +atk is absolutely mandatory to partially fix his abysmal attack stat, and Fury to boost his defense and attack further. While fury and quick riposte seem to be in conflict with each other, Subaki’s usage is so niche that he will almost never enter combat more than once anyway.
Gaia’s Wrath (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +atk, -res
Weapon: Slaying Lance+ / Killer Lance+ (budget)
Special: Ignis
A: Fury
B: Quick Riposte / Desperation
C: any
S: Quickened Pulse
While this build is similar to Catria’s, Subaki requires Ignis over Bonfire to kill thanks to his base attack. With Ignis active, Subaki deals 28 flat damage on special activation, Which becomes 33 when factoring in fortify fliers. This is a pretty strong build that can survive most physical attacks and one shot almost any opponent when Ignis is active. Desperation allows him to deliver Ignis even while he is at low hp, while quick riposte allows him to charge it faster at high hp, so that is personal preference
Florina: 4/10
Florina is… not a good unit. She is cursed with low base attack, terrible base speed, low base resistance, and a horrible base skillset. She has the highest resistance of all blue fliers, but her poor speed makes her a far worse magic tank than Clair, who has very high speed. I would go so far as to say that Florina is the worst and most outclassed out of all fliers. That said, any unit can be somewhat fixed with skill inheritance (and summoner support), so if you really like Florina, all is not lost. If you are using Florina, it means you really like her, so you should probably choose her for summoner support.
Pros
-great resistance
-decent hp
-very common
Cons
-poor attack
-poor defense
-irredeemable speed
-horrible base kit
Builds
Clytus’ Apprentice (best defensive)
Best IV’s: +res, -spd
Weapon: Berkut’s Lance+ / Ridersbane
Special: Iceberg
A: Distant Counter
B: Vantage
C: any
S: Distant Def / atk ploy
A standard DC anti mage build, the purpose of this build is to counter blue mages. If you take Ridersbane then Florina can kill most cavalry mages with ease. Vantage is taken so that with Iceberg Florina can still be a threat at low hp. As for any anti-mage build, Distant Defense or atk ploy seal is virtually required.
Advent of the Glacier (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +atk, -hp
Weapon: Slaying Lance+/Killer Lance+ (budget)
Special: Glacies
A: Fury
B: Quick Riposte / Vantage
C: any
S: atk +1 / Quickened Pulse
A build that revolves around Charging Glacies, then using it to one-shot a unit of choice. While this is a one-shot wonder build, and cannot do much after the first Glacies Proc, it can pull its weight in a 4v4 arena match. Vantage is taken once again, so she can bait physical units, but Quick Riposte may be taken instead to charge Glacies faster. Fury is a good all around skill that helps boost her damage output and special damage.
Green Fliers
Green fliers are the tankless branch of fliers. Most of these fliers excel at countering either physical threats or magical threats. Due to the prevalence of blue units, green fliers are a great candidate for summoner support, especially if they make use of all the stat boosts. Often, the green flier will be the one to run Hone fliers, since many of them do not benefit from this buff to the extent that others do.
Spring Camilla: 10/10
The first mage flier to be introduced, spring Camilla takes a more defensive role than Corrin with her 30 base defense. She has great attack and a decent hp pool as well. While she doesn’t have the offensive prowess that Corrin does, Spring Camilla is a superb choice for any flier emblem team.
Pros
-great attack
-good defense
-decent hp
Cons
-poor resistance
-poor speed
-very difficult to obtain
-requires heavy investment
Builds
Ballistic Nuclear Incendiary Missile (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +atk, -def / hp
Weapon: Gronnblade+
Special: Draconic Aura
A: Death Blow
B: G Tomebreaker / Vantage
C: Fortify Fliers / any
S: Atk +1 / Quickened Pulse
With this build, Camilla reaches the highest attack in the game. This means that out of any unit, she has the highest one-shot potential in the game (80/83/86 attack before goads). Her weakness, compared to S!Corrin, is that she cannot double. The inability to double is rarely a problem, however, thanks to her ability to one-shot pretty much any unit she doesn’t have a triangle disadvantage against. G Tomebreaker is taken so she can kill high-res greens like Julia (though she will often one-shot them anyway), but vantage is a decent option that allows her to bait any ranged unit at low health. Also, draconic aura procs for 26 flat damage (a unit with dragon fang would need the same attack stat as Hector to achieve that).
