#ddc talks FEH

[dailydoseofcolor]

Resplendent Alm!

Honestly, the art isn’t a major upgrade. It looks really good, but his face just seems a bit too young for me. I feel like they’ve been having that be a bit of a trend...Roy had a similar problem. However, I will not say no to a free Merge for my current Alm. I need to reconsider spending Mystic Boost on him as well. He absolutely annihilates things when his weapon is active.

[dailydoseofcolor]

IS says trans rights!!!!

[dailydoseofcolor]

Resplendent Olwen!

Her art is so good! However....has this artist ever seen an ass? Her tailbones are so out of proportion. Her thighs though? A++

Something I need to wonder, though, WHY has she not demoted? She offers almost nothing that Reinhardt does. Obviously the higher speed allows for some quad builds, but her attack is trash! Straight garbage! Even after her alt drops, she’ll only have base 28, 32 with a boon. Even with Summoner Support, +10 merges, and +5 dragonflowers, and +Atk, she maxes out at 39 base attack! If she’s 3/4*, that’s a fun thing to consider, but otherwise....nope.

No one outside of whales and long time players have a +10 Olwen, though, and she’ll remain outclassed. I hope to see her drop in the future, because then she’d finally be worthy to run. This is some great art minus her coccyx, but another weird pick in the long run (up there with Minerva.)

[dailydoseofcolor]

I am truly impressed that they finally gave Seliph an alt! I’m really happy for his fans. I’m also happy because this is the first Legendary Hero banner I can well and truly skip. The lineup isn’t really enticing to me, so I’ll spend my 15 orbs and see what I get — likely nothing.

[dailydoseofcolor]

So, according to the recent datamine, the upcoming Hall of Forms for late July (based on Path of Radiance) will have the following units: 

Valentine’s Ike, Valentine’s Greil, Valentine’s Soren, and Valentine’s Mist.

This is......incredibly disappointing, to put it mildly. While IS hates to let us figure out any kind of true “pattern” with what they do, I think it’s safe to say that they are moving away from allowing ANY Heroic Grail units to make an appearance in this mode, which is just so stupid in so many different ways. Let us count them: 

1) Heroic Grail units are almost always outclassed, even when these units are some of the series’ most popular (Black Knight, Haar, Valter, Ursula, etc) and getting them with a Forma Soul helps eschew the extra 500 grails it would cost to merge them. Since Forma units are neutral IVs along with Grail units, there’s no opportunity cost lost there with IVs. Instead, IS continues to be greedy with this resource and say “hey, I know you want to help out these units that you like with some really fun skills, which you PAID FOR but........no <3.” It’s incredibly greedy. I think we can safely say that grail units are out for consideration in future Hall of Forms. 

2) The Forma Soul inheritance rules continue to confound me. They are about to drop two characters who innately come with premium fodder (Distant Counter and Fury 4). People have to pay to receive Forma Souls...which means that, if the inheritance options were more lenient, there are people WHO WOULD PAY to buy these units and punt them onto someone else. Again, IS wants people to pay for Forma Souls and they are actively shooting themselves in the foot with their cockamamie rules. 

3) I would predict that we are going to start getting more seasonal units as Hall of Forms participants. This, in a vacuum, is not a bad thing. People like these units and are usually willing to summon for them. However, this is bad in terms of IS wanting to entice people to buy these units. Very, very few people are going to buy a Forma Soul for one character. The only thing that makes Forma Souls “worth” the cost is the orbs that it comes with as well as the chance to put premium fodder on units. At the cost of IVs. There are very few times where this calculation works in favor of Summoners and continually saddling us with outclassed seasonals is not the way to entice people to spend money. I swear the people making decisions for this game are just plain stupid. 

4) Valentine’s Ike and Valentine’s Greil have the stats to keep up at the higher levels of Hall of Forms. Soren and Mist DO NOT. Again, we are being shouldered with weak units with bad movement types and told to just...figure it out against the weight of the hugely inflated stats and the gacha algorithm used for forming options. It’s like they want us to hate this mode. It used to be fun! It is no longer fun!

