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Grand Hero Battle - Aversa

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Aversa
Aversa
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Grand Hero Battle: Aversa

At long last the sorceress of darkness is here, and in order to have her join your ranks, you’ll have to conquer her gauntlet in this Grand Hero Battle! Aversa is a red tome flier (the first F2P tome flier in fact) with a unique weapon effect that certainly complicates matters -- and making it even more difficult is everyone’s favourite “feature”, reinforcements. While there are some things you can do to make this map easier on yourself, the best thing to have on your side is patience. If you go slow, anticipate new enemies appearing, and plan a few steps ahead, you should be fine; just try not to get frustrated when things don’t go exactly according to plan. Flexibility will be key, especially if you find yourself hitting a wall towards the tail-end of the map. Don’t be afraid to mix things up, since if you do, you’ll likely soon find yourself on the path to victory.

Who to Choose

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

Tanks

While you’ve likely noticed the lance armor that’s easy to reach with a striker, it’s a good idea to take a two-pronged approach by placing a tank at the left side of the map regardless of whether you strike or not. KOing or even damaging the archer and/or the green mage will serve to lessen the pressure on your other units when reinforcements start arriving -- you’ll be thankful for the breathing room when things start heating up.

Since Aversa’s PRF weapon (more on that later) will inflict a Panic effect on your units who start the turn adjacent to each other, it’s actually a good idea not to employ class-specific visible buffs here. Hones and Fortifies will be your enemy (for once) so if you’re using a class-specific team, be sure to break out the Goads and Wards instead.

Armors such as Zelgius, Winter Tharja, Hector, LA Hector, Legendary Hector, and Fallen Robin are able to hit hard very upon attacking and counterattacking, especially if they’re making use of Bold Fighter, Quick Riposte or Vengeful Fighter. Blue armors -- while potent forces in their own right -- aren’t recommended for this specific role due to the green mage possessing a Weapons Triangle Advantage against them. Black Knight is a powerful F2P option due to his powerful exclusive Special, Black Luna. All these units, however, will have to be cautious of the axe flier carrying a Slaying Hammer which will deal effective damage to them.

Infantry F2P options for baiting on the left really are limited to Legendary Ike, whose native Warding Breath grants him accelerated cooldown and extra Resistance. He may have to do some Seal shuffling in order to survive the onslaught, though, as well as some light Skill Inheritance. Calvary tanks are similarly limited, especially since the mage carries a Keen Gronnwolf tome. Xander may struggle, but may survive if under the effects of Ward Cavalry.

Dragons are also very strong tanks, especially when they’re equipped with Lightning Breath (or another Breath and Distant Counter, if you’re feeling fancy). Fae, Myrrh, Legendary Robin, Female Kana, Halloween Myrrh, Adult Tiki, Young Tiki, and/or Summer Young Tiki will all likely be able to do the job and do it well, but do note that Myrrh, Kana, Fae, and Summer Young Tiki are particularly wanting of Lightning Breath / Distant Counter. They are also incredibly useful due to their damage-seeking effect against ranged foes, which is precisely the kind of foe they will need to tank Blue dragons are great assets in general, but will not perform well initially on the left for the same reasons blue armors are not recommended.

winter tharja screenshot
Winter Tharja’s mixed Defenses and native access to Close Counter make her a great tank that can counterattack regardless of distance.

Strikers

Due to how common flying reinforcements are on this map, a bow-wielding striker will serve to make your life much easier if you bring one along. Aversa herself is particularly vulnerable to archers due to her status as a flier -- in fact, a Brave Bow archer serves to trivialize her completely.

Brave Lyn, WF Hinoka, Summer Takumi, Setsuna, and Klein are potential strikers you may want to use, with a special mention going to Brave Lyn given her potential F2P status. Really, any Brave Bow archer should do the trick though. Colored archers like Legendary Lucina, Legendary Lyn, and Halloween Niles may perform well, but will have to watch out for the Weapons Triangle; which is a distinct disadvantage when compared to their colorless counterparts.

Alternatively, melee Brave users are able to hit foes twice without retaliation, and may even quad hit if they outspeed an enemy. Cherche, Cordelia, and Elincia are all great melee Brave users, and when equipped with Hit and Run or Drag Back they are able to retreat once attacking. Due to the presence of the mountains, their ability to traverse any spot also comes in very handy, especially when retreating from a surprise enemy spawn. WT Reinhardt is also useful on this map, but must be conscious of positioning due to the terrain restrictions present here.

Brave and Blade tome wielders can also serve to be useful if your team composition provides them with the appropriate buffs, though other mages can also be powerful strikers. Tharja, Reinhardt, Tailtiu, Ishtar, Linde, Ophelia, WT Olwen, Lewyn, SF Nino, and Nino are potential options here, especially if they are equipped with a Breaker skill to add to their coverage. Blade tome wielders will have to be cautious if Aversa is not one of the first foes KO’d, though, as her tome will Panic them if they start the turn adjacent to an ally.

