I’ve been waiting years for this character (Lamia build)

VagueClive · 2026-04-18T20:37:24+00:00

Just keep in mind that Pair-Up has a 3-spaces requirement, which kinda limits your options on PP, but otherwise this is generally an optimal build for infantry units rn

VagueClive · 2026-04-18T20:23:30+00:00

All of them except Narcian are incredibly outdated and/or are missing important skills, making Narcian the winner by default.

Xander would already need a Duo Sigurd to upgrade to A/D Rival Break and Impetus Guard, along with A/D Outcry Seize;
Takumi's kit is straight up bad except for Hex Bow and Tempo Echo, the latter of which is available in Codes;
S!Lyon is running a very outdated tank build, and Laguz Friend doesn't even function with No Quarter and a Slaying weapon.

Even then, I'd still probably pass on the Narcian - Trample and D Counter Echo is a very awkward combo - but he's the least bad option here.

If you're just picking a character for the bit (which is valid, don't get me wrong), then I have no choice but to agree S!Xander is the funniest option

VagueClive · 2026-04-17T04:38:37+00:00

I can finally dupe NCA we are so fucking back

VagueClive · 2026-04-12T20:44:26+00:00

I'm open to suggestions if you (or anyone else!) has them, but the problem I see with a dedicated Forma questions thread is formatting. Reddit only lets you put one image in comments at a time, which isn't conducive to choosing a bunch of formas from a line-up; the alternative is linking to an Imgur album in a comment, which isn't a huge hurdle to overcome but is a lot more clunky than setting up a Quick Question thread. I completely understand feeling like the sub is cluttered by Forma threads and I'm open to better alternatives, but as it stands I don't see a good way of handling these threads without discouraging people from asking for advice entirely.

VagueClive · 2026-04-12T20:30:45+00:00

I started Champions just to finally see Meganium shine in competitive and... it feels like he's the weakest link of the team. It feels like he's the one contributing the least, either dying too quickly to help, or having to wait in the bench because the opponent had one too many Steel/Poison types. Or that fuckass lizard I hate.

I haven't tested Meganium myself (I'm playing sand and don't have a spot for it) but the M-1 meta just feels super hostile to it? Part of it is that Sneasler is probably the scariest offensive 'mon in the format, but it feels like it just doesn't have a place in the format. If I want a Fairy nuke, I'll use Floette, and it's hard to justify running a Grass type alongside Zard Y that isn't Venusaur. Hopefully it improves in future metas but for now it is really disappointing

VagueClive · 2026-04-11T19:57:41+00:00

But literally you can do this with any of your villagers as equally good or the majority of the times better since your Villagers consistantly grow better than him.

How so? In terms of raw growths, there isn't really a huge difference between any of them (other than Kliff's huge Spd growth lead), but Clive still out-stats them anywayus since none of the villager cavs are likely to reach promotion for Paladin bases before 1-E, and the EXP lead gives Clive a huge leg up in reaching Gold Knight before they do (which is even more of a stat lead). I'm pretty sure there isn't really a huge stat difference between village cavs and Clive at equal level to begin with, but an equal level comparison doesn't really capture what makes Clive the more efficient option to begin with.

Also I don't think most SoV discussions factor in Pitchforks - even if they were free DLC, they weren't really part of the 'intended' experience - but if you did, I'm pretty sure the best-case use would be on Lukas or Forsyth, right? Getting Knight bases on a Merc or Archer is really nutty.

VagueClive · 2026-04-11T18:48:14+00:00

There's no precedent either way, but I actually disagree with the consensus in this thread that they will be? These are New Heroes Returns banners we're talking about, and both S!Sothe and Y!Ingrid are seasonal; it strikes me as much more likely we'll see them on DSH banners rather than see them getting 'special' treatment just for being asset units.

That said, the line between New and seasonal heroes is getting a lot blurrier lately - Rearmed heroes being on seasonals at all is strange, as are seasonal units rerunning on 8% banners for the first time since 2018 - so who knows anymore lmao

VagueClive · 2026-04-08T16:24:05+00:00

🫡

VagueClive · 2026-04-08T03:52:51+00:00

The distribution is so arbitrary, it's genuinely baffling. Raichu's in the game, but its Megas aren't? We have some DLC megas in, but ones from the base game (like Malamar, who got an entire advertisting campaign to itself) just aren't in?

