Should You Pull?
Shadows of Valentia edition
(4/14/2017-4/26/2017)
Well, this is my first time doing this, so my apologies if my format or style is not what you’ve come to expect.
I’ll include the caveat here which SometimesLiterate has always left here, which is that, as with any banner, you should pull if you love the characters! Nothing trumps the power of waifu dedication; I know that if I were given an Oboro banner, I’d pull for it in a heartbeat because Oboro = best waifu. No, I don’t care if the other focus units were Jakob, Wrys, and Bartre, goddammit, I’d pull for Oboro because Oboro is Oboro! The goal of these posts is to provide a guideline for those of you who are looking for combat/inheritance efficiency, nothing more, nothing less.
Alm
“Nice to meet you! …Hey, do you happen to know where Celica might be?”
Unit abstract: Infantry Sword user with middling stats and Falchion.
| Hp | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 45 | 33 | 30 | 28 | 22 |
Default skills: Falchion, Draconic Aura, Attack +3, Windsweep 3.
- Falchion has a might of 16. It is effective against manakete-type units and recovers 10 hp every 3 turns.
- Draconic Aura has a 3 turn charge and adds 30% of the unit’s attack score to damage.
- Attack 3 is self explanatory.
- Windsweep 3 is a new B skill. Here’s how I understand it: if the unit initiates the attack, then no follow ups will occur from either the attacker or the defender. Additionally, if the unit’s spd is greater than the defender’s, then the defender will be unable to counterattack at all (unless the defender is a mage with close counter).
Windsweep is a really weird skill that is hard to really use. For high speed units, it’s counterproductive because the unit is prevented from doubling unless it has a brave weapon. For low speed units, its second component is less useful. Its main selling point is preventing the defender from doubling, but this only takes effect if the user initiates. As a result, it’s very situational and I can’t really see it working too well on that many units, since Quick Riposte or –breaker skills are almost always more useful. So as far as inheritance goes, Alm isn’t really someone you really need.
Pre-inheritance, he’s really nothing special. I’d rate him on the same level as Marth. They’re both ok units, but neither of them stand out in any notable fashion.
Inheritance potential:
Stat-wise, Alm is almost a carbon copy of Male Corrin, with 3 higher hp and 1 higher attack, at the expense of 2 speed and 2 res. He has Falchion, though, unlike Corrin, which makes him a bit more useful since Yato is really not a great weapon. So how will we build him?
Keep Falchion and Draconic Aura on him. Both fit in well with his stats. This leaves us with an assist and A, B, and C slots. Assist and C slot will always vary depending on your team composition and what you want your unit to achieve; for instance, if you’re running him alongside a blade tome user, then it makes sense to equip him with Rally/Hone or Fortify, whereas if you want him to be a good standalone unit, it makes sense to equip him with a movement based assist like Pivot and a Threaten skill like Threaten Def. Movement based skills are really up to you and how you like to play, so I won’t decide that for you. For C skills, Threaten Def works well with his high attack, and Threaten Spd can also help against certain units.
For his A slot, Death Blow, Fury, and Life & Death all work decently well on him, depending on how you want to use him. He’s really not a great defensive character, so I’m partial to Life & Death. It puts his speed up to a decent 35 speed (or 34 if you don’t want to sacrifice a 5 star unit to him), which enables him to double more units.
For his B slot, Swordbreaker and Renewal are the two most obvious choices. Swordbreaker to let him win matchups against other sword units, especially those faster than him, while Renewal works well with Falchion. With Renewal, it may also be worth considering to put Reciprocal Aid and/or Noontime on him to enable him to become a pseudo-healer.
Best nature: Probably +atk or +spd, -hp. He has a lot of HP already, and he really needs atk and spd.
Why would you want him?
You want a Falchion user and don’t already have Marth, Chrom, or Lucina, or you want Windsweep for whatever weird reason.
Why wouldn’t you want him?
You have Lucina, Marth, or Chrom already. You believe, as I do, that Windsweep is a lackluster ability. You don’t need yet another middling sword unit.
