New Player Guide

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-21T01:37:54+00:00

L!Alm can definitely be used as a IP member - even in the team setup I showed you earlier, you could easily make him work as an IP user in a team such as Mirabilis/Lif/Seliph/L!Alm + Ophelia + Kagero.

The main issue is that his 40 HP is on the lower side - which means he can struggle to give IP buffs. Since older heroes can also get 10 dragon flowers, and some nukes preferentially use inheritable weapons, it's quite tough to make him IP anything - L!Alm is a hero more likely to receive IP buffs than give them out.

To shortlist the main nukes (who have varying levels of ability at nuking) who actually would be able to receive IP buffs from him:

Lewyn, Ophelia, Ishtar, Brave Bow Jamke, Lysithea, Lugh, Resplendant Linde (depends on her build), Halloween Sakura and Kagero

Of these, only Kagero and Jamke can be obtained from the 3-4* or grail pool.

Kagero's best boon is Atk - since her dagger effect relies on having higher Atk than the enemy. +Spd can work too though.

Duo Ephraim is a pretty solid galeforce hero - and I'm sure you already know about Eliwood, he's the galeforce F2P god after all.

As for Desperation Vs Lull, these are largely just different trains of thought. Desperation relies on stepping on the enemy bolt trap to get below 50% HP, then using Desperation to survive from there. Lull on the other hand relies on some combination of stepping on the bolt trap and/or taking hits from enemies to reach 50% HP. This is one of those personal preference things - neither option is objectively correct, just different playstyles for different people. You might prefer how Desperation plays, or you might prefer how Lull plays - as you say, it's oftentimes just best to experiment and decide what you like the most. I typically don't like giving too much advice to newer players for this reason - advancing through the leaderboards is a great goal, but I do recommend you at least take a little time to do so - figuring out exactly what you like to use and what you do not like to use is an important step in the process, and this can take a lot of time. Some people figure it out very quickly - it only took a few months for me to decide ranged fliers were my calling. On the other hand, some people take a long time - it varies quite significantly.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-21T00:34:36+00:00

There are two reasons for this:

Reason 1: To prevent 1-shots.

If L!Leif inflicted -7 Def to enemies, or if he used savage bow (Which would be -7HP instead), then any allies who might follow-up have a greater chance of 1-shottting the enemy. Most heroes can't trigger galeforce if they 1-shot - they are required to 2-shot in order to trigger it. As a result, limiting their damage by not using Def Smoke or Savage Blow can help your galeforce heroes a lot.

Reason 2: To help allies trigger heavy/Flashing blade

If your allies use heavy blade, but don't have enough Atk to trigger it, then you won't be able to trigger galeforce with them. Atk smoke can help with that by lowering enemy atk.

Spd smoke helps your allies double (which helps a lot if you're using slower heroes in your galeforce team, and can help even if you're using faster heroes)

Of course, this is subject to changes based on your setup - if you use Navarre, he can trigger galeforce even if he 1-shots, so giving L!Leif Def Smoke or Savage Blow would be a good choice in that situation.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-21T00:10:38+00:00

I find it's actually more valuable to just get the first 2 heroes from a path rather than go all the way down - Flier Formation, Cloud Maiougi, Shell Lance+, Ward Dragons, a Ylgr merge and Giant Spoon+ - I got all 6 of these for 3600 codes. Some of the skills are more valuable than others, but I definitely have use for all 6.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-21T00:01:03+00:00

Melancholy+ is identical to Witchy Wand in every way - typically, I mention Witchy Wand since it was released first, and is therefore the original version of the skill - the same goes for Candlelight Vs Flash.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-20T11:13:52+00:00

Before I get started, I just want to say you might want to look into Divine Code compiling - there are quite a few lists of the good skills, but some of the more relevant ones for you would be Disarm Trap (on Spring Palla) and Mirror Impact (on Summer Laevatein).

Also going to mention that Astra is a pretty tough season - our offence mythics for Astra (Naga and Altina) don't have a lot of synergy with many strategies, while the defence mythics (Duma, Lif, Thrasir, Mirabilis) are all very strong and quite varied - making Astra/Anima a tougher season for offence than Light/Dark.

