Obviously my blog posting schedule has been a little out of whack the last couple of days. Between exams and essays — one of which I was up from 7:00 p.m. to about 1:30 a.m. this morning finishing — I haven’t had too much time to write.
But considering I have now officially turned in that essay, bookending my week from hell, it’s time to relax a bit.
What better way to relax than talking about some spooky new Halloween units in Fire Emblem Heroes?
At least one in particular is especially beloved in my eyes. So I’m going to be trying something different with this new hero banner post by talking about the characters in order of how much I like them. That way I don’t have to waste a lot of time prattling on about “oh I want this guy over them because they’re great.”
That said, I’ve prattled on enough as is. Time for some spooks.
Myrrh — Spooky Monster
Skill Set:
- Spirit Breath (Might = 16, Range = 1)
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- Grants Defense +3. If unit initiates combat and unit’s Defense ≥ foe’s Defense +5, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack. If foe’s range = 2, calculates damage using the lower of the foe’s Defense or Resistance.
- Bonfire (Cooldown = 3)
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- Boosts damage by 50 percent of unit’s Defense.
- Defense/Resistance 2 (A Skill)
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- Grants Defense and Resistance +2.
- Vengeful Fighter (B Skill)
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- If unit’s Health ≥ 50 percent and foe initiates combat, grants Special Attack cooldown count +1 per unit’s attack, and unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack.
- Armor March (C Skill)
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- At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to an armored ally, unit and adjacent armored allies can move one extra space.
Analysis:
Myrrh is my baby from Sacred Stones and I love her. That would have inherently put her at the top of this list today, but luckily she also happens to appear god damn broken.
An armored dragon completing our color trifecta alongside male Grima and Legendary Tiki (who unfortunately alluded me), Myrrh keeps the defensive breath of her original form, just presumably boosted by the fact that she’s a heavy armor unit. Vengeful Fighter and Armor March also speak for themselves in terms of giving her power as an armored unit… With Defense and Resistance +2 kind of standing out as being really terrible.
That’s the first thing I’ll replace in a heartbeat if I get a Distant Counter fodder like Hector. But otherwise it’s hard to find anything to complain about here.
Especially since she’s so gosh darn cute:
Mia — Moonlit Witch
Skill Set:
- Witchy Wand (Might = 12, Range = 2)
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- After combat, if unit attacked, resets Special Attack cooldown of target and foes within two spaces of target, and inflicts the following status those units through their next actions: “Inflicts Special Attack cooldown charge -1 per attack during combat (only highest value applied, does not stack).” Skills that accelerate or slow Special Attack cooldown are still effective.
- Recover (Range = 1)
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- Restores Health = 50 percent of Attack +10 (minimum of 15).
- Heavenly Light (Cooldown = 2)
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- When healing an ally with a staff, restores 10 Health to all allies.
- Speed/Resistance Bond (A Skill)
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- If unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Speed and Resistance +5 during combat.
- Hone Fliers (C Skill)
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- At the start of the turn, grants Attack and Speed +6 to adjacent flying allies for one turn.
Analysis:
Mia isn’t a character who I personally care for like I do Myrrh, but she is the first flying healer in FEH.
So… Yeah. She gets a nice distinction from that. Even if I do think Nowi pulled off the witch-and-broomstick flying unit thing better last year.
In fact, probably my biggest problem with Mia here is that her weapon is really the only thing that helps her stand out wildly from Nowi last year. Because by god does she have a long-winded, complicated weapon. Guess we should thank Flora and Brave Veronica for getting us here.
Essentially, that wand of hers completely nullifies the opposing team’s Special Attacks. If you’re about to proc a Moonbow, it’s gone when Mia hits you. As is the attacks of everyone around that Moonbow user. After that, if I’m reading it right, it becomes harder to build up that Special Attack charge post-nullification. That’s a really powerful supportive niche to fill.
Niles — Forbidden Tease
Skill Set:
- Devilish Bow (Might = 12, Range = 2)
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- Effective against flying foes. Inflicts Special Attack cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack during combat (only highest value applied, does not stack).
- Smite (Range = 1)
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- Pushes target ally two spaces away.
- Swift Sparrow (A Skill)
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- If unit initiates combat, grants Attack and Speed +4 during combat.
