#baiting the tankies here……

[shuttershocky]

Hey shutters, do you have tips for tn-3 spectacular mode? That's the only one of this event that has me pulling my hair out basically

Right? That shit actually took me awhile. Harder than TN-4 Spectacular.

Alright so here's some tips that helped me out

Go with the +HP + DEF and + Healing Effectiveness perk. TN-3 is the tank stage, what with Manfred's cannon and Steam Knight dealing incredibly high burst damage.

Bring tanks and medics - One Guardian and one Protector are ideal, but even Two Guardians can work if they're tanky enough like Saria and Blemishine with their modules.

Mudrock - Let the Colossus leak. Because Spectacular swaps the Colossus and Mudrock's Health, Mudrock has 100k HP and will be nearly impossible to bring down without the Gramophones. Use a Trapper specialist to begin recapturing the left gramophones, but wait until they're almost full. Mudrock will try to cast a skill to capture all Gramophones via a big red wave. Once she does this, immediately finish capturing the two left towers and throw everything you have at her. If you're really lucky, the two middle towers + Traps from the trapper can even take down the colossus, but it isn't necessary. You have 5 lives. That means you can strategically leak 4.

Manfred - By capturing the middle towers in Mudrock's stage, you can solo hold the left side of Manfred's stage just by using the free Siege. The Victorian perk and the Gramophone heals will let her solo the whole left side, letting you concentrate on Manfred. Use one of your Defenders at the very center of the chokepoint to stop Manfred. At the center, the cannon can't hit the top ranged tiles, which lets you deploy medics to keep your tank topped up. Don't forget to use the Glasgow girls to take out the enemies trying to sneak through the bottom lane.

Steam Knight - Holy shit this part is Hell on Earth. With both Steam Knight and Manfred's cannon, the final wave is AOE hell. Fortunately, there is a way to make the cannon work for you. First off, deploy your tankiest Protector Defender on the center of the stage near the top, and a Guardian Defender next to them. You can place them in such a way that the Protector is in range of multiple medics, while the Guardian acts as an extra Block-3 body that can survive the cannon blasts. These two will use their bodies to bait the cannon into attacking all the enemies onstage including Steam Knight. If you have any other ranged units able to help them out though, the left ranged tiles can assist in dealing damage (or throwing additional heals). The biggest threat in the map is Steam Knight flying into the sky and barraging your Defenders with Arts damage at the same time the cannon lands. Try to time it so they don't happen at the same time.

Protip - with the HP perk, the free Indra is able to survive a cannon blast when at full health. With her S2 healing herself and the Victorian perk, Indra is able to act as a third body on top of your double Defender combo to tank the Steam Knight's arts barrage as well as fighting the horde of enemies and Manfred.

Good luck!

[buldrokkastee]

@nenestansunsthings I would absolutely love to talk about Deepcolor some more so thank you for giving me this prime opportunity. Although I'll preface everything I'm about to say with the classic 'I am not an expert or even particularly good at the video game Arknights'. I'm not doing big brain clears and I'm usually splashing around waves 1-4 of IS3 at the highest. I get through most new and old content with the classic winning strat of big fish with big numbers.

That being said, this is what you'll need to start off on the path of being a Squid Expert. A Squexpert, if you will. Now then:

This here is going to be your perfect Deepcolor.

Obviously she isn't going to be your go-to for DPS or serious tanking or anything like that, your general use for her is going to be as an opener. With her Module it costs 11 DP to get her and her first tentacle on the field (Yes that's the same amount you could use to put Mountain down instead but that's boring) so for most stages you pop her down asap right after your flagbearer and use her summons to block the early enemies around the map until you have DP to retreat them and set down your Big Boys. Easy, cost-effective, simple.

Aside from that, her summons are decently tanky for their cost so you can also use them to bait ranged attacks or the bomb drones or kill annoying spiders in the corner of the map. She can heal them back up too with her S1 if they survive, something none of the other summoners in the game can do so far (Though most of them have a way to refresh their summons, which Deepcolor can't do without retreating and redeploying). Basically you use the tentacles as mini-Gravels. With her module you'll have seven to work with, which is more than enough to get through most maps.

In SSS she's pretty much going to be a very cheap Supporter you can drop in and retreat immediately for free transfer permits, and in Reclamation Algorithm she's good for quickly scouting out around a new map with her summons. Nothing too fancy for those game modes.

The place I bring her out the most is as a starting pick for IS3, since in the early floors you'll usually have deployment slots to spare that she can fill right up with cheap blockers until you've built up your roster a bit more. You can use her S1 in situations where you need the summons to stay in place for longer, but her S2 can also come in clutch if Gopnik the One Punch or the invisible dog show up and you need to stall. For the cost of 3 whole hope you'll have 7 funny little tentacle guys with 35% dodge (50% at M3) that can keep the bear from hell in one spot for a surprisingly long time even with terrible RNG.

She's unfortunately useless against the duck, but you can't win them all.

You'll also find a whole lot of little spots in maps where you just need something that can safely kill a spider, or bait the stun snipers, etc etc. No she won't carry you past the third floor but she'll pull her weight very well while you're starting off.

Relics Deepcolor has good and/or funny synergy with are:

Glory Pack - Congrats you now have seven stun bombs ready to go anywhere on the map.

Sui's Wrath - And now you have seven random 3K damage airstrikes waiting to drop for 3DP a pop.

Glorious Kazimierz + The Return - 35-50% dodge on all allies in her range means she can really help these bad boys proc when you need them.

Timeworn Poetry Strips - Mostly self explanatory, but also: Unlike Ling, Deepcolor's summoning is only limited by your actual deployment slots. So she can put all 7 of her tentacles down at once with this, which is mostly just very funny to see.

Hand of Flowing Water/Stalwart Aid Books- I wouldn't recommend getting her just because you got these, there are other units that use them way better. Doesn't hurt to have them though.

There aren't any specific operators I can think of off the top of my head that she has unique synergy with, since the whole point of Summoners is just to fill in gaps when they're not soloing stages. But if you put her next to Andreana in your base or on a map I'll consider it a treat for me specifically.

