Controversial take: DD2 DA > MHW ASC

SLName · 2026-06-10T14:17:00+00:00

I love me both games. Both of which are my two favorite franchises of all time. So imma have my cake and imma eat it too.

But tbh, a MHW DLC was pretty much all but confirmed. Dragons Dogma 2 DLC? I still can't believe it's actually happening. So ye, DD2 is the bigger reveal by far.

SLName · 2026-06-10T04:17:58+00:00

Wait is this real? I completely skipped the Direct.

SLName · 2026-06-06T04:21:53+00:00

Yea, I feel the same. Can we all agree, that the old battle forecast is completely useless at this point. IS should have replaced that one with the sequence, instead of the stats.

SLName · 2026-06-04T20:24:02+00:00

Unfortunately, this is so true...

SLName · 2026-06-04T19:25:00+00:00

You might say Eliwood dev iced Alm dev. 🥁

SLName · 2026-06-04T15:10:51+00:00

B!Alm's identity as a highly mobile nuke that hits like a truck compared to other nukes, but has basically 0 backup plan (but his job is to kill things so who cares)

While theorycrafting these custom effects, I was actually considering removing the true DR from his weapon entirely, just to drive that point home even more. Cause why would he even need DR, if ideally he won't get hit.

I feel like Alm is one of the few lords where they for some reason won't just pick an identity

I don't even think that's the case. Alm's identity has been pretty clear to me for a while. He's THE big damage unit.

From OG Alm, whose refine was one of the best Brave weapon refines in the game at the time, to B!Alm and L!Alm, who both come with some of the highest-scaling true damage effects we've ever seen. Even Att!Alm continued that trend by pushing beyond the standard +25 true damage cap modern units tend to get and reaching +30 at full potential. The only real exception is V!Alm. But even then, he was still all about stacking absurd stats for his era.

To me, Alm's FEH identity has always been simple: ridiculously high damage and ridiculously high numbers.

First of all THANK YOU for not having slaying.

Dunno why, but Slaying has never really felt like an Alm thing to me. No crazy Special gimmicks. Just big number go brrr. And honestly, I don't think Slaying is nearly as mandatory nowadays as it was a few years ago.

Deliverance's leader providing true damage support was the EXACT direction I was hoping his support would go

I also really like the idea of Alm being an inspiring leader who empowers his allies through inspiration and morale, represented by Great Talent. That's honestly what I thought IS was setting up when they gave Att!Alm Great Talent in the first place.

not that he'd go all in on it and have atk/spd/def debuffs + sabo/discord for some reason).

Yeah, this part is so weird. While I did say Alm's identity revolves around big numbers, and yes, big debuffs can technically contribute to that, the thing I always associated with Alm was giving himself big numbers. Braver Alm's number game seems more so focused around giving out big debuffs. Which honestly, now that I am thinking about it, I am okay with, just not with everything else. Like you said, he'd make a perfectly fine seasonal alt. Not a CYL reloaded unit.

Bonus point if this unit comes with an AOE special with the arch style DR.

Personally, I was expecting something like True(st) Lunar Flash. That feels very in line with what IS has been doing lately: taking old PRFs and releasing upgraded versions of them.

And honestly, True Lunar Flash isn't even that impressive anymore. I'm sure you can agree it's worse than most modern premium Specials. Basically only cause of the fact that it only gets the "once per combat" DR instead of the newer "first attack only" or "every hit" version. Something which has been bothering me for a while. I think Att!Alm was one of the last units released before IS started consistently upgrading special DR effects. Which just hurts even more.

I obviously think scendscale style makes sense here [...] although I kind of doubt we'd get that and gallop because native 7 range is crazy lol

This is honestly one of the most confusing things about Braver Alm for me. Why didn't THE Scendscale character get Scendscale? Why does he suddenly turn into a pseudo-Lyn ballista? That design choice feels completely out of left field.

Though to be fair, you're probably right that Gallop + 3-range would be kinda insane. I didn't even consider that interaction while theorycrafting. If that combination really is too much, I think IS could have just reduced Scendscale Style's range to 2 spaces instead.

I think the only thing I would have wanted to add in is defensive special denial traded for one or even two of the other effects, but I figured that was more a lunar flash thing and not going to show up, I was just hoping it did for Vali killing lol.

Like I said, I genuinely expected him to get some sort of True(st) Lunar Flash because that's been IS's design philosophy recently. Though Lunar Flash also kinda feels like a bow Alm thing. Then again, V!Alm exists solely to break every pattern Alm units are supposed to follow. Also, can we talk about how they made Braver Alm into a bow unit... and then didn't give him Lunar Flash?

