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Fire Emblem Heroes Glossary

Fire Emblem Heroes Glossary
Index
0-9 A B C D E F G H
I J K L M N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z

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0-9

1★, 2★, 3★, 4★, 5★

A common way of indicating a unit’s rarity, standing for 1 star, 2 star, etc.

Wow, I can’t believe we were given a 5★ unit for free!

5★ Exclusive

1. A unit that can only be summoned at 5 star rarity.

It’s unfortunate that Hector is still 5★ exclusive.

2. A skill (usually at third level) or special that can only be natively found on a unit with 5★ rarity.

Watersweep 3 is a 5★ exclusive skill, as is Aether.

8% Banner

A summoning focus that features an increased appearance rate for focus units (5% instead of 3%) and applies the usual chance of summoning a 5 star pity breaker (3%) to that increased appearance rate. This totals a base 8% rate of summoning focus units in any given color. See: Banner, Focus, Legendary Hero Summoning Event.

I used all my orbs on the 8% banner in November.

A

A Tier

A classification of units. A Tier characters are very strong but require support from their team to reach the level of effectiveness that a S or SS Tier characters possess. That is not to say A Tier units are not strong, however – their presence in the game is simply less oppressive than units in Tiers above them. Analogous to Gamepress’ Tier 2. See: B Tier, C Tier, S Tier, SS Tier, Tier, Top Tier.

I think these new units are all A Tier at least.

A!Tiki

Stands for Adult Tiki. Used to to distinguish between Tiki, Dragon Scion, Tiki, Summering Scion, and Tiki, Naga’s Voice. See: Y!Tiki.

A!Tiki’s high Defense and ability to deal magic damage makes her a good choice for battling archers.

AA

A short form of Arena Assault, a game mode where you must win 7 battles against Arena defense teams in a row, using a different team of your own for each battle.

I lost on my 7th AA match, and man, am I tilted!

Airzura

See NY!Azura.

Ally Support

A feature that allows you to pair up two units, granting them stats boosts when they are adjacent or one space away from each other in battle. Ally supports start at C Rank (minimum bonus) and slowly rise to S Rank (maximum bonus) the more the paired units participate in battles with one another. Gamepress’ Ally Support guide can be found here. See: S Support.

My Reinhardt and Olivia have S Ally Support

AoE

Stands for Area of Effect. Refers to a skill, special, or weapon whose effect has a wider range than affecting just one unit.

Atk Smoke’s AoE effect makes it much more versatile than Seal Atk.

Archer

Any unit that uses a bow. Typically subject to the ranged BST Penalty. See BST Penalty.

Innes is an Archer.

Arena Range

Refers to the minimum and maximum variable score that one receives on advanced difficulty in the Arena. Generally, this tends to indicate the player’s skill level when combined with their Arena Tier. See: Arena Tier.

My Arena Range is 694 – 702.

Arena Tier

The general matchmaking ranking assigned to all players within the Arena. New players start at Tier 1 and rise through the ranks by achieving certain score thresholds before reaching the maximum Tier of 20. See: Tier 20.

I’m due to move up in Arena Tiers next week to Tier 19.

Arena Weight

A method of quantifying a variety of factors such as a unit’s rarity, level, merges, BST, and a skill’s SP cost that affect a team’s Arena Range. In high tiers of the Arena, Arena Weight becomes a significant consideration if one wants to avoid being demoted to a lower tier. See: BST, Merges.

Dual Rally skills have the highest Arena Weight out of all available assists.

Armor

Refers to Armored Units, a class of unit that typically has high Defense and Attack but only one movement range. Armored units also have a BST range of 168 to 175 which increases their Arena Weighting. See: Arena Weight.

Arden is a top-notch Armor, especially considering he was free.

Armor Buff

A class-specific buff that only Armor units can utilize. Armor buffs apply to two stats at once and have a value of +6 to each buffed stat for Hones and Fortifies (Field Buffs), and +4 to each buffed stat for Goads and Wards (Combat Buffs). See: Buffs.

Hector is insanely bulky with Armor Buffs.

Armor Emblem

A specialized type of team composition that only features Armored Units. This allows every unit on the team to take advantage of class-specific skills.

Ever since I began running Armor Emblem, the Arena has become a breeze.

Askarian Trio

Used to refer collectively to the units each player is granted when they start the game: Alfonse, Prince of Askr, Anna, Commander, and Sharena, Princess of Askr. Since one of these three units (plus Fjorm) are always on the Arena Bonus unit rotation and they all possess Prf weapons, a common piece of advice for new players is to upgrade the Askarian Trio to 5* as soon as possible. See: Bonus Unit (1), Prf Weapon.

Attacker

A unit who typically has high Atk and Spd whose primary function is to initiate on enemy units and KO (or severely weaken them). Also known as Glass Cannons, Offensive Units, or Player Phase Units.

Axura

See PA!Azura.

Ayra

Widely considered to be one of the best sword units, if not one of the best units in the game due to her boosted BST, excellent stat spread, her Prf Weapon’s effect, and exclusive Special. Ayra is often mentioned when discussing unit matchups because of her prevalence in high-level Arena play. See: BST, Prf Weapon.

When I saw I was facing four +10 Ayras, I nearly surrendered right there.

Ayra Banner / Ayra Fiasco

Refers to the method of Ayra’s debut. Without any prior precedence, she was released with no fanfare on a banner that contained an old unit that shared her focus color. Many in the community saw this as a clear profit-grabbing move, and the event still proves polarizing even to this day. See: Banner.

I can’t believe IS is releasing another Ayra Banner! The last time was bad enough…

B

B Tier

A classification of units. B Tier characters are less strong than A Tier characters and require additional support from their team to reach a reasonable level of effectiveness. Analogous to Gamepress’ Tier 3. See: A Tier, C Tier, S Tier, SS Tier, Tier, Top Tier.

Sheena’s low attack makes her a B Tier unit despite her access to class specific skills.

B!Cordy / Bridelia

Refers to Cordelia, Perfect Bride (Bridal Cordelia).

B!Cordy is one of the strongest archers in the current metagame.

B!Ike / Bike

Refers to Ike, Brave Mercenary (Brave Ike).

I was lucky enough to roll B!ike as a pity breaker.

B!Lucina / Blucina

1. Refers to Lucina, Brave Princess (Brave Lucina).

B!lucina is a tanky but speedy physical wall.

2. Refers to Lucina, Spring Exalt (Bunny Lucina).

B!lucina is a decent blade mage given her offensive spread.

B!Lyn / Blyn

1. Refers to Lyn, Brave Lady (Brave Lyn). Also known as Bowlyn.

B!lyn broke my winning streak. I hate horses.

2. Refers to Lyn, Bride of the Plains (Bride Lyn).

B!Lyn’s Dazzling Staff skill on Elise broke my winning streak. I still hate horses.

B!Roy / Broy

Refers to Roy, Brave Lion (Brave Roy).

B!Roy proc’d Galeforce and wiped my entire team. I really hate horses.

B8% Banner

A portmanteau of “Bait” and “8%”. See: 8% Banner, Bait Banner, Legendary Hero Summoning Event.

I didn’t pull on the B8% Banner because I think a better one will be coming soon.

BA

An acronym for the skill Brash Assault. A unit with Brash Assault 3 automatically makes a follow-up when at HP ≤ 50% and attacking a foe that can counter.

The BA seal allows some units to run some interesting BA / Desperation sets.

Bait

A unit who typically has high HP, Def, and/or Res whose primary function is to be put within the attack range of enemy units and KO (or severely weaken them) when approached. Also known as Enemy Phase Units.

Hector is a great Bait unit.

Bait Banner

Used to describe a banner that is believed to “bait” players into spending their free orbs. Bait Banners are believed to be soon followed by Banners with even more desirable units that then encourage players to spend money on orbs so they can summon.

The Hinoka Banner was clearly a Bait Banner.

Bane / Boon

See Ivs.

Banner

A manner of describing each separate instance of Summoning Focus.

The Hero Fest Banner was crazy good.

BB

1. An acronym for Brave Bow.

BB Blyn is one of the biggest threats in the current metagame.

2. An acronym for Bowbreaker.

BB TA Raven Inigo checks blue mages and all non-firesweep archers.

Benched

A colloquial term describing how a hero is essentially retired by a player’s personal choice, usually because that player has better options afforded to them.