[aliaoftheknives]

when i see a post on here that's like "people on tumblr only post about blowing up government buildings and never about calling their representatives or voting" like i don't see posts about calling your reps multiple times a day. bait used to be believable. just call everyone tankies and go no need to make a post spinning on your own dick about internet leftists

[raxistaicho]

How is Edelgard the best unit gameplay-wise ? She's my favorite character but I don't know much about unit tier-listing and all that

I made a post on this ages back, here you go:

Reddit also went into it here.

Here's some fun quotes from that:

S Tier - incredibly she somehow has an even better early game than the S-tier Byleths thanks to higher strength, easy access to Weight-3, brainless Armor Knight certification, and good base Authority for early Blaze. Transitions to flight at lv 10 and never needs to look back. Galeforces her way through any problematic Part 2 maps thanks to the frankly ludicrous Raging Storm. Pound for pound might be the best unit in the game thanks to how much better and more centralizing she is than Dimitri in the early game.

Girlboss indeed.

Edelgard is also very good before she gets her hands on Aymr as well, her bases are among the best in the game, 13 base Str + 55% growth means she puts a massive dent to anything she attacks from the get go and can reliably ORKO with Brave Weapons later on. She has decent bulk, the best in her house along with Ferdinand though Petra is better at baiting speedier enemies since she won't get doubled, that being said Black Eagles don't have a dedicated tank and you'd be better off recruiting Balthus who can do the job better. Her Charm is among the best in the game which means her Gambits have high Accuracy and hits hard and she can dodge enemies Gambits more reliably than most units in your team.

Edelgard is hands down the best unit in this game. I’d be inclined to put her in a tier by herself in S+, but going by the rubric laid out by OP she is S tier.

Edelgard thoroughly dominates the early portion of the game with the best base strength among students and outstanding bases in other stats. Her middling base speed is easily fixed by her easy access to Wt-3 and later Darting Blow. She can also certify in Armor Knight for a cheeky defense boost. She is tanky as heck, never gets doubled, deals out huge damage, and her personal allows her to snowball quite dramatically. She can be argued as the best early game unit, although Dedue, Leonie, Dimitri, and the Byleths are competitive.

Mid game she still dominates although she has some competition. She will basically be the best of the female flying units. Death and Darting Blow, along with Weight -3 and Hit +20 make her a fearsome combat unit. She will double quite frequently and has good survivability on enemy phase.

But once Chapter 13 rolls around, it’s all over for every other unit. Raging Storm is either the #1 or #2 most busted thing in the entire game depending on how you feel about Warp. Edelgard can legitimately beat maps by herself once she gets this ability. It’s so good that I have to force myself not to use it sometimes because I don’t want to just solo the game with her. The fact that all part 2 maps are boss kill just makes her complete overkill in this game.

She is better than her stepbrother. Not his fault, just the way the game is designed favors a broken PP unit more than a broken EP unit. I will say that Edelgard needs more investment to be amazing than Dimitri does, but at the end of the day she is just flat better than him, to a degree where the higher investment doesn’t sway me.

Best unit in the game imo. At worst she's FByleth but with better boons/tutoring, meaning easier access to armor skills/classes and wyverns. She's one your best early game units, to the point that I still rate her highly in Silver Snow. And of course there's Raging Storm. Awakening Galeforce was way too broken; restricting it so only 1 unit can use it 5 times in a row clearly solves the problem right? The one weakness she may have is that she wants to rely on crit in order to kill with Raging Storm, especially against bosses, but Crest of Flames prevents her from using defiant crit more consistently.

Yes, she is better than Dimitri. Dimitri heavily relies on bwrath/vantage and is much weaker without it, and it's painfully apparent in HBD and even some of the later chapters. Even without Amyr, Edelgard is still FByleth with better boons. While her strength/speed growths may be lower, she's actually going to outdamage/outspeed Dimitri for a very long time thanks to her bases and easier access to strong skills/classes. May be a different story if more route objectives were present, but in reality many maps just require defeating the commander(s), which Edelgard excels very well at.

[claire-starsword]

The Guardiana Magic School Run - Part 16

We continue Max's extreme luck with boats.

I am also teased with the existence of my Favorite Man but unfortunately, he does not join the team now, nor is he valid in this run. The neverending string of Adam Ls.

Once again there's nothing too interesting for the clear bonus. I do realize too late that I forgot to check the item shop in Waral, there's supposed to be something special there. I cannot go back now though until I solve the water problem here, so my bad.

The thing about this battle is that you can split up and face them on three fronts, including some very annoying narrow paths, or just rush through the center and ignore the side enemies or deal with them later. I want exp, but I have many squishy people, so I'll start from the center and see how it goes. There are, as usual, bats though, which should be approaching from the sides anyway.

Also, Domingo is not equipped with the ring he's supposed to be equipped with. I goofed up big time last part apparently. Hopefully we won't miss the extra movement.

Turn 1 is a bore fest with only a single bat approaching. Domingo can immediately go deal with it and hopefully distract it from frail targets.

lmao never mind. fellas love to ignore Domingo, poor thing.

Not a frail target though, so we're fine. This is just how Max's life goes.

The Worms however are doing a number on him. I do think they're valid targets for the Mermanbuster though.

Meanwhile Domingo left that first bat at 1 HP so Anri gets easy exp.

It is turn 4 and the bats are ignoring everyone so hard.

Domingo continues to have massive level ups, I didn't screenshot but he also got more defense, he's so good.

Unfortunately no amount of level ups can make these dogs less annoying.

On the other hand these things are indeed Mermanbusted.

We're now on annoying blocked positions. And if you ever thought "Oh the hounds are immune to fire so they must be weak to ice", tough luck, they seem to resist it despite again having no magic res marked on their stats. There is a clear attempt to nerf wizards in this second half of the game and, well, you'll see where that goes in the future! For now is more annoying than anything as Narsha is taking everything just fine.

Also Arthur redeems himself blasting this thing off the earth. I cheer briefly before realizing there's four more dogs in this map.