WF hinoka screenshot
WF Hinoka’s status as a flier as well as her ability to wield a Brave Bow makes her a great choice for this map.

Refreshers

Refreshers help provide support, may even have a decent offensive presence themselves, and can usually tank a hit or two, if need be. Any of them will work, since they really shouldn’t be battling too many foes anyways.

Healers

Due to every healer having access to the Wrathful Staff refinement, they can serve as incredibly potent colorless pseudo-mages -- who can heal to boot! Brave Veronica is particularly notable due to her excellent exclusive weapon that prevents counterattacks (among other things), access to the Wrathful Staff Skill, and great support unity, but other healers like Genny, Loki, Elise, MaribelleEthlyn, and Wrys are potential additions to a team that may serve you well.

Supporters

As units that offer extra utility, supporters typically fit one of the above roles while also providing some sort of assist to your other units. Buffers, debuffers, and drivers all can play a valuable role in your team composition by making use of their incredible utility.

Because of Skill Inheritance, any unit can be a buffer with enough investment -- many Drives, Spurs, Hones, Fortifies, and Dual Rallies are readily accessible on 4 star units, and can be further stacked with seals for maximum coverage. Tactics seals are also easily accessible and provide a hefty +6 boost to one stat. Notable options who natively provide buffs through their exclusive weapons include YT Olivia, Performing Azura, Brave Veronica, Eirika, and Ephraim, while Brave Lucina, New Year Corrin, and New Year Azura are able to stack Drives through theirs.

That isn’t to say that offensive juggernauts can’t provide team support, though -- class specific buffs (like Hone Cavalry or Fortify Fliers) are easily accessible and incredibly potent. Considering that most offensive units don’t make heavy use of their C-slot Skill anyways, they can inherit these Skills to boost the team’s firepower. Aversa does complicate the use of these Skills, though, so try to KO her early in the battle if you intend to make use of these.

Some units are also able to support both themselves or their allies at the same time. Legendary Tiki and Helbindi are examples of units who buff both themselves and their allies when fulfilling certain conditions, but they’ll have to be cautious of Aversa’s weapon effect.

Debuffers can make use of weaponry, Skills, or Seals to help de-fang the enemy team and make them significantly less threatening. Ploys, Chills, and Smokes especially are wide-reaching and potent debuffs that can easily turn the tide of the battle at a pivotal moment. Lilina and Soren have a Chill effect on their refined weapons, while Male Morgan has a unique buff/debuff dual effect on his. Dagger units also inflict debuffs when they attack, which can be very useful to cut through an Infernal foes’ inflated HP.

Strategy

Strategizing for this Grand Hero Battle may be a bit complicated due to the presence 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.

Ready… GO!

If you’re a dedicated reader of these guides, you’ll know by now that most of these maps are won or lost before they even start. While it may be tempting to jump right in, knowing (and loving!) your enemy will help you not only choose your units, but also figure out where to begin.

There’s a few annoying foes to pay attention to here, but the most apparent annoyance is Aversa herself. Her tome inflicts a -3 debuff across the board AND Panics your unit if they start the turn adjacent to ally, making it hard to utilize class-specific buffs. Ideally, you’d KO her first, but she’s also located all the way at the top of the map and doesn’t see fit it to advance until you’re about ¾ of the way through… maybe she’s too busy enjoying the show? Anyways, it’s best not to worry about her too much if you don’t have a solid plan to KO her outright. She’s not actually all that powerful if you have a solid counter to her -- the worst part is definitely the stringent positioning requirements she’ll impose on you.

ofc this tome is amazing when she has like 71 HP and useless when we're using her...
Aversa’s tome when combined with her inflated HP is a match dreamed up by Loptyr himself. It’s annoying enough to make it worth trying to KO Aversa herself in the first Enemy Phase, but if you can’t, don’t sweat it. While playing around its effects is annoying, it’s not impossible.

Other foes to be aware of is the green mage that carries a Keen Gronnwolf tome, as well as the axe flier who carries Aerobatics as well as a Slaying Hammer. Cavalry and Armor tanks will have to be wary of these two enemies, as the effective damage that they deal can allow them to conquer the Weapons Triangle in some scenarios.


All these foes have another ally on their side, though -- that being the terrain of the map itself. The mountains that split this map in half along with the smattering of forests really cuts in on your maneuvering room, and making matters worse is the ranged cavaliers that will spawn that can gallop halfway across the map, along with fliers that have no trouble moving anywhere they want. Bringing a flier and cavalier of your own is likely a good idea; their superior maneuverability will no doubt be something that you’re thankful for when the front is closing in. Refreshers are also a handy inclusion regardless of the units you use, and will grant you greater flexibility in close quarters.