I benched Alfonse pretty early on.

BHB

A shortened form for the game mode Bound Hero Battles. BHBs are typically high difficulty maps that require a specialized strategy and/or units to complete at higher difficulties.

Tana and Amelia’s BHB was manageable once I found a strategy to follow.

BK

Black Knight. Also affectionately known as Burger King.

BK with armor buffs is a significant offensive threat.

BL

1. Brave Lance. See Brave (1).

BL +Atk Effie vaporizes any red unit in her path.

2. Berkut’s Lance.

BL +Res Effie with the Distant Defense skill can actually tank a significant amount of magic damage.

Blade

Refers to Blárblade, Gronnblade, and Rauðrblade. These tomes add active stat buffs to damage dealt, and increase a special’s cooldown by 1. They are widely considered to be some of the strongest tomes in the game, especially when used in conjunction with class-specific buffs. See: Buff, Cooldown.

I always bring a check for Blade Nino when I’m doing my Arena matches for the week.

Blade Blade

Used to describe the weapon effect of Laevatein’s weapon, who is currently an enemy NPC. Her sword (named after herself) has the same effect as a Blade tome minus the +1 cooldown, and also grants Attack +3. See: Blade.

I hope we get to use the Blade Blade one day, it seems like it’ll be super powerful.

Blessing

An item that can be used with the Confer Blessing system. Blessings, once applied to a unit, grants that unit double SP and stat bonuses when they are sent into battle along with a Legendary Hero during the season matching their blessing. See: Legendary Hero.

I used the Water Blessing I got from my free Fjorm on my Ayra.

BoL

An acronym for the Skill / Seal Breath of Life. A unit with Breath of Life 3 recovers 7 HP to adjacent ally units when the unit with the skill initiates an attack.

I stacked the BoL seal with BoL and Aura on Linde to make her an offensive healer.

Bonus Unit

1. A varying unit that offers score bonuses in the Arena. Rotates based on the Arena season.

I promoted Alfonse, Sharena, and Anna so I’d always have a Bonus Unit.

2. A varying unit that offers score bonuses in Tempest Trials. Bonus units offer either a 1.4x or 1.2x score multiplier and also have inflated states within the Tempest Trial maps.

Nowi is a monster when she’s a Bonus Unit.

Box

An alternative way of referring to the Barracks.

I’ll take a screenshot of my Box for you.

Brave

1. Refers to a class of weapons that typically have lower might and inflict a speed penalty but allow a unit to attack twice in a row. See: Mt.

Dire Thunder’s Brave effect makes Reinhardt a pain to deal with.

2. A unit build that uses a Brave weapon.

Brave Chrom obliterates almost every unit he initiates on.

3. A specific categorization of alternate versions of Ike, Lyn, Lucina, and Roy, granted to them by virtue of being the top scoring characters in a poll conducted before Fire Emblem Heroes’ release. See: CYL.

Brave Ike, Lyn, Lucina, and Roy would all be strong additions to my roster.

BS

Brave Sword. See Brave (1).

Alfonse is significantly better when he is fully kitted out with a BS.

BST

Base Stat Total. BST is a general measure of a unit’s overall strength and is calculated by adding up the total of their base HP, Attack, Speed, Defense, and Resistance. With exceptions, Armoured units usually have the most BST, followed by Infantry units, then Flying units. See: BST Penalty, Rating, SP Cost, Trainee.

Hector is a great choice for the Arena due to his high BST.

BST Penalty

Used to describe a phenomena where certain classes of units have a consistent reduction in BST, analogous to certain unit classifications in the main series Fire Emblem games. If a unit fulfills more than one classification, the penalty will stack. See Archer, Cavalry, Dancer, Mage, Ranged, Veteran.

Inigo, as both a mage and a dancer, is subject to a steep BST Penalty.

Budget

Used to describe relatively common skills available at 4 star rarity or below that are passable alternatives to 5 star exclusive skills. See: 5* Exclusive.

Fury is a great budget alternative to Life and Death.

Buff

1) A stat bonus that is applied during combat, not before. Combat Buffs are immune to the effects of Panic Ploy and are applied through skills like Armored / Darting / Death / Warding Blow and Spurs. See: Panic Ploy, Spur.

2) A stat bonus applied through a Hone, Fortify, or Rally skill in the field to an adjacent ally at the start of a turn. Field buffs are applied before, not during combat, and a buffed stat will be highlighted in bright blue. Maximum buffs are typically +4 to one stat, but class specific buffs (like buffs granted from Hone Armor and Hone Fliers) grant +6 to two stats at once. Field Buffs are vulnerable to the effects of Panic Ploy. See: Panic Ploy.

A fully buffed Blade mage is a powerful force indeed.

Buffbot

Used to quantify a unit who is specifically meant to buff another unit. Eirika and Ephraim are common buffbots because their weapons have a built-in buff effect, therefore allowing them to buff more stats at once than your average unit.

I built my Ephraim as a buffbot for Tharja.

Build

The specific combination of weapon, skills, special, assist, and seal that a unit possesses either natively or through Skill Inheritance. See: SI.

Wow, your Nowi has a super unique build!

Bulk

Describes a unit’s ability to take damage. Comes in physical (dependent on HP and Defense) and magical (dependent on HP and Resistance) varieties.

Winter Lissa’s mixed bulk adds to her survivability.

Bulky

A unit who typically has high Def and/or Res and mid-to-high Spd whose primary function is to be able to function as both Bait and Attacker units. Bulky units are typically specialized and must carefully choose who to defend and initiate against. Also known as Bruiser or Mixed Attacker Units. See: Attacker, Bait.

Julia is a very bulky unit, especially with Fury equipped.

C

C Tier

A classification of units. C Tier characters are less strong than B Tier characters and require significant investment and support from their team to reach a reasonable level of effectiveness. Analogous to Gamepress’ Tier 4. See: A Tier, B Tier, S Tier, SS Tier, Tier, Top Tier.

Corrin (M) is a C-Tier lord.

CA

Refers to Cancel Affinity, a B Skill which negates any Weapon Triangle Advantage granted by a unit’s skills. If a unit has Cancel Affinity, the Weapon Triangle Advantage granted by foe's skills is reversed. This negates the Weapon Triangle Advantage Raven tomes have over colorless units and reverses the effects of Triangle Adept. Due to CA being a specific counter-skill, however, if the opponent does not have Triangle Adept and/or a Raven tome equipped, this skill will have no effect. See: Raven, TA, WTA.

CA archers are the biggest threat to my TA Raven tome user.

CA Firesweep

Refers to the Cancel Affinity / Firesweep Bow combination. Since Firesweep weapons prevent the opponent from counterattacking when initiating combat and Cancel Affinity reverses the effect of Triangle Adept, CA Firesweep is a powerful counter to one of the only common checks for archers, Triangle Adept Raven Tomes, in high-level arena play.

CA Firesweep Lyn is just way too hard to beat.

Cavalry

Mounted units that ride horses. Cavalry units have a movement range of 3 and cannot move through tiles with trees / forests. Typically subject to a BST penalty. Also known as Horses. See: BST Penalty, Cavalry Buffs, Horse Emblem.

I run an all-Cavalry team.

Cavalry Buffs / Cav Buffs

A class-specific buff that only Cavalry units can utilize. Cavalry buffs apply to two stats at once and have a value of +6 to each buffed stat for Hones and Fortifies (Field Buffs), and +4 to each buffed stat for Goads and Wards (Combat Buffs). See: Buffs.

Reinhardt is so strong with Cavalry Buffs!

CC

Short form of Close Counter, a 5 star exclusive Skill found on Takumi. Close Counter allows for a ranged unit to counterattack regardless of distance.

CC Halloween Henry is very difficult to KO.

CD

1) References Close Defense, an A-skill and Seal that grants +6 Defense and Resistance when a unit is attacked on enemy phase by a foe using a sword, axe, lance, or dragonstone.

I love CD on Sigurd, it makes him so tanky!

2) A short form of Cooldown. See: Cooldown.

Check / Counter

A unit that is easily able to defeat another specific type of unit. Checks / Counters can be broad (defeats all mages) or localized to a few units / one unit.

Julia and Deirdre are Reinhardt Checks / Counters.

Chip

To deal small bits of damage to an enemy unit, not KOing outright.

Poison Strike is an integral part of my Chip build.

