Introduction

Hello! This is an attempt at a more “scientific” approach to a tier list of sorts. After seeing people’s general reactions to tier lists, and their perceived inconsistency in ranking units based on both offensive and defensive ability, I became curious at the idea of creating a tier list based solely on Arena defense. With the way things are now, Arena offense and defense could be almost two different games. Offense involves actually controlling your characters, and strategy often is the deciding factor of results. Defense involves building your team so that someone with the intellectual capacity of a four year old could use it.

The ranking system I chose to use is more generalized than the traditional A-D system. Given that there is often little differentiating between A and A+ units or A+ and S units, I felt a more generalized and broad ranking system would work better. These rankings are only my opinions, and can change at any time.

Disclaimer: All opinions given are merely opinions. I do not claim to be an authority of any kind.

TOC:

Contents

Ranking criteria: 3

General thoughts before the experiment: 3

Experiment setup: 3

Result Reporting. 4

Sidenote about movement skills. 6

Red Units. 6

Alfonse. 6

Alm.. 7

Athena. 7

Caeda. 8

Cain. 8

Celica. 9

Chrom.. 9

Corrin (Male). 10

Draug. 11

Eirika. 11

Eldigan. 12

Eliwood. 13

Fir. 13

Hana. 14

Henry. 14

Hinata. 14

Ike. 15

Karel 16

Katarina. 16

Laslow.. 17

Leo. 17

Lilina. 18

Lloyd. 18

Lonqu. 19

Lucina. 19

Luke. 20

Lyn. 20

Marth. 20

Marth(Masked). 21

Navarre. 21

Ogma. 22

Olivia. 22

Palla. 23

Raigh. 24

Roy. 24

Ryoma. 25

Sanaki 25

Selena. 26

Seliph. 26

Sophia. 27

Stahl 27

Tharja. 28

Tiki (Adult). 28

Tiki (Young). 29

Xander. 30

Zephiel 31

Appendix 1: Blue Enemy List. 31

Ranking criteria:

Very effective: Best of the best. These are the characters that people dread encountering during their deathless streak. Some of these characters are meta defining, requiring a counter of some kind.

Effective: These are the characters who do a decent job under AI control. They might not demand a specific counter, but they are good characters in their own right who can do their job quite well.

Somewhat effective: These are the characters who can get the job done given the right circumstances, but are often not the best choice for their job.

Not very effective: These are the characters who are better off replaced on your defense team. Most of these characters have a specific role in a team that the AI just cannot handle, or a major weakness that is easily exploited by a player character.

General thoughts before the experiment:

– Triangle adept will probably be bad on defense, and characters reliant on it for effectiveness will probably be hindered by it on a defense team.

– Movement skills are hit or miss when used by the AI. Most often miss. Movement skills are probably detrimental to a unit’s performance.

Experiment setup:

-Each unit is given their optimal build according to Gamepress. If an optimal build is a bit too unrealistic, (Olivia with WoDao+, for example) an alternative build will be taken instead. If the optimal build has a significant weakness (eg. TARaven builds), both it and an alternative build will be tested.

– Units controlled by the AI will always attack if given the opportunity, even if that attack pit them at a disadvantage. To simulate that scenario, each red unit will be matched up against a list of blue opponents, each blue unit will be matched up against a list of green opponents, and each green unit will be matched up against a list of red opponents. 

-Again, to simulate realistic arena scenarios, units will be attacked first. However, to account for the fact that some units perform better when attacked first (Hector), if a unit performs worse when attacking first, this result will be reported as well. The only exception to this rule is ranged cavalry units. With a threat radius of 5 spaces, they out-range a wide majority of the cast. As such, they could feasibly have the distinct advantage of getting the first strike when they want it. Ranged cavalry units will be calculated as the first to attack.

-Battles are calculated using the FEH mass simulator (http://andyiverson.me/apps/fehmasssimulator/). If a match is inconclusive after a round of combat, with each side having initiated once, it is reported in the results. These matches are then continued until there is a winner.

-All units are considered on a mixed team. Horses are not considered as part of horse emblem, fliers not considered as part of flier emblem, etc. These categories will be given a rank as if they were a unit.

-Quickened Pulse seal is not given, unless it significantly affects results.

-Lists used: Opposing units are given neutral IVs and use their most optimal builds(also obtained from GamePress). Blade Tome Horses/Fliers not commonly seen without corresponding buffs were given one hone cavalry/flier buff. Blade tome users were given one hone speed buff. Except for Brave weapon users, units are not given a seal.

-Results against all units in the list are reported once.  Results where opposing units are left at <10 HP are then reported once. These results are then reported as “effective results”.

-Defensive Tiles are not taken into consideration.

-Unit rankings might change as the list continues to grow. Ranking changes will be noted.

Result Reporting

Four numbers will be reported:

Winning Matchups is the number of matchups won against all commonly seen units of the opposing color.

Weighted Winning Matchups is the units winning matchups with individual unit weights in consideration. For example, a win against Reinhardt is worth more than a win against Gwendolyn. (Thanks to /u/ardx for the idea.) See the table below for a list of unit weights.

Effective Matchups is the number of matchups where the unit under test leaves the opponent at less than 10 HP.

Weighted Effective Matchups is the unit’s Effective Matchups score after undergoing a transformation to account for opponent popularity. For example, Reinhardt is more commonly seen in arena than a unit such as Peri, and having a good matchup against Reinhardt is weighed more heavily than having a good matchup against Peri.

Unit weights are shown in the tables below:

Blue Units

4	Effie, Nowi, Reinhardt
3	Azura*, Ninian*, Camus,  Linde, Ephraim, Sharena
2	B!Charlotte,B!Caeda, Mae, M!Robin, Cordelia, Hinoka, S!Lucina, Olwen, F!Corrin, Lukas, Donnel, Est, Roderick
1	Catria, Peri, Gwendolyn, Abel, Subaki, Ursula, Oboro

*Not quite sure what to do with dancers. They’re popular, but they’re not meant to be offensive units.

This data is taken from the first 4 tiers of the Gamepress Inheritance Tier List, with a few changes:

Sharena is given an additional point due to the fact that, as a regular bonus unit, she will spike in popularity every 1/3 of the time.

For the calculator, this is simulated by throwing the units into the list based on the number of 

points they receive. There are 4 Reinhardts in the list for every Peri.

