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Analysis by MackerelPye
Valbar - Open and Honest

3-4

Obtainable as a 3 - 4 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
173
HP 49
ATK 35
SPD 25
DEF 38
RES 26

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 20 10 5 7 8
Middle 21 11 6 8 9
High 22 12 7 9 10

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 46 32 22 35 23
Middle 49 35 25 38 26
High 52 38 29 42 29

IV Sets

Key stats worth increasing through nature if possible.
Complementary stats that matter, but not to the point of picking them over key stats for nature increase.
Relatively worthless stat that can safely be decreased through nature.
HPATKSPDDEFRES

Assets

  • +ATK: At a pretty gold base 35 Attack starting out, Valbar is always welcoming of an Asset here for great damage output no matter the build.
  • +DEF: A Defense Asset is extremely splendid for booting Valbar's already-superb base 38 further to a simply shining 42.

Neutral

  • RES: Valbar's Resistance is pretty decent and should ideally kept untouched rather than axed as a Flaw. It is also pretty good as Assets go; Valbar has quite respectable potential in the mixed tanking department due to his great stat placement everywhere else.
  • HP: Due to benefitting Valbar's overall bulk in both the magical and physical departments, Valbar's HP should be kept as pristine as it already is. However, weapon refinery (which adds 3-5 additional HP depending on the weapon refine) and the fact that Valbar's HP is simply so pronounced at base also makes it a pretty acceptable Flaw at zero merges.

Flaws

  • -SPD: Most Valbar builds, no matter the level of investment, simply aren't benefitting much from his Speed, especially considering his access to the Fighter skill line alleviates most follow-up needs. For odd builds where having more defensive Speed serves a purpose, however, his superasset in the stat makes it a prospect worth looking into.

Skill Sets

The Priestess's Shield (Enemy Phase Mixed Tank)

Build by
Recommended
Slaying Lance+ (+Res)
Alternate: Barrier Lance+ (+Res)
A Distant Counter
Alternate: Fort. Def/Res 3
Swap
Alternate: Pivot
B Special Fighter 3
Alternate: Vengeful Fighter 3
Aether
Alternate: Sol
C Atk Smoke 3
IVsSQuick Riposte 3
Alternate: Close Def 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +RES or +DEF or +ATK / -SPD

  • For setups focused on improving Valbar's magical resilience significantly, a Resistance Asset should be taken above all else. Otherwise, Attack and Defense are pretty great conventional choices for improve Valbar's offensive presence and physical bulk respectively.

Weapon: Slaying Lance+ (+Res) / Barrier Lance+(+Res) / Vanguard+ (+Def) / Slaying Spear+ (+Res) / Casa Blanca+ (+Res)

  • Slaying Lance's permanent cooldown reduction of -1 is heavily worth considering as it makes single-round activation generally easier across most Specials.
  • Barrier Lance is a solid option to directly improve on magical bulk; with Resistance refinery, Valbar can potentially start off with a shining effective additional 11 Resistance.
  • Vanguard is the Defense counterpart to Barrier Lance, and thus can directly and significantly improve Valbar's physical durability if so desired.
  • Slaying Spear boasts armor effectiveness and is generally ideal for high-investment environments if you require good armor checks and counters.
  • Casa Blanca is a mostly Aether Raids-centric option that helps Valbar take on a mob of bonus-boosted ranged enemies significantly better.
  • Any weapons in this build's employ should be Resistance or Defense refined depending on your desired balance between the two defenses.

Assist: Swap / Pivot / Flexible

  • Swap and Pivot are the usual recommendations on armors due to their sparse movement options, but the Assist slow is otherwise dependent on player preferences.