Chip Damage

Damage that is not significant that helps to contribute to or secure a KO.

I built my Felicia to deal out Debuffs and Chip Damage.

Color Sniping

Used to describe when a player forgoes summoning every stone in a session, instead choosing to only summon certain colors and exit the summon session once they’ve done so.

I Color Sniped for Deirdre and still didn’t pull her.

Colorless

1. The “color” of grey stones in the summoning circle.

I got a summoning session that had 5 colorless.

2. The “color” of archer and dagger units.

I like using colorless units.

Colorless Hell

Refers to a phenomenon that results in many players avoiding colorless stones while summoning. Colorless Hell gained its moniker because the colorless summoning pool is notoriously shallow and contains units who possess next-to-no functional utility.

Brave Lyn sent me diving head-first into colorless hell.

Combat Buffs

See Buffs (1).

Content Drought

A way of describing a lack of significant new content. Games that undergo a long enough Content Drought while still being officially supported by the developer are considered ded/dead and oftentimes abandoned by all by the most hardcore of players.

FEH has been going through a Content Drought lately. I hope it doesn’t last.

Cooldown

The amount of actions that it takes for a special to activate. Cooldowns (without cooldown reduction skills) range from 2 – 5 and decrease each time a unit attacks or is attacked. Generally, the higher the cooldown, the more potent the special, and vice-versa.

Aether is great despite its high Cooldown of 5.

Core

1 - 3 units that a team is built around to strategically compliment one another. A strong core most often has one team member of each color and a combination of physical / magical / melee / ranged attackers, but sometimes may be more specialized. Arena Bonus units are usually not a factor in considering a core, but can sometimes be integral components based on which Bonus units have been selected for that week.

I built my Core around Nowi, Julia, and Sigurd.

CYL

Choose Your Legends, a poll conducted before Fire Emblem Heroes’ release. CYL allowed the public to vote for their favourite Fire Emblem characters, with the top scorers being slated to receive alternate costumes after the game released. See: Brave (3).

I’m so glad Lyn placed in CYL.

D

Dancer

​​​​​​​A unit who is able to use the Dance or Sing assist, therefore allowing a unit who has taken an action that turn to move again. Dancers are subject to a BST Penalty. See: BST Penalty.

Olivia is a great Dancer even though she requires some investment.

DB

1. Dark Breath. A breath weapon exclusive to dragons that applies a -5 Atk and Speed debuff to foes within 2 spaces of the target who was attacked. With refinement, it applies a -7 Atk and Spd debuff to the target who was attacked and foes within 2 spaces of that target. Additionally, refinement causes damage dealt by Dark Breath to ranged units to be calculated with whatever stat is lower, Def or Res.

I believe Corrin (F)’s best kit uses DB.

2. Darting Blow. An A Skill that gives a unit +6 Speed when they initiate combat.

DB is a great option on Nino.

3. Death Blow. An A Skill that gives a unit +6 Attack when they initiate combat.

DB Reinhardt hits hard, especially when he’s buffed.

4. Drag Back. A B Skill that has the effect of when the unit initiates attack, the unit moves 1 space away after combat. The foe that was attacked, if not KO’d, moves into unit's previous space.

DB is an interesting option on Eirika.

5. Draw Back. An assist skill. A unit who uses this skill moves 1 space away from target ally, who moves to unit's former position.

The mage DB + Dancer combo is very useful in Grand Hero Battles.

DC

Short form of Distant Counter, a 5 star exclusive Skill found on Hector. Distant Counter allows for a melee unit to counterattack regardless of distance.

Why would you ever replace DC on Hector?

DD

References Distant Defense, an A-skill and Seal that grants +6 Defense and Resistance when a unit is attacked on enemy phase by a foe using magic, bows, or daggers.

Celica is pretty tanky with DD.

Debuff

A stat penalty applied through Dagger weapon, certain Bows, or a Threaten, Smoke, Ploy, or Panic skill. Debuffs are applied before, not during combat, and a debuffed stat will be highlighted in red.

Niles debuffed my mage with Defense Ploy and then KO’d them when I attacked him.

DM

1. Deflect Magic. A seal in which damage from consecutive attacks dealt by a foe using magic, are, from the second attack onwards, reduced by 80%.

DM has severely affected Reinhardt’s utility.

2. Deflect Melee. A seal in which damage from consecutive attacks dealt by a foe using a sword, lance, or axe are, from the second attack onwards, reduced by 80%.

DM is useful against speedy swords like Ayra and Mia.

3. Deflect Missile. A seal in which damage from consecutive attacks dealt by a foe using bows or daggers are, from the second attack onwards, reduced by 80%.

DM can be a lifesaver if you’re against a fast archer.

Dolphin

Used to describe a player who has spent a significant – but not generally excessive – amount of money on a mobile game. Dolphin thresholds vary depending on individual classifications. See: Guppy, Whale.

I spent $150 on FEH this month and $200 last month. Seems I’ve entered Dolphin waters.

Double

To perform a follow-up attack, or have a follow-up attack performed on you. Doubles occur when a unit has 5 or more Speed than the unit that’s attacking them or that they’re attacking.

I doubled Hector with my Mia.

Drive / Drive Skill

A family of skills that provide a +3 in combat bonus to one stat to allies within two spaces. Generally preferred over Spurs because of their increased range of effect.

Delthea is an excellent support unit because of her native access to a Drive.

Dual Rally

A type of assist skill that provides a +3 buff to two stats at once. Generally preferred over a Single Rally due to their higher SP cost (and therefore greater weight in the Arena) and increased utility. See: Arena Weight.

Bride Cordelia is a good choice for high-ranking arena due to her native access to a Dual Rally.

Dual Spur (Spur Def/Res, etc)

A C skill that provides a +3 in-combat bonus in two stats to adjacent allies.

Mist may not be a great healer, but at least she’s Dual Spur fodder.

E

Effective damage

Refers to weapons that deal extra damage to a specific class of unit. Effective weapons are granted a x1.5 damage multiplier against unit types they are effective against.

Ridersbane deals effective damage against Cavalry.

Enemy Phase Unit (EP Unit)

See Bait.

EP

Enemy Phase, which refers to when the AI is in control after the player moves all their units. See: PP.

Hector is an excellent unit on both PP and EP.

ER

Stands for Escape Route, a B skill that allows a unit to warp adjacent to any ally when their HP is equal to or lower than 50%.

Marth used ER to teleport halfway across the map.

EZ

Stands for easy.

With Divine Naga on my Julia, Horse teams make for an EZ win.

F

F2P

1. An acronym for “Free to Play”, which classifies a mobile game that is initially free but contains microtransactions.

FEH is an F2P game I play.

2. A description for a player who does not spend money on an F2P game.

I haven’t spent a cent so I’m F2P.

F2P Units

Units that are provided by the game for free and not through summoning. Examples include units provided through Tempest Trials, Grand Hero Battles, or the Daily Maps.

Black Knight is ridiculously good for an F2P Unit.

Fallen Robin

Describes the variant unit Robin, Fell Reincarnation.

Grima is a great tank with armor buffs.

Feathered

See Promote.

FEH

1) Short form of Fire Emblem Heroes.

FEH is my favourite mobile game.

2) Refers to Feh, the incredibly fluffy and loveable owl mascot of the game.

I love Feh, she’s so cute!

Field Buffs

See Buffs (2).

Flags

An item only granted during specific Voting Gauntlets (they do not carry over from one Gauntlet to another). Flags are spent once a match in a Voting Gauntlet is completed and grant points which are added to the player’s chosen team’s points total. The amount of points the spent flags grant is dependent on whether or not there is an active point multiplier. See: VG.

I burned 1800 flags in one round during this VG.

Flexibility

A quantification applied to units that can fill multiple roles as opposed to one specialized role.

Winter Tharja’s mixed bulk and access to Close Counter make her flexibility quite good.

Flier

A flying unit. Flying units can move 2 spaces and ignores terrain movement penalties and obstacles like mountains.

Halloween Nowi is a mage Flier.

Flier Buffs

A class-specific buff that only Flying units can utilize. Flying buffs apply to two stats at once and have a value of +6 to each buffed stat for Hones and Fortifies (Field Buffs), and +4 to each buffed stat for Goads and Wards (Combat Buffs). See: Buffs.

Tana has a significant defensive presence with Flier buffs.