X-factor: Some aspects that cannot be easily quantified in the results will be denoted as an X-factor. Possible X-factors are as follows:

Distant/Close Counter	Units with Distant/Close Counter (usually built into their weapon) can retaliate against anyone, no matter range. Therefore, they cannot be attacked with impunity.
Vantage	Units with Vantage ( unless killed in the first strike) will usually deal harsh damage to the opponent. This is extremely effective combined with a Distant/Close Counter.
Brave Sword	If a unit does reasonably well on enemy phase while carrying a brave sword, he or she will do significantly better on the following player phase.
Buffer	This unit gives good buffs to friendly units, usually through C skills. (Thanks/u/ wooperthemad)
Ranged Unit	Ranged Units have a threat range of 4, which means they can occasionally get the first hit on a team of sword/lance/axe users.
Blade Tome	Blade tome units given buffs do dramatically better than without buffs. Depending on the team, this can make the difference between winning and losing.
Healer	This unit can, given the right build, heal allies.

Sidenote about movement skills

            After messing around with movement skills, I still think they could be hit or miss. Movement skills are very good at adding a sense of unpredictability to the match, but I find the AI uses them to screw itself up half the time.

             I think whether or not to use them comes down to the defense team you choose. Movement skills often slow the pace of the match down a notch, which could be good or bad depending on the team you’re using.  A horse team is threatening most of the time because of the immediate pressure three movement brings to a match. Reinhardt can be on your side of the map on turn 2, which makes him a much more immediate threat than most infantry units. Having movement skills on horses detracts from this advantage, and makes them much easier to deal with.

For more of a guide on defense teams in general, here’s a writeup by Gamepress, given to me by /u/kirbyfreako.

Def team basics

Red Units

The list is in alphabetical order, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find the hero you want.

Very Effective	Karel*, Lonqu*, Navarre*,Olivia, Zephiel*
Effective	Athena, Caeda*, Cain, Celica, Corrin(M), Draug*,   Eirika*, Fir, Hana, Ike, Lucina, Lyn, Marth, Marth(Masked), Ogma, Palla, Ryoma, Selena*, Tharja
Somewhat Effective	Alm, Chrom, Eldigan*, Eliwood, Hinata, Katarina, Laslow, Luke, Raigh, Roy, Seliph, Stahl, Xander
Not Very Effective	Alfonse, Henry, Leo,  Lilina, Sanaki, Sophia, Tiki (Adult)

* Results with an * means the rating comes with a caveat of some sort.

Alfonse

Build Used: Folkvangr, Bonfire, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenAtk3,+HP seal

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	4	4
Weighted	9	9

Opinion:

             Going by the results, Alfonse doesn’t appear to be good at all. With his low speed and lack of distant counter,  He loses against almost the entire cast of blues. Besides the four units that he wins against, he doesn’t do significant damage against anyone else.

             That is probably due to a combination of poor speed and mediocre attack. With his speed, he gets doubled quite easily, and, even with quick riposte, his counterattack leaves something to be desired. Alfonse is Not Effective.

Notable Results: Kills Ephraim and Hinoka.

Alm

Build Used: Falchion, Bonfire, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenDef3,+HP seal. +Spd,-Res

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	5	6
Weighted	14	16

Opinion:

             While better than Alfonse, Alm’s results aren’t spectacular. He manages to have a few more winning matchups, mainly due to his slightly higher speed. Thankfully, the units he does well against are some of the more commonly seen units in Arena, such as Azura and Sharena.

             Even with a speed of 36, Quick Riposte dramatically raises his results from bad to less bad. With his speed, Alm might be able to prevent doubles from a few units, but he will rarely double without the help of Quick Riposte. But, like any other unit using Quick Riposte, he is quite vulnerable to being baited into attacking first. With these numbers, it seems Alm is Somewhat Effective.

Notable Results: He wins against Sharena, Azura, and Ephraim. Distant counter dramatically worsens his results.

Athena

Build Used: WoDao+, Moonbow, Fury3, Desperation3, ThreatenDef3,+HP seal. +Atk,-Res

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	6	9
Weighted	16	22

Opinion:

             Athena is one of the few characters whose results don’t dramatically change depending on her skills. Besides for Fury, she can practically take any B or C skill and still perform about the same. With that high speed, she will rarely be doubled, although using a brave sword still lowers her results quite a bit.

All in all, Athena seems Effective.  

Notable Results: Beats Azura, Ephraim, Sharena. Leaves Camus at 1 HP. Quickened Pulse gives an additional win against Catria.

Caeda

Build Used: Armorslayer+, Luna, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, HP seal. +Atk,-Res

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	2	8
Weighted	4	22

Opinion:

             Caeda’s results were somewhat surprising. Even with a Res bane, she still has enough Res to survive against most blue mages. She won’t kill any of them in retaliation, but she still drops them down to 1 HP. More surprisingly, she also drops Azura, Sharena, and Camus to single digits. While her results edge her into the Effective category, she will rarely kill anything. Because of this, I think Caeda is only somewhat effective.  

Notable Results: Cripples most mages, although this also does bring them into desperation range. Also cripples Azura, Sharena, and Camus.

Cain

Build Used: WoDao+, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenDef3,QP seal. +Atk,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	4	9
Weighted	12	21

Opinion:

             As a red sword cavalry unit without a unique weapon, Cain is probably the worst red horse unit of the bunch. When given a choice, not many people would choose Cain over someone like Xander or Eldigan. Even Eliwood, with Durandal, can arguably do Cain’s job better than he can.

             That being said, however, Cain’s results are still quite good, all things considered. Once he loses the Brave Sword, Cain’s stats aren’t all that bad. A defense of 30 is respectable, and a resistance of 21, while not great, is still not terrible. Given enough skill inheritance, and the Quickened Pulse seal, Cain can be Effective. He is also on a horse, which gives him a larger threat radius comparable to infantry swords. No matter what sword he has though, he still can’t cut trees.

Notable Results: Beats Sharena, Azura, and Ephraim. Leaves Camus at 1 HP.

Celica

Build Used: Ragnarok, Moonbow, Fury3, Desperation3, ThreatenRes3,+HP seal. +Spd,-Def)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	8	10
Weighted	16	22

Opinion:

             Celica, with her Ragnarok tome, is deceptively tanky at the start of the battle. This tankiness allows her to take on and beat most infantry blue tomes. She can even take on and beat Linde, assuming Linde isn’t +Atk. Against lance users, Celica fares worse. She can still take Sharena down to 5 HP, but most other lancers beat her without any trouble.

             Celica’s results show she is Effective. As a side note, if you give her a blade tome, she has slightly worse results than Tharja. Also, changing up her B skill doesn’t significantly alter her results.  