- Attack/Speed Link (B Skill)
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- If a Movement Assist skill is used by unit or targets unit, grants Attack and Speed +6 to unit and target ally or vice versa for one turn.
- Fortify Armor (C Skill)
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- At the start of the turn, grants Defense and Resistance +6 to adjacent armored allies for one turn.
Analysis:
Frankly, Niles makes sense as a unit to give a Halloween variant. More than Kagero, in my opinion — but we’ll get there.
I actually love the way Niles looks like he just haphazardly threw his outfit together with some plastic toys. It’s a great ensemble.
Beyond just his looks, Niles also stands out in that he’s an armored archer who builds up a significant amount of Attack and Speed to power up that bow, which is our second blue colored bow in the game. Interestingly enough, that bow also focuses on Special Attack cooldown. So I guess that’s our theme this year, like with panic-enducing weapons last year.
Kagero — Beverage Ninja
Skill Set:
- Bottled Juice (Might = 12, Range = 2)
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- Inflicts Special Attack cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack during combat (only highest value applied, does not stack). After combat, if unit attacked, inflicts Defense and Resistance -7 on target and foes within two spaces of target through their next actions.
- Draconic Aura (Cooldown = 3)
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- Boosts damage by 30 percent of unit’s Attack.
- Mirror Strike (A Skill)
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- If unit initiates combat, grants Attack and Resistance +4 during combat.
- Bold Fighter (B Skill)
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- If unit initiates combat, grants Special Attack cooldown charge +1 per unit’s attack, and unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack.
- Even Attack Wave (C Skill)
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- At start of even-numbered turns, grants Attack +6 to unit and adjacent allies for one turn (bonus granted even if no allies are adjacent).
Analysis:
Honestly… I have next to nothing to say about Kagero. Everything about her feels rather… Average.
Like it was jarring when Kagero showed up in a bunny outfit during the Spring banner. But the maid outfit is a bit low-key, and especially strange with her wielding “soda bottles.”
Which, by the way, I imagine must be beer in the Japanese version, right? Probably.
Past that lukewarm internal debate, she’s just rather average all-in-all. Sorry Kagero, but for now I’m going to pass.
For a banner labeled “The Land’s Bounty,” I have not exactly seen a lot of bountiful harvests thus far.
Ironically enough a lot of Niles, though. Not the Niles I’m looking for, but clearly he’s on my radar in some capacity.
To be fair I’m not exactly spending a lot of orbs on the banner yet. After being burned so bad by Legendary Tiki, I’ve spent a fair amount of time rebuilding my storehouse. So I’m trying to be a bit more frugal with my orb use for now — at least until the next Tempest Trials comes around.
But that said. Orbs. Paralogue story. Cliché transition.
Let’s do it!
I do so love the aesthetic of the Harvest Festival maps. Especially this year where the generic unit design took inspiration from the recent Summer banners by having them hold weapons from last year’s celebration.
That’s just a nice touch no matter how you slice it.
Now unfortunately the actual story here is sparse and somewhat uninteresting, so I’m going to blow through it right quick.
We begin with Anna dropping this little piece of information on us:
I’m not entirely sure how this royal army is constantly running out of money… But I do appreciate the specific detail used here. Makes for some decent recurring comedy.
As does probably the only stand-out character detail in this Paralogue outside of Myrrh being the cutest thing on the planet. Dorcas, despite being the future Tempest Trials reward that we don’t have access to now, has a great bit with Niles.
After all we know Niles is a foul-mouthed scoundrel who wants nothing more than torment. Dorcas ain’t having none of it, and constantly walks away from the conversation.
It’s just funny, in my opinion.
In fact you can see a bit of the interaction during the character’s gathering together at the end:
After beating them all out and winning the Triwizard Tournament or whatever, the Order of Heroes gets a grand prize of candy and vegetables.
Hooray.
There’s a moment where Anna is so touched by the gesture that she sets out a plan to become self-sustaining and help the world.
Except that quickly devolves back into her wanting to sell that surplus for a profit.
Much laughs ensue. And no real progress was observed.
Amen.
In conclusion, Halloween is great and you all are great for reading this far.
How do you feel about the special holiday units this year? Which character truly is the spookiest?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Because frankly I just feel like wrapping this one up quick.
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