Fire Emblem Heroes: Like Fire Emblem But It's Chibi And It Lives In Your Phone

[commandercool]

Yes, much of the recent criticism of it is picky whining to an absurd degree. That's not to say it isn't flawed, it isn't perfect obviously, but most of the reasoning you'll get for why it's Worst Game Evar is total nonsense. Fates is very good. It's got some ridiculous stuff and bad ideas in it, but I put like 350+ hours into it and I'm glad I did.

You can start with Conquest, and in fact I recommend it. Conquest *is* Fates as far as I'm concerned, it's an entirely complete and satisfying experience unlike the other games. Birthright is insultingly easy unless you go way out of your way to give yourself a challenge,and Revelation (which isn't intended to be played first anyway) is a pacing quagmire with very uneven difficulty.

So I definitely recommend picking up Conquest, and if you enjoy it then branching out into the other titles is probably worth your time. Just be warned that what people say about the difficulty is true. Conquest is a very hard game. It's more of a fair difficulty than some of the stuff in Awakening, but it's ultimately a much tougher game.

[OverlordChirei]

Hmm. Not directly related to the mobage, but is FE Fates worth getting into? I've heard mixed reviews on it (granted, a lot of negativity I hear is from people who prefer the older games, which I couldn't get into as well). And if so, does the order in which you play them matter? I hear you're supposed to play Birthright first, but Conquest has always looked more interesting to me.

My brother gave me his Special Edition to play with (don't try looking for this, it was limited print and probably well over 150-200 dollars rn) which has all three routes, and I'd say Fates felt like a giant experiment to IS. There are definitely some interesting things they tried to do, and some interesting in a bad way. I would definitely give it a try. I went BR>CQ>RV all on Hard/Classic and i'd say my experience came out mostly enjoyable. You can turn down the difficulty at any time if the bullshit parts get to be a bit much.

CQ is very close to the older games in playstyle, unless you are like some people I know who just bought dlc to cheat their way through the limitations. I would say on Hard and up that it is absolutely not for the faint of heart. Some have even said that this is one of the hardest if not the hardest entry in the series, assuming you use no dlc of course. Chapter 10 is the make-or-break point, and it gets worse from there in good and bad ways.

That's nice uh don't touch any of my stuff please.

your phone and computer are now encased in ice and have their warranties voided

[Conqueror]

The story for Fates leaves something to be desired but the gameplay seems decent.

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Where is my Tellius banner?

[commandercool]

The story of every Fire Emblem game is more of a mess than Fire Emblem fanboy is probably going to be willing to admit, but Fates is messier thsn most.

The real draw, fluff-wise, is always the characters, and Fates is a home run there. Although when I say "Fates" I again really mean Conquest, since the Birthright cast is mostly unusually weak in my opinion.

[OverlordChirei]

I should probably also mention that choosing whether you are a guy or a girl at the start matters more than ever, as it will determine who your "bro" unit is at the beginning of the game. There are notable differences between them both.

The story of every Fire Emblem game is more of a mess than Fire Emblem fanboy is probably going to be willing to admit, but Fates is messier thsn most.

They all definitely have holes yeah, Fates is just standout weird in some aspects like several gameplay/story disconnects and the continent not even having a name. Even the FEH continent has one...

[The Greatest Dog]

So THIS is Effie. What a bloody fight.

[commandercool]

Yeah, Effie is a fucking nightmare if you're not ready for her.

In my Conquest lunatic run I had her riding her flying son around for a huge movement and stat boost. An Effie who can move 8-9 squares over water and mountains is like unto a god.😆

[The Greatest Dog]

I had a Julia to fight her, until some prick with a Brave Sword and Wings of Mercy used MRobin as a hell portal.

Sheeshus. Check your foes' abilities, seriously.

[OverlordChirei]

It should be noted that Effie is a strange outlier for armored units in her source game, having a spd cap modifier of +1, which can actually make her kind of fast if you make her a fast class.

[Mеа]

I hear you're supposed to play Birthright first, but Conquest has always looked more interesting to me.

Nohr siblings > Hoshido siblings
True challenge > Scrub league

Nohr master race forever


But I've yet to get to birthright so. Not that I have any reason to think I'm mistaken.


e: is anyone using a healer in their teams? I have an Elise that's sitting at an excess of >700 sp that I'd like to find some use for.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

I'm actually kind of wondering if making a sort of battle cleric is viable. Can they learn offensive specials? Pick a healer with decent defensive stats, slap their strongest (not necessarily most useful) offensive spell on them, while still letting them have Rehabilitate or something, and give them passives that assist in battle viability. Seems like they could pair well with a tank-ish character?

And ah, I see. I may pick up Birthright first-- it honestly seems like the less exciting one and since I want to play all of Fates, going back to it after the challenge and higher interest factor of Conquest may feel unsatisfactory.

[OverlordChirei]

I'm actually kind of wondering if making a sort of battle cleric is viable. Can they learn offensive specials? Pick a healer with decent defensive stats, slap their strongest (not necessarily most useful) offensive spell on them, while still letting them have Rehabilitate or something, and give them passives that assist in battle viability. Seems like they could pair well with a tank-ish character?