Because I'm annoyed at how much HP the dogs have, and the Skeletons tend to be tanks as well, I'm using Attack 2 on Narsha, Arthur and Max, as the position lined up nicely. Tao is also getting the buff, but I don't think she'll get to use it. Always funny if she does though.

She was supposed to Blaze a Skeleton to oblivion, because that's another way to deal with their tankiness, but I misclicked and ended her turn. Sorry woman.

Gong is also not having a great promotion debut.

And then Lowe gets really excited to one up him! That's a one shot, shame it doesn't give much exp at this point.

We're at turn 6 but I'm not too worried about the bonus, I'd rather train, so it's time to try baiting the side enemies with Domingo and other tanks. Tao also gets to finally deal with that Skeleton as intended, getting a level for the good work.

Turn 7 and everyone is baited by the trio of Domingo, Narsha and Max… Except that bat. I think these things are allergic to Domingo. You can see the dog did not ignore Domingo, this is flight AI thing or whatever. I'm calling it allergy. Or maybe a phobia. The enemies would be justified in having a phobia of Domingo.

A Skeleton survives Tao. This should be illegal >:(

Khris finishes it and unlike Lowe she gets a lot of exp from this enemy, levelling up.

Gong gets to redeem himself with some awesome damage.

This goddamn Skeleton refuses to be baited. I want to beat it up with Tao as she's pretty useless against the boss here, they're a mage so they resist any magic and have two hellhound with them. But Tao has no more Blaze 3 so she need someone to protect her, probably Gong, who can't tank the stronger enemies.

We're at turn 10 and haven't reached the boss yet, so that's it for the clear bonus. I really don't mind because the boss has to be done carefully (they have Freeze 2), and we're getting good exp. The worms were ridiculously easy thanks to the Mermanbuster (and Narsha getting a crit as strong as the Mermanbuster, the woman is really good with seafood), and Tao and Gong are finishing the annoying Skeleton.

The thing about this boss is that, as a mage, their defense is trash. Max can probably one hit them. But they're not in reach yet, and the dogs will block us as soon as they can. Their damage plus the mage's damage is a heavy blow to tank, but I think Max can do it as his magic res is 38% right now, pretty good (nothing compared to the 47% and 48% of Narsha and Anri though, I did not notice Anri was getting this good, turns out there's two goddesses of magic res).

Because the mage is easy to hit, doing away with the dogs seem like the best option. I'm unsure of how much damage we're gonna do, I'm not used to the damage of Supernova yet.

The damage is a whooping lot, that's how much. Perhaps it would have been possible to one hit the mage with this even with their resistance, Supernova is a bit weird with the resistances actually, but again, I prefer exp to the bonus today.

Not much to comment for the end, Max, Arthur and Domingo deal with the last dog while receiving heals from Narsha, Khris and Lowe. By the time only the mage is left things are easy. You can see here however what 60% magic res means, Anri cannot finish this fella at 5 HP. But surviving like that only means he gets one of the rarest deaths possible:

The Domingo slap.

Overall, a chill battle. There's a lot to do in town next time so I'll leave that for the next part.

Losses: 0 Deaths: 2

[nightzap]

Now I’ve also beaten this map in CM! Woohoo what a doozy, I had to change my strategy a lot to account for the main chokepoint being banned in CM, forcing me to hold five lanes at once! Clever use of Gravel to stall the first few enemies allows me to set up Myrtle, Texas, La Pluma, Arene and finally Gummy, followed by deploying Warfarin to keep Arene alive and prepare him to shoot down the Targeteer later.  Last comes Specter in front of Myrtle to do the fighting in that lane after the first hound is dealt with. Lastly, Project Red clears out a few enemies ganging up on Gummy. The opening centers mostly around finding a good build order to deal with the early, but weak aggression.

Once Pursuer and his elite squad appear, the real battle begins. April and Red  kill out one caster and weaken another, while Specter spawnkills the Striker in front of her. I made a small mistake here and let another hound slip through, nothing that Gravel can't handle. Meanwhile, the Targeteer spawns and starts bombarding Texas. Our noble Knight Margaret takes her place and tanks the bombs while Arene destroys the tanky drone. Finally, Jaye helps Nearl kill the Striker coming at her and retreats afterwards. The other striker on her lane while blunt his weapons on her shield for a long time: The final wave is not triggerd by just the Emperor's Blade's defeat, but by the death of every enemy before then, so with Nearl stalling the Striker, I have a lot of time to set up for everything. The other three strikers will now be dealt with: One gets pincushioned by a Warfarin-boosted April, one is turned into sashimi by Jaye, with a stun from Texas since EB's AoE attack hurt him a bit too much to survive dueling a Striker, and the third gets slaughtered by everyone's favourite crazy nun.

The actual fight with EB begins now. Arene and April bring him down to half health from afar to bait the first Dominion, afterwards I set up taking down his second phase and killing the five Elite Strikers. I make a minor mistake in deploying Myrtle to early when I actually want her to bait a Dominion, but it's nothing run ending and I correct it by putting Red in her place. Finally, I put down Specter and Arene, lower EB's first healthbar to zero, stall out his invincibility period, and bring in April so the three of them can take off half of his health together. Finally, the second half is annihilated by Amiya's S2, boosted by Warfarin.

I need to retreat the vampire and redeploy her just one tile to the left - if I deployed her there before, Amiya would also have to be deployed further left, and the Striker would be in range of her S2, killing him early. After EB's defeath, the lingering Dominion zones also debuff enemies, making it much easier to stall the incoming Elite Strikers. Jaye needs Medic support to survive a fight with them, and I'm also using Texas who also needs a Medic to tank 1200 Atk hits. Specter, who takes on two Elite Strikers at once, is also barely unable to kill them before her S2 runs out, so April and Project Red add a little extra damage to secure the kill, while Gravel comes in to hold up the middle Striker so he can't escape Specter's wrath.

Now that most of the big charge is cleared out, I have all the time in the world to deal with the two remaining strikers. Jaye/Arene and Specter take care of those problems. Mission accomplished!

