Guide to Characters: The Story Ones
EDIT: MFW I post a guide as the new banner hits. >_<
Hi everyone, it's u/SometimesLiterate. You may know me from other shitposts such as the Brave Exvius Beginners guide to characters, Waifu Wars/Husbando Hustle (lol that melted) and writing Dark Knight guides for FFXIV. <--Might be on my other account
Longer than Final Fantasy, I've been a huge fan of Fire Emblem (first game was Blazing Blade) and I thought I'd try my hand at explaining why some things are good, some things are bad and add my own personal spin to it.
Before we start, it is worth noting the following: When I talk about units, I will be talking about them in both wide terms (pvp and pve) and specifics (in pvp or pve). There are subtle differences between PVP and PVE A.I in Fire Emblem Heroes (such as pve enemies waiting for you, while pvp enemies seem to (in my experience) come at you more readily). As such, it is likely I will disagree with some "tier" lists and others, but this was written mostly as a broad overview.
Secondly, I place heavy value on characters who provide utility such as buffs/debuffs and move-again units. Killers I find to be less useful in PVP (outside of Kagero and bow users/merric), as you cannot wipe a pvp fight, change your team, come back and fight them again.
Finally, I will rate them in my own opinion in terms of PvE and PvP usefulness, from 1 to 10. A 2 would be Alfonse (in both), while a 10 would be Azura (in pve) or Hector (in pvp). Still waiting for a unit so bad it gets a 1/10.
My own ratings are not absolute, as I do not have full knowledge of final statistics for all units (only my experienced growth rates giving me a good idea of what I should expect at final level).
With that out the way, on to the show.
Name: Alfonse
Colour: Red
Type: Infantry
Noteworthy skills: Sol. A Fire Emblem favourite, when activated it heals you for 50% of the damage dealt with THAT attack (not damage dealt during combat).
Analysis: Alfonse seems to have the problem that Marth, Eliwood and Roy all had in their respective games. He is hampered by average growths but gets something pretty good at the end. He has truly average growths (in my experience), and has nothing special with his skills. But that doesn't mean he's terrible (he's one step up from that).
All the story characters in FEHeroes so far have gotten special weapons at 5* and Alfonse's isn't.....anything special. Sorry bud. The Fólkvangr (say it 5 times fast I dare you) gives him +5 attack if he starts a turn with <50% HP. This synergies well with his special (Sol) and his A slot ability, Deathblow. Combined with a 16 MT weapon, he can potentially attack on his turn for +11 Attack and (if timed correctly), heal up for 50% of the damage. Huge!
He also has Spur Attack, granting nearby allies up to +4 attack if they are adjacent to Alfonse when they start fighting. +4 attack is nothing to knock (though I'll do it anyway). I'd much prefer +speed (in order to potentially double) or lowering enemy stats in an area (see the Threaten abilities).
Secondly, you cannot control Sol's activation super well. While you can definitely do you best to, sometimes you will absent mindedly have it activate during an enemy turn, when Alfonse has no Deathblow bonus. (Even worse, it activates when he has no Fólkvangr bonus, missing out on +11 attack that could be healed back).
PvE rating: 2/10
Sadly, due to a combination of middling growths (Hello Anna) a skill set that requires two checks (<50% HP and Sol ready to use) to make him quite useful, I find Alfonse to be one of the worst PvE units in the game.
PvP rating: 2/10
Combined with the above, he brings poor utility to the team. His sister (my new Waifu), is much better with Rally and Fortify (better than Spur) Defence. Combined with a lack of ranged abilities, middling speed (he might even get doubled if hit with Threaten Speed) and a really boring design, I can't see anyone using him.
Bin him.
Name: Anne
Colour: Green
Type: Infantry
Noteworthy skills: Vantage. Another crowd favourite, at top level when Anna has <75% of her total HP remaining, she'll attack first when attacked (if she could counter attack). In some situations, this will save her life. In others? Not so much.
Analysis: Now, as a long time Fire Emblem player, I expect 3 things from my axe users. Hit hard, high HP, low speed. Anna, bucks this thread and unfortunately, it's to her folly.
See, Anna has high attack (tick), good speed (tick), but her HP is not what I'd call "good". Partially covered by her good RES and okayish Defence, she faces the issue that units like Minerva, Lilina and Takumi pose.
"What good's Vantage if we get one/two shot through it?"
Good question u/SometimesLiterate. Well, first of all let's talk about Anna's other......points and then come back to it after I've had a think.
Anna's weapon, Nóatún (Nu-at-uun?) let's her teleport next to ally when Anna's HP is less than 40%. Odd, this is when Anna is at her most powerful (due to Vantage). Still, a teleport is a teleport and something something Witches. (Fates fans know what I mean).
