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Bound Hero Battle: Ninian & Hawkeye

Map

  • Normal
  • Infernal

Bound Hero Battle: Ninian and Hawkeye

If you tend to find Grand and Bound Hero Battles a bit too difficult for your liking and the presence of dancers on a map makes you cringe, have no fear -- finally making a return is the dynamic (and not-so-dangerous) duo of Ninian and Hawkeye! This map features some tricky foes that can catch you by surprise, but don’t panic. Since none of them are particularly overspecialized, you can easily answer them with well-rounded units of your own, and the fact that there are no reinforcements means that what you see is what you get.

That’s not, however, the only factor you have going in your favour. The layout of this map allows for you to easily establish a chokepoint and pick off foes with ranged allies from the safety of behind the walls. Even the the eponymous dancer herself, Ninian, doesn’t present much of a threat; she struggles to KO units she even has a color advantage against, and really poses more of a nuisance than an actual danger. All and all, if you’re willing to use some trial and error and adjust your strategy when necessary, this Bound Hero Battle shouldn’t prove to be too frustrating. Patience (as per usual) is key, and being willing to burn a few stamina potions can’t hurt the situation either.

Before you begin teambuilding, it’s completely possible you already possess everything you need to beat this map. Created by Gamepress staff member RedFerrari1998, the video guide below uses only F2P units, one instance of Skill Inheritance, and seals -- see the description for more details. If it doesn’t work for you, though, then read on!

Who to Choose

As is generally true of Bound Hero Battles, the individual units used is very important as they will primarily inform a strategy. There are a few routes one can take depending on what units are personally available, and, of course, adjustment based on the units one possesses is always a possibility.

Baiters

Since the enemies on this map won’t start moving unless they are damaged or baited and there’s no immediate opportunity to strike and retreat, you’ll want to bring at least one unit that can bait on this map. While it is possible to use a dancer like Olivia, it’s far more effective to use a unit who can net a KO or two in Enemy Phase.

Dragons like Nowi, Adult Tiki, and Fallen Robin are particularly useful due to being able to counterattack regardless of range and their ability to take a fair deal of punishment before falling in battle. Armors such as Hector, Valentine Hector, Fallen Hardin, Winter Tharja, and Zelgius are able to easily withstand hits and hit hard upon counterattacking. Great F2P options include Legendary Ike, Black Knight, Xander, and Fjorm.

Atiki screenshot
Tanks such as Adult Tiki are able to withstand almost any melee foe that’s thrown at them, and may even sport decent Resistance to boot.

Strikers

Although decidedly less useful than baiters, ranged strikers can prove useful in this Bound Hero Battle by targeting enemies from the safety of behind the wall once a tank establishes a chokepoint. In particular, Brave Bow users can be incredibly potent on this map due to their ability to overpower finish off any foes your tanks may otherwise struggle with. Brave Lyn, Bridal Cordelia, Klein, and Setsuna are potential strikers you may want to use, with a special mention going to Brave Lyn given her F2P status.

Alternatively, Brave and Blade weapon wielders can also serve to be useful if your team composition provides them with the appropriate buffs. Tharja, Reinhardt, Tailtiu, and Nino are potential options here, especially if they are equipped with a Breaker skill to add to their coverage.

Tharja Screenshot
Strikers like Tharja can handle melee enemies without fear of getting counterattacked. With Desperation, they may not need to worry about the green mage either due to to being able to double consecutively.

Dancers

Dancers help provide support, may even have a decent offensive presence themselves, and can usually tank a hit or two, if need be. OliviaPerforming OliviaPerforming InigoPerforming ShigurePerforming AzuraAzuraNew Year Azura, and Ninian all give the refreshment that high-firepower units need while also possessing the ability to provide an assist to KO an enemy.

Healers

While not generally a great choice over units who can deal heavy damage or dancers, Healers can be incredibly useful in this Bound Hero Battle due to their ability to provide valuable healing to your tanks. GennyEliseWrys, and Lissa are potential additions to a team that may serve you well on this map, though any healer who possesses Rehabilitate will likely do the trick.