[lurkiestvoid]

Late, but here's a pinned post.

📝 General Info

🔸 First joined tumblr I think around 2011/2012, left for a while, lurked around the internet for a bit, and came back about a year ago. I don't have other social media.

🔸Asks, comments, reblogs, messages, and good faith discussion all welcome!

🔸I typically try to avoid being Perceived at all for personal reasons, but I'm working on stepping out of my comfort zone and being more social.

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🔸 This is my main/general personal blog and I'm primarily mobile. Includes random topics/fandoms, occasional autocorrect, and thumblefumbs. I try to tag common triggers, topics, and current events, but need to get better at it. Please ask if you need something tagged and I'll prioritize doing so.

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🔸 Personal/original posts tagged #rambles.

🔸 For privacy reasons, myself, Wife, and Child are never named/aged/pictured and kiddo is never gendered, but sometimes there are pics of our cats.

🔸 I will never claim to be a good person, but I will never stop trying to be a better one.

🔎 About Me (no particular order)

✳️ Unitarian Universalist, pagan-ish

✳️ Antiauthoritarian Left-ish

✳️ Nonbinary lesbian

✳️ Married 10+ years to my lovely trans wife

✳️ Parents to an awesome elder gen alpha

✳️ Physically, mentally, and chronically disabled

✳️ white USAmerican

✳️ 30s

✳️ advocate for antiracism and intersectionality

✳️ working class, long-term housing/food insecure

✨📖 Currently reading: "A Wizard of Earthsea," by Ursula K Le Guin; "Momma Cusses," by Gwenna Laithland; "The Obelisk Gate," by N. K. Jemison; "Sourcery," by Terry Pratchett; "Fablehaven," by Brandon Mull (with kiddo)

✨📺 Currently watching: Xena Warrior Princess (rewatch)

🔹📝 Annual Reading List (so far)

⛔ Non-exhaustive block list:

🚫 TERFs, SWERFs, radfems, femcels, incels, tankies, performativists

🚫 racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, sexism/bioessentialism, imperialism, fascism, xenophobia, antisemitism, islamophobia, puritanism, etc

🚫 weaponized slurs, ad hominems

🚫 embracing or promoting reactionism

🚫 embracing or promoting "ironic/harmless" prejudice and exclusionism

🚫 engagement/rage bait

⚠️ Nothing against these, just for curating purposes (mostly just tags) : kink/bdsm, polyam/enm, porn/nsfw/mature

[hetamyuist]

before you follow

hiya i am irene, i'm over 21 and neither white nor american.

i post mainly about hetalia/hetamyu and prince of tennis/tenimyu. i also post about other 2.5D musicals on occasion

current ships are oshigaku, niouyagyuu, sanayuki, sherliam, alwill, ausita, usuk, sebaciel, kikujun, babamasa, mikahide, kamiken

DO NOT FOLLOW ME IF THIS BOTHERS YOU:

this blog is profiction, pro-kink, anti-censorship, anti-thoughtcrime, anti-harrassment and rpf-friendly

while i generally block freely, antis/fanpol, racists, exclusionists, tankies and people who threaten and suibait others will be blocked on sight

i like freaky shit in fiction, including incest and "problematic" age gaps

i have "problematic" kinks

i do not trigger tag regularly nor do i spoiler tag

however i will tag reblogs from kink blogs with #nsft and #kinkposting so feel free to blacklist those

bait/hate asks will be promptly blocked.

if you're under 17 i will probably block you as well.

this is a sideblog so i will be following and liking from my main!

if you are here to ask me for hetamyu or tenimyu 2nd downloads please send me an off-anon ask. i will not be sharing links publicly.

because of tumblr's bullshit policies i have a dreamwidth. please note that my journal is 18+ and potentially nsfw. you can find me there once this site goes to shit. if we have talked before you can dm me for my discord.

[ravenkings]

[kirnet]

still not entirely happy with this so wip

[shuttershocky]

OH THANK GOD FINALLY

Okay I guess here's some stuff I learned about Anni 5

Ambriel is a cheat code in this stage due to her trait of targeting low armor units (like the Heralds!) and the developers know it, which is why they throw so much low-armor shit at you. Only activate her skill between waves of dogs and mooks, so she can snipe Heralds and Spiders. Late in the level, the Elite Heralds actually doom themselves because their combined stat buffs make the dogs too tanky to be targeted by Ambriel first, meaning she can shoot them and the spiders down without worry.

Silence (the status effect) is amazing on this stage. Use Lappland if you have her, life becomes so much easier. If even with waves of enemies pummeling you, you only need to micromanage enemy aggro so that Lappland slaps the spider ONCE and you're home free to kill it safely.

Thorns is a no-brainer, but if you don't have him then you can actually substitute top for any ranged guard that can detonate spiders from two tiles away, assisting them via a sniper. I use Thorns + Schwarz here for their incredible damage output, but this can be swapped for a strong basic sniper + Arene (to blow up spiders from a distance and kill the Shieldguard with arts damage)

Waai Fu is really good on this stage for the same reason Lappland is, and the best part is that she can also be used to bait Bomb Drones and block Cleavers in an emergency. For the latter two jobs however, Gravel is still the best.

You'll need to adjust the medic pick and facing so that your pusher has a source of heal (theyll take a beating from frost casters), but the vanguard can be any 2 block tanky vanguard like Courier, Fang, or Siege (running S1)

If you'd like, Ifrit can be replaced by Shirayuki running S2. Will slow down Ice Cleavers too!

Biggest threats for Gravel to deal with put in order: Elite Ice Cleaver buffed by Angry Tile > Unsilenced Spider getting 1 tile away with Cleavers nearby > Ice Bomb Drone = Ice Cleaver buffed by Angry Tile > Ice Cleavers unbuffed

The Shieldguards exist only to take your operator's aggro and let spiders get close and explode on your frontline. Ambriel counters this, but just to be sure keep a close eye on all spider positions after wave 300 and deploy specialists as needed.

Still not as bad as Anni 3 Wave 350. You got this!