She's also packing a decidedly nerfed Astra (only bonus 150% damage, not 5 hits at 50% power, though I can see why) and Spur Res, granting allies around her +4 Res when they're in combat. It's okay.
Now, back to my earlier question, "What good's Vantage if we get one/two shot through it?"
Answer: Nothing. If Anna had a ranged counter (okay that'd be broken but still) or a better HP pool, this would be LESS risky. When it does work, you'll put the hurt on fools and when combined with area attacks such as Growing Winds or Savage Blow, you can make a lowered HP Anna something of a force. But that's a LOT of effort to make one unit useful, compared to say Raven, who you just throw at the enemy team willy-nilly and auto-battle. #BIASED
PvE rating: 4/10
Due to her attack stat and speed stat, combined with Vantage I can't trash her too hardly (Alfonse is my Shadow). Given PvE tends to have multiple enemies who like clumping together, pairing Anna with area damagers such as Merric, Narcian, Camille, Hinoka, Hawkeye (etc, I can't remember all of them) and taking advantage of Vantage is a risky strategy, but it can pay off against mass infantry units.
PvP rating: 2/10.
Right up (down) there with her Prince, Anna is what I'd consider trash tier pvp. While not bad at taking out the pesky Robin/Linde/FCorrin/Cordelia etc who is making your day sad, she is also weak to the large amount of ranged attacks being used, as well as the abundant sword users (seen teams without green, without blue, never without red or grey). This is further compounded by multiple axe users doing her job better, be it with better survivability, mobility or abilities. Sorry Anna, but one of my friends only plays this game for you so that's nice.
Name: Waifu Sharena
Colour: Blue
Type: Infantry
Noteworthy skills: Rally Attack. In the event that Sharena can't do anything useful during a turn, she can sacrifice it to give an ally +4 attack instead. This is doubly potent with allies such as Tharja and Nino whose end game weapons give them bonus damage depending on the bonuses on them.
Analysis: What a trip this has been, from "free character trash" to "hey she's actually pretty good".
As mentioned, Rally Attack has found synergy with with multiple mages who take the bonus and double it. Also useful on Brave weapon users and everyone else basically (rip healers), this is a universal buff. Add on top of this, unlike Alfonse and Anna she has the superior "Fortify Defense", providing all allies next to her at the start of the turn a 1 turn +4 defense buff. Suddenly, that Tharja has +8 damage per attack (mmmmmmmmm, +8 damage). It also doesn't require your allies to constantly be next to Sharena, but if they don't end their turn adjacent to her they miss out next turn.
Finally, her special weapon Fensalir, gives her a pseudo threaten attack. It gives all enemies within two spaces a -4 attack through to the next turn. That's right, she basically has 3 good skills (and +spd, which ain't bad). Never knock bonus speed, and I guess they had to balance her somehow.
Her only real limiting factors are that, outside her HUGE attack and good speed (which is hard to screw with a bane due to her +3 passive), her defensive stats aren't great. Not bad, but I guess we can't have everything.
PvE rating: 8/10
Honestly, if you can be bothered leveling Sharena through 2*, 3* and 4*, she'll reward you with one of the best PvE units in the game. Unlike Anna and Alfonse, she gives you plenty of options (like Azura) for attacking, positioning and making your other units better. Mix her with a unit like Nino or Tharja (specifically Nino or Tharja) and that unit becomes much better, because of all the free damage Sharena can provide. She's also no slouch on her own, but let down by middling defences.
PvP rating: 8/10
EDIT: Upon further research/a few more arena runs watched, gotta bump up Sharena's rating. She's a solid unit who acts as effective "goal-keeper", protecting your squishier units with her solid defences and making them better with her Fortify/Rally skills and putting down enemies with her weapons effect. Honestly, I'd edge out Azura SLIGHTLY due to Azura combining Dance+Red killing + Fortify Res (given the large amount of mages I've seen lately). But that is slightly. And even than, depending on the situation Sharena will be better.
In general, I'd give her an 8/10. But if you use her in conjunction with Nino or Tharja, I'd bump her to a 9/10 or even a 9.5/10.
ty to u/alpacaduck for making me see sense here.
Thank you all, those who read through my maiden post on r/FireEmblemHeroes. Let me know what you'd like to see, what you didn't, what you agree with and what you didn't. I'm doing the best with the information I have from personal experience and others data and the nightmares of 2+ Takumi/Hector/Ryoma teams, but I can always improve for you guys (if you want me to continue). These are also much easier to write than Brave Exvius guides, which is nice.
Posted Feb 15, 2017, 7:04 AM UTC · edited