Strategy

Strategizing for this Bound Hero Battle shouldn’t be too challenging due to the absence of reinforcements. While it can be difficult to exactly predict what will happen due to IV / Merge variance, here’s some general tips to get you started.

Casting Out Your Line

Since this isn’t a map where you can just wait for the enemy to come to you, you’re going to have to bait to get these foes moving. The archetypical strike, dance, and retreat strategy won’t work here unless your striker can take a hit. Or two. Or three.

Because of this, you’ll have to choose where to bait, but luckily, there’s really only two options -- the chokepoint in the middle of the map, and the chokepoint to the right. Both of these options are pretty compelling, but the middle chokepoint may be easier to use depending on AI movement. In my case, the blue lance cavalry was danced by Ninian instead of Hawkeye; this saves Nowi from being KO’d.

Nowi baiting
Hawkeye will be in range to be danced once he moves, but luckily the lance cavalry unit takes priority. Although...

Before you commit to baiting, though, it’s always a good idea to size up the foes you’ll be facing. At a glance, you may recognize that the sword cavalry unit is carrying Zanbato and the lance cavalry unit is carrying Ridersbane. Both of these weapons deal effective damage to cavalry, so if you’re trying to bait with your own horse-rider, you’ll have to start on the right.

Passing Off The Torch

If you’re unprepared for the lance cavalry foe with Pass, it can be a nasty surprise -- especially if you left your red or blue dancer in its post-danced range. This problem can easily be fixed by being careful with your positioning (which may take you a bit of trial and error to figure out) and/or ensuring your tank is bulky enough to comfortably withstand this foe. Remember: when it comes to a map with a dancer, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Axezura nearly getting owned
If Olivia was being used instead of Performing Azura here, this foe passing through Nowi could easily spell out disaster. When in doubt, keep your dancers far away from danger, especially when an enemy dancer is present.

Trembling With Antici...pation!

Although the AI can be downright unruly on this map due to Ninian’s dancing ability, you’ll likely be a lot more successful if you always anticipate the worst case scenario. Assume that if a foe can be danced and charge forward to KO one of your weakened units, it will do so, and make sure to act accordingly.

Fae swapping with Axezura
Once the lance cavalry unit has been KO’d, I can safely assume the AI will dance the sword unit to KO Performing Azura. Because of this, I can Swap her with Fae -- she has enough Speed to avoid being doubled and enough Defense to withstand the single hit.

All Aboard The Daisy Train

Once there’s only a few foes left, you can afford to play more conservatively and take less risks. If you find that you need your dancer and another unit to retreat as far as possible, using a Reposition and dance combo can move these two units across the map in a hurry. The benefits of this are very clear: the further your units are out of the danger zone, the less likely they are to get ambushed by a danced foe. From there, you can bait with a unit that you know for a fact can handle the enemy... and maybe even manipulate the AI with your positioning.

Nowi repositions Axezura, who dances her and lets her move again (choo choo)
Daisy chaining together reposition and dance allows two units to retreat farther than thy would be able to without assisting each other.

If At First You Don’t Succeed

Don’t be fooled by video walkthroughs of any Bound Hero Battle that you watch -- it’s very rare for anyone to beat high-difficulty content (or record a video of themselves doing so!) on their first try.  Additionally, the potential variance in unit builds that Skill Inheritance brought along with the random nature of summoning has resulted in pretty much every single summoner having different “building blocks” to work with. This, when combined with the high difficulty level of Infernal, may prove frustrating while someone is trying to find the right combination of units and moves. The key thing to keep in mind is that it may take some light Skill Inheritance and seal shuffling, multiple tries of the map, and a few stamina potions to find a strategy that works for you. Every single turn you complete gets you one step closer to completing the puzzle. Finally, reading about or watching videos of successful strategies may also help you break through a particularly difficult turn that you can’t complete, or may give you ideas of a new unit to use.