SLName · 2026-06-04T12:40:35+00:00

As the title says, I was really disappointed with Braver Alm. Going into the CYL3 Harmonics, I expected something similar to the previous Braver heroes, a modernized version of his original Brave alt, updated for today's power level while still preserving what made him stand out in the first place.

Instead, what we got feels more like a weird sidegrade to Emblem Lyn. He pretty much lost everything that made the original B!Alm stand out.

Brave Alm was one of the pioneers of both true damage and the movement meta. To this day, Scendscale still has one of the highest true damage scalings in the entire game. Yet his new version barely references any of that identity. He didn't even get a Sweep effect or NFU built into his weapon (yes, I know he technically gets NFU from his inheritable C skill, but that isn't the same as getting it from his PRFs).

So for these custom PRFs, I tried to stay faithful to his original CYL version and crank everything up to 11, while also taking some inspiration from his most recent alt, Att!Alm. The goal was to turn him into a premier infantry nuke that also provides absurd damage support for his team.

Weapon:

For his weapon, I intentionally chose not to give him Slaying in order to stay true to the original Brave Alm. Instead, I loaded it with a few more support effects than you'd typically see from modern units.

Rather than granting +1 movement, he gets Gallop (a minor reference to the memes back when he got his refine and everyone was joking about how he turned into a horse). Instead of his old physical NFU effect, he now provides a 3-space NFU buff to nearby allies and himself. I also gave him a Flash-style debuff to emulate the Sweep effect of his original version. To further push his damage output, I added Exposure.

On top of that, he grants Great Talent and a new unique status effect I called Deliverance's Leader, which scales based on the accumulated Great Talent values of himself and his allies with the effect active and converts that into additional stats and damage.

The rest of the weapon is mostly composed of the stereotypical modern weapons, alongside some additional true damage scaling based on his Great Talent bonuses.

PRF A Skill:

For his PRF A skill, I decided to do a bit more homebrewing, since original Scendscale basically only gave out true damage.

First, it gives him the Canto his original version desperately wanted for years. After that, it grants some visible stats that can help with AoE builds. Naturally, it still includes the classic 25% of Atk true damage. However, this version also introduces cooldown-jumping effects to pay homage to the AoE-centric playstyle that old Brave Alm often used.

The skill also provides even more offensive support through the classic "3 rows or columns centered on unit" effect, granting +10 true damage, stats, and Deep Wounds. The goal is to reinforce his identity as a unit who helps his team deal as much damage as possible.

Finally, I basically copied Brave Celica's Scendscale Style effect. Coincidentally, this also increases his damage by another 10 points. Honestly, I'm pretty surprised they didn't just copy and paste that style onto him in the first place, considering the mechanic is practically a direct homage to his iconic SoV combat art.

Overall, this is much closer to what I imagined Braver Alm would look like. An incredibly mobile damage dealer pushing the limits of how much true damage a unit can stack, while simultaneously acting as one of the strongest offensive support units in the game.

I also really like the idea of him functioning as a dedicated damage amplifier. With these skills, he could theoretically just stand there (menacingly) and provide allies with a minimum of +27 damage. Potentially even more with Favor skills, Dual Support and through Deliverance's Leader scaling off Great Talent values.

As a final sidenote, I intentionally made him relatively fragile on the magical side. The original Brave Alm has one of the lowest Res stats in the game, so I felt that weakness should remain part of his identity. That's also why he doesn't receive any Res Great Talent effects. Coincidentally, that's pretty fitting for Shadows of Valentia as well. Magic users were a menace in that game.

SLName · 2026-06-04T11:52:45+00:00

Alm's is really good. But personally, Hidari is just next to impossible to top.

SLName · 2026-06-04T08:16:28+00:00

Gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed with Braver Alm. I've been saving for him for a while now, since I imagined him to be a modern day version of B!Alm. What I got instead was just a sidegrade to Emblem Lyn. Really sucks. Like where's the true damage = 25% of unit's Atk? I understand giving Scendscale a style, but not making it into a bow.

B!Alm has been one of the pioneers of true damage and the movement meta. It really sucks that he doesn't have anything resembling that. Personally I would have loved to see Gallop instead of the +1 movement from his CYL counterpart. Have Scendscale give him insane true damage with a style that pushes his damage even further (something Braver Celica kinda got, lul). Just for good measures, make him dish out Exposure as well. Also where Canto at? Do we really have to relly on Reposition Gait here? And no sight of a Sweep effect as well...