Flier Emblem

A specialized type of team composition that only features Flying Units. This allows every unit on the team to take advantage of class-specific skills.

Ever since I began running Flier Emblem, the Arena has become a breeze.

Focus

Refers to a unit in a banner that has an increased summon rate. The base focus percentage on regular, non-Legendary Hero Summoning events is 3%. If a banner has more than one focus unit in one color, than that 3% is split equally among the focus units. If the color only has one focus unit, then the chance of summoning that unit is 3% + whatever percentage chance there is to summon any particular 5 star unit in that color. See: Summoning Pool.

Wow, I can’t believe Ike is a Focus again.

Fodder

A unit that is not particularly useable based on their stats but possesses a skill, special, assist, or weapon that is useful for skill inheritance. See: SI.

Odin is top-tier Moonbow fodder.

Follow up

An extra attack that is performed when a unit has 5 or more Speed than another unit.

Mia is incredibly good at performing follow ups.

Fortify

References buff skills / seals that affect Def or Res. See Buff, Hone.

I’ve been saved by the seat of my pants by a Fortify on occasion.

Free Pull

The one free summon that is granted to each player on their first summon session during every summoning focus. Each summoning session contains 5 pulls, and on their Free Pull players are allowed to choose 1 for no orb cost. This means to total session only costs 15 orbs, since the initial 5 orb cost is waived.

I got a 5 star on my Free Pull! I’m so lucky!

FSS / FSL / FSB

Refers to Firesweep Sword, Firesweep Lance, and Firesweep Bow. Firesweep weapons do not allow the unit utilizing them as well as enemy units to counterattack.

Cordelia is a an excellent user of FSL.

G

Gacha

Stands for Gachapon. Gacha refers to a certain type of or mechanism within an F2P game. In FEH’s case, Gacha refers to the randomized nature of summoning, similar to Japanese Gachapon machines. See: F2P (1).

The Gacha was kind to me today.

GC

Short form of the game mode Grand Conquests. Grand Conquests use Rival Domains sized maps/mechanics and have 3 teams battling to control the most territory.

GC is cheap since it’s hard to really affect how much territory your team controls.

Gem Weapons

Used to reference the class of weapons containing the Ruby Sword, Emerald Axe, and Sapphire Lance. Gem weapons grant a Triangle Adept effect. See: TA.

Olivia is a pretty good green check with a Gem Weapon.

GHB

A shortened form for the game mode Grand Hero Battle. GHBs are typically high difficulty maps that require a specialized strategy and/or units to complete. They grant a free unit once completed.

When is IS going to rerun Xander’s GHB?

Glass Cannon

A Unit that typically has high Atk / Spd and low Def / Res whose primary function is initiate on enemy units and KO them with pure firepower. See Attacker.

My Nino is my best Glass Cannon.

Goad

A class-specific Spur skill that provides a +4 Atk/Spd in-combat bonus to any ally with the same movement type within two spaces.

I use Goad Armor to make my Armor Emblem team more offensive.

Grima

See Fallen Robin.

Guppy

Used to describe a player who has spent a small amount of money on a mobile game, typically less than a console game would cost. Guppy thresholds vary depending on individual classifications. See: Dolphin, Whale.

I spent $15 on FEH this month and $20 last month. I guess I’m a Guppy now.

H

H!Henry / H!Jakob / H!Nowi / H!Sakura

Refers to the Trick or Defeat (Halloween) variants of Henry, Jakob, Nowi, and Sakura: Henry, Happy Vampire, Jakob, Devoted Monster, Nowi, Eternal Witch, and Sakura, Gentle Nekomata.

I’m going to use H!Henry, H!Jakob, H!Nowi, and H!Sakura all through next October.

HB

Short form of Heavy Blade, a Seal and 5 star exclusive Skill found on Ike, Young Mercenary. If the unit who has this skill equipped’s Attack minus the Foe’s attack is greater than or equal to 1, then the unit gains a +1 Special cooldown per attack. Because of its utility in allowing high Atk units to charge high cooldown Specials quickly, Heavy Blade is widely considered to be one of the best skills / seals in the game. See: Cooldown.

HB Celica is pretty formidable.

Hector

A 5 star exclusive armoured unit. Since launch, Hector’s impact in the Arena has been massive due to his excellent stat spread, amazing legendary weapon effect, and versatile exclusive A skill. See: DC.

Hector, please come home!

Hero Fest

A certain type of Summoning Focus. Hero fests feature increased focus rates (5% instead of 3%) and popular heroes.

I rolled Azura in the last Hero Fest.

Hero Merit

A system that awards points whenever a unit participates in battle. These points, to a maximum of 4000, are then granted to the players as feathers whenever 500 are gained.

I maxed out my Ike’s Hero Merit really quickly.

HnR

Refers to Hit and Run, a B Skill that causes a unit to move back one space whenever they complete combat they initiate. Hit and Run is commonly used on melee Firesweep units to allow them to be moved to safety by their teammates once they’ve attacked. See: FSS, FSL.

I foddered my spare Clair to give Cordelia HnR.

Hone

References buff skills / seals that affect Atk or Spd. See Buff, Fortify.

Olivia is pretty good at 4 star because she has native access to a lv 3 Hone.

Horse

See Cavalry.

Horse Buffs

See Cavalry Buffs.

Horse Emblem

A specialized type of team composition that only features Cavalry Units. This allows every unit on the team to take advantage of class-specific skills.

Because I’m evil, my Arena Defense team is always set to Horse Emblem.

I

Infantry (INF)

Unmounted units who are not armored. Infantry units have a movement range of 2 and are subject to movement penalties when moving through tiles with trees / forests.

Brave Ike is one of my best Infantry units.

IVs

Stands for Individual Variation or Individual Values. A loan term from the Pokemon Community, IVs are used to describe how each summonable unit typically has one stat increased and one stat decreased, with the rest of the stats being at that unit’s neutral stat value. Free units granted through quests, daily maps, Tempest Trials, and Grand Hero Battles always have neutral IVs (no increased nor decreased stat), and summonable units will sometimes have neutral IVs as well. IVs are not indicated in-game and can be checked with Gamepress’ IV Calculator, which can be found here. Also known as Natures, Boons (for increased stats) and Banes (for decreased stats).

Man, I can’t believe my Tharja has such garbage IVs.

K

K!Hinoka, Kinshinoka, WF!Hinoka

Used to describe the flying archer variant of Hinoka, Hinoka, Blue Sky Warrior, who was originally featured on the Wings of Fate banner.

Kinshinoka is basically flying Brave Lyn, and she has great art too!

Killer

A type of effect that grants the unit -1 Special Cooldown. This effect is shared by Killer weapons, Slaying weapons, and some Legendary Weapons, the latter two of which outclasses the former due to their greater weapon might. See: Mt.

Mystletainn is pretty fantastic due to its Killer effect.

Kit

See: Build.

KO

Stands for Knock Out. A common colloquialism in gaming communities. See: OHKO, ORKO.

Nowi can KO pretty much every Red unit in the game when she runs TA / QR.

L

L!Robin

Stands for Robin, Fell Vessel. Also known as Legendary Robin.

L!Robin is kind of hard to use because of her lack of color advantage.

LA!Eliwood, Veliwood

Denotes Eliwood: Devoted Love, who was featured on the Love Abounds banner. lso known as Valentine Eliwood.

LA!Eliwood’s art is top tier.

LA!Hector, Vector

Shortened form of Hector: Just Here to Fight, who was featured on the Love Abounds banner. Also known as Valentine Hector.

LA!Hector is even more of a beast than regular Hector!

LA!Lilina, Vilina

Stands for Lilina: Blush of Youth, who was featured on the Love Abounds banner. Also known as Valentine Lilina.

LA!Lilina may be average but at least she’s cute!

LA!Lyn, Vlyn

A way of referring to Lyn: Wind’s Embrace, who was featured on the Love Abounds banner. Also known as Valentine Lyn.

It’s kind of weird that LA!Lyn is an armor but I’m not complaining.

LA!Roy, Vroy

A seasonal variant of Roy titled Roy: Youthful Gifts who was featured on the Love Abounds banner. Also known as Valentine Roy.

LA!Roy is just asking for a Brave Bow.

Lancina

See B!lucina (1).