Map Enemies

  • Hard
  • Lunatic
  • Infernal
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
36 37 18 19 23
Weapon Zanbato A Armored Blow 3
Support B Pass 2
Special Luna C Atk Ploy 2
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
36 37 18 19 23
Weapon Ridersbane A Armored Blow 3
Support B Pass 2
Special Dragon Fang C Spur Def/Res 1
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
34 34 28 18 23
Weapon Gronnraven A Fury 3
Support B Seal Res 2
Special Blazing Wind C Savage Blow 2
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
48 37 16 21 22
Weapon Killer Axe+ A Death Blow 3
Support B Wings of Mercy 3
Special Growing Light C Threaten Atk 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
44 31 26 18 19
Weapon Light Breath+ A Distant Def 3
Support Dance B Escape Route 3
Special Miracle C Fortify Def 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
49 49 25 26 30
Weapon Zanbato+ A Armored Blow 3
Support B Pass 3
Special Luna C Atk Ploy 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
49 49 25 26 30
Weapon Ridersbane+ A Armored Blow 3
Support B Pass 3
Special Dragon Fang C Spur Def/Res 2
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
45 45 35 23 31
Weapon Gronnraven+ A Fury 3
Support B Seal Res 3
Special Blazing Wind C Savage Blow 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
63 44 23 28 30
Weapon Killer Axe+ A Death Blow 3
Support B Wings of Mercy 3
Special Growing Light C Threaten Atk 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
60 38 34 24 27
Weapon Light Breath+ A Distant Def 3
Support Dance B Escape Route 3
Special Miracle C Fortify Def 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
61 50 37 36 28
Weapon Wo Dao+ A Fury 3
Support B Seal Spd 3
Special Reprisal C Spur Res 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
57 52 27 28 33
Weapon Zanbato+ A Armored Blow 3
Support B Pass 3
Special Luna C Atk Ploy 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
57 52 27 28 33
Weapon Ridersbane+ A Armored Blow 3
Support B Pass 3
Special Dragon Fang C Spur Def/Res 2
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
52 48 38 25 34
Weapon Gronnraven+ A Fury 3
Support B Seal Res 3
Special Blazing Wind C Savage Blow 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
72 47 25 31 33
Weapon Killer Axe+ A Death Blow 3
Support B Wings of Mercy 3
Special Growing Light C Threaten Atk 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
69 40 37 26 30
Weapon Light Breath+ A Distant Def 3
Support Dance B Escape Route 3
Special Miracle C Fortify Def 3

User Submitted Teams

Frederick Emblem: The Missing Frederick
09-20
Submitted by TheSeunger
Show Explanation

Frederick is not being used this time around in other words. This team aims to lure out then punish with desirable results.

Brave Lyn (Neutral)
Brave Bow+, Reposition, Luna, Swift Sparrow 2, Sacae's Blessing, Atk Smoke 3, Speed +1

Reinhardt (+ATK -DEF)
Dire Thunder, Reposition, Luna, Death Blow 3, Lancebreaker 3, Hone Cavalry, Attack +1

Celica (+HP -DEF)
Ragnarok, Rally Attack, Moonbow, Distant Def 3, G Tomebreaker 3, Hone Spd 3, Distant Def 1 (Seal)

Olivia (+ATK -HP)
Wo Dao+, Dance, Moonbow, Fury 3, Wings of Mercy 3, Hone Atk 3, HP +3

-----
TURN 1
Have Celica directly in the attack range of the Green Mage so that she can 1RKO it on Enemy Phase. Place Olivia (or whoever is your dancer) next to her. Quick Riposte can be used as an alternative, but you ideally need Celica to 1RKO the Green Mage or else the strategy falls apart miserably.

Predict where the Lance Cavalier will be after receiving Ninian's Dance, move Brave Lyn and Reinhardt just outside of the attack range of the Lance Cavalier but nowhere close to Celica and Olivia.

TURN 2
Punish the lone Lance Cavalier with Reinhardt, then punish the Sword Cavalier with Brave Lyn. After the Sword Cavalier is defeated, Atk Smoke should affect Hawkeye since he is within the range. Use Dance on Brave Lyn and have her take out Ninian. This will put Brave Lyn within the attack range of Hawkeye, but she will survive the assault as long as Swift Sparrow is used over Life and Death.