5) Bow Hinoka continues to be the bane of existence for any Forma run. God I hate her so much. 

This concludes my rant. 

[dailydoseofcolor]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s more or less my reaction. Hot DAMN does the art for Ingrid, Sylvain, and Dorothea look GOOD. My bisexual ass is in troubleeeee. All three of these bastards were part of my OG Golden Deer run and I adore their characters. 

Byleth/Rhea are cute, but their art is....problematic. I like big unga bungas as much as the next person, but it’s just....bad. The proportions are very very bad. I also don’t give two shits about Rhea *shrug*. She’s a well-written antagonist, but she’s shady as fuck and I don’t like the implication that she’s with F!Byleth in this. No thanks. 

Here’s my problem....I have under 200 orbs and was actively attempting to save up for other projects. And I still haven’t spent any on the other summer banner to try to snag a Lute and a Joshua, who are also high on my “want” list. I tempered my immediate need by not pulling when it first came out, but now I’m torn. 

On the other hand.....I can’t not have Sylvain/Dorothea/Ingrid. All things being perfect, I’d snag one of each for merging purposes and then move on with my life. That’s doable with Sylvain and one of the others, but not both. I’m still salty IS didn’t include the sparking feature on these banners, because I’d absolutely use it. 

Ingrid’s speed is d.i.s.g.u.s.t.i.n.g and she’s just so cute! She’s also got a shiny new B-slot skill for Fliers! Too bad it’s not inheritable by literally anyone except for Sword/Lance/Axe Fliers. I’ll never understand the bias against ranged units. I love her design, but she’s my least favorite of the three I really want. I already have a lance flier project in mind, and Ingrid would really distract from that. 

Sylvain’s art is probably in the top 5 of “seasonal” art we’ve gotten yet. It’s just so good. Unfortunately, as expected, his stats are Not Great since he’s the demote. However, they’re at least workable with a little bit (read, a lot) of investment. I think I can snag at least two of him by spending orbs, so I’ll take that as a bonus.

Dorothea is my favorite of these three but they really did her dirty. Her art is super cute and she was always going to be a dancer, but I was really counting on her getting an alt in September on whatever Performing Arts banner they do next. Those designs are always stunning, and I’m a little mad they burnt Dorothea on this design instead of September’s. Her attack is actually workable -- too bad that’s not ever going to be her main stat! Her speed however....ugh. And her Res isn’t even that high. Her defense is nonexistent. I’m honestly confused. Dorothea is perhaps one of the most desired characters from 3H and they do...this to her. Tethys of all characters has better support capabilities and she’s a 3/4* unit. I’m sorry Dorothea, you deserved better. 

Finally, lol get fucked Lorenz. Your character sucks and so do your stats and design. WHY would you include Lorenz....he’s one of the most cloying out of the cast. Plus, IS continues its hatred of male red mage infantry. It’s laughable at this point. 

[dailydoseofcolor]

When it comes to refines, these are all incredibly worthy candidates. I’m glad they’re finally getting something — I’m just a tad selfish insomuch that I don’t particularly care. I have a +10/+10 Nowi that still sees major use, and I just don’t have the space to care about another infantry blue dragon. Sorry F!Corrin.

Sheena got promoted to 5* yeeeears ago when I foolishly thought I was going to try to make runs on arena when Armor Emblem was still king. What a joke that was. At this point, unless her refine is incredible, she’s likely to remain benched.

I got pitybroken by a +HP/-Spd Fallen Celica like, 8 months ago, and held onto her as Chill Attack fodder. The likelihood I’ll end up using her is low, but she was due for a refine badly, she really got left behind.

Finally, Berkut! I like Berkut a lot as a unit, but slow, bulky Cavalry units really don’t put in the work you expect them to. I’m also prepared for his refine to be solidly “meh.” I’m hoping otherwise.