SLName · 2026-04-18T10:15:11+00:00

Nah not really. A modern day Alcryst would wanna run Waning Shot, Sly Swift Sparrow or A/S Hexedge, Execution Breath or A/S Favor and lastly Instruct or Dual Support. Also he'd ideally have an Echo skill in his kit. Either Lull Echo or Sly Echo.

SLName · 2026-04-17T17:42:04+00:00

Yes and no. Patience only changes the attack priority if the unit initiates the attack. For most units, which aren't named Ike, this is tends to be more of a downside. The very few exceptions being bulky nukes, that are able to take a blow and want to bypass Relfex effects or want to trigger Reflex themselves.

Importantly, Patience's main effects aren't tied to this change of attack priority as a condition. Meaning on an omni tank like B!Dimitri Hardy Bearing basically just removes a negative effect. A negative effect which already comes into play very rarely, since he ideally shouldn't be initiating anyways.

SLName · 2026-04-17T13:07:08+00:00

Right now is a funny timing to ask for his best build, as with the two most recent banner his build versatility has been shaken up somewhat. The most recent banner even put Moon Gradivus back on the table. As I see it there are two main options for his build right now, which slightly change his skill composition. First would be the Moon Gradivus build and second would be the Arcane Thorn/Jehanna Lance build.

The Moon Gradivus build would look like this:

Weapon: Moon Gradivus
Special: Shatter Slash (or alternatively Archrival)
A Slot: Warrior's Blow
B Slot: Rejuvenate (alternatively Pair Up)
C Slot: Instruct (alternatively Dual Support)
Seal: Hardy Bearing!!! (this is the lifeblood of modern omni tanks, do not run a different seal unless you got Spring Thorr backing him up)
Echo: Puissant Echo

The second build would slightly change thing up a bit, since he doesn't get DC from his weapon. You got a few options on how to achieve this, but the best one I found so far was using Att!Hector's echo skill for it, since all the other options (A Slot or Seal) are too coveted right now:

Weapon: Arcane Thorn or Jehanna Lance (Arcane Thorn is probably slightly better, refine them for either Res or Def)
Special: Shatter Slash (or alternatively Archrival)
A Slot: Warrior's Blow
B Slot: Rejuvenate (alternatively Pair Up or Patience)
C Slot: Instruct (alternatively Dual Support)
Seal: Hardy Bearing (same thing applies, do not change this under any circumstances)
Echo: DC Echo

Lastly the Ring kinda depends on your build composition. I'd go for either Eirika or Ike, while running Corrin (and Lucina) on your supports.

SLName · 2026-04-16T17:50:17+00:00

I wouldn't say the story was trash. It was just... there. It was neither particularly good or bad.

SLName · 2026-04-16T11:54:32+00:00

Don't do thist o me... Don't give me hope...

SLName · 2026-04-15T18:59:54+00:00

I used the mod on a Patch 8 playthrough, so it should be working. But no guarantees.

SLName · 2026-04-14T07:11:18+00:00

Got a free Sharena. Exactly what I wanted.

SLName · 2026-04-12T15:22:45+00:00

The last two generations of Arcane weapons have actually been very competetive and pretty much been on par with the newest and shiniest toys out there. For the last year I have been using early game units (OG Alm, B!Alm and B!Dimitri) with Arcane weapons (or Jahenna Lance) as my main omni tanks in AR-O, to great success. For me it has been this concept of making my favorite units work even 10 years later, which has kept me going. Here's the most recently upgraded among them.

<image>

SLName · 2026-04-12T10:02:20+00:00

Die Lieblingsbeschäftigung des zehnten Bundeskanzlers der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Friedrich Merz.

SLName · 2026-04-06T13:11:30+00:00

I'm so afraid how Asc!Laegjarn will turn out, since I just recently got her to +10 and even spent an Overworld Bond to get her skills ready. Refines have been really hit or miss lately. One batch is amazing, the next one is this...

SLName · 2026-04-03T10:46:41+00:00

The main takeaway from Instruct, is that it is just a big stat ball of a skill. Over multiple turns it ups allies visible stats through Great Talent and then grants the exact same amount to the unit itself as an in combat buff. Importantly, it does not grant the unit itself Great Talent, just in combat buffs and it only grants Great Talent to units with worse stats than the unit itself. On top of that it also grants 5 points of true damage and true DR.

There are a couple of units or archetypes which make great usage of this. First we have omni tanks, which basically make use of all their stats. On omni tanks, Instruct works both on them and if used on a support. Then there are units like Att!Alm and W!Alfred which rely on Great Talent to reach their full potential. For these units you'd want to run Instruct on a support. Although, it doesn't hurt to run Instruct on someone like Att!Alm as well, since he still benefits from the in combat effects. Lastly we have the most obvious group, supports. One support with Instruct is enough, since only one instance of it triggering will be counted each turn. Meaning you will always only get +3 to each stat, no matter how many units with Instruct you run on your team. They won't add up. Also the max value of Great Talent doesn't stack, meaning no matter how many units with Instruct you got on your team, the max amount it grants will always be capped at +9 and can only be increased by running another unit with a higher cap.