Notable Results: Beats most blue tome users.

X factor: Ranged

Chrom

Build Used: Defensive (Falchion, Bonfire, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenAtk3,+HP seal. +Spd,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	7	8
Weighted	17	20

Playing around with IVs could give him more winning matchups, but a lower weighted effective matchup score.

On a side note, Brave sword Chrom had significantly poorer results.

On another side note, reversing the order of combat, which theoretically weakens Quick Riposte, leaves Chrom with a higher effective score. This is mainly due to the number of mages that eat a Falchion to the face that would otherwise come out unscathed.

On the last side note, giving Chrom Renewal 3 gives him a slightly worse Weighted Effective score, but allows him to be a pseudo-healer.

Opinion:  We finally get to one of the not-so-speedy red swords. Chrom was always the archetype of the hard-hitting but slow as hell sword characters. His defense isn’t too shabby either, sitting at 34 with a Fury3 buff. His score puts him on the border of Effective and Somewhat Effective. However, he doesn’t have any real x-factor besides being decent at defense, leaving Chrom in the Somewhat Effective category.

Notable Results: Cripples the usual slew of Azura, Sharena, Ephraim, but only dents Camus. Almost cripples Lukas. Mages laugh in his face.

Corrin (Male)

Build Used: Yato, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenAtk3,+HP seal. +Atk,-Res

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	4	8
Weighted	11	20

Opinion:

             It may be just me, but Corrin M seems like one of the most forgettable red sword units. Everything about him screams good, but not great. An attack of 54, after Fury and a unique weapon, is respectable, but not great. A speed of 35 will prevent most doubles, but Corrin will rarely double anyone in return naturally. Even with Yato’s 4 extra speed on initiation, Corrin still lacks the speed to double most units.

             From the results, Corrin could be Effective, but just barely. Funny enough, even Caeda has a higher weighted effective matchup score.

Notable Results: Beats Sharena, Azura, and Mae. Leaves Ephraim and Camus at 1.

Draug

Results:

Build Used: WoDao+, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenAtk3,+HP seal. +Atk,-Res)

If attacked first

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	13	17
Weighted	28	35

If attacking first

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	7	15
Weighted	13	29

Opinion:

             Wow, if Draug gets attacked first, he cleans house. Without his natural Brave Sword, Draug is surprisingly speedy for an armored unit. His speed is high enough to prevent most doubles, and with Quick Riposte, Bonfire manages to kill half the cast.

             Unfortunately, people paying attention usually won’t attack a unit with Quick Riposte first. In this case, Draug’s results drop significantly. Without the extra attack from Quick Riposte, Draug fails to trigger Bonfire. Without Bonfire, Draug is no longer a nuclear wrecking ball.

             However, if we replace Bonfire with Moonbow, Draug’s results are still quite good, rivaling those of Ryoma and Lucina. He loses a few winning matchups if attacked first, but gains a few if attacking first. With this, Draug’s results are quite consistant.

             On the other hand, as an armored unit, he makes the rest of the match effectively a 3v4. This throws a wrench into the rest of the fight. Draug’s results are quite Effective, with the caveat that he is an armored unit. perhaps Pivot would help a little bit?

Notable Results: Draug wipes a significant number of units.

Eirika

Build Used: Fury(Sieglinde, Moonbow, Fury3, Renewal3, Atk+1 seal. +Spd,-Def)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	1	8
Weighted	3	20

Opinion: Eirika is one of few red swords with both high speed and high resistance. As such, it is not surprising that she would do well against mages. That being said, I did not expect her to do so well. Thanks to the high speed, not even neutral Linde with a speed buff can double her.  A + speed Linde, however, has just enough speed to double and kill Eirika on the first round. Also worth noting that neutral Olwen with hone cavalry leaves Eirika at 1 HP after the first hit, so depending on IVs, this matchup can differ.

             I came into this fully expecting to give Eirika a ranking of Somewhat Effective at best. After seeing these results, she is on the border between Effective and Somewhat Effective. Due to the fact that  she can significantly buff her allies, I believe she can be Effective, with a caveat. She might not be able to kill much of anything by herself.

Notable Results: Most mages are brought down to 1 HP, including Linde and Blarblade+ Olwen (with hone cavalry). Azura and Sharena are effectively crippled, with 2 and 7 HP remaining respectively. Renewal 3 also activates in a few matchups, but doesn’t affect the outcome in any way. 

X-factor: Buffer

Eldigan

Build Used:Mystletainn, Bonfire, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenAtk3,+HP seal. +Spd,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	8	10
Weighted	16	18

Opinion:

             Eldigan is pretty much Xander without Distant Counter. With a speed of 27, Eldigan is going to be doubled by pretty much everyone, and with a Res of 18, he won’t survive any mage. With that defense, he does much better against lance users, assuming they attack him first. If Eldigan attacks first, most lance units can tank his attack quite well. This leaves Eldigan in quite a predicament. Ranged units wipe the floor with him, and lance users can simply let him attack first.

             Eldigan’s results show he can be Somewhat Effective, but this can also be deceptive. I feel Eldigan might do worse than these results signify. He is on a horse though, so that might be a plus.

Notable Results: He beats Ephraim if Ephraim attacks first.

Eliwood

Build Used: Durandal, Iceberg, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenDef3,+HP seal. +Res,-Def)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	6	6
Weighted	18	18

Opinion:

             The other red horse without a distant counter unique sword. Eliwood is essentially Eldigan with stats loaded into Res instead of Def. In my opinion, that by itself makes him better than Eldigan in this mage-heavy meta. Unlike Eldigan, Eliwood can survive mages, and kill them next turn. Mages can’t tank him the same way lance units can tank Eldigan.

             Eliwood is solidly Somewhat Effective.  

Notable Results: He survives Reinhardt. Reinhardt! How many red units can say that? He also beats Ephraim, Sharena, and Azura.

Fir

Build Used: Killing Edge+, Iceberg, Fury3, Vantage3, ThreatenDef3,+HP seal. +Res,-Def)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	4	10
Weighted	11	27

Opinion:

             Besides Eliwood, Fir is probably the only other red unit that can survive and beat Reinhardt. To be completely honest, when I saw these results, I had to do it again, just to make sure there wasn’t a mistake. Fir’s high speed and high Res means she can survive most mages at least once. Unfortunately, she probably won’t kill them without iceberg, but she will hurt them quite a bit. However, thanks to Reinhardt’s brave tome, Fir will wipe him on the counterattack.