LB

1. A short form of Light Breath, a breath weapon exclusive to dragons. Light Breath grants allies adjacent to the dragon unit +4 Def and +4 Res after combat that the dragon unit initiates. With refinement, it applies a +5 Atk/Spd/Def/Res buff to the dragon unit and allies within 2 spaces of unit for 1 turn when said unit attacks. Additionally, refinement causes damage dealt by Light Breath to ranged units to be calculated with whatever stat is lower, Def or Res.

Fae is a pretty good support unit with her native LB.

2. A short form of Lightning Breath, a breath weapon exclusive to dragons. Lightning Breath grants a Distant Counter effect, allowing the unit to counterattack regardless of distance. Refinement causes damage dealt by Lightning Breath to ranged units to be calculated with whatever stat is lower, Def or Res.

Fae is a great blue mage check with LB.

3. Stands for Lancebreaker.

LB allows Reinhardt to net more KOs.

Legendary Hero

Unique Heroes who are able to grant stat bonuses to units who confer Blessings with the Blessing system. See: Blessing.

Fjorm isn’t stellar considering she’s a Legendary Hero.

Legendary Hero Summoning Event

A summoning focus that features an increased appearance rate for focus units (5% instead of 3%) and applies the usual chance of summoning a 5 star pity breaker (3%) to that increased appearance rate. This totals a base 8% rate of summoning focus units in any given color. Legendary Hero Summoning Events also typically include past Seasonal Units as well as a new Legendary Hero who is able to utilize the Blessing system. See: Blessing, Legendary Hero, Seasonal.

I pulled Spring Xander from the first Legendary Hero Summoning event.

Legendary Weapon

A weapon that is only available to a unit at 5 star rarity. Legendary weapons usually have higher Mt that most weapons, better additional effects, and are weighted more heavily in the Arena. These weapons are also locked to one character and can’t be inherited through the skill inheritance system. See: Arena, Weight, Prf Weapon.

Falchion is pretty underwhelming considering it’s a Legendary Weapon.

Limited Banner

A Summoning Focus that features units that will not be available in the regular summoning pool once the Focus is completed. This usually refers to Seasonal banners which last for two weeks, although it can refer to special banners with no tie-in to the season like the Performing Arts banner. See: Seasonal.

I wish Limited Banners lasted a bit longer. I really wanted Winter Tharja and didn’t roll her in time.

LnD / LaD / L&D

Refers to Life and Death, an A skill. Life and Death 3 grants a unit +5 Atk and Spd in exchange for -5 to Def and Res.

I put LnD on my Linde and now she murders everything.

M

M!Marth/Marthcina

Short form for Masked Marth, another way of referring to the unit Marth, Enigmatic Blade. Masked Marth is notable for being identical to Lucina in every way aside from his (/her) lack of IVs and skills. Also notable for being a common Tempest Trials reward. See: IVs.

My M!Marth is the only merged red I have, so I use him in the Arena to boost my score.

Mage

A label used to refer to magic users in the rest of the Fire Emblem universe. Mages can only attack enemies who are a space away and are subject to the ranged BST penalty. See: BST Penalty.

Nino is one of the best highly accessible Mages.

Manakete

A label used to refer to Dragons in the rest of the Fire Emblem universe.

Nowi is my favourite Manakete unit.

Memebow

A colloquialism made up of meme and Moonbow. Reached proliferance due to Moonbow being one of the most often suggested Special options in past iterations of the meta due to its low Cooldown. See: Cooldown, Meta.

I had to replace Memebow on most of my Arena team because its low SP cost was affecting my score.

Merge Potential

A way of describe a unit’s ease (or lack thereof) of mergability. Units who are available at 4 star rarity are more accessible to merge both as 4 stars and 5 stars due to their increased drop rate when compared to 5 star exclusives. See: 5* exclusive, Merges.

Nino is a beginner friendly blade mage due to her Merge Potential.

Merges

Refers to the amount of times a unit has been merged using the Merge Allies function. Fully merged (+10) units receive a +4 bonus to every stat as well as additional SP. The amount of merges a unit has is typically represented as (star rarity) (+number of merges). A merge only counts towards Merges when the unit that is being merged into an ally is of greater or equal rarity to said ally. Relevant to Arena Weight because merges factor into Arena Score calculations. A 4+10 unit, for example, is roughly equal to a 5+3 unit when it comes to Arena Scoring, minus a rarity penalty.

I really need more Merges in my Arena Core.

Meta

Short form of Metagame and/or Most Effective Tactic Available. The Meta is quantified as the game, its attributes / components, and applicable strategies as it exists in competitive modes. As a root of Meta (adjective: (of a creative work) referring to itself or its genre), the Metagame disregards everything but functional utility of units, skills, specials, and assists and seeks to theorize on or create the most effective combinations of these building blocks.

SS tier units are not shaped by the Meta -- instead, they shape it themselves.

MKV

A former FEH player who achieved legendary status in the FEH community by beating every Grand Hero Battle and Bound Hero Battle on the highest difficulty while only utilizing F2P Units. Has sadly quit the game. See: F2P Unit.

I totally used a MKV-esque strategy in this last GHB.

Mobage

A portmanteau of Mobile and Game. Proliferated by Japan.

FEH is my favourite Mobage.

Movement Skill

A skill that affects movement. Can encapsulate certain specialized B skills such as Drag Back or Hit and Run, or assists such as Swap, Reposition, and Pivot.

Movement Skills are super useful in high difficulty maps such as BHBs.

Mt

Weapon Might. Mt is represented as a numerical value that is added to a unit’s base Atk stat.

Slaying Weapons are better than Killer Weapons due to their higher Mt.

N

Natures

See Ivs.

NY!Azura / NY!Camilla / NY!Corrin / NY!Takumi

Refers to the Happy New Year! (New Year) variants of Azura, Camilla, Corrin (M), and Takumi: Azura, Celebratory Spirit, Camilla, Holiday Traveller, Corrin, Enjoying Tradition, and Takumi, Prince of Soup.

I used NY!Azura, NY!Camilla, NY!Corrin, and NY!Takumi as my team in the Tempest Trial.

O

Odin Tier

Describes units that possess next-to-no offensive capabilities and severely limited defensive capabilities, typically due to their low Atk and balanced stats. Because of this, units classified as Odin Tier are outclassed by other units in every single way. References Odin, a unit who is typically thought to be the worst unit in the game and only useful because of the skills he offers to other units through the Skill Inheritance system.

Stahl is pretty Odin Tier if you ask me.

OHKO

Acronym of One Hit Knock Out. Units OHKO when they defeat the opposing unit with one hit without taking damage themselves.

Fully buffed Blade tomes are the easiest way to OHKO.

Optimal

A unit’s ideal build, allowing them to best capitalize on their innate strengths and account for their weaknesses using every available tool in the game regardless of availability or cost.

Hector’s Optimal build is a reasonably low investment due to his excellent base kit.

ORKO

Acronym of One Round Knock Out. ORKOs differ from OHKOs in that the unit performing the ORKO may take damage in the process.

Hector is great at ORKOing when baiting non-blade blue mages.

ORKO / OHKO Meta

Refers to a Meta that has a heavy preference towards offensively-oriented units that can easily perform ORKOs and OHKOs. This means that more defensively oriented units are usually -- but not always -- pushed out of the meta due to their lack of utility. See: Meta.

Sigurd struggles for a top spot on tier lists due to his defensive orientation in a OHKO meta.

Owl

A weapon effect that causes a unit’s Atk/Spd/Def/Res to be boosted by the number of adjacent allies x 2. Weapons with Owl effects are the tomes Gronnowl, Blárowl, and Rauðrowl, as well as Innes’ bow, Nidhogg.

Halloween Henry is crazy good with an Owl tome.

P

P2P

An acronym for “Pay to Play”, which classifies a game that must be paid for to either access the whole game or certain features. See: F2P (1).

If Nintendo ever made a Fire Emblem MMO, it would probably be P2P.

P2W

An acronym for “Pay to Win”. Pay to Win games are, more often than not, technically Free to Play (F2P) but players must pay money if they want to consistently be able to beat new content or compete with other high-level players.

Tier 20 is P2W.

PA!Azura, PA!Inigo / Inigo, PA!Olivia, PA!Shigure / Shigure

Refers to the Performing Arts (PA) variations of Azura and Olivia, and the only current iterations of Inigo and Shigure: Azura, Lady of Ballads, Olivia, Festival Dancer, Inigo, Indigo Dancer, and Shigure, Dark Sky Singer.