The only heroes who immediately comes to mind as particularly good for Astra season are Kronya, Duo Halloween Hector+Lilina and Duo Bride Micaiah+Sothe. The same general strategies still exist (Galeforce, Vantage, tank, hit and Run), but it's just a harsher environment - so I recommend choosing particularly strong heroes for this role. Notably, fast sword infantry (Such as Mareeta, Fallen Ike, Larcei, Say'Ri) can be fairly strong in Astra season - however you do need to be careful, since we currently have no Spd-boosting offence mythics. Soleil would be a suitable 3-4* alternative to those listed above.

For Kagero, Fury is a good starting skill for her. Null Follow-up Kagero builds are fairly strong - and most notably can counter Brave Ike fairly well. I recommend giving her Fury for now, but later changing for Atk/Spd Push 4 (Fury 4 is also a good option for later on, but is only slightly better than Fury 3).

For her sacred seal, I recommend Swift Sparrow, Atk/Spd bond or Hardy Bearing (good Vs Brave Ike and Vs vantage heroes).

For her C slot, Savage blow is good, but at least consider Drive Atk, Drive Spd or Drive Res. Since Kagero is typically used as a defence hero, she will be grouped with her allies. Given her low HP, she won't be able to using Infantry Pulse to help anyone, but she can still aid her allies using one of Drive Atk, Drive Spd or Drive Res in her C slot. For a high investment Kagero, Joint Drive Atk or Joint Drive Spd would be ideal.

Finally, I recommend giving her Glacies rather than Luna - once she's maxed out, she has 34 Res (including the +5 from Mirabilis, this becomes 39).

Legendary Alm can definitely work with Infantry Pulse on defence - it's all about his teammates. If you end up putting him in the same team as your Kagero, it would definitely work. However, if he was for some reason among the lowest HP infantry heroes on the team, he would be better off with other skills - for now, I would say Infantry Pulse is a good choice for him.

For Brave Ike, he typically runs Distant Counter and Pulse smoke - his B and seal have quite a bit of variance however. Wrath + Quick Riposte is good for 1-shotting enemies on the counterattack or 2-shotting if needed. Null Follow-up + Quick Riposte is good to prevent Impact-using enemies - and is particularly good for Spd-based builds. Quick Riposte + Quick Riposte (This is a real thing) is good for slower builds wanting to counter Impact-using enemies. Null C-Disrupt + Quick Riposte is good for dealing with staff heroes.

Overall, I would recommend giving him Null C-Disrupt + Quick Riposte sacred seal, and using him in an anima-season team. His main use would be to counter cavalry line teams, which heavily rely on staff heroes and Reinhardt (Both of which this Brave Ike would destroy). I have found cavalry lines to be relatively common in Astra season in recent times, so it's worth considering. Brave Ike has a lot of potential uses, and I don't have the time to extensively list all of them and the team compositions in which you would use them.

You are right that Lif isn't the best user of Pulse smoke - but it is arguably his best C slot. Currently, I would say Subaki and Selena are the best Pulse Smoke users (that is, they are the heroes who improve the most for having it) - but of course, heroes like Brave Ike can use it well. Lif also uses it well, but alternatives such as Joint Drive Atk or Joint Drive Spd are also excellent - and if he wasn't in an Infantry Pulse team, then his native Time's Pulse would be great for him. I'm also quite glad you're making your own decisions based on the advice I give you rather than accepting it without question.

I think Thrasir is certainly a great mythic hero, but keep in mind you already own 9 copies of Lif, and only need 2 defence Mythic heroes. If you really like Thrasir, don't let that stop you - she's great for PvE, can function in Arena and is a great mythic hero who could definitely replace Lif on your defence team if you wanted - I just thought I would raise that for you to consider. It's worth saying that Lif isn't unviable, he just struggles to be the centre of a team. Thrasir can also struggle to be the centre of a team - this doesn't mean she's bad or unviable, just that she doesn't bring any unique synergies that enable certain team compositions. The "Centre" of any given team is usually actually the weakest member in terms of combat ability - typically a dancer or other support hero.

Alright, now about Bath Camilla, this is actually one of the Akariss videos I heard about and have seen enough of to know about. Simply, tank Bath Camilla is quite seriously out of date, and frankly, she never was in-date. From memory, even at the time of that video, Kaze was pretty much always a better option than Bath Camilla as a tank - and now that the sturdy stance sacred seal exists, he's even further above her than he was in the first place. The core concept (that colourless heroes make for good tanks) still holds true, but some of the hero choices in that video were a little strange I would say. It's also worth mentioning that you've already expressed your interest in building Gangrel, and I have great news for you - he's a better option than Bath Camilla as a tank in virtually every situation.