             In this meta, Fir is surprisingly Effective. It is, however, worth keeping in mind that most mages prefer being at low HP.

Notable Results: Beats Reinhardt. Leaves most mages at 1 HP. Leaves Azura, Sharena, and Camus at low HP.

Hana

Build Used: WoDao(WoDao+,Moonbow,Fury,Desperation3,ThreatenAtk3,QP seal. +spd,-res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	6	11
Weighted	14	22

Brave Sword Hana had dramatically worse results.

Opinion: First of all, Quickened Pulse gives Hana dramatically better results. Hana’s defenses, when not running Life and Death, are better than paper, though not by much. At 26 defense and 25 resistance, she seems like she can stand to take a hit from most opponents, and with her massive speed of 42, that one hit is usually all they get.

             Her main drawback with Fury is that, even though her defenses become decent, her HP pool is still too low to prevent one shots by most of the cast. Many of her matchups end up with her being killed in one shot. Funny enough, exchanging Fury with HP+5 leaves her with the same effective weighted score, although it trades kills on B!Caeda and S!Lucina with kills on Azura and Ephraim. Overall, Hana can be Effective.

Notable results: Hana has a decent matchup against Camus and beats Sharena, although Ephraim and Azura kill her with the perfect amount of damage. She also cripples Lukas and beats F!Corrin.

Henry

Build Used: N/A

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	0	0
Weighted	0	0

Opinion:

             No matter how much I configure Henry, I can’t seem to get him to have any results whatsoever. If anyone can get something significant, let me know.

Henry is Not Very Effective.

Notable Results: Probably the worst results of the bunch.

Hinata

Build Used: WoDao+, Bonfire, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenAtk3,+Atk seal. +Def,-Spd)

Results:

if attacked first:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	6	7
Weighted	12	13

If attacking first:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	1	6
Weighted	2	12

Opinion:

             Everyone wants Hinata, but no one wants to use Hinata. Hinata is known as the best Fury fodder, but not much else. But at the very least, with enough SI, Hinata could be marginally useful. Personally, I would use him to give Fury to pretty much anyone else, but for those of you who wish to actually use Hinata, he could be Somewhat Effective.

Notable Results: He beats Ephraim and Lukas if attacked first.

Ike

Build Used: Optimal (Ragnell, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenDef3, Hp+3 seal. +atk,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	8	11
Weighted	19	25

Opinion: Simply looking at stats, Ike is a slower, more defensive, Ryoma. That missing speed makes him a good user of Quick Riposte, but he does give up the DC/Vantage combo in return. With quick Riposte, Ike appears to be about as effective as Ryoma, maybe even more.

             Because of this, I believe Ike falls solidly in the Effective category. Fighting against color advantage is quite the uphill battle, one few units fare well in. Ike does a magnificent job in that regard. Throw in the fact that the AI just seems to use units with DC much better than usual, and Ike is still a solid contender for a slot on your defense team.

Notable results: Ike beats Sharena, Ephraim, Azura, Lukas, and Hinoka. He also leaves Camus at 1 HP. Fury/Quick Riposte does better than Fury/Vantage, but takes away his X-factor of having both Distant Counter/Vantage

X-factor: Distant Counter

Karel

Build Used: Wo Dao+, Moonbow, Fury3, Desperation3, ThreatenDef3, QP seal. +Spd,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	9	13
Weighted	24	31

Opinion:

             Wow, Quickened Pulse combined with Wo Dao does wonders. With his speed, Karel will rarely get doubled. With that ridiculous HP stat, Karel will usually survive one attack from anyone, even Linde. Thanks to Wo Dao and Moonbow, Karel does significant damage against everyone on the counterattack.

Karel with Quickened Pulse is Very Effective, with results higher than both Ryoma and Lucina.  He does’t have Vantage or Distant Counter though, so he will rarely be able to take out more than one unit. Without Quickened Pulse, Karel’s results drop significantly.

Notable Results: Karel’s HP stat makes him quite suitable to tanking practically everyone. Beats most mages, including Linde. Drops Lukas to 9 HP.

Katarina

Build Used: Raudrblade+, Moonbow, Fury3, Desperation3, ThreatenRes3,+Atk seal. +Spd,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	4	6
Weighted	8	13

Opinion:

             With Katarina’s high Res, I expected her to be a better Tharja. Boy was I disappointed. Comparing the two, Katarina and Tharja have the same attack and speed.  Katarina has higher Res, but lower HP. This lower HP is her bane in this situation. With 34 HP, most blue units kill her in one shot. This dramatically lowers her results in comparison.

             That being said, she is still a ranged unit, which could come in handy on certain maps. The results say Katarina is Somewhat Effective.

Notable Results: She beats Lukas. RaudrOwl gives her practically identical results.

X-factor: Ranged

Laslow

Build Used: Silver Sword+, Moonbow, Fury3, Vantage3, ThreatenDef3,+Atk seal. +Spd,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	4	5
Weighted	12	14

Opinion:

             For all intents and purposes, Laslow is essentially Chrom without a Falchion. His speed is actually high enough to prevent some doubles, and his attack is on the high side. That being said, he only takes out a few units, even with Moonbow. At least those units are some of the more commonly seen lance units.

Laslow is Somewhat Effective.

Notable Results: Beats Sharena, Ephraim, and Azura.

Leo

Build Used: Brynhildr, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenRes3,+Atk seal. +Atk,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	2	3
Weighted	3	7

Opinion:

             As the only ranged red cavalry unit, Leo has a unique advantage. With a threat radius of 5, Leo outranges most units and could quite feasibly attack first. Because of this, his results are calculated with him attacking first.

             However, even with that advantage, Leo still isn’t very good. He can take out Lukas and Oboro, but not much else. He also beats Reinhardt if he attacks first, but Reinhardt is one of the few units who Leo doesn’t outrange. Overall, Leo is just Not Very Effective.

Notable Results: He beats Reinhardt, maybe.

X factor: Ranged

Lilina

Build Used: Bolganone+, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenRes3,+Atk seal. +Atk,-Spd

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	1	4
Weighted	2	8

Opinion:

             Lilina’s stats make her essentially perfect for a TA-Raven build. Unfortunately, TA-Raven builds are notoriously bad when the opponent has the typing advantage. Without this niche, Lilina just isn’t very good. Her low speed means she is doubled by practically everyone, and even that high resistance can’t save her after that.

Lilina is Not Very Effective.