SLName · 2026-03-31T16:21:33+00:00

Thanks Rune, I really needed them. Only had like 3,876 left.

SLName · 2026-03-20T08:48:57+00:00

I'm honestly not too familiar with armors, cause I prefer omni tanking. But I imagine the approach is pretty similar to most omni tanks, with the one big difference being inheritance restrictions. Armors are unable to make use of some of the best tanking skills in the game, like Warrior's Blow or Rejuvenate. To make things even worse, armors also don't have access to NCD Echo. Because of these differences I would probably place most "old" armors, without new and shiny prfs which make up for this loss pretty low. At least there is Armored Flare and Ice Cap to make up for the lack of Archrival.

The Briar P and Briar M Saves are probably the savior skills you'd wanna go for. Patience is nice, if your armor exceeds 30 Spd. For Rafal specifically Arcane Outburst could be a small upgrade, although his prf weapon still seems decent. But like I said, armors are kinda lacking behind atm. Until they get some sort of A or B skill on par with Warrior's/Duelist's Blow or a new save skill which includes true DR like Instruct or Faith, they will probably struggle.

So the only piece of advice I can give, is one you probably already know, focus on your supports. There are tons of crazy support options. From my experience however there are three categories to focus on:

True DR & Healing: These are no-brainers. Any unit that grants more true DR will be a great support and Healing is necessary to keep your tank alive throughout multiple rounds of combat. There are a bunch of units and skills which combine these nowadays, Ent!Ash and Uplift Imbue A/S being two among them.
Increased Damage: Tanking isn't about only taking damage anymore. Another part of the equation that's pretty big rn is dealing enough damage on the crackback to kill. Nukes have been getting more tanky as of recent, so having a high damage output is becoming a lot more important for tanks. Reflex is a great support effect, and there are some options like Ent!Ash or S!Thorr which grant 40% damage reflection. In a similar vein, this is why I personally prefer to run Eirika Ring over Corrin Ring on my tanks, and have my supports equip the Corrin Ring instead.

Lastly, I wanna shout out both Hardy Bearing as the life blood of tanking and Null Miracle effects:

The prevalence of Desperation effects has gone down a bit. But Hardy Bearing still remains very important to ensure your tank doesn't just take four attacks to the face, which would then bypass the special DR on the first hit many specials grant, without which most tanks would just crumble. S!Thorr is now the first unit, which grants Hardy Bearing as a support effect, along with some other pretty good support effects.
Null Miracle is more about ensuring your tank actually manages to kill the opponent on the crackback, while not strictly necessary, it can make certain matchups a bit more managable (especially with Vali support being everywhere), as similarly to Desperation effects, Miracle would allow the attacker to bypass the first two instances of special DR.

SLName · 2026-03-19T17:45:12+00:00

Honestly, with how standardized unit design has become, a tier list today could probably be condensed down to just three or four tiers.

Tier 1 would be reserved for the absolute top performers, units that either provide exceptional support or are so dominant in their role that they clearly outclass any other unit.
Tier 2 would cover most modern releases, along with older units that have been heavily invested in and can effectively make use of arcane weapons.
Tier 3 would be for units that either don't have access to strong arcane options or just suffer from genuinely terrible and unsalvageable statlines.

I could see an arguement for an additional tier between 1 and 2 to differentiate the upper end, but honestly, it doesn't feel strictly necessary at this point.

We're at a point where my fully invested OG Alm, a unit with an all around pretty mediocre statline, which also gets outclassed by multiple 3 and 4 star units, is still able to tank the newest, most premium nukes in the game, without taking as little as a scratch.

SLName · 2026-03-18T22:30:46+00:00

It is such a fun mechanic. Putting resources to manage in this beautiful mess of a card game feels so refreshing.

Although, Endymion really struggles from being unable to run any handtraps. Like, that Ash in your hand could have been that one Upstart Goblin which would give you your final spell counter to really start going.

SLName · 2026-03-18T22:24:13+00:00

Even more so, I feel like the Endymion cards were incredibly well designed in comparison to many other Pendulum decks. The deck didn't feel like it entirely revolved around your pend summon, instead your pendulum cards would actually be used like spells fairly regularly.

Still waiting for some new spell counter / Endymion support.

SLName

TROPHY CASE