Special: Aether / Sol / Ignis / Bonfire

  • Vengeful Fighter, Special Fighter, and Quick Riposte all depend on HP thresholds to properly work. Sustaining Specials thus take center stage; Aether's normally too-long cooldown benefits from Special acceleration offered by the Fighter skills, whereas Sol focuses exclusively on healing in a short amount of time.
  • Ignis and Bonfire are better for shorter-winded matches  

Passive A: Distant Counter / Fort. Def/Res / Atk/Res Bond / Mirror Stance / Bracing Stance

  • Distant Counter is the ultimate A-slot skill, allowing Valbar to counterattack the magic attacks this build is designed to in the first place.
  • Fort. Def/Res highly increases Valbar's defenses at a mere cost of 2 Attack, which helps him to win out longer-winded matches from a stat-based standpoint.
  •  Atk/Res Bond and Mirror Stance are cheaper alternatives that boost both Attack and Resistance, improving Valbar's magical bulk and offensive presence at once.
  • Inheriting Barrier Lance from Conrad also means Valbar can inherit Bracing Stance 2, an essentially budget version of Fort. Def/Res, at the same time.

Passive B: Special Fighter / Vengeful Fighter

  • Special Fighter's powerful Special manipulation is its main draw over Vengeful Fighter. In addition to providing Valbar Special acceleration on both his own attacks and the enemy's (basically, the Breath effect), it simultaneously inflicts deceleration on the foe themselves. Thus, Valbar can win out most Special races while stalling out his foes effectively.
  • Vengeful Fighter is generally less effective in terms of Special acceleration, as it only provides this on Valbar's attacks while not hindering the enemy's Specials at all. However, it does not require Valbar to equip Quick Riposte as a Sacred Seal, as it already provides a follow-up attack in enemy phase itself. This also helps if Quick Riposte is a popular, fought-over Seal in your barracks.

Passive C: Atk Smoke / Flexible

  • Atk Smoke is easy to inherit and further fortifies Valbar's defensive capabilities by debuffing the Attack of surrounding enemies (respective to his target) by a steep -7. This naturally aids in mob scenerios, enabling Valbar to tank multiple foes in subsequent battles.
  • The C slot is otherwise flexible depending on what role Valbar is playing on your team.

Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Close Def / Distant Def / Atk/Res Bond / Def/Res Bond / Flexible

  • Quick Riposte is pretty much a requirement with any Special Fighter setups, as Valbar is normally too slow to make his own follow-up attacks on his own otherwise.
  • Other defensive seals of choice are fair game if Vengeful Fighter is used, or the player simply isn't concerned with achieving follow-ups with Special Fighter. Close Def, for instance, fortifies Valbar's tankiness against melee and ranged foes respectively. A Bond skill of choice is also easy to activate while improving two chosen stats at once; Atk/Res Bond, for example, simultaneously improves Valbar's non-Special damage and his magical resilience.

Valbar the Helpful (Wary Fighter / Arena Support)

Build by
Wagasa+ (+Def)
Alternate: Reprisal Lance+ (+Def)
A Steady Stance (3 or 4)
Alternate: Warding Stance (3 or 4)
Rally Spd/Res+
Alternate: Rally Spd/Res
B Wary Fighter 3
Aether
Alternate: Blue Flame
C Panic Ploy 3
Alternate: Threat. Atk/Spd 3
IVsSChill Atk 3
Alternate: Panic Ploy 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF or +RES / -SPD

  • At high-investment, Valbar can basically choose whichever Asset suits your team needs, though Attack and Defense make sure his physical properties are still top-notch against the majority of also-highly-invested Arena threats. A Resistance Asset improves Valbar's magical resilience, which is useful especially in slower matchups against dragon enemies such as Halloween Myrrh and Legendary Tiki.

Weapon: Wagasa+ (+Def) / Reprisal Lance+ (+Def) / Barrier Lance+ (+Res) / Vanguard+ (+Def) / Slaying Spear+ (+Eff)

  • Wagasa is both accessible and distinguished for its great supportive effect: inflicting a Defense debuff of -7 on an enemy with the highest Defense. This serves to improve the damage output of his teammates as well as himself for basically free.
  • Reprisal Lance's provided 6 Attack in enemy phase helps Valbar not be a sitting duck against high Defense enemies. In high-scoring environments, this is a common scenario especially if the bonus unit cannot yet KO certain enemies on their own. While Wagasa has a similar end goal in its Defense debuff, it only affects one enemy at a time.
  • Either Vanguard or Barrier Lance improves Valbar's stalling potential thanks to their large respective defensive buff in enemy phase, as well as extra HP and defensive stat padding when weapon refinery is taken.
  • To match up well against particularly difficult armored enemies, Slaying Spear's effectiveness against such foes is extremely helpful.
  • Other honorable mentions of choice include First Bite (to provide conditional Defense/Resistance bonuses), Harmonic Lance (improved Special damage), and Slaying Lance (improved Special activation frequency).