Nuclear Defense System (best defensive)
Best IV’s: +def, -spd / hp
Weapon: Gronnraven+
Assist: still Reposition
Special: Bonfire
A: Triangle Adept
B: G Tomebreaker / Axebreaker
C: Hone Fliers / any
S: any
Another thing worth mentioning about camilla is her very good defense stat. She has the third highest defense of any mage, and ties for first once buffs are considered since Boey and Henry are both infantry. This allows her to run a very strong raven tome build that can one-shot anything she has a triangle advantage over and take hits easily from archers. Raven tome Camilla is a very good candidate to carry hone fliers, since she doesn’t necessarily need the buff. While if Spring Camilla is your only mage the first build is probably more worth considering, If you are running Corrin as well then this build is probably a better option.
Cherche 9.5/10
Cherche is a flier with the second highest attack in the game, and it simply screams “brave axe!”. Her monstrous attack, heightened by flier buffs, is a force to be reckoned with that can wipe out 80% of the units in the game on initiation. While she won’t be quad-hitting anytime soon, she seldom has to anyway.
Pros
-massive attack
-good defense
-decent hp
-very common
Cons
-low speed
-abysmal resistance
-only one build
Builds
Oh, you survived the first nuke? Here, have another (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +atk, -res
Weapon: Brave Axe+
Special: Luna / Draconic Aura / Moonbow
A: Death Blow
B: Drag Back / Hit and Run
C: any
S: atk +1 / Quickened Pulse
This is the only build Cherche should ever run. With this build, Cherche approaches the damage output of Firesweep Tana and Cordelia while in return gaining guaranteed doubles, regardless of skills such as breakers and wary fighter. With a perfect IV, brave axe, death blow, the attack seal, and hone fliers, Cherche reaches an incredible attack stat of 62, and a guaranteed double. On a good goad stacking team, she can reach
Minerva: 9.5/10
Although Minerva has a much more balanced spread than Cherche, she can be just as effective. Her defense is high, and along with enough speed to make her nigh impossible to double, makes her very tanky. Her attack, while not being amazing, is patched up nicely by flier buffs. Her resistance isn’t amazing, but it could be worse, and is enough to survive blue mages such as Reinhardt as long as she doesn’t keep Life and Death. Minerva is an amazing candidate to receive summoner support, since she makes use of every stat.
Pros
-decent attack
-high defense
-decent speed
-decent hp
Cons
-no outlying stat
-poor resistance
Builds
Crimson General (defensive)
Best IV’s: +spd, -res
Weapon: Hauteclere
Special: Bonfire
A: Fury
B: Vantage
C: any
S: any
A great all around build. With this build, Minerva will reach 34 attack, 40 speed, 35 defense, and 25 resistance unbuffed. Minerva with this build is somewhat of a “jack of all trades”. She doesn’t have Cherche offensive prowess or Michalis’ defensive stats, but she does manage to find a comfortable middle ground between the two.
Void Sentinel (defensive)
Best IV’s: +res (required), -def
Weapon: Hauteclere
Special: Bonfire
A: Distant Counter
B: Vantage
C: any
S: Distant Defense 1
A good way to save whats regarded as a bad IV, this build focuses on countering blue mages while still being good against physical units. With Hone and Fortify Fliers, Minerva can survive any blue mage with any build in the game except for some versions of S!Corrin and Olwen (Blarblade with full class buffs). Even with -def, she is a good physical duelist against blues and some greens thanks to the immense power of flier buffs.
Kinslayer (best offensive, budget)
Best IV’s: +atk / spd, -res
Weapon: Hauteclere
Special: Bonfire
A: Life and Death
B: Desperation
C: any
S: any
Michalis: 9/10
Unlike his sister, Michalis is very min/maxed. He has slightly more hp, more attack, and more defense in exchange for far less speed and slightly less resistance. His stats make him a great candidate for the Iote’s Shield he already possesses. His high defense and high hp allows him to survive pretty much any melee engagement. Michalis, like Minerva, is a good candidate for summoner support as it allows him to survive Reinhardt regardless of what build he runs. If Iote’s shield is ever put in seal form, Michalis’ rating will rise. Also, Michalis is a unit made to run hone fliers.