All in all, my main complaint is that they’re not speeding up the refine process. God it’s so slow. I don’t understand why they think it’s okay to trickle out content like this, they’re really fucking us over. They should make more Resplendents and more refines every month. It would absolutely bring more people to the game (or back to the game). Sometimes I wonder what goes through their thick fucking skulls.

[dailydoseofcolor]

Got the three CYL4 characters I actually care about! Lysithea is a super strong red mage, but she’s not really anything special. I haven’t even spent my free summon yet!

Dimitri came home first with my first Ophelia (+HP/-Def) and a third Valentian Catria (+Spd/-Def). I already have Catria at +Atk/-HP and I might just merge, but that Bond 4 skill will be solid fodder. I feel like Ophelia is on her way out for AR Defense, but I still see her from time to time. Dimitri’s Def bane fucking sucks, so I might snag a Neutral one for merging or for PM1 videos for when I just need it.

Edelgard came next as I finished up the Forging Bonds tickets. The Attack boon sucks because it’s a superbane, but she still will have BASE 41 STRENGTH, enough to put her in the Top 15 of heroes, so it’s not as bad as it could be. I have a decent-sized rate right now, so I might try for a second Edelgard.

Then MY BOY was my Spark pull. I’m so pumped for his type class and weapon, I’ve wanted a flying bow user for a while now. I would love to try for another one, but I’m now under 200 orbs and I was thinking about diving in for more Geese. I’ll take a couple days break and decide.

Thoughts on who my free pull should be??

[dailydoseofcolor]

I really enjoy when this game decides it’s going to be incredibly kind to me. On the new Frontline Phalanx banners, I scored three free 5* heroes. From the one with Tibarn, Nailah, and Caineghis, I was able to get a free +Atk Ophelia, making my Ophelia now +1. From the banner with Leanne, Elincia, and Sanaki, I pulled on Red and snagged a free Igrene (sent to Combat Manual for eventual fodder) and a free Elincia (making mine +2). 

I’ve had an absolutely shitty week, and these goodies were a nice small pick-me-up. 

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Why did no one tell me how easy HM farming in Rival Domains is for people who have been on this game for a while? I always thought those people were nuts and had too much time on their hands. 

To be fair, I have too much time on my hands. 

But now that I’ve seen the light....hello free 6,000 feathers per unit, it’s lovely to meet you as well! 

[dailydoseofcolor]

I have a bone to pick with IS over the current slate of banners. NOT ONLY did they bring banners with Myrrh, Nephenee, Saber, and Mia around at a time when my orbs are at an all-time low, they ALSO decide to release some amazing new Sacred Stones characters. 

Just look at that beautiful bastard! He’s not even the demote?? The one time they decide to not continue the trend of male units being the demote. To be fair, it was clearly a toss-up between him and Lute, who is also adorable and will be our first 4* mage flier. I don’t know how I’m going to prioritize all of these things. 

Pulling on Myrrh’s banner hurt. I spent 100 orbs for my merge to erase her attack bane, and I took that as evidence to stop. I snagged an extra Nephenee on her one day banner. I think I need to try to up Mia’s merges while she’s here. But I would also love another Saber. I’ll wait for the banner to finally drop tomorrow before doing anything, but I’m seriously lacking orbs at the moment. Right when the majority of these units won’t be back as focuses for some time. 

Like the sea, I am salty. 

[dailydoseofcolor]

I got everyone’s favorite fuckboi philanderer on my free pull! The goal is at least one merge (hoping for +Spd) and then focusing on at least one Dorothea. The goal overall is a decently merged Sylvain and a +1 Dorothea and hopefully at least one Ingrid. Time to activate my luck capacitors...after I clear out my barracks of some dust that’s been collecting.

[dailydoseofcolor]

Courtesy of the dataminers over at Reddit: all of the weapon refines for this update. Some notes:

1) Setsuna’s refine is actually pretty good! It doesn’t increase her rank in terms of really good archers, but gives her fans something fun to play with.

2) Cecilia’s refine...oof. This one hurts. I was contemplating building a Cecilia because I was gifted a free 5* one when she was on a recent banner (Tempest Trials, I believe). But now it’s not worth it. I’ve seen some arguments for it being a good refine, but I’m pretty underwhelmed.