[lyteupthelyfe]

ok. okok.

lyte talk about the contraclass w/o mentioning lysithea challenge 3 2 1 go

WE'RE IN THE FINAL CHAPTER!!!!

and, uh, actually on the final free day of the final chapter. we're gonna do some auxiliary battles, and try to get the rest of the gang (lorenz, ignatz, her, marianne, flayn and balthus) to level 44. in terms of how everyone's going, everyone's in their final classes and mastered them, though flayn doesn't have wrath yet (which is nbd since she either doubles, crits, or doubles and crits everything into oblivion anyway) unit updates below the cut!

claude [dark bishop] is going...fine? he's still putting out tanky magic damage but he isn't doubling or critting as much as he was before. lorenz [war master] on the other hand decides to crit everything. he also has 74 hp. be afraid of lorenz. raphael's best quality is that he's got restore and can dance people. his damage output (except for the brave sword and probably the sword of begalta) is literally negligible/single digit, but at least his avoid is mildly high (high 60s w/ 25 base speed incl. speed+2, an evasion ring, sword avo+20, sword5 and axebreaker)

ignatz is a beast. with the hauteclere he has 59 base might (brought to 70 when you count wyvern lord's axefaire as well as death blow) and 37 base speed. so uh. be afraid of ignatz. marianne is generally unbothered. she has 26 strength, 27 speed, 26 dex and 34 def. so she's actually really good at dodging and critting for a great knight. counting up all the stats her might when using AoUkonvasara is 58 and her prt is 43. so yeah. marianne is unbothered.

hilda is a solid all-round unit; she has roughly equal def and res at 23 and 25 respectively, 29 base magic and roughly 30 dex and speed. holy knight hasn't done anything spectacular to her except pump up her res, but she remains a solid unit who can dish out good magic damage and do funky bolting shenanigans. leonie [dark flier] is, again, a good mage with 28 magic, 42 dex and 43 speed. her short spell list and its limited uses (fire/bolg./rag.; 10/5/3) is a tad annoying, were it not for the fact that she likes doing critical hits when she's low on spell uses for some reason. she's also one of my best bait units along with ignatz thanks to alert+ and that giant speed stat.

seteth [war monk] is doing great. he can delete anything in one round of combat w/ his gauntlets (36 strength), and with a magic stat of 29 and speed and dex at 36 and 35, his spells aren't too bad either (i can't remember if i've said it before on here, but let me say it now--with love and care seteth has the potential to be a BRILLIANT magic unit). flayn only very very recently came into her own as a crit build, but with a base might of 36 (incl. death blow) and a base dex stat of 32, she's got HEFTY crits left right and centre regardless of if she's in swordmaster or warrior, and with a speed stat of 29, her avoid isn't too bad either--especially since she's equipped w/ both lance- and axebreaker.

balthus [bow knight] is doing pretty well for himself--he's got 36 strength and 29 speed, which, while not being enough to double everyone, can pack a punch when he needs to (he's always been able to deal a surprising amount of damage to armoured units)--and his 32 dex helps in getting those crits out when he needs too. byleth, lovingly named caithens in this run, [valkyrie] packs an absolute magic punch (she has taken out enemy units with 50+ hp out in a single hit before--critless, too), and can do it from three spaces away (insane!). her magic stat is 31, and she has a dex stat of 36, and a speed stat of 31. like the others (no, sorry raph), she's always ready to nuke a healthbar.

so that's the gang! i'd say everyone's very prepared to take on nemesis, the elites, and every single enemy on the final map, especially with its recommended level of 42. i'll try to keep y'all updated, and honestly might liveblog it. because i'm sure there will be insanity to come.

..oh? you, uh, you say that i didn't include an overview of everyone? i mean everyone relevant is there, right? hang on lemme check. hmhmhmmmm.

ah! oh, you want to know how she's going--the character that i've prattled on about the most this entire run? xD

ok, ok. since you asked so nicely~

(one-winged angel starts playing)

falcon knight.

49 hp. 27 attack. 38 magic. 44 dexterity. 39 speed. 20 luck. 22 defence. 25 res. 22 charm. with alert stance+ and including all passive bonuses, she gets almost 120 avoid just by waiting and holding an iron lance. she also doubles literally everything with darting blow. she got chilon down to like, a fifth or sixth (if not less) of his health just by doubling with the spear of assal. i made the terrifying choice to give her a brave lance+, and have also resolved to give her a chest key for the final map so that she can pick up the arrow of indra. yes i know that would be broken and yes that's the point. also yes tbf i have enabled this by giving her the immortal corps. but it's also lysithea on a flying horse i don't think its meant to make sense.

anyway yeah the main takeaway is that all of these classes are more or less extremely viable (except for dancer!raphael but the same thing happened to caspar on SS and bernie on CF so he's not special)

so anyway that's more or less the endgame situation atm! it'll probably get slightly better after the three auxiliary battles, and i'll post the usual final-battle unit overview video, so there's that to come! stay tuned!

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #161

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making the leader of the Shinsengumi and (as of writing this) the only berserker we don’t personally own, Hijikata Toshizo! The good Vice Commander is a  Battle Master Fighter for his tactical prowess, as well as an Ancestral Guardian Barbarian so he can fight in that suit and summon the Shinsengumi to his side.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: To the left! Take it back now y’all!

Race and Background

People might argue against this, but you’re still technically Human, giving you +1 Dexterity and +1 Constitution. (We’re using variant rules here.) You also get proficiency with Medicine. It’s been a while since you sold that stuff, but it’s like riding a bicycle. Probably. You also get the Charger feat, so now you can make a melee attack as a bonus action after using your action to dash. You either get  a +5 damage bonus to the attack, or you can shove the target 10 feet away.

You’re also a Soldier, giving you proficiency with Athletics and Intimidation, which you’ll get a lot more use out of than investigation. 