I have PA!Azura, Inigo, PA!Olivia, and Shigure in my box.

Pity / Pity Rate

Used to describe the .5% total increase in 5 star summoning percentage (.25% to focus and .25% to non-focus) that is granted every 5 individual pulls AKA one full summoning session. Pity is still granted if color sniping and is reset once any 5 star unit is pulled. See: Color Sniping.

I got a 1% pity on the 8% banner before I pulled a 5 star.

Pity Breaker

A non-focus 5 star unit that “breaks” the pity a player has accrued.

I got Peri as a Pity Breaker. I want to die.

Ploy

Used to describe the effect of Arvis’ Prf weapon, Valflame, the skill and seal Atk Ploy, and the family of skills containing Spd, Def, and Res Ploy. Ploy skills grant a -5 debuff to their named stat if the enemy a) is within a cardinal direction of the unit who possesses the skill / seal and b) possess a Res stat that is lower than the unit that possesses the skill / seal. Not to be confused with Panic Ploy. See Panic Ploy.

Est can utilize Ploys well due to her high Res.

Powercreep

Has varying definitions depending on individual classifications. Powercreep is generally defined as a phenomenon seen in games where new cards / units / characters / weapons / etc, by virtue of needing to be marketable in order to support the game’s lifespan, completely outclass every other previously available cards / unit / character / weapon / etc to the extent of making them obsolete. This creates a domino effect where every new card / unit / character / weapon / etc must now perform at this level or higher, completely pushing out what came before. This means that players must obtain these Powercrept cards / units / characters / weapons / etc in order to simply be able to compete with other players.

B!Lyn was totally Powercreep.

PP: (player phase, panic ploy)

1. Player Phase, which refers to when the Player is in control after the AI moves all their units. See: EP.

Cherche is a great PP unit.

2. Panic Ploy, a skill / seal that reverses buffs on enemies located in cardinal directions if their HP is lower than the unit that possesses the skill / seal. Not to be confused with Ploy skills. See Ploy.

Their flier team was severely weakened once I hit them with triple PP.

Prf

Stands for a unit’s “Preferred Weapon” by fan consensus. Typically a Legendary Weapon, Prf is a designation that originated in the Fire Emblem series that was used to identify a weapon that could only be used by one character. Also colloquially known as “Perfect Weapons” or “Personal Weapons”.

Divine Tyrfing is Sigurd’s Prf.

Proc

Used in game programming to describe an event that is triggered by fulfilling certain requirements, proc has come to have multiple meanings within the gaming world. There is debate on whether it stands for Programmed Random Occurrence or Procedure, but in FEH’s context it simply means the activation of an effect, special, or skill.

I proc’d Bonfire and rekt that Amelia.

Promote

The result of Unlocking Potential. Promoting allows a player to spend feathers in order to increase a unit’s rarity. The higher the rarity, the more feathers the promotion will cost, with the maximum cost being 20,000 feathers for a 4 star to 5 star promotion (It seems like a lot. It’s not).

I promoted my Eirika from a 4 star to a 5 star.

PS

Refers to Phantom Speed, a seal that adds +5 (+10 at level 3) to a unit’s speed value when their speed is compared with a foe’s due to a skill. This seal is particularly useful when used in conjunction with a Sweep skill. See: Sweep Skill.

I put PS on my Soren to make Watersweep more potent.

Pull

An alternative way to say you summoned. Also known as a Draw, as in a lottery draw.

I did a single Pull and got a 5 star.

Pursuit

Used to describe skills such as Follow Up Ring and the additional effect of Ephraim's weapon, Siegmund, with refinement, allowing for a guaranteed follow-up attack if the unit who possesses the Power of Pursuit is above a certain HP threshold.

Arden has a significant offensive presence due to his ability to Pursuit.

PvE Content

Stands for Player versus Environment Content. Typically used to refer to a game’s “story mode” where other players have no input into the kind of content you will be playing.

FEH’s GHBs, BHBs, Story Mode, Chain Challenges, and Tempest Trials are all examples of PvE Content.

PvP Content

Stands for Player versus Player Content. PvP Content usually has players directly facing off against one another, but in the context of FEH’s only pseudo-PvP modes, Voting Gauntlet and the Arena, players only build and dictate the units that the AI will then control.

FEH is kind of lacking in the PvP Content department.

Q

QP

Stands for Quickened Pulse, a seal which applies a -1 cooldown on the first turn of a map. See: Cooldown.

QP Moonbow Reinhardt broke my winning streak in the Arena. Horses are the worst.

QR / QR2 / QR3

Shortened form of Quick Riposte, a B Skill. Quick Riposte allows a unit to perform a follow-up attack if they are above a certain HP threshold. It is particularly notable because of its versatility and because its level 3 version is only available from 5 star units.Since the HP threshold for Quick Riposte 2 (greater than or equal to 80%) is so similar to the HP threshold for Quick Riposte 3 (greater than or equal to 70%), however, it is generally thought that Quick Riposte 2 is a perfectly serviceable budget alternative.

Armads’ built in QR effect makes it one of the best Legendary Weapons even in the current Meta.

Quad

Refers to when a unit is able to perform 4 attacks in one round of combat.

My +Spd LnD Brave Cordelia is able to Quad reliably when under the effects of Hone Fliers.

Quadelia

Refers to a build for Bridal Cordelia and regular Cordelia that uses a Brave weapon and Spd boosting skills (such as Darting Blow or Life and Death) in order to outspeed the opponent by five and therefore attack them four times. Commonly combined with the Desperation skill to ensure all four attacks occur consecutively.

I pulled a +Spd Cordy so I’m going to build her as a Quadelia.

Quadsuna

Refers to a build for Setsuna that uses a Brave Bow and Spd boosting skills (such as Darting Blow or Life and Death) in order to outspeed the opponent by five and therefore attack them four times. Commonly combined with the Desperation skill to ensure all four attacks occur consecutively.

Quadsuna is a fun build!

R

Range

The distance of which a unit may reach with an attack. Cavalry Mages / Archers have the absolute maximum possible range of 3 (their maximum movement range) + 2 (attack range) for a total of 5.

B!Lyn is so hard to deal with because of her range!

Ranged

Refers to Dagger, Archer, and Magic units who attack from a distance of one square away from their target.

Leon is a Ranged unit.

Rating

The sum of a unit’s BST including skills such as Fury, Weapon Mt, and Seals.

I always sort my Barracks by Rating.

Raven

A shortened form of Raven tomes, a class of tomes that grants a Weapon Triangle Advantage over colorless foes. Tomes with a Raven effect are Gronnraven, Blárraven, and Rauðrraven.

Raven Sophia is surprisingly good.

Razzle Dazzle

Describes the combination of Wrathful Staff and Dazzling Staff. Since the Wrathful effect (damage from a staff is calculated the same as other weapons) and Dazzling effect (enemy unit cannot counterattack) can be applied to any stave through refinement, healers are now able to utilize both of these effects at the same time if they possess either Wrathful Staff or Dazzling Staff as a B Skill. This can prove devastating to the enemy team if they’re unprepared for it.

A Razzle Dazzle Elise broke my Arena Streak. I really, really hate horses.

RD

Refers to the game mode Rival Domains. Rival Domains maps are larger than standard maps, allow you to deploy more allies, and utilize larger teams called Brigades which are allowed to be sourced from the lead units on your friend’s list. See: GC.

RD is a giant pain because of the teleporting mechanic.

Recoil

Self inflicted damage taken after combat. Recoil is applied when a unit has the Fury skill equipped.

With refined Mystletainn, my Eldigan takes 12 points of Recoil damage after combat.

Refining

Refers to the Weapon Refinement system. Refined weapons grant a stat bonus and typically receive a significant buff to their mt and/or effect that makes them significantly more useful. Three materials are used to refine weapons: refining stones, divine dew, and arena medals. Refining stones are obtained through quests, the Arena, and Arena Assault, and allow for non-Legendary weapons to be refine. Divine dew is obtained through refining weapons with refining stones and allows for eligible Legendary weapons to be refined. Arena Medals are used for both types of refinement and are gained by winning matches in the Arena.

Refining my Nowi’s Lightning Breath made her much more effective in the Arena.

Rein

See The Reinhardt.

Reinhardt

See: The Reinhardt.