Pros
-great attack
-great defense
-good hp pool
Cons
-low speed
-low resistance
Builds
Let The Arrows Rain From The Sky (budget)
Weapon: Hauteclere
Special: Bonfire / Ignis
A: Iote’s Shield
B: Quick Riposte
C: Hone Fliers
S: any
A budget build, but also an effective tank. Michalis with this build can bait any physical blue and almost all physical greens. In addition, he can survive almost all archers, which is very useful since CYL Lyn often makes it very difficult to get all your units out of range.
Tiny Hand Sanitizer (summoner support heavily recommended)
Weapon: Hauteclere
Special: Bonfire / Ignis
A: Distant Counter
B: Quick Riposte / Vantage
C: Hone Fliers
S: Panic Ploy / Distant Defense 1
Michalis proves that any green with flier buffs can be built into a reinhardt counter. This build is somewhat niche, since it requires Michalis to have summoner support to be able to tank a +10 optimal reinhardt. If, however, you are willing to support michalis, you have a unit who can tank any blue mage, and kill them on counter. He also kills certain fragile green mages such as Nino and Summer Elise. He is obviously still easily capable of dueling physical units, with his only weakness being archers. Even archers, he can usually take a hit from and hit back to OHKO, especially given so many run Life and Death. Quick Riposte is the B skill of choice if you want Michalis to duel physical units more than mages, while vantage is better against mages.
Camilla: 9/10
Camilla is actually a very underrated unit. Her attack isn’t horrible, and her speed is decent, but she has very good mixed defenses that are great for countering blue mages in the current meta. She is probably the best mage counter that flier emblem has available. She isn’t going to do much against green physical units, but that’s the tradeoff you have to pay.
Pros
-decent defense
-good resistance
-decent speed
Cons
-fairly low attack
-terrible base kit
-very expensive to build (and no good budget builds)
Builds
Empress of the Void (best defensive)
Best IV’s: +spd, -def
Weapon: Slaying Axe+ / Melon Crusher+ / Killer Axe+ (budget)
Special: Iceberg
A: Distant Counter
B: Vantage / G Tomebreaker
C: any
S: Distant Defense / Atk Ploy
Camilla with this build becomes the bane of mages. She becomes fast enough that no mages can double her, and her resistance is high enough that she laughs at blue mages and can take multiple hits from green mages. Her damage is somewhat low, but that is remedied by her consistent damage from Iceberg, especially if she takes Slaying Axe. While Melon Crusher is a more niche choice, it definitely has its benefits, such as a stronger 1st round. G tomebreaker can be taken to duel green mages more effectively, while vantage can be taken to be a threat even at low health.
Emerald Hunter
Best IV’s: +spd, -res
Weapon: Emerald Axe+
Special: Iceberg
A: Distant Counter
B: G Tomebreaker
C: any
S: any
If you really really hate blue mages, you can make a build with emerald axe to hard-counter all of them. Distant counter allows you to one-round most of them, while G Tomebreaker also allows you to fight green mages. -res is taken to keep her other stats intact, especially since with emerald axe she doesn’t need really high resistance, but -hp can be taken as well
Beruka: 8/10
Beruka has the highest defense of any flier in the game, surpassing Subaki and Michalis by 2 points. She also ties Cherche for the highest hp of all fliers, making her the bulkiest flier by far. Her speed is abysmal, her resistance is poor, and her attack is below average, but she makes up for these shortcomings with sheer physical bulk. She is the only flier in the game who can survive brave bow archers with Iote’s shield, and can survive most non-brave bow archers even without it.