Ability Scores

You use guns and lighter swords most of the time, so your Dexterity has got to be high. That being said, your Strength also certainly isn’t bad either. His ironclad adherence to the way of the shinsengumi gives him a higher than average Constitution. You’d think that’d be wisdom but no, it literally makes him tougher. Your Charisma isn’t terrible, but you’re only really good at intimidating people. After that is your Intelligence- you certainly aren’t dumb, but you’re more of a practical learner than a book learner. Finally, dump Wisdom. You’re a berserker. A couple battlefield skills are tied to wisdom, but we’ll get something to make those a bit better later on.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: First level fighters get a fighting style, and being a Close Quarters Shooter will help you mix up your melee and ranged attacks by ignoring the normal disadvantage ranged attacks have when next to enemies. You also ignore most cover on creatures next to you, and you get +1 to ranged attacks. Your Second Wind also lets you stay on the battlefield for even longer, healing yourself on a short rest. The Shinsengumi never die, so keeping your HP above zero is a priority.

As a fighter, you get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves, as well as Survival and History. You’re literally a historical figure, honestly that one’s just a gimme.

2. Barbarian 1: Bouncing over to barbarian right away lets you Rage as a bonus action, giving you advantage on strength checks and saves, a bit of bonus damage when making strength-based attacks, and you resist physical damage types, all for as long as you keep attacking or taking damage, up to a minute. You also get Unarmored Defense, giving you an AC based on your dexterity and constitution while in a snazzy outfit.

3. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge, letting you take an extra action in a turn once per short rest. We heard you liked advancing. Now you can advance while you advance.

4. Fighter 3: Third level fighters get their specialty, and as a Battle Master you can use your Combat Superiority by spending Superiority Dice, 4d8 that you get back on short rests. Commander’s Strike lets one of your allies attack as a reaction, and you add the die to their damage. Tactical Assessment adds the die to an Investigation, History, or Insight check, and Commanding Presence adds it to an Intimidation, Performance, or Persuasion check. You’re also a Student of War, giving you proficiency with one kind of artisan’s tools.

5. Barbarian 2: Going back to the barb gives you Reckless Attacks, giving you advantage for the turn in exchange for enemies getting advantage for the round. Pro tip: use your gun. You also get a Danger Sense, giving you advantage on dexterity saves you see coming. Dodging gunfire is very useful, even if you can shrug off a bullet.

6. Barbarian 3: Third level barbarians get proficiency in Perception thanks to your Primal Knowledge. You also become an Ancestral Guardian, letting you summon your Ancestral Protectors, the Shinsengumi, as you rage. The first creature you attack each turn gets bogged down by Shinsengumi agents, giving them disadvantage on any attack that isn’t against you. On top of that, if they still try to attack other creatures they deal half damage thanks to getting resistance slapped on their attack.

7. Barbarian 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to grab the Crossbow Expert feat. Or gunner, if your DM’s okay with guns. We don’t assume your DM’s cool here, so we’re just calling it Crossbow Expert. This lets you ignore the loading properties of crossbows, ignore disadvantage caused by people standing near you, and attack with a hand crossbow as a bonus action after you attack with your main action. You like mixing things up when it comes to taking down lawbreakers.

8. Barbarian 5: Fifth level barbarians get an Extra Attack each attack action. You also get Fast Movement giving you an extra 10′ of speed each round, letting you charge even further every turn!

9. Barbarian 6: Sixth level ancestral guardians get a Spirit Shield, spending your reaction while raging to reduce incoming damage to yourself or another creature within 30 feet of you. Most people hold back a bit when faced with bursts of gunfire. You are not most people, but still.

10. Fighter 4: Finally bouncing back to fighter nets you another ASI, making your Strength a bit better so your rage attacks can be more accurate.

11. Fighter 5: This level is very special; you get absolutely nothing. The extra attack you get this level doesn’t stack.

12. Fighter 6: Another ASI already? Grab the Tough feat for 24 extra HP now, plus 2 more HP each level up.

13. Fighter 7: Seventh level battle masters can Know your Enemy, spending a minute to read your opponent’s Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, AC, HP, or class levels. You find out if your target is equal, superior, or inferior to you in two of those areas.

You also get another Superiority Die and the maneuver Bait and Switch. You can spend 5′ of movement to swap places with a willing creaure (within 5′ of you, duh) without provoking any attacks of opportunity. For the round, you or the other creature get a bonus to their AC equal to a roll of the superiority die.

14. Fighter 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Dexterity for a thicker skin and more powerful gunpowder.

15. Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters are Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed save once per long rest. I’d save it for death saves, you’re not exactly great at self-preservation.

16. Barbarian 7: We’re back in barbarian to stay now, gaining a Feral Instinct that gives you advantage on initiative rolls. You can also ignore being surprised if you rage first. You can also make an Instinctive Pounce when you rage, moving half your speed for free. Your catchphrase is “advance”, you’re going to be quick on the draw.

17. Barbarian 8: Use your last ASI to bump up your Constitution for a better AC and even more health. Despite your in-game stats, you’re a pretty tanky guy.

18. Barbarian 9: Your Brutal Criticals make you a terror of the battlefield, adding an extra die of damage when you deal a critical attack with melee weapons. You made your own martial arts style, it makes sense you’re good with it.

19. Barbarian 10: Tenth level guardians can Consult the Spirits, casting Augury or Clairvoyance once per short rest for free. That’s... not particularly in character, but I guess every police force has investigators.

20. Barbarian 11: Your capstone level unleashes your Relentless Rage. When you’d normally drop to 0 HP, you can make a DC 10 Constitution save. If you make it, you stick around at 1 HP and the DC increases by 5. The saves reset on short rests. You are the Shinsengumi, and the Shinsengumi will never die.

Pros:

Speaking of, you’re really tough. With over 200 HP, rage defenses, and the ability to abuse your range for three attacks each turn, you’ll be able to stick around for a long fuckin time on the battlefield. 

Your Ancestral Guardian skills and battle maneuvers give you a surprising amount of support utility for a barbarian/fighter mix. Spy on the enemy and protect your squishy party members, then go ham and give the rogue a chance to get another sneak attack in.

In a similar note, your battlefield control skills are surprisingly useful for how subtle they are. Bait and Switch is great for getting your allies out of sticky situations, or you can shove creatures away for a similar effect. Basically you’re exactly annoying enough to make enemies focus you, which is exactly what you want.