ReinLyn

Used to describe the incredibly offensively potent combination of Reinhardt: Thunder’s Fist and Lyn: Brave Lady. Due to these two units possessing access to class-specific Cavalry Buffs and their considerable range and firepower, a team centered around Reinhardt and Brave Lyn is usually devastating if one does not possess a specific counter for these units.

This is the sixth time I’ve seen a ReinLyn team this week.

Repo

Stands for Reposition, a common movement assist due to its incredible utility and relative availability.

I inherited Repo onto my Ike and now he just shuffles all of my squishy mages out of the way.

RNG

Short form of Random Number Generator. RNG refers to any aspect of a game that is dependent on chance, which in FEH’s case refers to Summoning only.

I spent 100 orbs and got mostly 3 stars. RNG has forsaken me.

S

S Support

The maximum possible value for Ally Support. S Support grants paired units gain +2 Atk/Spd/Def/Res when adjacent to each other and +1 Atk/Spd/Def/Res when they’re one tile away from each other. See: Ally Support.

I S Supported Reinhardt and B!Lyn.

S Tier

A classification of units. S Tier characters are extremely powerful and effective with or without support from their teammates. The main distinction between S Tier characters and SS Tier characters is that their presence in the Meta is much less polarizing. They are shaped by the state of the Meta as opposed to shaping the Meta around them. Analogous to Gamepress’ Tier 1. See: A Tier, B Tier, C Tier, Tier, Top Tier.

Elincia is S Tier.

S!Alfonse, S!Catria, S!Kagero, S!Sharena

Refers to the Spring Festival variants of Alfonse, Catria, Kagero, and Sharena: Alfonse, Spring Prince, Catria, Spring Whitewing, Kagero, Spring Ninja, and Sharena, Spring Princess originally featured on the Hares at the Fair banner.

S!Alfonse, S!Catria, S!Kagero, and S!Sharena are pretty good units when compared to the previous Spring seasonals.

S!Camilla / S!Chrom / S!Lucina

Refers to the Spring Festival variants of Camilla, Chrom, and Lucina: Camilla, Spring Princess, Chrom, Spring Exalt, and Lucina, Spring Exalt.

I use S!Camilla, S!Chrom, and S!Lucina in a Spring theme team.

S!Corrin

Short form of the Nohrian Summer variant of Corrin, Corrin: Novice Vacationer.

S!Corrin is my mage in my flier emblem team.

S!Xander

1) Refers to the Spring Festival variant of Xander, Xander: Spring Prince.

Carrot Lance +Def Spring Xander is actually pretty decent.

2) Refers to the Nohrian Summer variant of Xander, Xander: Student Swimmer.

S!Xander is the only available Fire Boost fodder.

Salt / Salty

A way of expressing one’s displeasure.

I lost to H!Jakob again. Man, am I Salty.

SB: (Steady Breath, Swordbreaker, Savage Blow)

1) Savage Blow, a C Skill / Seal that deals 7 damage after initiated combat to all foes within 2 spaces.

SB stacked with Pain is meme-y but great at chipping.

2) Steady Breath, an A Skill exclusive (but not locked) to Brave Ike. Steady Breath grants +4 Def and +1 Cooldown when a unit is attacked.

SB dragons are broken.

3) Stand for Swordbreaker.

SB on Nowi is kind of overkill if she’s already running Triangle Adept.

Seal

1) Refers to a Sacred Seal. See: SS (1).

2) References Seal Atk, Seal Def, Seal Res, and Seal Spd, a family of skills that applies a -7 debuff to the named stat after combat.

Roy was running a Seal skill, which caught me by surprise.

Seasonal

Refers to a variant of a unit, usually based on the current season. Seasonal units are time-limited and do not enter the regular summoning pool once their Summoning Focus is completed.

Winter Tharja is my favourite Seasonal.

SI

Refers to the Skill Inheritance system, accessed through the Inherit Skill menu. Skill Inheritance allows any unit to inherit skills from another unit, providing those skills are not rarity locked or inheritance restricted.

I fully kitted out my Est with SI.

Silver Weapons

Weapons that have high Mt but no additional effects such as the Silver Sword and Fenrir tome.

Silver Weapons are typically outclassed by other weapons.

Slaying

See Killer.

SM!Erika

Stands for a variant of Eirika titled Eirika: Anamnesis Lady, who was featured on the Sacred Memories banner.

SM!Eirika is definitely the best red mage cavalry unit.

SP Cost

The amount of SP that is necessary to be spent for a skill to be unlocked and used. Significant because SP Cost of each skill (even if a skill is unlocked by default) is used within the formula that determines a unit’s Arena Weight. See: Arena Weight.

Distant Counter and Close Counter have the highest Sp Cost for an A skill.

Spur

A type of Skill / Seal that provides an in-combat stat bonus.

I prefer to use Spurs since they can’t be reversed by the effects of Panic Ploy.

SS

1) Sacred Seal, an equippable item that effectively gives a unit an additional skill. Effects stack if the unit already has that skill equipped. Seals may be upgraded with Sacred Coins and Badges, the former of which can be earned through quests, the Arena, and Arena Assault, and the latter of which can be earned through the Training Tower.

I upgraded my Heavy Blade SS to level 3 as soon as I could.

2) Steady Stance, an A Skill. Steady Stance grants +6 Def whenever a unit is attacked.

SS on Black Knight makes him quite bulky.

3) Summoner Support, a subset of the Ally Support system. Players may support one unit, and at S rank, that unit receives HP+5 and Atk/Spd/Def/Res+2 when in battle.

I SS’d my A!Tiki to make her even more tanky.

4) Swift Sparrow, an A Skill. When the unit possessing this skill initiates combat, they receive +4 Atk/Spd.

SS is great on B!Lyn.

SS Tier

A classification of units. SS Tier characters represent the peak of performance within their class and the game as a whole. Due to their effectiveness and proliferance, countering these units is a constant consideration, and the ability to hard check them plays a part in determining other unit’s viability. Analogous to Gamepress’ Tier 1 Star. See: A Tier, B Tier, C Tier, Tier, Top Tier.

Ayra is currently the only SS Tier red sword.

Starters

See Askarian Trio.

Summoning Pool

Used to describe the sum of all Summonable units. When new units (who are not Seasonal or Limited) are introduced, they enter the Summoning Pool once their Focus is completed.

The Summoning Pool is becoming rather bloated.

Sweep Skills

Refers to the Watersweep / Windsweep skills family. Sweep skills prevent the user from performing follow-up attacks, but if they outspeed the opponent by 1, the opponent cannot counterattack. In conjunction with the Phantom Speed seal, this combination can be potent on mid-speed units who would generally be unable to perform follow-up attacks no matter what build they run. See: PS.

Sweep Weapons

See FSS.

Swordhardt

An alternative way to describe Reinhardt, Thunder’s Sword, notable because of his Brave weapon that applies on both Enemy Phase and Player Phase (conventional Brave weapons only have their Brave effect on Player Phase). See: Brave, EP, PP.

No matter if you initiate on Swordhardt or if he initiations on you, he’s going to lay on the pain.

T

TA

1) Shortened form of Triangle Adept, an A Skill. Triangle Adept grants an additional 0.2x damage multiplier when facing a color the unit is strong against and when facing a color the unit is weak against. This increases the normal Weapon Triangle Advantage from a 0.2x damage multiplier to a 0.4x damage multiplier. Triangle Adept 2 is slightly more accessible that Triangle Adept 3 (TA3 is exclusively found on 5 star units as well as 4 star Roy) but only offers a 0.15x damage multiplier, therefore reducing its effectiveness.

Gem Weapon’s built-in TA effect is pretty useful since you can run an alternative A Skill when you use them.

2) Refers to Threaten Attack. See TR.

Tactic skills

A strange family of skills that provide a +6 stat buff to allies within 2 spaces at the start of a turn if there are 2 or less units with a certain movement type in your current team composition. Tactic skills seem to be encouraging a move away from class-specific teams (i.e. Horse Emblem, Flier Emblem, Armor Emblem). See: Armor Emblem, Horse Emblem, Flier Emblem.

TB

Stands for Tap Battles, a game mode which manifests as a rhythm game. Tap Battle rewards are granted upon completion of a stage regardless of difficulty or score.

I only do TBs for the free stuff.

Team Comp

Short for Team Composition. Team Compositions take into consideration how Units work with each other and account for each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

My Team Comp took me about 2 months to get right.

