I’ve said before that the Radiant games are an unfortunate blank spot in my experience with Fire Emblem. When I found out beast units were finally on their way and that they would be from this particular universe, I was a little hesitant about whether I’d want them over some potential other options like Kaden or Yarne.
But then we saw what these beasts were packing, and my first reaction was:
Why are there so many different kinds of animal units out of this one Fire Emblem continent? Hawks, swans, ravens AND wolves seem a bit over the top.
Then my second reaction was:
Oh man, there’s some potential here.
Tibarn — Lord of the Air
- Hawk King Claw (Might = 14, Range = 1)
- Grants Attack +3. If foe’s Health = 100 percent and unit initiates combat, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack.
- At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies, or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise they revert). If unit transforms, they can move one extra space and grants Attack +2 (that turn only, does not stack).
- Will furthermore be referred to as ‘Beast transformation effect.’
- Draconic Aura (Cooldown = 3)
- Boosts damage by 30 percent of unit’s Attack.
- Sturdy Impact (A Skill)
- If unit initiates combat, grants Attack +6 and Defense +10 during combat and foe cannot make a follow-up attack.
- Chill Attack (B Skill)
- At start of turn, inflicts Attack -7 on foe on the enemy team with the highest Attack through its next action.
- Even Attack Wave (C Skill)
- At start of even-numbered turns, grants Attack +6 to unit and adjacent allies for one turn (bonus granted to unit even if no allies are adjacent).
Leanne — Forest’s Song
- Heron Wing (Might = 14, Range = 1)
- Grants Speed +3. At start of turn, restores 7 Health to allies within two spaces of unit. Beast transformation effect applies.
- Sing (Range = 1)
- Grants another action to target ally.
- Mirror Stance (A Skill)
- If foe initiates combat, grants Attack and Resistance +4 during combat.
- Flier Formation (B Skill)
- Unit can move to a space adjacent to a flying ally within two spaces.
- Hone Beasts (C Skill)
- At start of turn, grants Attack and Speed +6 to adjacent beast allies for one turn.
Reyson — White Prince
- Heron Wing (Might = 14, Range = 1)
- Grants Speed +3. At start of turn, restores 7 Health to allies within two spaces of unit. Beast transformation effect applies.
- Sing (Range = 1)
- Grants another action to target ally.
- Steady Posture (A Skill)
- If foe initiates combat, grants Speed and Defense +4 during combat.
- Fortify Beasts (C Skill)
- At start of turn, grants Defense and Resistance +6 to adjacent beast allies for one turn.
Nailah — Unflinching Eye
- Wolf Queen Fang (Might = 14, Range = 1)
- Accelerates Special Attack trigger (cooldown -1). During combat, boosts unit’s Attack and Speed by the number of allies within two spaces x2 (max of +6 to each stat). Beast transformation effect applies, and unit deals +10 damage when Special Attack triggers.
- Moonbow (Cooldown = 2)
- Treats foe’s Defense and Resistance as if reduced by 30 percent during combat.
- Distant Counter (A Skill)
- Unit can counterattack regardless of foe’s range.
- Null C-Disrupt (B Skill)
- Neutralizes status effects and disables skills that prevent counterattacks during combat.
- Glare (C Skill)
- After combat, if unit attacked, inflicts status on target and foes within one space of target restricting movement to one space through their next actions.
So fun fact, writing out the skills for these units took nearly 500 words. Beasts take up a lot of god damn text, apparently.
That said, I would say all that text was very worth it for how broken some of these units look. Namely Tibarn and Nailah.
The two swans are interesting in that we’re leading with singing units for our introduction to beasts, as well as the fact that they have the exact same weapon in two different colors — which I think is a first?
But Tibarn hits like a truck with all of his attack, and that new Attack/Defense buff from Sturdy Impact is a crazy power creep.
Then Nailah basically always triggers Moonbow from any distance while neutering the opponent’s skills and movement range. It’s crazy to me that we finally have a non-Hector unit with Distant Counter and she appears just as broken.
So yeah. I’m definitely focusing more on red and blue stones in this banner.
… It’s just too bad all of the holiday banners sapped my orb supply.
Luckily the new run of Forging Bonds is giving out one free summon ticket for each character.
Sure that’s a downgrade from the seven we’ve gotten out of daily rewards in the past, but we’ve got a whole new chapter in Book III to help bolster that orb supply.
This new story chapter starts by setting the scene for what I imagine we’ll see for a while:
King Gustav tells his son to avoid Hel at all costs, as she is literally death and no matter how strong one becomes they cannot help but succumb to death.
He talks about how he had prior experience fighting Hel years ago, which left him with his battle scar.
… I’ll admit, I didn’t see the scar until he brought it up, but now that I know the lines on his face aren’t just wrinkles and crow’s nests, I understand the danger.
After the brief introduction, business goes about as usual. Anna leads the Order of Heroes into battle and there’s a good four matches without any serious exposition.
The most interesting bit of dialogue we get is from Reyson:
What’s interesting about this is Princess Veronica is the one who forges contracts with units, but apparently it’s the Askran ancestor who does so for Hel.
Maybe that’s just interesting to me?
When the next map begins, King Gustav’s advice goes right out the window as it turns out Hel is there. Her daughter, Eir, provides a bit of foreshadowing.
Once the battle commences, Hel is surprisingly easy to kill (on the lower difficulties where she has an Iron Axe, anyway). But for story reasons her defeat turns out to be a subterfuge.
She reappears and brings context to the name of the chapter by cursing Alfonse to die in nine days. Why she couldn’t just take him right away with her scythe as she does in the opening cinematic is beyond me…
But it does open up this philosophy dialogue:
So you know. Sometimes we have to be poetic rather than sensible.
Let’s just hope the next bit of story comes within nine days so the prince doesn’t die.
Keen viewers out there will know that a few days ago I promised this would be coming out yesterday. That’s because I can’t read dates, apparently!
The banner is out now however, so here we are. That means you should expect a second post about my time at Alyson’s mini band banquet later tonight.
Until then, let me know what you think about the brand new beast units in Fire Emblem Heroes, and which beasts you want to see come out next!
Also, just for curiosity sake, let me know what you think about how inefficient Hel was with that ‘nine day curse’ thing. Like she is literally death get a little more realistic, lady.
Work in Progress 
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