Cons:

One big problem is your focus on dexterity-based weapons for your damage. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with that, it does mean you’re leaving quite a bit of damage on the cutting room floor while raging. A few barbarian skills also aren’t really made to work with bows and arrows. Basically it makes reckless attack better, but brutal critical worse.

You’re also not great against magic thanks to your terrible wisdom. This is almost a defining feature of berserkers, but it’s still worth mentioning. Especially since it means your party might be fighting the near immortal death machine if you go up against mind-controlly enemies.

With no sources of magic damage, you might find fighting certain types of enemies pretty hard without the DM’s help. Unless your DM’s a huge prick that probably won’t be a problem, but I don’t know your DM, so it counts as a negative.

[demoiselledefortune]

So I’ve finally picked up my Azure Moon game again, now at chapter 19. Since my characters are at about level 40 I thought I’d post their stats again, like I did before the time-skip (here and here).

Fairly speed cursed, but since I decided to focus him on brawling it doesn’t matter that much, except when i want him to Steal. Good otherwise. Took forever to qualify as a War Master too... so he’s lagging a bit with learning Quick Riposte but we’re finally getting there.

Certified him as a Holy Knight for the fun of it. Since he still murders people without Lancefaire, it doesn’t matter and it gives a bit of healing too for the fun of it. Only recently traded a Killing Lance for the Scythe of Sareil. Soon to trade Steal/Aegis for Lance Crit +10.

Bow Knight Felix is amazing. I enjoy both this class and this character so much.

Dark Knight Sylvain is great. Wish I got more opportunity to bait Archers with him. It’s very enjoyable that he can get good Avoid and then good Defense on top of it for tanking duties, plus all the utility of Seraphim and Physic. Only just got Swift Strikes though ooops

Dark Knight Ingrid too. Fairly fun though I think I could have managed her class path a bit better (went through Paladin and Pegasus Knight) and I sometimes regret that she can’t be more avoid-y. Overall not my favorite class for her in the end but she still kills things fairly well.

(I did want the four of them to be the horse brigade though)

To round up the horsies, I do actually enjoy using Gilbert quite a bit. Having him as a Paladin means access to a very good mobile tank, and Glowing Ember or a Brave Lance mostly lets him kill things if I want to (mostly I don’t). And I just enjoy seeing an older man and his animations on the team, it’s refreshing.

Dedue is Dedue. He’s good at his tanky job. He has a crazy amount of Speed for Dedue, actually (I think he’s got more than my poor Flayn) - not that it’s particularly useful to him still.

Mercedes is Mercedes. Not much to say there. Look, as much Speed as Dedue!

Sometimes I hear that Ashe is not a good unit. Sounds fake but ok.

Srsly second time I train him, and second time he’s amazing. As much Strength as Dedue and the speediest unit I’m posting yet (I think only Yuri has more). Also it’s always useful to have Lockpick on a flier because I can’t be assed with keys. Oh, and Deadeye for utility too!

Annette with the wyvern lightning axe build. What amazes me about her is that not only does she slay with magical arts, bolt axe or crusher, but that she’s pretty damn competent in physical combat as well. For a while she was pretty speedy too, but i think she lost that edge in latter level ups. Also she can provide Rally support if needed of course.

And for the non Blue Lion core of the army.

[confusedpozole]

“Mutual Aid”

Anarkiddie x Tankie Chapter 3: The Mission

Me and the Nazi step out of the Tesla. "Do you think that gulag has noticed his car is gone?" I ask with a cocky grin.

A sound comes out of the car as the Nazi presses a button on the keys. He begins twirling them in his hand, the sound of the small metals clinking setting a steady beat. "Does it matter? It's not like that degenerate has the balls to do anything about it."

A chuckle escaped my lips. I had insisted we use the public transport instead, but the other authoritarian wouldn't have it. "I'm not going to rub shoulders with...those people." he had said with venom in his voice. I just rolled my eyes. Nazi used that term a lot and you never knew who he meant unless you asked. Were "those people" the gays, people of color, the working class, jewish people? I didn't know and I wasn't gonna ask. It was probably all of the above.

"Well I'm not going to get inside that vehicle, it is forr pigs, not people!"

"C'mon Commie, it's environmentally friendly!" he'd said with phoned-in excitement.

"HA! Grreat! So now the bourgeoisie can feel betterr about themselves and pretend they care about the environment all vhile throwing tons of oil and chemicals into ourr oceans, faaantastic!"

"Whatever, global warming isn't even real you idiot!"

We kept bickering like that for a while until I finally gave up and got into the capitalist's car. The thought of that gulag whining about his vehicle vanishing might have influenced that decision.

"Hello, gentlemen."

We turn our attention to the lanky figure who looks exactly like us as it came out of the shadows of a dark alley. The Nazi and I stand straight and salute him whilst looking forward.

"At rest, soldiers" he says nonchalantly "I'm guessing you two are wondering why I asked you to meet me here instead of the usual place."

The Nazi and I glance at each other, but stay silent.

"Well, let me tell you that the task I'm about to give you is of great importance, and must be kept a secret from the Anarchists." he continued.

A secret? This has never happened before, what could be so...sensitive that it has to be kept from the libertarians? I swallowed my urge to ask these questions and more that were beginning to form in my mind, and instead nodded along with the Nazi.

"Yes sir!" We say in unison.

"Good, good" he responds "An informant of sorts has given me some valuable information. Apparently one of the centrists had a...special relationship to the now deceased Ape-political. He says it's very likely he will do anything to get revenge for what happened and–"

"Wait wait, what do you mean with 'a special relationship'?" I ask.

"Do you mean...?" asks the Nazi, not even wanting to finish that thought.

"Yes, I do mean...that."

There is a long, awkward silence between the three of us while Nazi and I process what we heard.

"...DEGENERATES!"

"Do those centrists have no shame?"