Tempest / Tempest Trials

A single-player game mode that requires players to complete multiple maps in a row at varying difficulty levels. The higher the difficulty, the more points that will be received once the maps are completed. Tempest Trials also have a bonus unit feature where use of a pictured bonus unit gives the player a 1.2x or 1.4x score multiplier. If the player reaches certain score thresholds, they receive a variety of prizes such as orbs, crystals, feathers, refining stones, sacred coins, 4 star units, 5 star units, and/or Sacred Seals. Typically unique rewards (Units and/or Sacred Seals) are available up to the 40 000 point mark, and generic rewards are available up to the 99 999 point mark.

I ground out this Tempest and received all the available rewards.

The Reinhardt

An alternative way of referring to Reinhardt, Thunder’s Fist. Reinhardt’s Brave Weapon and specialized stat distribution in addition to his status as a mage cavalry unit quickly resulted in him becoming a near-constant presence in Arena defense teams. He is also notable because he often allows for almost effortless completion of both PvE and PvP content. See: Brave (1), PvE, PvP. First coined by twitter user BrickerDylan.

I no more money for you. I now use The Reinhardt.

Threaten

See TR.

Tier

1) A method of classifying the effectiveness of units. Based on their stat distributions, access to certain skills / buffs, and ability to compete in the metagame, units are ranked against one another, usually in a list.

I’m really not sure what Tier this new character should be in.

2) The matchmaking bracket that one has reached in the Arena.

I’m moving up a Tier this week.

Tier 19.5

A way to describe the phenomena in which players rise to Tier 20 in the Arena, but cannot achieve an adequate score to stay there week to week. Consequently, they are demoted to Tier 19, where they again rise to Tier 20 during the next Arena season. See: Arena Tier, Tier 19, Tier 20.

I’ve been in Tier 19.5 for the past 2 months.

Tier 20

The top tier of the Arena, known for its relative ease to achieve but difficulty in maintaining a high enough rank to stay. Staying in Tier 20 every week generally requires multiple Merges on units and/or optimized Skill Inheritance. See: Arena Weight, Merges, SI.

I got kicked out of T20 again this week.

Tier List

A list inclusive of every unit in the game that ranks them against each other based on a variety of factors. Gamepress’ current Tier list can be found here.

I choose my Team Comp based on a Tier List.

Tilted / On tilt

A way of expressing one’s displeasure / frustration.

I never pull when I’m tilted because I end up blowing all my orbs when I don’t intent to.

Top Tier

A casual way of quantifying a unit as the best in their class or one of the best in the game. Analogous to Gamepress’ Tier 1 star, 1, and 2 in some cases.

TR / TD / TS

Stands for Threaten Res, Threaten Def, and Threaten Spd. The Threaten family of skills inflicts a -5 debuff to the named stat to foes within 2 spaces of the unit that possesses the skill at the start of the turn.

TR is one of Nowi’s best C-slot skills.

Trainee

A label applied to certain units that denotes a lower BST than average at low levels and a higher BST than average at high levels. Examples include Nowi, Grey, and Amelia, and Faye. Also known as Villagers. See: BST.

Nowi is one of the best dragon units due to her Trainee status.

Triangle Advantage

See WTA.

U

Urvan

Brave Ike’s weapon. Urvan has a Killer effect (-1 Cooldown) and reduces damage taken from consecutive attacks by 80%.

Urvan is one of the best legendary weapons.

V

Veteran

An archetype in the Fire Emblem series that has carried over to FEH. Veteran units have increased BSTs at lower levels and lowered BSTs at higher levels when compared to other units. Examples include Gunther and Jagen. Subject to a BST Penalty. See: BST Penalty.

The only thing I use Veteran units for is buffs.

VG

Stands for Voting Gauntlet, a game mode where players choose one team of 8 to support in an elimination bracket. If your chosen team is defeated, you get the option to join another team and continue the Gauntlet. The option to battle refreshes every 30 minutes, and players choose one of their units to participate in battle. They are then paired up with the lead unit of someone who is in the same team on their friend’s list as well as a random lead unit from someone on their team. Flags, a special item only usable during that specific gauntlet, are used to multiply the base amount of points one earns in a VG battle. Additional score multipliers are also granted based on how large a lead one team currently has over the other. See: Flags.

I’m not a big fan of VGs, but I guess they’re alright.

Viable

Describes whether a unit has a reasonable degree of effectiveness in competitive play.

Niles just really isn’t viable due to his low Atk.

Villager

See Trainee.

VL!Ike, Vike

Stands for Ike, Vanguard Legend.

VL!Ike is basically a better Ike.

W

W!Chrom / W!Lissa / W!Robin / W!Tharja

Refers to the Winter’s Envoy (Christmas) variants of Chrom, Lissa, Robin (M), and Tharja: Chrom, Gifted Leader, Lissa, Pure Joy, Robin, Festive Tactician, and Tharja, Normal Girl.

I used W!Chrom, W!Lissa, W!Robin, and W!Tharja as an armor team.

Waifu / Husbando

1) A corruption of “Wife” and “Husband” popular in anime communities. A way of describing someone’s favourite character of whom they are extremely dedicated to.

Julia is my Waifu. Sigurd is my Husbando.

2) (Waifu only) an alternative way of referring to the units contained on the Bridal Blessings Banner. See: B!Cordy, B!Lyn (2).

Waifu banner best banner. You can fight me on this.

Ward

A class-specific Spur skill that provides a +4 Res/Def in-combat bonus to any ally with the same movement type within two spaces.

My Armor team is unbeatable when I run quadruple Wards.

Weapon+ (+atk) / (+def) / (+spd ) / (+res) / (+eff)

Describes a weapon that has been refined for an additional stat bonus and/or an effect.

Carrot Lance+ (+def) is an interesting option on physically tanky lance units.

WF

Short for Wary Fighter, an armor exclusive skill. Wary Fighter prevents follow-up attacks from being performed on a unit if their HP is at 50% or higher.

WF on Effie makes her much more tanky.

Whale

Used to describe a player who has spent a significant amount of money on a mobile game, typically over 4 figures. Whale thresholds vary depending on individual classifications.

I’ve spent $5000 total on FEH. I’m totally a Whale.

Wo Dao

Named after the sword Wo Dao. Describes any effect that adds +10 damage when special activates.

Dark Excalibur’s Wo Dao effect makes Sonya’s Special procs more potent.

Wolf

Short form of tomes that deal effective damage against Cavalry units. Tomes that possess the Wolf effect are Blárwolf, Gronnwolf, and Rauðrwolf. Also refers to Keen Blárwolf, Gronnwolf, and Rauðrwolf, which when refined have the option to nullify buffs on calvary foes as well as deal effective damage.

Rhajat’s Wolf tome makes her a good Reinhardt check.

WoM

Refers to Wings of Mercy, a B skill. Wings of Mercy allows any unit who possesses the skill to warp to any allied unit whose HP is at 50% or lower.

WoM Black Knight teleported behind me and obliterated my Nino.

Wrazzle Dazzle

See Razzle Dazzle.

WS

1. Windsweep. See: Sweep Skills.

2. Watersweep. See: Sweep Skills.

3. Wrathful Staff, a B skill that causes staff damage to be calculated the same way as other weapon damage with no penalties applied. See: Razzle Dazzle.

WT!Reinhardt, WT!Olwen

Used to distinguish the World of Thracia banner’s Reinhardt, Thunder’s Sword and Olwen, Righteous Knight from their original versions. See: Swordhardt.

WT!Reinhardt and WT!Olwen are a pain to face in Arena Assault. As if their original versions weren’t bad enough...

WTA

Stands for Weapon Triangle Advantage. A staple of the Fire Emblem series, Weapon Triangle Advantage reappears in FEH as a 0.2x increase or decrease in damage if a weapon is strong against or weak against another weapon, respectively. Red beats Green, Green beats Blue, and Blue beats Red. Colorless / Grey weapons (Bows, Daggers, and Staffs) exist outside of the Weapons Triangle and are only disadvantaged when certain skills (Raven tomes) are in effect. See: Raven, TA.

If you follow the WTA, winning is a breeze.

Y

Y!Tiki

Y!Tiki: Stands for Young Tiki, also known as Tiki, Dragon Scion.

Y!Tiki is much better with Lightning Breath.