Assist: Rally Spd/Res+ / Any high-scoring Assist skill / Flexible

  • For Arena scoring and supportive purposes, a 400 SP (or 300 SP on a budget) Assist skill should be taken. Skills in this category include dual Rallies, Rally Up+'s, Harsh Command+, and more.

Special: Aether / Blue Flame / Ruptured Sky

  • Aether is the most accessible 500 SP skill—which translates to better Arena scoring—as it is available from any Chrom. Its high cooldown also means that accidental kills are less frequent as the bonus unit is usually the one supposed to finish off enemies.
  • If you need practical activation timing and maximal Arena scoring in one package, Blue Flame and Ruptured Sky are up for consideration. The former rewards huge damage output when adjacent to allies, and the latter provides usually smaller burst damage at lower cooldown. Native users of these skills also usually offer good A slot skills as optimal inheritance options.

Passive A: Steady Stance (3 or 4) / Warding Stance 4 / Distant Counter / Atk/Def Bond / Any dual Stance skill / Any Bond skill

  • Warding Stance or Steady Stance further amplifies Valbar's chosen defensive stat by a large amount, and the Guard effect provided by their fourth-tier versions is extra helpful in protecting against deadly enemy Specials.
  • Distant Counter opens counterattacks against ranged foes, helping him effectively chip at enemy tome, dagger, and bow units.
  • Atk/Def Bond can be inherited alongside Blue Flame from any Owain and further supports Valbar's already-solid Attack and Defense stats with the easy adjacency condition.
  • Any alternative Bond skill and their Stance equivalent can be taken as a budget option.

Passive B: Wary Fighter

  • Wary Fighter limits both Valbar and his foe to only one attack per round, assuming Valbar himself stays above 50% health. This helps in preventing accidental non-bonus kills, as well as aid in chipping foes and tanking enemy attacks for a reasonable period.  

Passive C: Panic Ploy / Threat. Atk/Spd / Drive Spd / Flexible

  • Panic Ploy is a perfectly good supportive C slot skill thanks to Valbar's abounding HP after weapon refinery and merges.
  • Threat. Atk/Spd is an especially potent skill when used with Wary Fighter, as many enemies will be hard-pressed to one-round KO Valbar and will likely be left to suffer this skill's debuffs.
  • Other C slot skills can be taken depending on your team preferences and access to certain skills.

Sacred Seal: Chill Atk / Chill Spd / Panic Ploy / Flexible

  • In addition to the Chill Def effect from Wagasa, other Chill seals as Sacred Seal choices can be taken for further passive debuff support.
  • Panic Ploy can be taken as a Sacred Seal if not used in the C slot—having Panic in one form or another is recommended as enemy Defense foes are likely to buff each other.
  • Like the C slot, the Sacred Seal slot is open for personal preferences and team needs.

The Third in the Bloodline (Bold Fighter)

Build by
Slaying Lance+ (+Def)
Alternate: Slaying Spear+ (+Def)
A Death Blow (3 or 4)
Alternate: Atk/Def Solo 3
Swap
Alternate: Pivot
B Bold Fighter 3
Bonfire
Alternate: Ignis
C Armor March 3
IVsSSturdy Blow 2
Alternate: Quick Riposte 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD or -RES

  • A build focused on laying on the hurt naturally prefers an Asset in Attack and nothing else.