Notable Results: She beats M!Robi

Lloyd

Build Used: Fury(Regal Blade, Moonbow,Fury3,Desperation,ThreatenSpd3,+spd seal. )

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	8	11
Weighted	19	25

Funny enough, Distant Counter actually gives him worse results.

Opinions: Lloyd is an interesting character. As a red sword with a high res, he is arguably better in the current meta than other red swords. Having Regal Sword is also a nice perk that makes him deadlier than he looks. Unfortunately, that meager defense of his leaves him lacking against many opponents that can attack back at close quarters.

             This means Lloyd requires a more specialized playstyle. Like the assassin he is, he has to pick his targets, preferably the more squishy mage targets. That task might be a bit much to ask for the AI to accomplish. While Lloyd’s results put him in the Effective category, actual results might be varied.

Notable Results: Lloyd leaves most mages at 1 HP, and Camus at 2. He also beats Sharena. 

Lonqu

Build Used: Wo Dao+, Moonbow, Fury3, Desperation3, ThreatenDef3,QP seal. +Atk,-HP)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	9	14
Weighted	23	31

Opinion:

             Like Karel, Lonqu puts the Wo Dao/Moonbow/QP seal combo to work, with great results. In comparision, Lonqu trades Atk, HP, and Def for Spd and Res. While Karel seems to have a slightly better stat distribution for this simulation, Lonqu is still Very Effective. This does require Quickened Pulse, however.  

Notable Results: Does well against both lances and mages.

Lucina

Build Used:Fury( Falchion, Moonbow, Fury3,Renewal3,ThreatenDef3, +Hp seal. +Spd/-Def)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	8	12
Weighted	21	29

Opinion: Again, I did not expect these numbers to be this high. Just going by the numbers, Lucina rivals Ryoma at taking down blue units in one on one encounters. Funny enough, having a B skill doesn’t seem to impact her results at all. This means she can run Renewal 3 and serve as a pseudo-healer as well. Of course, the lack of DC on her weapon means she is much slower at killing mages. The fact that she can even withstand blue mages, with that res stat, on the other hand, is nothing less than astounding. Lucina is Effective.

Notable Results: F!Corrin loses to Lucina. Azura, Ephraim, and Sharena lose to Lucina. Camus survives at 2 HP. Linde doesn’t one shot and dies to Lucina.

X-factor: Healer

Luke

Build Used: Wo Dao+, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenDef3,+Atk seal. +Def,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	5	8
Weighted	11	17

Opinion:

             Luke’s biggest draw is his Fire Boost. +6 attack comes in handy in almost every situation, and with his high HP pool, Luke can trigger it quite often. Unfortunately, being attacked first detracts from Fire Boost’s effectiveness severely. Furthermore, giving Luke Fire Boost comes at the cost of being able to give him Fury, which is essentially the end-all-be-all of effective A skills.

             Besides from the new skill, Luke’s stats are okay but not great. He can be Somewhat Effective, but probably not much more than that.

Notable Results: he beats Sharena and Ephraim.

Lyn

Build Used: Sol Katti, Moonbow, Fury3, BrashAssasult3, ThreatenDef3+HP seal. +Atk,-HP)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	5	9
Weighted	14	23

Opinion:

             Lyn is surprisingly tanky for a red sword unit. With the right IVs, Lyn reaches almost 30 in both Def and Res. With her 40 Spd, Lyn almost always survives one shot from everyone. The question then becomes whether or not she can kill in retaliation, and the answer is, not really. Even with Sol Katti and Brash Assault, Lyn doesn’t do enough damage to kill most of the cast. She does drop mages to low HP, however. Lyn is Effective.  

Notable Results: Lyn beats Sharena, Ephraim, Azura, and leaves most infantry mages at 1 HP. With a WoDao/Moonbow/QP build, Lyn does better, but at that point you may as well just use Lonqu.

Marth

Build Used: Falchion, Moonbow, Fury3, Desperation3, ThreatenDef3,+Spd seal. +Spd,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	6	8
Weighted	16	21

Opinion:

             As a less offensive, slightly bulkier Lucina, I expected Marth to do slightly better in this simulation. With a speed of 41 after Fury, practically no one is going to be able to double him. Combined with his 32 defense and 23 res, Marth’s defense is respectable. From the looks of it, it seems the combination of low Res, along with his relatively low attack, is his biggest bane. Even with his high speed, his Res still doesn’t save him from being one shot by most mages. On the physical side, his speed and defense prevents him from being doubled by physical unit without a brave lance. However, that is quite a specific category, and not may units fall into that net. The few that do are the few Marth does well against, leaving him at Effective, but just barely.

Notable Results: Does well against Azura, Ephraim, Sharena, and Camus.

Marth(Masked)

Build Used: Falchion, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenDef3,+HP seal.

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	8	10
Weighted	21	25

Opinion:

             Without IVs of any kind, M!Marth has the same stat line as neutral Lucina. Thanks to losing that 3 speed from a +Spd boon, M!Marth get one round killed by both S!Lucina and B!Caeda. Besides that, however, there’s not much of a difference between the two. One point worth noting is that Quick Riposte gives M!Marth the kill on Sharena and Azura, although M!Marth is still effective against both of them without it. In my opinion, there are better B skills for M!Marth, and better users of Quick Riposte out there. While not as effective as Lucina, M!Marth is still Effective.  

Notable Results: Beats Mae and Linde.

Navarre

Build Used: Wo Dao+, Moonbow, Fury3, Desperation3, ThreatenDef3,QP seal.)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	10	15
Weighted	25	33

Opinion:

             Wo Dao and Quickened Pulse puts in work! Even without IVs, Navarre’s stat distribution is about as good for this simulation as Karel’s. With 40 speed and decent defenses, Navarre survives one round with most of the cast, and, thanks to Moonbow/Quickened Pulse, eliminates or cripples a large portion of opponents on the counterattack. Navarre can be Very Effective, assuming he has Quickened Pulse.  

Notable Results:  Beats the usual lance users, along with most infantry mages.

Ogma

Build Used: Brave Sword (Brave Sword+, Ignis,Fury3,Desperation,ThreatenDef3, QP seal. +spd,-res)

Results:  

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	6	8
Weighted	16	20

Opinions: Again, I came in expecting Ogma to suck. Even with a Brave Sword, which theoretically should hamper his enemy phase, Ogma does decently well. Not as well as the other S ranked sword units tested previously, but still respectably well. Give him a Quickened Pulse seal to go with that Brave Sword, and he blew my expectations out of the water.  