"Of course they don't Commie, they're centrists. Their moral code is basically non-existent." answers Jreg. He shakes his head and rearranges the collar of his shirt, trying to forget about the subject. "But we're getting off track here. The point is that this gives us a one in a lifetime opportunity."

"It does?"

"Yes Na-I mean White Identitarian, it does." our leader says.

An unpleasant feeling starts forming in my stomach as my mind races and connects the dots.

"You vant to set them up for a trap..."

"Very good Commie! If what my source says is true, then that centrist won't pass up the opportunity to kill a defenseless Ancom."

My heart drops when he proposes exactly what I suspected.

"V-vith all due respect, I vas the one who killed that Ape. Let me be the bait instead, It makes more sense and-"

"Oh please Commie, don't be stupid. They don't know that." Nazi points out while rolling his eyes. "Besides, we both know nobody would be foolish enough to try and fight you on their own, but that degenerate weakling on the other hand-"

"HE IS NOT A WEAKLING!" I answer with more force than I intended, something that clearly startles, and maybe even scares the Nazi.

"No, he's not" Jreg states. "Which is exactly why this plan is going to work. That anarchist might not look like much but he's a force to be reckoned with for sure, he'll be fine." He shoots me a warning look while saying the last part, and I just dart my eyes away. "If this works, we might finally be able to get the exact coordinates for Centropolis and the location of their base in that mediocre place!"

"But sir I-"

"Commie...do you want me to call Kim Il-sung?"

"I vould really rather you not-"

"Then do as you're told soldier! Don't question my authority again!" The way he says it makes it clear there is no room for argument.

"Y-yes sir..." I mutter without enthusiasm.

"Okay, good." He says, bringing his voice back to it's normal tone. "I expect both of you will work together to figure out the details of the plan. Until then, not a word to the anarchists about this, we still don't know how they'll react."

He salutes us lazily, and we diligently straighten up and do the same with upmost respect. Jreg turns around and walks away into the alley he first emerged from.

Nazi signals for me to follow as he walks back to the car. "Let's go Commie, I wanna be back in time to play some Call of Duty."

For a few seconds that felt like eons, I was frozen in place, immovable. My mind was a storm and I was doing my best to keep it at bay, to think of this logically, but the light pressure in my chest is impossible to ignore. I sigh and follow Nazi, letting my anxieties flow without restriction. We get into the car and I stare out the window while Nazi drives us back to the base.

It is a simple task. Ancom can handle it no problem, I'm just being paranoid...right? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Mutual Aid :3 it has actually been on my AO3 page for a while but I have decided to also post it here. I haven’t updated it in...forever holy crap xD but I’m working on it, I promise.

[duskwitch]

I don’t usually post FEH builds anymore but I kinda felt like showing off my current +10s and projects. So here we go:

Florina - My first +10. She used to be part of my Arena core. Eats armors and dragons for breakfast. I’m thinking of incorporating her into my AR offense team for Astra season since she already makes for a great Tibarn/Naesala check and would love some buff to her Atk and Def from Altina and Naga.

Aversa - My second +10 and first Grails project. Not much to say here, the build is pretty standard. With Eir and Peony she gets to 67 HP along with a boost to Res and Spd. Your Yune is invalid! She’s also Florina’s wife.

Eirika - One of the few units I built a whole team around, composed of her support partner Kaden, Leanne and Hilda. Eirika and Kaden used to have matching Link skills. But now that all tactics buffs are available as seals I swapped Atk/Def Bond for Vantage and put Def and Atk Tactics on Leanne. That way Eirika and her fluffy husband can both enjoy +6 to all stats when he shoves her into the fray. (which translates to +18 to all of Eirikas stats plus +4/+4/+7/+7 worth of Drives and other support skills on Kaden and Hilda.)

Spring!Loki - God, I spent so many Grails. She’s doing great with the right support but the fact that she has to wear Iote’s Shield in A or S holds her back as a Vantage sweeper. Will likely get a more offense oriented build in the future but I have no plans right now.

Clarine - This is a case of “I pulled so many of this unit in a short time I got salty and decided to build them“. She is doing amazing in AR defense since people tend to 1. avoid her because she is hard to one-shot and has Gravity or 2. waste time trying to bait her since her Atk is so low she will usually prioritize healing. With Thrasir and Lif on the team she gets +4 Spd, +5 Def and +10 HP, which really boosts her bulkiness. She is also infinitely useful in Mjölnir’s Strike to keep the enemies from moving. Might want Atk/Spd Push 4 in the future.

Legault - My current husbando. Build on the left is him right now, build on the right is my goal for him. (same with the following heroes) The only skill he’s missing is Flashing Blade 4. He is another one of the units that has their dedicated team, composed of his partner Velouria, Silvia and og!Ninian. For an instant special I need both dancers for Infantry Pulse support when I run Red-Hot Ducks, with Barb Shuriken I only need 1. It would be nice to get a +HP Velouria; with the proper skills she would be able to have more HP than Legault and could provide Infantry Pulse instead of a dancer.

Raven - While Galeforce can be nice, his Atk is just too high to pull it off properly. He one-shots too often. Therefore I figured I should go all out on Atk. I am missing Time’s Pulse, however. Alternatively to Lull Atk/Def I could also give him Repel. With his Spd, he’d gain a decent amount of tankiness. Not sure how future-proved that is, however, looking at the current development in the Spd meta.

L’Arachel - Her current build is mostly support (her husband is Winter!Jaffar) but has some decent attack power and she is surprisingly tanky as well. For the future I want her to be more offense oriented, so I’ll go with a classic Fury+Desperation build. I’m missing the Lull skill, however. (Panic Smoke isn’t as essential, the C skill is flexible on this one.)

Mordecai - My current blue project. I got pitybroken by him at least three times. So he might as well make himself useful. I’m not ready to give him Warding or Steady Breath just yet. But once he’s done I'll probably turn him into a physical wall.

Winter!Jaffar - As you see, I did not learn my lesson when it comes to choosing my Grails projects. Beautiful Reindeer Man is only one season away from +10, tho. His build is already complete, too. With Spd/Def Bond instead of Armored Boots he can even take Altina and Legendary Alm to the face.