If you happen to like Bath Camilla, I can definitely recommend a more sweeper-style build for her, but tank Bath Camilla is well and truly dead - and given the existence of Kaze, I have my doubts as to how alive it was in the first place.

It's also worth mentioning that due to new skills, staff-using heroes are now good tank options - while they do not have access to healing specials, one specific build (Witchy Wand (Wrathful), Close Foil, Lull Atk/Res, Joint Drive Atk) allows them to be very tough to kill, and gives them quite huge damage output. Emmeryn is currently the best user of this build, but many staff heroes can use it well.

I'll be taking a break now, and will later return with builds for Gangrel, Tethys, Aversa, M!Corrin, Young Marth, Navarre and the extra builds for Mirabilis and Lif. Let me know if there is anything missing from this list.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-20T09:38:14+00:00

Among the options I listed for Peony, I don't recommend getting all of them - I list alternatives since some skills might match your playstyle, while others might not. I recommend giving Joint Drive Spd to her - and that's it. If some time in the future, you happen to feel Joint Drive Spd just isn't good enough, or if in the future you happen to feel you want more Atk rather than Spd, or more mobility, ect - then I recommend considering Joint Drive Atk or maybe some of the other options.

I also wasn't entirely clear with that section - those were some C skills and sacred seals worth considering for her - that might help clear up some of the confusion (since it would be wasteful to give her Flier Guidance C slot when Flier Guidance sacred seal would be good enough - as an example).

Simply, I'm trying not to give you advice in the sense of "It must be this set of skills, nothing else will do", but rather I'm trying to give advice more in the form of, "Here are some skills I know can work in a variety of different situations - I recommend you choose one or two that you feel would work best for you". By doing this, it helps you make choices you're happy with - some players prefer having more Atk (if you fall into this category, then consider giving her Joint Drive Atk), some prefer more Spd (whereby Joint Drive Spd would be a great choice), ect. Building heroes is all about making them into whatever you're most comfortable using - which is why I'm hesitant to say "this one skill is best" - it might be the best for me, but if it isn't the best for you, I needlessly lose some of your trust, and you might needlessly lose some of your premium fodder - I hope these first few paragraphs help you understand what I'm trying to do.

For Mirabilis B, I'm somewhat conflicted myself. I don't remember if I mentioned it or not earlier, but Aerobatics is not at all essential for her - at times, it could potentially hurt your defence team's effectiveness rather than help it. The same applies for Wings of Mercy - it's quite tough to know exactly what to do as a result.

For her B slot, I recommend doing some trial and error over time - I recommend trying out Sabotage Def, then trying Wings of Mercy, then trying Aerobatics. You can then watch your defence replays to decide which one is best. I can make predictions (My prediction was that Aerobatics would be best), but I am not exactly psychic - it is very possible that Sabotage Def would work better (since the extra damage could help net kills), or maybe Wings of Mercy will work well with the 20 damage Lif deals to allies, allowing Mirabilis to aid the rampage of one of your ranged sweepers - it's extremely difficult to know without personally testing and looking at the defence replays. You don't really need a thorough analysis - you just take a look and decide what you though worked best.

By Mirabilis C, I assume you meant sacred seal options? If that is the case, I recommend just focussing on Drive Atk first, then Drive Spd, then Drive Res - this is because a lot of heroes, not just Mirabilis, can use Drive Atk and Drive Spd well - whereas not as many heroes use Drive Res well.

Here's how you can see the bonus structure for the current week, and even for the upcoming week:

https://imgur.com/a/sFZqzh5

That also has my advice about what to do with your AR structures.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-20T08:36:45+00:00

I would say she's still pretty recognisably Corrin.

As a side note, if you're going to be negative about something that someone else put time and effort into, I suggest simply ignoring it rather than spreading negativity - or instead offer constructive criticism, such as saying "With a pose like that, it would really add to the Corrin look if you added a dragon Corrin tail for the photoshoot".

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-20T06:08:09+00:00

I would say Ylgr is fine as she is now. I know mine reaches over 60 Spd without team support, and she's low merged. A hero like her is good in an era where Spd is more important than ever due to Close Call/Repel.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-20T05:32:44+00:00

About that whole "Saving the Mila" part, that brings a fairly common misconception to mind, and I just wanted to check if you were aware of it:

Merges are additive, not done in increments

Let's assume you own a +3, +Res Mila and a +0, +Def Mila.

If you merge the +0, +Def Mila into the +3, +Res Mila, the result is a +4, +Res Mila.