Clair
“…I hope he doesn’t know that I think… oh! Hi there! I’m not thinking about Alm right now! …Erm… How’s it going?”
Unit abstract: Flying Lance user who is blue analogue of Caeda.
| Hp | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 37 | 26 | 36 | 24 | 33 |
Default skills: Silver Lance +, Harsh Command, Hit and Run, Spur Speed 3.
- Silver Lance + has a might of 15.
- Harsh Command turns a given ally’s penalties into bonuses. For instance, if my Palla is debuffed by 4 points of attack and Clair uses Harsh Command on her, her attack would raise by 4 from its default value.
- Hit and run is a new B skill. It functions similarly to Drag Back, but unlike with Drag Back, the position of the defender is unaffected. This can be advantageous for Fliers, since Fliers do not retreat one step after using Drag Back if the defender survives and the defender would be forced to be dragged onto impassable terrain (i.e. Cordelia with Drag Back would not budge if she’s initiating while on a forest against Eldigan, who survives). With Hit and Run, however, they will retreat regardless of whether the defender survives.
- Spur Spd 3 increases adjacent units’ speed by 4 in combat. It stacks with everything, including itself.
Hit and Run has potential, especially with Flier units such as Clair. There are certainly cases in which I’d prefer it over Drag Back. Aside from this, though, Clair’s overall usability is not that great. Even with Silver Lance +, her attack is only 41, and she’s not particularly great on defense due to 37 hp and 24 def. Her strongest point is absorbing magic, which is a really specialized niche.
Pre-inheritance, she’s a bad unit. She can be made better with Flier Emblem, but every other flying lance user is better than she is.
Inheritance potential:
As far as post-inheritance goes, you’re best off putting her in a Flier Emblem team. If you really need a lance unit, there are better ones out there.
For Flier Emblem, she works best with Hone Fliers or Goad Fliers. She can fulfill the “tank” role of your team due to her high speed and res, especially if she has a +def nature and is being affected by fortify/ward. Put Iceberg and Killer Lance on her and she’ll be able to somewhat alleviate her low attack.
For her A slot, Iote’s Shield can work if you’re running her as a tank; alternately, Fury 3 is a good choice since she can benefit from every stat. Fury 3 can synergize with Desperation 3, bringing her spd up to 39 and allowing her to more easily achieve that low hp threshold.
Best nature: +atk, -hp. This is to allow her to run Desperation more effectively, and importantly, +atk gives her +4 atk, bringing her up to Shanna’s level while also having 1 more spd.
Why would you want her?
You want Hit and Run and would like to inherit it onto someone else. You want a magic-tank for your Flier Emblem team and hate Caeda for whatever reason.
Why wouldn’t you want her?
Because Shanna exists, and already runs a Desperation setup just fine. Because Hit and Run really isn’t an awesome ability and Drag Back does the exact same thing 90% of the time. Because a mage tank is too specialized of a role for her to excel, and because at this role, we already have Caeda.
Lukas
“Let’s make this quick, so that I can finish my training routine and then get back into that book I was reading earlier. Nothing quite beats a good book or a good stroll, if you ask me.”
Unit abstract: Infantry Lance user with abnormally high defense and abnormally low spd/res.
| Hp | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 45 | 35 | 22 | 38 | 17 |
Default skills: Killer Lance +, Sacred Cowl, Fortress Def 3, Obstruct 3.
- Killer Lance + has 11 might and accelerates Lukas’ special cooldown by 1 turn. So, Sacred Cowl is on a 1 turn cooldown.
- Sacred Cowl reduces damage from a unit 2 squares away by 30%.
- Fortress Def 3 is a new A skill, which raises Lukas’ defense by 5 at the expense of 3 attack.
- Obstruct 3 prevents foes from moving through adjacent spaces to him.
Fortress Def is really redundant on him since his defense is ridiculous anyway, and he needs higher attack to really make himself useful. His defenses are fine, and he can’t really afford to take a chunk out of his attack. Fortress Def 3 on him is akin to Life and Death 3 on Zephiel.