Weapon: Slaying Lance+ (+Def) / Slaying Spear+ (+Res) / Brave Lance+

  • Together with Bold Fighter, Slaying Lance improves the activation timing of any Special with 3-5 cooldown. In particular, Galeforce and Bonfire can activate regardless of the opponent counterattacking, while Ignis activates more frequently.
  • Slaying Spear eradicates the majority of non-Green armors (and even then, quite a few of those), which is helped further by Bold Fighter guaranteeing a follow-up attack. This consequently gives Valbar nice pickup value in high-scoring Arena and Arena Assault settings where armored enemies are aplenty.
  • Valbar's native Brave Lance is also a good choice starting out; it deals great blitz damage thanks to two hits being built into one attack. Since Bold Fighter converts this into a quadruple attack, Valbar's Specials also have a better chance of activating in one go.  
  • All refinable lances should be Defense refined to further improve Ignis/Bonfire's burst damage as well as Valbar's ability to take physical punishment.

Assist: Swap / Pivot / Flexible

Special: Bonfire / Ignis / Galeforce

  • Bonfire is a great general purpose Special as it is scaled off of Valbar's awesome Defense and typically fires off in a single round. When taken with Slaying Lance, it can activate regardless of enemy counterattack.
  • Ignis scales better than Bonfire at a whopping 80% of Valbar's Defense, but its longer cooldown of 4 means Slaying Lance or Brave Lance is pretty much required.
  • Galeforce has a great chance of activating in a single round thanks to the cooldown acceleration of Bold Fighter, and using it gives Valbar an additional action of fighting another opponent, taking down his previous surviving target, or retreating out of enemy territory.

Passive A: Death Blow (3 or 4) / Atk/Def Solo / Fierce Breath / Steady Breath

  • Death Blow is chosen primarily for its accessibility, simplicity, and effectiveness; not many can't say no to a terrific +6 or +8 Attack especially with a skill that enables free follow-up attacks.
  • Atk/Def Solo is an alternative if a dual-phase setup is chosen. Unlike Death Blow, its namesake stats are boosted regardless of player or enemy initiation; rather, all it asks is Valbar not be adjacent to his allies. While this condition is easy enough to fulfill, keep in mind that there are scenarios where Valbar can't help but hustle next to teammates. Even without the Solo boosts, however, he is still relatively competent enough.  
  • Fierce or Steady Breath works exclusively in enemy phase; therefore, at the slight cost of Valbar's player phase performance (in which he still performs pretty well thanks to Bold Fighter), Valbar performs excellently in both phases as Fierce Breath increases the frequency of his Special activations in enemy phase. Notably, Slaying Lance and a Breath skill together allow Bonfire to proc instantly on any enemy phase counterattack.

Passive B: Bold Fighter

  • Bold Fighter granting a free guaranteed follow-up attack (assuming he is not up against enemies with Null Follow-Up or variations of that) and cooldown acceleration on each of Valbar's hits makes it the best option bar none for an offensive build.

Passive C: Armor March / Flexible

  • Armor March gives Valbar higher reach on opponents he otherwise can't initiate against due to his poor armored movement, and also offers team support to fellow armored units on the same team. It is especially recommended with Galeforce to further expand Valbar's movement options.

Sacred Seal: Sturdy Blow / Quick Riposte / Atk +3

  • Straight Attack-boosting seals, especially Sturdy Blow (or Atk +3 if that's not available), further improve Valbar's player phase damage. The extra 4 in-combat Defense from Sturdy Blow also makes initiations safer and makes Ignis or Bonfire slightly stronger.
  • Quick Riposte makes Valbar functional in both phases, as he can achieve a follow-up attack in enemy phase as well (in combination with Bold Fighter's player phase benefits). Note that Quick Riposte's usage is limited thanks to the 70% HP threshold.

Introduction

Quite contrary to his odd but flashy inclusion on Fire Emblem Gaiden's original cover art, Valbar makes little effort to make himself stand out—but he frankly doesn't have to. As a new armored entry to grace the 3-4 star rarity pool since the launch of Heroes, the Open and Honest knight can be seen as an updated hybrid version of Effie and Gwendolyn before him. Specifically, what amounts to absolutely no surprise from Valbar's archetype at all is his outstanding values in his HP, Defense, and Attack balanced out by his rather acceptable (by free-to-play armor standards) Speed and Resistance.