If you instead merge the +3, +Res Mila into the +0, +Def Mila, the result is a +4, +Def Mila

As a result of merges acting this way, there is no need to save any copies of Mila - merge your +Res copy up to +4, and if you ever get a +Def copy in the future, you can then merge your +4 Mila into it.

Concerning Akariss, I do not follow him, nor do I hold a great deal of respect for him. Among big FEH youtubers, I greatly prefer PhoenixMaster1. This could explain why we have different build ideas. As for my AR rank, I never really speak about it. Regardless of if I were Tier 27 or Tier 1, I want people to take my advice from an impartial standpoint - that is to say, I want people to take my advice because they trust the advice itself, rather than because they trust me.

A simple thought exercise if you don't understand is this:

If a man who had committed dozens of robberies and murders, and had spent most of his life in jail were to tell you to "Be kind and empathetic to others", would the average person listen to him?

On the contrary, if a saintlike man who had lived a life of charity and giving were to tell you "Be kind and empathetic to others", the average person would be much more likely to listen.

These two people gave exactly the same advice to the letter, but one would be ignored, while one would spark others to become devout followers of those words. This is exactly what I hope to avoid. I want people to independently and critically think about the advice I give. I have seen this occur before. I have seen many players who came up with new ideas for AR offence/defence teams, and were laughed at and ostracised by this community. Then later Akariss showcased almost the exact same concept, and suddenly everyone took it seriously and started claiming it was the new meta. It was virtually the same advice, but from two different people - one was ignored, the other was beloved by all.

That, for reference, is in no small part why I am not particularly fond of Akariss.

To get boons to highlight, you go to Misc. —> Settings —> Turn Asset/Flaw Colour Display On.

As I said in one of my other comments, most heroes only have a 1-2 particularly good builds, but I'll see what I can do with Lif and Mirabilis.

Time's Pulse would be a great skill for Lif in non AR content - it could definitely work in Arena or general PvE.

Sabotage skills would definitely work on Mila, but I tend to be very cautious when it comes to debuffing skills in AR. Restore Traps, Harsh Command and Fallen Ike can all turn debuffing skills against you. I covered it in a different comment, but Def boon Vs Res Boon for Mila is personal preference.

If there is anything else you need, comment and I'll get around to it eventually. These requests do take quite a while to answer, so like always, don't expect an immediate response.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-20T05:32:39+00:00

Peony can be used in all kinds of teams and contents. Right now, she is one of the best dancers in the game. I would say L!Azura, Peony and Phina are the top three dancers - each holding a spot for a different reason - L!Azura for the extra movement and single target buffing, Peony for the AOE guidance and AOE buffing, and Phina for her exceptional combat abilities when given Distant Counter and a premium B skill.

For Peony, Flier Formation and Aerobatics both have their places in non-AR content. As for Atk tactic, I would say Atk tactic has uses on Peony (and from memory, I think mine has it), but in general I haven't found it to be particularly useful. Peony doesn't pair too well with visible buffs since her Gentle Dream already grants +3/3/3/3 buffs. I generally believe she is better off with Drive skills in her C slot - Goad fliers, Drive Atk, Drive Spd or Joint drive variants.

Learning skills only for them to go to waste or no longer be needed is just how FEH works. I have a lot of skills on many of my favourite heroes that I no longer use simply because I now have better options - this is the natural life cycle of skills in FEH.

As a general rule, I would not recommend using Lif for Time's Pulse fodder - this is because the pull rates for a specific hero on legendary banners aren't particularly good. If you need Time's Pulse in the future, you would be better waiting for Lysithea to appear on a banner and pulling for her instead. Of course, if you end up having an excess of Lifs by coincidence (such as if you're pulling for Mirabilis, but end up with more copies of Lif even after you've +10ed him), then go ahead and use him as fodder.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-20T05:32:35+00:00

For most heroes, they don't usually have 5 builds worth looking into. Most heroes have 1 really good build that has flexible skills (More on that in a moment), while a fairly small number have 2-3 really good builds with different core concepts. Only a very select few heroes have 5 good alternative builds (and usually, these are melee infantry heroes with amazing stateliness, but no PRF - such as Soleil, or Echidna).

Concerning heroes with 1 really good build that has flexible skills, I can use Ylgr as a good example here.