             I think one thing people discount about Ogma is his speed. A speed of 35 after Brave Sword is quite good, even in the tier of speedy sword users. I get the feeling that people are so quick to sac him for his brave sword that most don’t think about well he actually does with it. I know I didn’t. Somehow, With this result, Ogma is right on the border of Effective and Somewhat effective. However, with the fact that he carries a brave sword, and thereby has a much better player phase, I believe he could be Effective.  

Notable results: Desperation gives an additional winning matchup against Oboro. Given that Desperation is quite a sought after skill, it is worth skipping giving Ogma desperation. He has no results against mages, but does leave F!Corrin at 1 HP. He does beat the slew of Camus, Ephraim, Sharena, and Azura.

X-factor: Brave Sword

Olivia

Build Used: Budget (Silver sword+, Draconic Aura, Death Blow3, Swordbreaker3, HP+3 seal. +Spd, -Res)

Results: The results aren’t even remotely close. Against her counters, Olivia defeats Jagen. She leaves three more units (Florina, Sully, Ninian) at less than 10 HP. However, taking out units not commonly seen in arena (Jagen, Florina, Sully) leaves her effective results at 2 wins, 37 losses. Olivia can decently stand up to a dancer, and not much else.

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	0	1
Weighted	0	3

Opinion: Going by the match-up spread, Olivia leaves much to be desired. Thankfully, no one uses Olivia simply for her offensive ability. When people go for their deathless streak, there’s only two categories of units that would encourage a dodge: horse emblem, and dancers. Horse emblem is scary because of its ability to bring the pressure early and keep it up. Dancers are threatening because they introduce a measure of uncertainty into the battle. Theoretically, a Reinhardt with dancer support could have an effective threat radius of 7 spaces. That is almost the entire length of the map. With dancer support, no one is safe from Reinhardt’s tiny hands. Throw in Wings of Mercy, and Olivia also becomes an angel of death, capable of going anywhere on the map.

             Dance effectively increases the threat radius of your other units, giving them the coveted ability to strike first.  Also, dance as a skill is harder to counter than a unit. People bring Julia as a hard counter to Reinhardt and a red unit as a counter to Hector. There is no simple way to hard counter Dance. As such, I cannot give Olivia any rating less than Very Effective. 

Palla

Build Used: Silver Sword+, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenDef3,+Atk seal. +Atk,-Def

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	5	8
Weighted	14	20

Opinion:

             Known as the go to red flier in flier teams, Palla builds usually revolve around Ruby Sword or Wo Dao. Unfortunately, Ruby Sword isn’t very good when fighting against blue units, and the classic WoDao Moonbow build actually gives her worse results than a Silver Sword.

             With a Silver Sword, Palla actually isn’t that bad. Her good defenses allow her to survive the slower lance units, and beat them in return. Palla can actually be Effective.   

             Further note, while attacking first, Palla beats two less units, but hurts significantly more.

Notable Results: Beats Sharena, Azura, and Ephraim. Leaves Camus at 2 HP after Fury.

Raigh

Build Used: Raudrwolf+, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenRes3,+HP seal. +Spd,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	2	5
Weighted	4	11

Opinion:

             Probably the least used red mage out there, Raigh is honestly pretty forgettable. His stats are very balanced, which normally is something that would lend itself well to this simulation. Unfortunately for Raigh, his stats seem to be just a bit too balanced. His speed is relatively high, but still too low prevent doubles from the fast mages. His defenses and resistance are high, but his HP is just barely low enough to get one rounded by most units that double. And even if he does survive a round, his Atk is just barely too low to do significant damage against many units.

             On the bright side, it’s relatively easy to 4+10 Raigh, and he works as great bait. Everyone’s afraid of fighting a horse lead, but who’s afraid of a Raigh lead? Raigh can be Somewhat Effective.

Notable Results: He beats Camus.

X factor: Ranged

Roy

Build Used: Binding Blade, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenDef3,+HP seal. +Spd,-HP

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	3	6
Weighted	9	17

Opinion:

             Another unit that suffers from the curse of being too balanced, Roy’s usual niche as a hard counter to greens doesn’t help him a bit when fighting blues. Roy’s defenses both break the 30 mark, and his HP isn’t shabby either. His main detriment seems to be, once again, the fact that his low Atk fails to do significant damage on retaliation. His speed is also too low to prevent doubles from the fast mages, which essentially nullifies his otherwise commendable resistance. Roy is Somewhat Effective.  

Notable Results: Trading Fury for Distant Counter doesn’t dramatically change his results. It does trade effective damage against Camus for effective damage on Linde however.

Ryoma

Build Used: Optimal (Raijinto, MoonBow, Fury3, Vantage3,ThreatenDef3, HP+3 seal. +Spd,-Def)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	9	12
Weighted	23	29

 Opinion: Ryoma, as a whole, is a very effective character. With a built-in Distant Counter and Vantage, he effectively shuts down a large number of units, including many units widely believed to be a hard counter to him. Seriously, he kills Ephraim, and leaves Camus at 2. Having a -Res bane will have him lose to mages such as Linde, as opposed to winning the matchup at 1 HP remaining. With both DC and Vantage, this could mean the difference between Ryoma dying and Ryoma sweeping the entire team.

             Also, thanks largely to his Raijinto’s distant counter, he is not difficult for the AI to use. All attackers have to be wary about attacking him, lest they eat a Raijinto to the face in return. He can’t be picked off by ranged units easily. Leaving him at low HP is also a dangerous gambit for the opponent, since there are few things more dangerous than Ryoma with Vantage active.

             However, even with all his positive traits, he still loses against the majority of Blue units. Brave Lances in particular are extremely effective against him. Peri with a Blue Lance ORKOs him while taking no damage in return. And what person out there considers Peri a good unit? Ryoma does require a counter, but when that counter is simply a decent Blue unit, it’s hard to categorize him as meta-defining. As such, I believe Ryoma can be categorized as Effective, albeit one of the best characters in the category. Against a team lacking a good blue unit, Ryoma will kick ass and take names. But what team doesn’t have a good blue unit nowadays?

Notable Results: Ryoma beats Azura, Sharena, and Ephraim. He leaves Camus at 2 HP. Brave Lances OHKO him. Having a -Res bane gives him slightly worse, but significant results against mages.