Pros
-immense defense
-massive hp pool
Cons
-terrible speed
-mediocre attack
-poor resistance
Builds
Obsidian Sentinel (best defensive)
Best IV’s: +def (required), -spd
Weapon: Slaying Axe / Melon crusher / Killer Axe (budget)
Special: Aegis
A: Iote’s Shield
B: Shield Pulse
C: Hone Fliers / any
S: Distant Defense / Panic Ploy
This build is a wall. With the right IV’s and buffs, Beruka reaches 46 defense. This is enough to survive any brave bow archer, even brave Lyn assuming similar merge levels. Physical units barely scratch Beruka, blue units dealing an automatic 0 damage, while green units also barely ever reach double digits.
Krakatoa (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +atk / def, -spd
Weapon: Slaying Axe+ / Killer Axe+ (budget)
Special: Ignis
A: Fury / Earth Boost / Steady Stance / Close Def
B: Quick Riposte
C: any
S: any
The only offensive build Beruka can run, this build revolves around charging Ignis as fast as possible. It is easy for her to charge her special against physical units, since they do no damage to her and she stays in QR range. When Ignis goes off, an enemy dies, its that simple (42 true damage w/ earth boost).
Narcian: 6/10
Although basically a worse Camilla in every way, Narcian does make a decent, albeit expensive, counter to blue mages. His decent but not fantastic resistance means he will want to keep his native emerald axe, while his fairly good defense makes him a good bait for physical blues and certain greens. Although he generally runs G Tomebreaker as a B, his resistance is low enough that he can be one-shot by units such as fully buffed merged Nino, Summer Elise, Cecilia, and S!Camilla if they carry blade tomes.
Pros
-decent resistance
-good defense
-well suited weapon
-free to obtain
Cons
-low attack
-low speed
-can’t rely on IV’s to patch weaknesses
Builds
Azure Mirror (best defensive)
Weapon: Emerald Axe+
Special: bonfire
A: Distant Counter
B: Quick Riposte / Vantage
C: Hone Fliers / any
S: any
A hard counter to anything blue, including all mages and physical units, Narcian takes 0 damage from any blue unit and deals a ton of damage back. He isn’t going to be doing much to anything non-blue, but hopefully he won’t have to. Quick Riposte is recommended over vantage since nothing blue scratches him and his attack is too low to one-shot even the lowest def green mages.
Wyvern Warrior
Weapon: Emerald Axe+
Special: Bonfire
A: Fury
B: Quick Riposte / Vantage
C: any
S: any
A more budget version of the above, Narcian with this build can only deal with blue mages on enemy phase. In return for this loss, he becomes better at fighting other green units thanks to Fury. Vantage is recommended since fury makes it hard to stay in Quick Riposte range, but since he will usually only be fighting once, if at all, per per battle, Quick Riposte could work too.
Red Fliers
Until the recent introduction of Elincia, red fliers were pretty limited in their abilities. While both Caeda and Palla are decent enemy phase unit’s, they don’t go far beyond countering greens. Green units, especially those with high defense are what flier emblem teams have trouble with most. Units like Summer Corrin and Spring Camilla can usually kill them thanks to their obscene attack stats and high defense unit’s low res, but it’s a fairly unreliable way of doing it. Thus, it’s recommended for every flier team to run a red flier, even if it’s the most budget build in existence.
Elincia: 9.5/10
Elincia has possibly the best comparative offensive stats we have seen in the game thus far. She has 34/36 offensive stats, along with the ability to receive flier buffs already putting her above anything Lucina and Hana are able to achieve. On top of this, she receives the ridiculously strong Amiti, which is basically a brave sword with 3 extra might and less than half the speed penalty. Her one weakness, and the reason she isn’t rated higher, is that she cannot hard counter CYL Ike, one of the most common greens in arena today. If you have either of the mages, however, killing Ike shouldn’t be too hard.
Pros
-great attack
-great speed
-enough bulk to survive a hit from almost anything (archers/braves/TA excluded)
-a ridiculously strong prf weapon
Cons
-fails to hard-counter one of the most dominant green units
-low defense
-average resistance
-hard to obtain (pls come to me…)
Builds
Rapid Fire (best offensive)
Best IV’s: +atk / spd, -hp
Weapon: Amiti
Special: Draconic Aura / Luna / Galeforce
A: Life and Death / Swift Sparrow / Death Blow (budget, +spd required)
B: Desperation
C: Defense Ploy / any
S: atk +1 / spd +1 / Quickened Pulse
Very very little can take 4 consecutive hits from Elincia. The main problem here is getting into desperation range. Fortunately, with fortify fliers both her defense and resistance are high enough to usually take one counterattack from non-blue opponents, and her high speed will ensure she is pretty much never doubled. Special choice is personal preference, but Galeforce makes her a much better sweeper and boosts arena score. On the other hand, a 3 charge special works better when going against the weapon triangle, and frees the seal slot for something other than Quickened Pulse.