Valbar consequently shares much of his strengths and weaknesses to his prior peers. Great mixed tanking potential, a colorful variety of lances to use, access to the Fighter line, fantastic scoring potential (thanks to his base stat total), and pretty groovy mergeability ensure Valbar is always a good choice for general competitive use. On the other side of the coin, the usual armor setbacks—including his lame-by-default movement and an increasing number of units with armorslaying weapons—will certainly create a few inopportune moments.

At the end of the day, Valbar is as orthodox and conventional as far as slow blue armored units are concerned; not that this doesn't stop both his archetypes' and personal strengths from showing through at all when given the chance.

Strengths

Armor Perks

As with others in his movement class, Valbar is cossetted with a variety of combat benefits. In particular, access to the Fighter skill line gives him a nice degree of flexibility in terms of workable builds. Additionally, a high base stat total of 173 not only gives him nice inherent scoring potential in Coliseum modes, but also presents a lot of room to work with in terms of actual stat distribution.

Solid Physical Assets

If you're already familiar with Brave Hector and Effie, Valbar's statline is familiar but reliable and adaptable. A base Attack of 35 makes Valbar's damage output solid across most builds and situations, and his naturally massive 49 HP and 38 Def allow him to take quite the amount of physical punishment.

Decent Magical Bulk

Valbar's great physicals come at the cost of his Speed and Resistance, though his base 26 Resistance in particular opens itself up to mixed tanking or dedicated investment or both.

Great Weapon Selection

From Casa Blanca, Slaying Lance, Berkut's Lance, Vanguard, Slaying Spear, and his own native Brave Lance, Valbar isn't hurting at all in the armory department. Most existing lances at this time of writing suit any need of Valbar's choosing.

Summoning Accessibility

Valbar is immediately available in the three- and four-star summoning pool, making him quite an easy pickup and perhaps a more attractive option compared to direct competitors at equal or higher rarities.

Weaknesses

Naturally Beatable Speed

At a base of 25 Speed, Valbar is as slow and cumbersome as he looks. He is reliant on artificial follow-up manipulation (i.e. Fighter skills and Quick Riposte) to beat his Speed issues and is otherwise still commonly doubled himself by typical offensive threats in the base 30-40 Speed range.  

Exploitable Resistance

Left uninvested, Valbar's lower Resistance leaves him vulnerable to extremely strong magical hits.

Armor Shortcomings

The great combat benefits that come with being an armor unfortunately come with the cost of poor one-space mobility. Armor March, Ground Orders, and Guidance are ways to achieve improved movement, but using these skills come with opportunity costs. Additionally, armor effective weapons such as Light of Dawn and Slaying Hammer are vexingly commonplace in high-investment environments.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Lance
Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Lance Users Only
50 1 6
Steel Lance
Learns by default at 3 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Lance Users Only
100 1 8
Brave Lance

Spd-5. Attack twice when initiating combat.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Lance Users Only
200 1 5
Brave Lance+

Spd-5. Attack twice when initiating combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Lance Users Only
300 1 8
Valbar's Lance

If unit is within 3 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Def+5 to unit during combat, and also, if foe initiates combat, reduces damage from foe's follow-up attack by 60% during combat. (For standard weapons, "follow-up attack" means the second strike. For weapons that grant "unit attacks twice," it means the third and fourth strikes.)

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 1 16
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Retribution

Boosts damage dealt to foe by 30% of damage dealt to unit.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 3
Vengeance

Boosts damage dealt to foe by 50% of damage dealt to unit.

Unlocks at 4 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Attack +1

Grants Atk+1.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 1 ★
30
A
HP/Atk 1

Grants HP+3, Atk+1

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
100
A
HP/Atk 2

Grants HP+4, Atk+2.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
200
A
Obstruct 1

Prevents foes from moving through adjacent spaces while this unit's HP ≥ 90%. (No effect on foes with a Pass skill.)

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
50
B
Obstruct 2

Prevents foes from moving through adjacent spaces while this unit's HP ≥ 70%. (No effect on foes with a Pass skill.)

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
100
B
Obstruct 3

Prevents foes from moving through adjacent spaces while this unit's HP ≥ 50%. (No effect on foes with a Pass skill.)

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
B

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem Echoes

Banners Featured In

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