X-factor: Distant Counter, Vantage

Sanaki

Build Used: Cymbeline, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenRes3,+HP seal. +Atk,-Def

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	1	3
Weighted	2	7

Opinion:

             Units with low speed get shafted quite hard in this simulation. Units with a dependence on Triangle Advantage even more so. Unfortunately for Sanaki, her low speed and low health combine to make her quite fragile against all blue units. Even that monster of a Res stat doesn’t save her from being ORKOed by mages such as Linde. The only unit she does manage to defeat is M!Robin.

Sanaki is, unfortunately, Not Very Effective in this case.   

Notable Results: She beats M!Robin. Even F!Corrin and Ninian manage to beat Sanaki.  

X factor: Ranged

Selena

Build Used: WoDao (WoDao+, Moonbow, Fury3, Desperation3, ThreatenDef3,spd seal. +atk/-def)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	2	10
Weighted	5	24

Opinions: Besides her attack stat, Selena’s stat spread is quite good for defense mode. She has both a good defense and resistance stat, and great speed to back it up. Truth be told, her only weakness is her low attack. She can leave many opponents at low HP, but she has difficulty actually killing anyone before they kill her. In offensive arena, Selena might have a niche as a Hector killer with triangle adept and armorslayer, but in defense, her lack of killing power is her biggest bane.

Her results say she is Effective, but this comes with a caveat. Unless you are willing to deck her out with skills and are okay with her not being able to kill much of anything, she will probably not be as effective as her results say.

Notable Results: She leaves quite a few opponents at less than 10 HP, but much of that is due to Fury damage, not her own attack.

Seliph

Build Used: Tryfing, Bonfire, Fury3, BrashAssault3, ThreatenAtk3,+HP seal. +Def,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	8	9
Weighted	15	16

Opinion:

             For a character with a reputation for being quite bad, Seliph actually does alright. His high defense and ridiculously high HP means he does quite well against brave lance units. Unfortunately, that seems to be his only niche.  Against mages, his resistance leaves much to be desired, and against units with high defense, his attack is quite lacking.

             Seliph is Somewhat Effective.

Notable Results: Beats most of brave lance users. Except Effie. Effie laughs in his face.

Sophia

Build Used: Fenrir(Fenrir+,Glacies,Fury3,QuickRiposte,ThreatenRes3,HP seal. +res/-spd)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	1	1
Weighted	2	2

Opinions: No matter how I configure it, I can’t get Sophia’s results to be anything good. With the right scenarios, you have a winning matchup against M!Robin. That’s it. That’s everything of note. With some more configuring, you can instead leave both M!Robin and Ninian crippled, although that’s not much better.

             Sophia is one of those heroes that work quite well given the right build. Unfortunately for her on defense, that build involves triangle adept. Sophia is, unfortunately, Not Very Effective.

Notable Results: Nope.  

Stahl

Build Used: Silver Sword+, Moonbow, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenAtk3,+HP seal. +Spd,-Res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	3	7
Weighted	6	18

Opinion:

             Stahl seems to be the unit people use when they don’t have Xander or Eldigan. His usual builds usually resolve around Ruby Sword or Armorslayer to counter green units, Hector especially. Unfortunately, all blue units laugh in the face of Ruby Sword, and Effie eats Armorslayer for breakfast.

             That being said,  Stahl’s results aren’t bad. He still does quite well against Sharena, Azura, Ephraim, and Camus. He also manages to survive Brave Lance Hinoka and Peri, and he defeats them next turn.

             Stahl can be Somewhat Effective.

Notable Results: Stahl almost beats Sharena, Azura, Ephraim, and Camus.

Tharja

Build Used: Bladetome(Raudrblade+,Moonbow,Fury3,Desperation3,ThreatenRes3, Atk+1 seal, +spd,-res)

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	7	9
Weighted	15	25

20

Opinion:

Tharja’s results aren’t bad. With desperation, she can deal out heavy damage against any unit that doesn’t kill her in one go. That means that units with low speed, the ones who can’t double her, will naturally not walk out of an encounter unscathed. As a case in point, M!Robin, with TA, loses to Tharja. Even after that 40% damage reduction, Tharja still comes out on top. This is also without any buffs whatsoever. With a simple hone speed, Tharja ends up with a weighted score of 25, taking out most lance users who she doubles. That is definitely in the realm of possibility, even with the AI in command.  Tharja is Effective.

Notable Results: Tharja’s results shoot up dramatically if given a speed buff. She takes out most of the slower non-brave lance users, while leaving Camus at 5 HP. Threaten Res is rather significant.

X-factor: Ranged, blade tome

Tiki (Adult)

Build Used: (Lightning Breath+, Bonfire,Fury3,QuickRiposte3,ThreatenAtk3,HP seal.+def/-spd)

Results:

If attacked first

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	8	10
Weighted	15	17

If attacking first

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	2	4
Weighted	3	9

Opinions: A!Tiki is what you get if you take Xander and transform him into a dragon. And a girl. And make him thousands of years old. With her poor speed stat, A!Tiki will be doubled by practically everything, and it shows in the results. Even with that astounding defense stat, the fact that she is doubled by everything detracts from her durability quite a bit. Her low speed also means she will double practically no one without Quick Riposte, which takes away from her ability to retaliate as well.

             However, thanks to Quick Riposte, A!Tiki will still put up a decent showing if enemies attack her first. That being said, most of this showing is against characters almost never seen in arena. (When was the last you’ve seen anyone use Gwendolyn?) If baited, A!Tiki’s results drop dramatically. Because of this, A!Tiki is, unfortunately, Not Very Effective.

Notable results: If attacking first, A!Tiki drops Reinhardt to 8. But who would let you attack Reinhardt first?

X-factor: Distant Counter

Tiki (Young)

Build Used: Lightning Breath+, Bonfire, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenRes3,+HP seal. +Spd,-HP)

Results:

Attacked first:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	6	9
Weighted	13	21

Attacking first:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	3	4
Weighted	7	10

Opinion:

             Take away a few thousand years, and Tiki becomes a bit better. Her stats are very balanced, with nothing going above 45 or falling below 30. That means she will usually survive against most units, but will find it hard to significantly damage anyone. Tiki manages to leave a large number of the cast at below 20 HP, but will rarely cripple anyone or beat them outright. However, since her results are slightly better than old Tiki, Y!Tiki can be Somewhat Effective, if just barely.

Notable Results: Beats Lukas and M!Robin.

X-factor: Distant Counter

Xander

Build Used: Siegfried, Bonfire, Fury3, QuickRiposte3, ThreatenDef3,+Atk seal.)