3) Legion’s refine is fucking SPICY. The oxygen left the room for all the other refines, because this is great. I’ve always been a fan of Legion’s weirdness, but he was never a priority. Even now, I have my +10 Ross and am heavily considering an Echidna as a member of a Speed Opening team with Close Call, but Legion just doesn’t compete, even with a decent for Gen 1 speed stat. I can’t justify building 3 infantry axe users. But his refine is so deeply unique. I’ll keep an eye on how people build him before I outright say no.

4) I think some dev hates Shiro. The refine isn’t *bad*, but it’s deeply uninspired. Yes, Lull skills built into weapons is usually good, but his has a positioning requirement, which is always going to bite you when you really need it. He shouldn’t be 5* locked, it’s an absolute joke that he is.

[dailydoseofcolor]

Insert the “it’s been 3,000 years” meme. Summer Robin was my very first 5* and it’s taken 3 YEARS to finally get a merge, and this was from the Compile feature. I finally removed her Atk bane thank Britney.

Now, the real question: why don’t they use the Limited Time Compile feature to give us 4* versions of some Gen 1 5* characters? Many of them have useless fodder, and the value of the fodder they give us is arguably higher. It would allow for an easy way to obtain merges for older units and IS gets brownie points. This isn’t hard, IS, stop being greedy.

[dailydoseofcolor]

So the dataminers over at Reddit just pulled out the units for the upcoming Hall of Forms:

Summer Innes

Winter Ephraim

Winter Eirika

Summer Tana

________________

....I’ll start with the good thing. Summer Innes!! Yes! I have been saving the Forma Souls for a pick I love and this for sure is it. I’m greatly looking forward to decking him out with skills. My current one is +Atk, but it’s hard to pass up the chance for some juicy fodder and to give one of my favorite 5* exclusives a few merges (coupled with the one from Compile).

Now for the neutral things. All of these units still have something to offer in terms of utility. Summer Innes being the least-so, given that he’s outclassed by Cherche and Mininerva and was directly powercrept by Spring Fir. W!Ephraim still packs a punch with Bold Fighter, and W!Eirika has some highly coveted support skills. Summer Tana’s speed can still keep up with investment, and red mage fliers are few and far between. These are some decent choices for people who don’t have access to some of these seasonals.

Now, for the thing I’m personally deeply disappointed about....where’s the Grail unit?!? They had SO many amazing Sacred Stones options to choose for the Grail slot. Apparently all previous Grail units have been Tempest Trial rewards, which makes sense, since IS doesn’t want to help people avoid spending an extra 500 grails to build GHB units (if you got all their previous units). So, sticking with TT rewards, that gave both Marisa and Joshua as options. Both of those would have been excellent choices for that slot. My assumption is that they’re both due for a refine soon, and they didn’t want to give people an option to boost these units without spending. I’m just really disappointed, as I was honestly counting on Joshua to give me a merge and some great skills.

Also, I know this was a long shot, but I’m also mad that Myrrh and Halloween L’Arachel aren’t options. But that was just wishful thinking. Either way, I’ll spend one of my Forma Souls on Summer Innes for sure, I’ll see what I snag for W!Ephraim before deciding.

[dailydoseofcolor]

Summon update!

So far, I’ve spent roughly 180 orbs and I was able to snag another 3 Sylvains (one 5* and two 4*). All were +Spd! So I I’m pleased so far with that.

Otherwise, I’ve gotten two pitybreakers. The Myrrh merge is amazing. I honestly thought that she wasn’t on Special Heroes banners after they dropped a number of the cast, guess I was wrong.

Ced is being used for his Dragonflowers and then foddered off for Pulse Smoke. He’s useless otherwise.

Unfortunately, still no Dorotheas. I took a break from summoning and I’ll get the Paralogue/Chain Challenge orbs and then start sniping again. At this point I’m just hoping for one. Let’s hope my luck holds out.