One-Two Punch

Even if you usually make a point of just using a striker or a tank approach, you may want to consider not committing to only one strategy on this map. Because the armor lancer is so easily accessible, it’s a prime target for a magic user -- but even if you do KO it, there’s no reason that you have to stop there.

#rest in ripperonis, armor dude. we hardly knew ye.
Even an infantry magic user can reach this enemy, so there’s very little reason to not KO them on the first turn.

Getting a unit into a position to tank on the left side of the map is a very good idea if you’re able to do so, and will serve to lessen the pressure on your forces once reinforcements start arriving. Using a refresher or another unit with Reposition can get your tank into a position where they’re able to attack the archer or the mage -- providing some much needed relief during Enemy Phase. Bowbreaker is an accessible Skill Inheritance option (found on 4 star Setsuna) that may be a good option here, but staying at the bottom with a defensive unit can also work well.

maybe her cape is made of lead or something.
Tharja’s good Resistance and Defense means that she’s able to stay at the bottom of the map and tank both the archer and the mage, but a tank with less balanced stats may have to take a more offensive approach.

They Can Take Our Buffs...

But they cannot take our freedom! While you may be used to using +6 buffs to get through Infernal maps, in-combat stat boosts like the ones offered through Spurs, Drives, and Brazens won’t be subject to Aversa’s tome effect and therefore serve as a help, not a hindrance. Drives are particularly notable since they don’t require your unit to be adjacent to the ally they’re boosting, which denies Aversa the chance to debuff them both.

I'm sure Lene enjoyed being suplexed by a guy on a horse, right guys?
Lene’s Drive Atk Seal grants Tharja a bit of extra power to her punch. For this reason, it was worth using Reinhardt’s Reposition to get Lene into the range where her Drive would affect Tharja.

Breaking Brave

When you’re making use of a Brave weapon, it really can’t be understated how potent they are when used in combination with a Breaker Skill. The ability to hit an enemy four times (!) guarantees a Special activation if your current cooldown is three or less, which can help your unit power through even a neutral matchup.

#rest in ripperonis round 2
Lancebreaker allows Reinhardt to utterly destroy this cavalier -- and any other lance unit that so much as looks his way.

Quad hits are also possible if your unit conventionally outspeeds your opponent -- though this is slightly more difficult to achieve due to the Speed penalty Brave weapons inflict. If an opponent is a slow armor unit, though, or your unit is reasonably speedy despite the penalty, Speed stacking is a perfectly viable strategy. Life and Death, the Speed +3 Seal, and Drive Spd are all options that can be used alone or in conjunction with each other to deal heavy damage and/or net tricky KOs.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOON, I PUNISH YOU!
Hinoka conventionally outspeeds this enemy and can therefore attack them four times.

Psh… Nothing Personal, Kid

If you’re making use of a speedier striker and you’re not in desperate need of them having a specific B-slot Skill, you may want to consider using Escape Route instead of a conventionally offensive option. While Breaker Skills can have defensive and offensive utility, the mobility that Escape Route strikers offer is second-to-none.

mfw i actually have to do math to see if hinoka will survive.jpg
Even though strikers are usually frail, if they’re on the speedier side you can have them intentionally bait a foe to activate Escape Route. Their Speed will deny follow-ups and keep them from getting KO’d, and they may even KO the foe that attacks them in return.

Turning Weakness Into A Strength

AI manipulation is a common topic in these guides, and this one is no different! Oftentimes the AI will move towards a foe who they’ll deal effective damage against, and this is something you can often use to your advantage.

yes, the bow cavalier does KO if it attacks tharja. yes, I did cry when it did :(
If that bow cavalier moves towards Tharja, I could be in trouble. So let’s move Hinoka to the other side of the map and see what happens...

Since the bow cavaliers are particularly hard to deal with, you may want to consider bringing a flier with you so that you can have more control over how they move -- doing so can help avoid situations where these foes are able to corner you due to their range.

#rest in ripperonis round 3
Great! From here, Hinoka KOs both Aversa and her flying friend -- and none of my units are left in-range of the cavalier at the end of the turn. On the next Player Phase, Reinhardt will gallantly gallop forward and fell the archer while Tharja takes care of the green mage. Game, set, and match.