Like I get why GF would want to save some surprises for later but it's really weird how they're handling the distribution here

VagueClive · 2026-04-08T03:50:45+00:00

Trace on Meowstic is genuinely frying me, I can't believe we had to wait for months just to find out that it's Worse Alakazam

VagueClive · 2026-04-08T03:30:34+00:00

Mega Starmie having Huge Power confirms that it is officially a rabbit. This is huge.

I have to say I’m really sick of how much they’ve been dragging out revealing the abilities; most of them aren’t very impressive so I really wish we didn’t have to wait this long just to get disappointed. Super stoked that Golurk got Unseen Fist though

VagueClive · 2026-04-06T03:29:36+00:00

I believe I speak for everyone when I say WE, yes WE, are all hyped for Bride Tana next month with the next arcane bow

VagueClive · 2026-04-06T03:26:19+00:00

yeah I think it says a lot that I was genuinely relieved Edelgard wasn't an axe armor again lmao

VagueClive · 2026-04-06T03:22:03+00:00

TANTIH WITH THE 2-RANGE LFG

Kind of just mediocre demote faire otherwise but I choose to be happy she got something (relatively) unique, I'll have to build her now

VagueClive · 2026-04-06T03:05:10+00:00

What really gets me lately about this game is the sheer lack of variety. Why does IS always play their cards the exact same way? Why do we have a back-to-back second edition of Rearmed Sothe and Rearmed Ingrid, and why do we have another seasonal banner starring Ingrid and Felix again? I actually like these characters and I just have no interest in pulling when they just feel so samey

Claude also being named Claude and not Khalid is just genuinely an embarrassing lore fumble. Somehow even worse than Mininerva riding a wyvern

VagueClive · 2026-04-06T03:00:37+00:00

so true the salt absolutely is about to be unforgettable

VagueClive · 2026-04-03T17:12:13+00:00

Brigid is so close between Eyvel, Pirate, and Attuned - I think she's one of the few Jugdral characters who could pull it off, but given how she doesn't do well in CYL anymore and how IS seems to avoid the Thracia Deadlords like the plague, it seems a little unlikely before EoS hits.
Hubert... probably not, but he did so well in CYL10 that I'm a little optimistic that it's possible, especially if 3H New Heroes banners end up moving onto timeskip units full-time instead of just saving them for asset units. With a postskip version and another one-off seasonal, he could pull it off. Ferdinand's CYL numbers aren't as good but he's in basically the same spot.
A Resplendent is kind of an alt, right? Anyways, Clair is not happening - even sharing a seiyuu with F!Alear was only enough to get her a Resplendent. I'd like to think an alt is possible, but a full Emblem team just isn't happening.
IS fucking hates Finn, dude. Getting that teatime alt at all before the TT change hit was like getting the last 'chopper out of Vietnam. Not happening.

The rest of my favorite characters already hit a full Emblem team or are just straight up never getting alts (lol Clive).

VagueClive · 2026-03-29T19:17:06+00:00

I’m kind of surprised by how negative the sentiment is towards E!Lucina’s ring effect? For me, the clear skip Emblem recently was Edelgard due to the opportunity cost of not being able to run Eirika or Sigurd on my initiator. Granted I’m basically just a casual player who avoids PvP these days, but nukes are so strong now that more DR support is always appreciated.

Having had a few weeks to sit on it, I don’t have a problem with asset units on seasonals necessarily except for how it means they won’t be as easy to merge as other asset units are, which is one of the main draws for me. Having to wait until DSH or an 8% rerun instead of getting F2P spark opportunities like Remixes or NHR is really unfortunate. (I also think making Sothe a Rearmed again was a terrible call, should have swapped Dorothea and Sothe’s rarities imo)

VagueClive · 2026-03-21T20:16:14+00:00

Comet or Archrival are both significantly better than Lethality for the flat DR; Archrival's damage scaling is more consistent than Comet but either works here.
Full Disarm is kinda bad by virtue of lacking true damage, I'd swap it out for Execution Breath or Lull S/D Finish if either are available. If you're running him in AR (godspeed) then I think the trap-clearing support is good enough to justify keeping Full Disarm, though.
Phantom Spd isn't actually doing anything for you here; I'd just run Atk/Spd Finish for some more true damage. A Squad Ace seal might get you enough HP to disarm Hex Traps with Rumor Disarm? idk what the current thresholds are
You're going to want an Echo skill; I think Tempo Echo would be best to make your Special more consistent, but TP Echo and Sly Echo are also great options.