TURN 3
With only Hawkeye and the Sword Fighter left, have Brave Lyn take out Hawkeye and have Reinhardt take out the Sword Fighter.

This strategy is also compatible with Lunatic difficulty, which is slightly easier and the exclusion of the Sword Fighter.

Quick Update: Video proof (no audio)
https://youtu.be/daP-TJXMcB8

Yeah BK...
09-20
Submitted by プーリプーリ
Show Explanation

...
Ok so BK is really Ike. But it would really work the same if Ike was BK.
Ike needs Vantage and Fury to survive the first round. Move Ike into the bottom right, in attack range of the green mage.
Round 1- Green Mage hits Ike, is wounded on counter. Hawkeye teleports in, takes a Vantage hit but doesn't die (he was left with 6 hp), and drops Ike to single digit Hp. Ninian dances the green mage, who dies to Ikes Vantage.
Round 2- retreat with Ike. Move Hector to Ikes previous position and kill Hawkeye. Amelia Moves to his left (protected on all sides from the passing cavalry). Efffie follows Amelia (the 3 armors make a line.)
Round 3- The blue cavalry and Ninian impale themselves on Hector. The red cavalry impales himself on Effie (mine's Opponent Phase, not Brave Lance). You can toy with the last red swordsman, but make sure you kill him cleanly because he does have Reprisal as a special which could kill you on the counter if you're sloppy. Effie works best.

Ryoma Tank
09-20
Submitted by kelvinnguyen
Show Explanation

Nino with LnD, Despe, hone +ATK (Max) + Moon Bow & Reposition
Ryoma with Fury, Vantage, hone +Spd (Max) + Luna/Moon Bow & Reposition
Olivia (basic set)
Robin Blue (basic set with hone DEF)

Move Ryoma to middle in the danger area of the 1st sword calary, Robin and Olivia beside. Later everything become easier, kill one by one when you had Olivia dance and Nino to kill the Blue Lance and Reposition to move Olivia to the back side.

You shall not pass
09-20
Submitted by Remnant
Show Explanation

A 5* Valter can be used to kill the two cavs at the start if Olivia has Hone atk 3 and Nino (or any unit that has it) with spur atk 3 from Barst or Lilina. Marth instead can just annihilate the rest of the enemy team as long as you give her a special like Luna (I gave her Astra and still worked fine). Be sure to keep an eye out as Marth will have to recover her health with Falchion's passive healing so to be able to kill Ninian in one turn (if she has vantage 3 you can even kill Ninian during the enemy phase)

Brave heroes FTW
09-20
Submitted by DarkMessiah
Show Explanation

Brave Lyn has her standard build with breath of life seal. Brave Ike has his standard build with Quickened pulse seal and summoner support. Azura has speed+3, vantage 2, fortify res 3 and spur def seal. Hector has Astra, Vantage 3, hone atk 3 and Distant def seal, the rest is standard.
First turn:
place Ike 1 step under the danger area at the left choke point, place azura right to him, lyn below him and hector one step right of azura. Everyone should be outside of the danger area.
Turn 2:
Bait the mage with hector. Hector will kill him but he will be low after that. Move azura 1 step down, and leave the other 2 in place. The blue cavalry will now attack Ike after ninian dances for him. Hawkeye will teleport right of him, and the rest will move towards you too.
Turn 3:
Finish off the blue cavalry with ike, move lyn next to hector and attack hawkeye. Then dance for lyn, leaving azura step below hawkeye. Then finish off hawkeye with lyn. Leave lyn in place otherwise she will be killed by the red cavalry. The red cavalry will now attack Ike (twice due to ninians dancing) ike should be able to tank it thanks to aether.
Turn 4:
Kill the red cavalry with azura, attack the red infantry through the wall with Lyn, and move ike 1 step up to block ninians path. DONT ATTACK NINIAN if you do so he will revenge kill ninian on enemy turn and then he will be killed by the red infantry. Ninian will attack ike, and nothing else will happen this turn.
Turn 5:
Kill ninian with ike and kill the red infantry with lyn.

That's it.