If At First You Don’t Succeed

Don’t be fooled by video walkthroughs of any Grand 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 as well as multiple tries of the map 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
46 39 28 12 21
Weapon Aversa's Night A HP/Spd 2
Support B Watersweep 3
Special Dragon Fang C Odd Res Wave 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
37 33 22 21 11
Weapon Silver Bow A Steady Blow 1
Support B Dull Ranged 3
Special Moonbow C Odd Spd Wave 2
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
33 34 27 17 23
Weapon Keen Gronnwolf A Fury 3
Support B
Special Iceberg C Def Ploy 2
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
38 28 17 23 16
Weapon Brave Sword A Death Blow 3
Support B Poison Strike 2
Special Bonfire C Atk Smoke 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
49 40 11 32 13
Weapon Slaying Lance A Distant Def 3
Support B Guard 2
Special Sacred Cowl C Panic Ploy 2
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
62 47 36 17 27
Weapon Aversa's Night A HP/Spd 2
Support B Watersweep 3
Special Dragon Fang C Odd Res Wave 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
51 45 29 29 16
Weapon Silver Bow+ A Steady Blow 2
Support B Dull Ranged 3
Special Moonbow C Odd Spd Wave 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
44 46 35 23 31
Weapon Keen Gronnwolf+ A Fury 3
Support B
Special Iceberg C Def Ploy 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
52 39 26 30 22
Weapon Brave Sword+ A Death Blow 3
Support B Poison Strike 3
Special Bonfire C Atk Smoke 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
66 52 16 40 19
Weapon Slaying Lance+ A Distant Def 3
Support B Guard 3
Special Sacred Cowl C Panic Ploy 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
71 50 39 18 29
Weapon Aversa's Night A HP/Spd 2
Support B Watersweep 3
Special Dragon Fang C Odd Res Wave 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
59 48 32 32 17
Weapon Silver Bow+ A Steady Blow 2
Support B Dull Ranged 3
Special Moonbow C Odd Spd Wave 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
52 49 38 25 34
Weapon Keen Gronnwolf+ A Fury 3
Support B
Special Iceberg C Def Ploy 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
61 42 29 33 24
Weapon Brave Sword+ A Death Blow 3
Support B Poison Strike 3
Special Bonfire C Atk Smoke 3
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
56 47 38 23 39
Weapon Slaying Hammer+ A HP/Atk 1
Support Reciprocal Aid B Aerobatics 3
Special Glacies C
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
76 56 17 44 21
Weapon Slaying Lance+ A Distant Def 3
Support B Guard 3
Special Sacred Cowl C Panic Ploy 3

User Submitted Teams

132
05-04
Submitted by hel
Show Explanation

Azura +0 (B - Wings of mercy 3)
Reinhardt +6
Brave Veronica +0
Surtr +1 (S - Distant Def 3)

By the stars
10-29
Submitted by Legendary Chairman
Show Explanation

The basic idea was to not get overwhelmed by destroying everything with Ophelia in one round with her Luminary Uppercut. Azura was required to take a hit from the lance flier advancing on the left, while both Ishtar and Ophelia were required to survive a hit from Aversa herself (which wasn't hard). Ophelia required Hardy Bearing for some Celestial Blessings, so the Bow Knight with Vantage didn't screw her over, while Ishtar required Drive Atk to ensure Ophelia would kill one of the green mages on the map, which would otherwise have 2 HP left. Azura needed Guidance to assist Sonya's movement twice.

For Those I Must Protect...
10-28
Submitted by Blitz
Show Explanation

I pretty much took the tactics off of my tactics team. The strategy is rather simple. Have Roy start top left, Olwen below him, Cordelia bottom left, and Veronica above her. Send Roy straight up and have Olwen hang out below him, but NOT WITHIN ATTACKING RANGE. We want them to attack Roy. Move Veronica one space left and keep Cordelia where she is. End the turn and Roy should kill the green mage and damage the archer. Use Roy's aether and murder the archer while the archer is in the forest. Have Olwen kill the sapphire lance boy. Move Veronica up above the armor unit, out of his range, then have Cordelia kill the flier. Roy will then kill Aversa and the hammer flier on defence. Kill the brave sword with Cordelia and use Veronica and Olwen to kill the red knight. Keep Roy in place and end the turn. Cordelia kills the blue cavalier, then use Veronica and Olwen to kill the knight. Move Roy down. Roy will tank the lance flier, but not kill them, and Cordelia will tank the green mage and not die. You're basically done, so take your pick and kill the two damaged units.

They might as well just give her Flux+
10-26
Submitted by SJMistery
Show Explanation

...Because it will be just as useless.

https://youtu.be/d5I0qabPjsY

Answers
10-26
Submitted by Gael
Show Explanation

Yes. A cavalry emblem team. The star of the show is my personal favorite, Summer Cordelia.
I will admit; I did not have an intricate strategy to play around Aversa's tome; I didn't need one.

+Atk boon summer Cordelia
+Swift sparrow
+Atk refined Slaying lance
+S rank summoner support (not needed if using death blow instead of swift sparrow, or highly merged)
+Heavy Blade sacred seal
+Galeforce
+Hone Cavalry
+An ally with reposition to put Cordelia in striking range of the mage
= KOed green mage -> KOed Aversa turn 1 with Summer Cordelia

With the primary headache of the map gone, it was a leisurely reinforcement clean-up from there.