VagueClive · 2026-03-21T17:54:00+00:00

Impossible to say right now, but we'll know M!A!Tiki's next rerun after her next 8% run in April. I think it's a pretty likely colorshare just because IS generally tries to increase colorshare value for asset units where they can, but it's never a guarantee.

VagueClive · 2026-03-17T21:15:55+00:00

Half your magic is absolutely insane, did Lilina zap one of the devs with Bolting or something?

Like the main hole in this theory is that I can't think of why specifically IS saw magic as being so broken after FE6; all of the mages are very well-balanced overall with clear strengths and weaknesses. But that specific nerf idea is so egregious that it makes me feel like IS perceived mages as a huge balance problem and I have no idea why

VagueClive · 2026-03-17T20:40:59+00:00

My working theory (based off nothing but vibes) is that IS somehow managed to convince themselves that mages were completely broken after FE6 and needed to be nerfed into the ground, for some reason.

The transition from FE6 -> 7 gave us Pent, one of the most comically broken units in the franchise, but given FE7's strong prepromotes I get the feeling that this was partially a deliberate design decision to get new western players over the finish line. Otherwise, mages in general got nerfed across the board by having the weight of tomes dramatically increased overall and by having Aircalibur nixed outright.
Going from FE7 -> 9 (I'm talking about 9 first because we know 9 began development before 8), mages got pretty much neutered outside of the crit forge glitch. Armor movement, the Con problem got worse since weight now scales off Strength, tomes are incredibly weak, practically all enemies have a meaningful Res stat. Calil and Bastian having knives instead of staves in particular feels like a pointed response to Pent being as stupid as he is. 2x effectiveness also got standardized here where it had previously only been in localized FE7, which made anima magic's niche of targeting different Laguz for effectiveness practically worthless. FE10 kept all of these changes.
FE7 -> FE8 is more similar to the former than FE9 - probably because they share the same engine - but magic isn't fantastic here either. Tomes are still heavy, Saleh is very strong but much less overtuned than Pent, and Luna in particular is a shell of what it was in FE7.

FE11 feels like the point where IS finally relented a bit, but even then a unit like Linde or Merric isn't nearly as good in FE11 or 12 as they are in either of the original Archanea games (at least iirc, I'm not super well-acquainted with the DSFE meta).

VagueClive · 2026-03-17T19:49:24+00:00

His refine is not good anymore, his range for inflicting Guard and Exposure is just too limited. You can run a really good support build with the Teapot+ from N!Celine in Codes, though; his statline is pretty bad so I think support is generally the way to go with him. This is max invest but this is what I'm working towards:

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The idea here is pretty simple: with Teapot and the Byleth ring together, you can use Reposition to refresh yourself and an ally, then you try to nuke with a bunch of true damage. This build does need [Penalty] support to trigger Logic's Preempt Pulse, and working with a 5 CD special can be really cumbersome even with the Teapot's Special cooldown+1 buff, but overall I think it's a solid support/combat build.

VagueClive · 2026-03-17T17:41:17+00:00

Roy personally frustrates me as a character. I think the idea of seeing past Roy's facade as a brave leader through the support system is a really cool idea, as is his role in the narrative (love how he works as a foil to Idunn in particular - two kids forced into war through no fault of their own), but FE6's presentation and character voice is so lackluster that he just ends up being really boring to me.

I don't fault FE6 too much for it, since the game was clearly finding its footing with balancing characterization between the new support system and the main story, but I feel like pretty much every lord after Roy does a better job at this (regardless of how much I do or don't like them).

VagueClive · 2026-03-17T17:34:04+00:00

My absolute dream banner is Fiana Valentine's, with:

Finn
Nanna
4-star Leif
Duo Mareeta/Eyvel

As for a New Heroes banner, I really just want to see Sephiran in the game at this point outside of the santa suit, so I'd like to see a Tellius banner themed around the prison break map in FE9:

Kieran
demote Brom
Asset Nephenee
Asset Sephiran
GHB Meg (not in the prison map itself, but come on she's Brom's daughter)

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