He’s definitely good at his role of being a wall, but this role is really not incredibly useful, as Sheena or Wendy would tell you. FEH’s metagame, like that of so many other RPG games, heavily values offense over defense. Why would you pick Lukas pre-inheritance when you could have The Donnel?
Inheritance potential:
He can actually become quite good post-inheritance. I’d argue he’s the best of the bunch here when it comes to post inheritance.
For his weapon, you’ll either stick with Killer Lance or give him Brave Lance +. The latter would work well since his attack is very high (35) and his speed is already low. His default Killer Lance works if you’re lazy and/or don’t have the feathers to waste to get someone like Donnel or Cordelia to 5 stars to sacrifice to him.
For his special, Sacred Cowl is situational, and Bonfire or Ignis are much better suited for him. Bonfire if you’re using Brave Lance since it has a 3 turn cooldown, or Ignis if you’re keeping Killer Lance on him. His high defense allows him to make great use of Bonfire or Ignis.
If you’re going the Brave Lance route, then the obvious choice should be Death Blow since it allows him to hit hard when initiating. If you’re keeping Killer Lance on him, then Fury or just Attack 3 strike me as decent choices. And obviously, Distant Counter is a good choice as well, but I doubt that most people have spare Hectors to go around.
If you’re going with Brave Lance, then Drag Back is the best option for his B slot. The point of Brave weapons is to get in, deal damage, then GTFO, sort of like Kassadin in League of Legends. No skill enables him to do this better than Drag Back (or Hit and Run). Drag Back lets him initiate, moonwalk, and then get repositioned or danced to safety. For a Killer Lance setup, Quick Riposte is the obvious generalist choice; indeed, Quick Riposte and Distant Counter when combined with gargantuan defense is what allows Hector to shine, and this setup can work with Lukas as well. Alternately, if you want to be more specialized, then Lancebreaker lets him win against fellow lance users. And Renewal can work if you’re running Fury on him.
As with Alm, his assist and C slot are flexible. If you’re going to go with a Threaten skill for C skill though, I’d recommend Threaten Def since it lets him hit even harder.
Best nature: +atk/-spd. +Def or +Hp is just overkill. +Spd is pointless. +Res won’t help him much.
Why would you want him?
You like high def units. You like Donnel’s abilities but don’t like Donnel. You want Fortress Def to give to someone else.
Why wouldn’t you want him?
You already have Donnel and/or Oboro. Donnel can fulfill an infantry brave lance user role just as well as Lukas can, while Oboro can fulfill a tanky infantry/killer lance build as well as Lukas can. Also, because Oboro is waifu.
Faye
“Hee hee… with this innocent-looking face, Alm won’t suspect any—eee, where’d you come from?! I… I’m just sewing and cooking over here, nothing to see here…!”
Unit abstract: Archer unit with very tanky stats and a neat new weapon. First Archer-Tank.
| Hp | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 42 | 30 | 25 | 26 | 31 |
Default skills: Firesweep Bow +, Noontime, Wings of Mercy 3, Bow Experience 3
- Firesweep Bow + is a new weapon which has a might of 11. It is effective against flying units and prevents both the user and the defender from counterattacking.
- Noontime has a charge of 3 and heals for 30% of damage dealt.
- Wings of Mercy 3 allows her to warp to any adjacent ally who has 50% or less HP.
- Bow Experience 3 is a new C skill which doubles experience all allied bow units gain. Only effective if Faye is alive.
Faye is without a doubt the most interesting unit in this batch of heroes. She has by far the best defensive stat spread of any archer, and her bow allows her to be the game’s very first Archer-Tank, a position which Gordin has long since coveted yet couldn’t do particularly well. Firesweep bow’s ability to negate counterattacks enables her to do some really nutty shenanigans, such as sniping at Linde or Reinhardt, getting danced/sung and then KOing them without taking a single point damage. At the same time, it means that she has to worry when being initiated upon, since she will not be able to counter in return. Its unique properties when contrasted on attack and defense makes it into something of a defensive equivalent to a Brave Bow.