”But Officer, I Only ran Him Over Twice!” (budget)
Best IV’s: +atk, -hp
Weapon: Amiti
Special: Draconic Aura / Luna / Galeforce
A: Death Blow / Heavy Blade
B; Drag Back / Hit and Run
C: Defense ploy / any
S: atk +1 / Quickened Pulse / any
A more budget build; this build trades raw firepower for ease of use and convenience. With Amiti she hits as hard as brave sword Chrom, the highest attack red sword in the game. She will also still quad many units she has to, such as the Black Knight, zephiel, Xander, Effie, and several other blues and high defense reds. Heavy Blade is an option if you can reliably get her a hone fliers buff, since with it she hits 54 attack, which is enough to activate it pretty consistently for one-round galeforce procs.
Palla: 8/10
Palla is a very well rounded unit, in that none of her stats are horrible. Unfortunately, none of her stats are outstanding either, but that’s fine if you just want her to counter reds. Her defense and resistance are both enough to easily survive any green opponent. Unlike Elincia, Palla can without question eliminate every green unit in the game that doesn’t run cancel affinity.
Pros
-great green counter; can counter B!Ike and Hector easily
-all her stats are decent
-very easy to obtain and merge
Cons
-none of her stats are great
-needs heavy SI to do anything outside of kill reds.
Builds
Crimson Clad Whitewing (budget, best defensive)
Best IV’s: +spd, -hp
Weapon: Ruby Sword+
Special: Moonbow / Luna
A: Fury / Distant Counter
B: Quick Riposte / Vantage / Wings of Mercy
C: Hone Fliers / any
S: any
A budget build, unless you decide to go with the Distant Counter option, this build can unquestionable tank and counter any green units. With Distant Counter, she can also kill all green mages, but it isn’t necessary. Quick Riposte is a good option since her speed isn’t good enough to double consistently, but her native Wings of Mercy can also work.
Black Wing of Death
Best IV’s: +spd (required), -hp
Weapon: Wo Dao+
Special: Moonbow
A: Life and Death / Swift Sparrow
B: Desperation
C: any
S: Quickened Pulse
A much more offensively inclined build, this is for people who really like Palla and want her to do more than counter reds (either that or you want to extract revenge on the Karel/Athena who ruined your Elincia pity rate). With her native moonbow and her decent seed, Palla can do a lot of damage in one turn, and can kill virtually every green, as well as many reds and a few blues.
Caeda: 6.5/10
While most of her stats are decent, Caeda is held back by her pathetic 25 base attack. While SI can fix this stat somewhat, she will never be the hardest hitting flier, which means she will often take a more defensive role. Her base resistance and speed are both very good, and allow Caeda to use either quad builds or weapons such as slaying edge or wo dao effectively.
Pros
-great resistance
-great speed
-decent defense
Cons
-Terrible base kit
-Hits like a diced potato
Builds
Talys’s Courage
Best IV’s: +atk (required), -hp
Weapon: Brave Sword+
Special: Glacies
A: Swift Sparrow / Fury
B: Desperation
C: any
S: Quickened pulse
While this build is a standard quad build, the purpose is different. While most quadders quad for damage, Caeda quads to charge her special, which is her main source of damage. She kills most greens and many reds as well, but dont send her after blues.
Corrupted Heart
Best IV’s +atk (required), -hp
Weapon: Wo Dao+ / Slaying Edge
Special: Iceberg / Glacies
A: Swift Sparrow / Fury
B: Desperation
C: any
S: Quickened Pulse
No matter what build she runs, Caeda is always going to rely on special damage. This build gets her short charge specials that activate relatively frequently and hit hard. The damage output from Glacies + Slaying Edge and Iceberg + Wo Dao is basically the same, so you can pick either. Iceberg + Slaying Edge isn’t recommended, however, since the damage won’t be enough. Similarly, Glacies + Wo Dao will usually be overkill, but is an option.