I think you can but remember clerics do half damage or something for some arbitrary reason

And ah, I see. I may pick up Birthright first-- it honestly seems like the less exciting one and since I want to play all of Fates, going back to it after the challenge and higher interest factor of Conquest may feel unsatisfactory.

If nothing else, it will get you used to all of the nuances of Fates if Awakening was your previous experience, and then you should be good to go for Conquest.

[commandercool]

But I've yet to get to birthright so. Not that I have any reason to think I'm mistaken.

Weren't you working on a lunatic run at one time?  How's that going? Any progress?

e: is anyone using a healer in their teams? I have an Elise that's sitting at an excess of >700 sp that I'd like to find some use for.

I have used Serra at times. Healers are handy for sure. Especially since they can make great bait to distract enemies from finishing off other weakened characters who they could otherwise kill. Not sure exactly how the AI works there, but I've seen enemies make dumb choices when presented with the opportunity to attack (not even necessarily kill) a healer.

I'm actually kind of wondering if making a sort of battle cleric is viable. Can they learn offensive specials? Pick a healer with decent defensive stats, slap their strongest (not necessarily most useful) offensive spell on them, while still letting them have Rehabilitate or something, and give them passives that assist in battle viability. Seems like they could pair well with a tank-ish character?

Hmm, that's a good question actually. I could see that really working if they can use offensive skills. Might be a good place to use Martyr? Let me know if you find anything out.

I think you can but remember clerics do half damage or something for some arbitrary reason

I honestly don't think it's arbitrary, it makes sense given how arena score calculation works. Design didn't want them hitting very hard, but couldn't give them very low strength because it would make them too shitty in PVP.

[Failure McFailFace]

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HELL YEAH BRING YOUR AZAMAS

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This one isn't ideal, but it'll do for now.

[commandercool]

Can healers learn Wary Fighter? Because it seems like a Martyr user with Wary Fighter might be actually amazing. Especially if you have a buddy or two with Fury to make sure you have something to heal.

[Failure McFailFace]

Can healers learn Wary Fighter? Because it seems like a Martyr user with Wary Fighter might be actually amazing. Especially if you have a buddy or two with Fury to make sure you have something to heal.

nope

[MatsuriSakuragi]

Tried inheriting an offensive special/offensive passive to Lissa, and it said I couldn't due to weapon limitations. How very sad. This is why I hope promotions/job class switches can be a thing. Give me Falcon Knight healer or War Cleric Lissa

[The Greatest Dog]

Ninian really has Fortify Dragon? Guess I can roll Tiki/Fae/FCorrin/Ninian for shenanigans.

[Hikarin]

Speaking of battle clerics, has anyone else tried Reciprocate on a bulky offensive unit? It's what I've been doing, and it's working well, since I can pass heals around from an actual healer, too.

[Mеа]

Woah guys reposition is legit awesome. It's like a combination of draw back, swap, and smite, all in one assist. Only you can decide which function you want it to serve in any situation. Maybe some teams would prefer smite over reposition, but for fliers I would say this is probably a straight upgrade. It does have the small risk where if you want to use it like smite, your reposition user has to move towards the enemy, but I think the benefits more than make up for it.
It's even funnier with fliers since you can attack over a mountain or river and then reposition them behind it so melee ground units can't even reach them. I thought about getting draw back just for this terrain manipulation but was weighing it with smite when I considered reposition instead. Two in one, really.

[commandercool]

Fuuuuuck I just had a perfect arena run with zero units lost but I goofed and brought some random team to one battle, so I only got 6/7 featured unit bonuses. Oh well, room for improvement I guess...

Edit: Okay, put Reposition on my Camilla, who formerly had Smite so I can directly compare the difference.

[7TC7]

Woah guys reposition is legit awesome. It's like a combination of draw back, swap, and smite, all in one assist. Only you can decide which function you want it to serve in any situation. Maybe some teams would prefer smite over reposition, but for fliers I would say this is probably a straight upgrade. It does have the small risk where if you want to use it like smite, your reposition user has to move towards the enemy, but I think the benefits more than make up for it.
It's even funnier with fliers since you can attack over a mountain or river and then reposition them behind it so melee ground units can't even reach them. I thought about getting draw back just for this terrain manipulation but was weighing it with smite when I considered reposition instead. Two in one, really.

I can vouch for this. I had Selena as one of my earliest units and i completely fell in love with Reposition right away. I have since then summoned 5 Barsts which I'll never use and am thinking hard who to give all of those Repositions to. My highest priority will probably be Eldigan, as he'd pretty much do the same things Selena did, just better because of more movement. Fliers do sound appealing, too.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

Is it just me, or is Ninian just really, really bad, dance aside? She's so weak and squishy and can't handle anything on her own. It makes leveling her up a nightmare.

I 4*'d my Subaki and inherited Quick Riposte 2 and Swap onto my MRobin. Hopefully once I get those learned, he'll be a Takumi-smashing machine.

I really wish I knew what inherits to give my units, but I honestly can never decide. Is there some kind of guide?