Noontime makes her a bit tankier, especially if she’s fighting flying units. If she’s sniping Caeda out of the sky, she’ll recover 12 HP. I’d be joking if I said this were a top tier special though. It’s not.
Inheritance potential:
Firesweep is fine on her. She makes decent use of it due to her good defensive stats. Her main problem is her low speed, which prevents her from getting in any doubles when initiating against most units, but even then, she has good enough defenses to prevent herself from being one-rounded by a decent majority of the cast. Alternately, you can run Brave Bow on her, but then Takumi, Klein, Jeorge, and Setsuna do that better. Then again, they probably make better use of Firesweep as well, so this is kind of a moot point.
Anyway, if you’re running Firesweep on her (which is practical because it’s her default weapon), it helps to put a –breaker skill on her. Archers have a lot of flexibility in regards to whom they want to counter. If you want to counter Kagero and Jaffar, then use Daggerbreaker. If you want to… deal 8 damage to Hector instead of 4, then use Axebreaker. If you want the most general coverage, then Swordbreaker works.
For A skills, I know I sound like a broken record, but Fury is a good choice. It bolsters her defenses and her speed, while also giving her a much needed attack boost. Swift Sparrow is another choice for her if you want to allow her to double some more units than she would normally. Or, if you have a +atk Faye, then you could put +5 HP on her A slot and laugh at the fact that you now have an archer with as much HP as Effie. Whatever you do though, don’t put Close Counter on her because it’s pointless when she’s using Firesweep Bow. Same with Vantage in B slot. I’ll punch you if you show me a picture of a Faye with Close Counter, Vantage, and Firesweep Bow. Seriously, don’t do it.
For C skills, Threaten Spd or Threaten Atk can work on her if you want to use a Threaten ability on her. Otherwise, I’m going to recommend the classic “go with rally/hone/fortify if you want” advice.
And lastly, for specials, I think Moonbow or Luna work best on her. Glacies or Iceberg can work if she’s +res and/or running Fury.
Best nature: +Def, +Atk, or +Spd can all benefit her. I’d be inclined to say –Res is the best –stat for her.
Why would you want her?
You want to get your hands on the game’s very first Archer-Tank. You want to pull a Firesweep Bow.
Why wouldn’t you want her?
You prefer offense over defense. You already have an archer you like. You think Archer-Tank is a really weird niche.
Should You Pull?
Probably not. Clair and Alm are mediocre units. Lukas only becomes an above-average unit after heavy investment, and even then does not really perform particularly better than Oboro does. Faye’s niche is interesting but overall not as useful as Takumi’s or Klein’s. None of the skills except for Firesweep Bow are very interesting or noteworthy if you ask me, and even then, Firesweep Bow isn’t really great; Faye is the best user of Firesweep Bow as far as I can tell, and even then, she’s by no means an A tier unit.
The most important thing to note about this banner is that all of the units are really specialized, and aside from Faye, none of the units offer anything new. While the Pegasus banner gave us units whose skills or niches are all extremely useful (i.e. Cordelia for lance sweeper, Hinoka for Hone Fliers), or while the Spring banner provided us meta-changing skills/units (Playboy Camilla, Swift Sparrow), the Shadows of Valentia banner provides neither. None of the units are particularly great without a decent amount of inheritance, and none of them provide anything really meta-changing. Alm offers nothing new except for Windsweep which is a bad ability; Clair is a blue Caeda whom nobody really needs; Lukas gives us nothing which Donnel, Oboro, or Ephraim didn’t already provide (except for Fortress Def but who cares about that); Faye is the only one who offers anything really new, namely by being the first Archer-Tank. But is an Archer-Tank really all that important? It’s a neat novelty, sure, and it is useful to an extent, but it’s by no means game changing.
All things considered, I do not think this is a great banner for meta-changing, formidable units. I’d hold onto my orbs until at least the upcoming Zephiel banner that’ll grace us with its presence within a week or two. At that point, you’d at least have the flexibility of deciding between this banner and the Zephiel one. Or, if you’re like me, you’d just be saving up more orbs for future banners.