Team Compositions
2 Mages, 2 Melee
Only the luckiest can run this, but it is extremely effective. You can either run one blade tome and one raven tome for a good mix of offense and defense, or you can run 2 blade tomes and watch the world break around you. With this team composition, you want to be running 2 hone buffs, one fortify, and one goad. If you only have one Hinoka, then run 2 fortify and 1 hone.
1 Mage, 3 Melee
The most common team composition. For this team, you want 1-2 hone, 1-2 Fortify, and 1-2 Goad, with any combination of those being roughly equal in strength. Pu a Blade Tome on the mage and watch everything die as your melee units back her up.
4 Melee
This is what the unlucky people who never pulled a flier mage run, and it can be really strong. For this composition, you can run any combination of Goads and Wards, with 4x Ward being Very strong on a team of tanky units, while 4x Goad being the best on a team of glass cannons.
3 Fliers, 1 Dancer
While technically not quite Flier Emblem, having one WoM dancer on the team can make it a lot stronger if you don’t have a mage.
Support Combinations
Supports can be tough to figure out. The general guideline here is to pair your strongest blade tome user with whoever carries hone fliers, and then pair the other two. If you are running a melee team, pair the most fragile unit with your most tanky unit, and then pair the other two.
Summoner Support is harder. The first thing, is to put it on the unit you like most. If you like your entire team equally, then put on one of the units whose color you only have one of. Green is generally the best color for summoner support, as many greens are jack of all trades type units who benefit from it a lot, and find it useful to help counter the blue meta. Again though, the most important thing is to put it on your favorite unit.
How To Use A Flier Emblem Team
Flier emblem Teams are fairly easy to use. Basically, you want to keep your units within buff range of each other whenever possible, and you want to keep any blade mages buffed at all times. When running a Flier Emblem team, a lot of the maps you used to hate, like that one with two bridges, the one that is entirely bridges, or the desert with the lake in the middle surrounded by defense tiles, will seam like child’s play to you. On Maps with a lot of empty space or water, you can easily outmaneuver horse emblem teams. Enclosed spaces are harder, since at that point it’s basically the same as playing an Infantry team with the advantage of buffs but no dancer. Flier Teams are incredibly fun to use, so enjoy beating up poor armor emblem teams.
How To Deal With Archers
There are two ways to deal with archers. The first is to run a unit who can counter, or at least survive them. These include Iote’s Shield on defensive fliers, and Raven tome Camilla. The second way to deal with archers is to simply kill them on player phase using reposition. Make sure to check whether Lyn is running Mulagir or not, since if she is your blade tome mage won’t be able to kill her.
Formation
An important part of playing flier teams is keeping the right formation. A formation in this case is arranging your team in a way so that everyone gets the buffs they need.
Starting Formation (Square)
A square formation, with your tank getting fortify fliers, your blade tome getting both buffs, and the other two getting either hone or fortify is the best way to start most matches. This would look like this:
| Tana(Fortify) | S!Corrin(Fortify) |
| Elincia(Goad) | Michalis(Hone) |
In this position, Tana and Michalis get Fortify, S!Corrin gets both, and Elincia gets both. When in doubt during a match, return to this formation.
Starting Formation (Cross)
Kind of a Half Cross, this formation is used when one unit will have much more of a burden than the rest for a particular match
| Buff 1 | MVP | Buff 2 |
| Buff 3 |
In this positioning, one unit is receiving all 3 buffs while also in a good position for baiting.
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure all your units are within reposition range at all times
- Deal with dancers first, archers second
- When in doubt, keep your tanky units up front
- Have your desperation units bait opponents who they have a color disadvantage against
- This makes it easy to go into desperation range
And that’s it! For the 3 or 4 people who read all the way through, I hope this was at least somewhat helpful. Let me know if you want me to update this guide as more fliers are released.Publicerad av Google Drive–Anmäl otillåten användning– Uppdateras automatiskt efter 5 minuter