Results:

Attacked First:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	7	8
Weighted	14	16

Attacking First:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	0	7
Weighted	0	15

Opinion:

             Without horse buffs or defensive tiles, Xander doesn’t do great against blue units. While he is able to tank Brave Lances fairly decently with his high defense, he doesn’t really manage to match up against much else. Blue mages are often able to kill him with one hit, leaving him no time to counterattack. Lance units fast enough to double Xander are often also tanky enough to shrug off his counter quite easily. Ephraim seems to be the only non-Brave lance user that doesn’t fit that role. As such, he falls to Xander. Everyone else seems to be able to deal with Xander quite well.

             Xander’s results seem to suggest he is only Somewhat Effective.

Notable Results:

             He does fairly well against Brave Lance units. Except Effie.

Zephiel

Build Used: Eckesachs, Bonfire, Distant Counter, WaryFighter3, ThreatenAtk3,+Atk seal.

Results:

	Winning Matchups	Effective Matchups
Non-Weighted	15	18
Weighted	28	36

Opinion:

             Besides for Hector himself, Zephiel is usually the second best person to give Distant Counter, and for good reason. With his defenses and Wary Fighter, Zephiel survives at least one round against almost the entire cast. He then proceeds to hit back quite hard the next turn, thanks in part to Eckesachs. With distant counter, not even mages are safe from his wrath.

             Interesting enough, exchanging Distant Counter for Fury 3 brings his weighted effective score to 40, the highest of any red unit. Even though he can’t counter against mages naturally, he hits hard enough to one shot or cripple most of them, even with weapon disadvantage.

             Zephiel is Very Effective, with the caveat that he is a slow armored unit.

Notable Results: Zephiel with Fury even manages to bring Effie to 4 HP. Reinhardt doesn’t care either way, however.

Appendix 1: Blue Enemy List

ENEMIES – CUSTOM LIST 

Camus (5★) 

Weapon: Gradivus 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Fury 3 

B: Vantage 3 

C: Spur Atk 3 

Sharena (5★) 

Weapon: Fensalir 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Fury 3 

B: Lancebreaker 3 

C: Threaten Spd 3 

Azura (5★ -hp) 

Weapon: Sapphire Lance+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Fury 3 

C: Fortify Res 3 

Catria (5★) 

Weapon: Killer Lance+ 

Special: Luna 

A: Life and Death 3 

B: Swordbreaker 3 

Corrin(F) (5★) 

Weapon: Dark Breath+  

Special: Draconic Aura 

A: Armored Blow 3 

B: Seal Res 3 

C: Hone Atk 3 

Effie (5★) 

Weapon: Brave Lance+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Death Blow 3 

B: Wary Fighter 3 

C: Threaten Res 3 

S: Attack 1 

Ephraim (5★) 

Weapon: Siegmund 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Fury 3 

B: Lancebreaker 3 

C: Threaten Def 3 

Cordelia (5★) 

Weapon: Brave Lance+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Death Blow 3 

B: Pass 3 

C: Threaten Def 3 

S: Attack 1 

Linde (5★) 

Weapon: Blarblade+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Fury 3 

B: Desperation 3 

C: Fortify Res 3 

:::Status 

Buffs: spd 4 

Lukas (5★) 

Weapon: Killer Lance+ 

Special: Sacred Cowl 

A: Fortress Def 3 

B: Obstruct 3 

:::Status 

Buffs: spd 4 

Lucina (Spring) (5★) 

Weapon: Blarblade+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Swift Sparrow 2 

:::Status 

Buffs: spd 4 

Mae (5★) 

Weapon: Blarblade+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Fury 3 

B: Desperation 3 

C: B Tome Exp. 3 

:::Status 

Buffs: spd 4 

Charlotte (Bride) (5★) 

Weapon: Brave Lance+ 

Special: Luna 

A: Death Blow 3 

C: Threaten Atk 3 

Nowi (5★) 

Weapon: Lightning Breath+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Triangle Adept 3 

B: Swordbreaker 3 

C: Threaten Res 3 

Olwen (5★) 

Weapon: Blarblade+ 

Special: Dragon Fang 

A: Fury 3 

B: Desperation 3 

C: Ward Cavalry 

:::Status 

Buffs: atk 6, spd 6 

Oboro (5★) 

Weapon: Killer Lance+ 

Special: Ignis 

A: Fury 3 

B: Vantage 3 

C: Threaten Res 3 

Robin(M) (5★) 

Weapon: Blarraven+ 

Special: Bonfire 

A: Triangle Adept 3 

B: Swordbreaker 3 

C: Spur Def 3 

Subaki (5★) 

Weapon: Sapphire Lance+ 

Special: Ignis 

A: Resistance 3 

B: Quick Riposte 3 

Abel (5★) 

Weapon: Brave Lance+ 

Special: Luna 

A: Death Blow 3 

B: Swordbreaker 3 

Caeda (Bride) (5★) 

Weapon: Blarblade+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Fury 3 

B: Desperation 3 

C: Hone Spd 3 

:::Status 

Buffs: spd 4 

Donnel (5★) 

Weapon: Brave Lance+ 

Special: Luna 

A: Death Blow 3 

B: Drag Back 

S: Attack 1 

Est (5★) 

Weapon: Brave Lance+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Death Blow 3 

B: Seal Spd 3 

S: Attack 1 

Gwendolyn (5★) 

Weapon: Killer Lance+ 

Special: Bonfire 

A: Fortress Def 3 

B: Wary Fighter 3 

C: Hone Armor 

Hinoka (5★) 

Weapon: Brave Lance+ 

Special: Draconic Aura 

A: Fury 3 

B: Lancebreaker 3 

C: Hone Fliers 

S: Attack 1 

Ninian (5★) 

Weapon: Lightning Breath+ 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Fury 3 

B: Escape Route 3 

C: Fortify Dragons 

Peri (5★) 

Weapon: Brave Lance+ 

Special: Luna 

A: Death Blow 3 

C: Threaten Def 3 

Reinhardt (5★) 

Weapon: Dire Thunder 

Special: Moonbow 

A: Death Blow 3 

C: Goad Cavalry 

S: Attack 1 

Ursula (5★) 

Weapon: Blarblade+ 

Special: Luna 

A: Life and Death 3 

B: Desperation 3 

C: Threaten Res 3 

:::Status 

Buffs: atk 6, spd 6 

Roderick (5★) 

Weapon: Firesweep Lance+ 

Special: Ignis 

A: Swift Sparrow 2 

B: Drag Back 

C: Threaten Def 3