[Edible]

Ninian does seem to be a straight downgrade to Azura.  Maybe in the future where every team doesn't have a Lucina or Julia or both you can run a team of dragons to make full use of Fortify Dragons, but even then I'd rather use Goad Dragons or something.

Spoiler:

I still want to pull Ninian though.

[commandercool]

Is it just me, or is Ninian just really, really bad, dance aside? She's so weak and squishy and can't handle anything on her own. It makes leveling her up a nightmare.

Do you happen to know her BST? It'd be interesting to compare it to Azura and Nowi.

I 4*'d my Subaki and inherited Quick Riposte 2 and Swap onto my MRobin. Hopefully once I get those learned, he'll be a Takumi-smashing machine.

That's the exact setup I have, and... Yeah, that'll work. I considered Triangle Master but honestly as-is Robin can still take big chunks out of most popular non-Julia green units and I don't really want to lose that.

I really wish I knew what inherits to give my units, but I honestly can never decide. Is there some kind of guide?

I think so. Whatever the main database is has one. Unfortunately the game kind of discourages experimentation since SP is so hard to get.

[Edible]

Do you happen to know her BST? It'd be interesting to compare it to Azura and Nowi.

Azura and Ninian are both 149, but Ninian's stat spread is much worse - basically took Azura's decent ATK and moved it into HP.  Azura's a threat not only because of Sing, but because she can take out swordies with Sapphire Lance.  Oh, and she's not weak to Lucina/Marth/Chrom (Julia still wrecks her but that's another story).

Nowi has 163 which is the highest non-armor BST in the game.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

Azura's defenses are comparable with Ninian's, and her offensive capabilities are MUCH higher because of the Sapphire Lance. Her speed is high enough that she'll often double a lot of units too, so I slapped Astra on her and she can just wreck things on her own. I do want to give her something more defensive though, since Astra assumes she's taking some hits too to charge it up at any reliable pace-- or maybe Killer Lance+ for the faster charge, but that'll be a bitch to get the SP for. On the other hand, giving her Escape Route like Ninian could be useful too, just for the added utility.

The only reason I'm really using Ninian at all is because the Arena demands her over Azura for ranking purposes, but after this rotation I'll likely drop her.

Additional thought: Killer/Brave weapon + Sacred Cowl/Escutcheon would practically give constant defensive uptime for a squishier unit.

I really, REALLY wish this game were less stingy with the grindables. There's a lot of room for exploration with team building and inherits, but if you can't reliably farm crystals, SP, and ESPECIALLY those damned feathers, then it's just a huge, grindy slog (read: not fun). I want to feel like I'm making some kind of progress in the game, and to be very honest, the benefits of ranking up units and inherits, while nice, are situational and the benefits are marginal. It doesn't feel like my effort earned much reward (using PAD as a reference point, where high-effort evolutions feel much more rewarding by giving a much stronger unit who is noticeably better than its previous form, or changes how the character is played for that added variety).

I really want to like this game and in a sense I do because I keep playing it (but it's more because it's always in my pocket and I'm pretty much burned out on PAD for the rest of my life outside of the events that interest me), but there's so much room for improvement and so much potential this kind of game could have that it doesn't. It really just makes me want to play the actual Fire Emblem games instead of it, which may be part of the point-- the push in interest makes me want to buy the games instead.

[commandercool]

The grind HAS been slowly easing up since launch, for what that's worth. Feathers are easier to get, experience is easy to get, and SP is going to become (slightly) easier to get. I think the game is groping toward some kind of equilibrium. It might even find itself able to put out content more consistently once the new rulesets cone out. It's definitely very very flawed, but there's been a gradual slope of improvement that's pretty encouraging.

Along those lines, what do you guys think of inheritance? The refrain when it was announced was "This is going to break the game" but at this point I think it's added a lot of nice interaction. It's been a huge net positive so far in my opinion. Not THE fix the game needed necessarily, but definitely something positive.

[Edible]

It made strong units a bit stronger and weak units much more viable (with effort).  Overall a very nice change and allows people with favorite units to spice them up as they want.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

As far as inheritance goes, I'm less heated about it now that we know it has limitations, and I do like that it makes characters that were originally very difficult to play much more viable. I don't like that it makes the ridiculously strong even stronger, which just shifts the imbalance laterally toward power creep rather than balance (still looking at you, Takumi). I also don't like that I have to completely sacrifice a unit to give only a few of their abilities to another-- it'd be much better if you could just "equip" them to other units (like Assists in PAD)-- and it's flavorful too, since it's reminiscent of the way you can rescue/pair up units in Fire Emblem itself. I especially don't like that it hugely emphasizes more grinding by making it so that you have to pay 1.5x SP just to learn the skills, too (have fun getting those tier 3 passives lmao).

At the same time, the limitations do disappoint me a bit, too. I want to make offensive clerics, dammit!

I'm a bit less pissy about Takumi now that I have a beefed up MRobin, but it's extremely disappointing that he's more or less a necessity to counter Takumi, which sucks for people who weren't lucky enough to pull him. There still needs to be improvement that either brings other units up to Takumi's level, or brings him down to others.

Either that, or we get more anti-archer units as new characters are released. On that note, I wonder which characters will be added in the next update?