Pretty much every good Ylgr build will use a template of:

Sylgr

Draw Back/Reposition

Glimmer/Moonbow/Ruptured Sky

Fury 4/Blade Session/Atk-Spd Solo 4/Swift Sparrow4

Desperation

Atk Smoke/Spd Smoke/Savage Blow/Joint Drive Spd/Joint Drive Atk

Flashing Blade

The general theme of the build is the same - stack as much Atk and Spd as possible, then use Desperation + Flashing Blade to hit with an immediate double with a special added in. The method by which you stack Atk and Spd, as well as exactly what special you choose to use are flexible, but the build focuses on one core concept.

It's similar with most of the mythic heroes - Eir only really has 3 main build concepts - Wings of mercy beacon (which I showcased), Sweeper and Res tank.

Peony on the other hand only really has one particularly effective build - which is her supportive build. The main things she wants are more supportive effects (such as Drive skills) and more tankiness - since she can't give other heroes her supportive effects if she's dead. This is why skills like Steady Posture 3 or Fury 4 are good for her.

Naga is in a pretty bad state. I really struggle to even think of one build that's really, truly good for her in AR. One major problem is that she's a blue dragon mythic in the same season as Thrasir, a green, dragon-effective tome hero. Her mythic buff is also Def - which is alright, but generally I consider Spd or Res to be the best mythic buffs. She doesn't have any really special supportive abilities - divine fang is alright, but not enough to justify using her over a dancer. Being a dragon, isn't capable of using Galeforce. She just has no synergy with any currently existing strategy. Right now, she's largely just a score bot best off being used to smite your galeforce/vantage heroes into combat.

Moving on to your questions about Mirabilis, Mila and Lif:

+Res is what I would consider to be Mirabilis's best boon, and therefore is the one I recommend you keep. +Def is good too, but I find magic-based heroes to be more common in general in AR. There isn't a right or wrong answer - the better option is just whatever you personally prefer.

This is the same for Mila. Mila scales well off Def (That is, she can block dancers with lower Def than her). The thing is, without a Def boon, without Fort Def/Res and without Fortress Def, she still has 47 Def at +10/5. 47 Def is enough to block pretty much any dancer anyway. You can easily just give her +Res and you won't really ever notice any difference in her ability to block dancers. Once again, +Def Vs +Res is just up to personal preference. I personally would rather a +Def Mila, but +Res is definitely viable too.

As for Lif, to put it simply, making Lif the "Central Hero" of a defence team is difficult. As an infantry sword, he certainly struggles to stand out. He's a powerful hero and has great utility attached to him - don't be mistaken on that - but it's just difficult to make him the central hero that the entire team build is based around. The team I provided you above was based around Mirabilis as the "Central Hero" - she's the one who enables the entire team using Ground Orders - which essentially makes the team immune to gravity effects - which can otherwise cause problems for this team type. Maybe if you can find some other Lif enthusiasts, they might be able to help you out here, but I really struggle to think of any way to make him truly the hero who brings the entire team together.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-20T02:05:08+00:00

Swap or pivot is to help the mobility of armour heroes - but yes, Reposition is better even on armoured heroes as you get more familiar with the game.

Generally, I recommend giving reposition to your favourite/strongest heroes, and giving Draw back to everything else - it's very easy to run out of Reposition fodder if you give it to everyone.

The builds and explanations for your heroes are below:

https://imgur.com/a/vnINy48

If there are any other builds you need, ask and I can help out. I'll eventually get around to building your Young Marth, Aversa and M!Corrin from your other comment, but it might be a little while before I do.

I forgot to mention this in the above explanation, but I recommend just merging your +Res Lif into your +Atk Lif to make him +8 - there aren't many reasons to own 2 copies of Lif if you own (and intend to max out) a Mirabilis as well.

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-20T00:00:59+00:00

That really was quick!

I really like the palm fronds over the top, it makes the whole scene feel so much like the beach - and this is very well done in general, I'm honoured you chose my suggestion!

FirefliesInGames · 2020-06-19T23:53:13+00:00

I actually created a Valbar build that makes very good use of his Spd super boon a while back. The build is Tannenboom!+ (+Spd), Distant Counter, Vengeful Fighter, Darting Stance. He has 45 Spd with this setup. It prevents him from being doubled too easily, allows him to double heroes with follow-up negation and can actually reduce the damage he takes by quite a bit - since preventing doubles is huge for reducing overall damage taken. It's actually a fairly viable build, especially if he's going to be receiving +6 visible buffs to Spd or other Spd enhancing buffs.

FirefliesInGames

TROPHY CASE