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Legendary Roy

Analysis by lordhelpme
Legendary Roy - Blazing Lion

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
169
HP 39
ATK 34
SPD 38
DEF 32
RES 26

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 16 9 9 7 3
Middle 17 10 10 8 4
High 18 11 11 9 5

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 35 31 35 29 22
Middle 39 34 38 32 26
High 42 37 41 35 29

IV Sets

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

Skill Sets

The Protagonist of Fire Emblem: Super Smash Bros (Defensive Generalist)

Build by lordhelpme
Recommended
Dragonbind (+Eff) A Atk/Res Unity
Alternate: Atk/Spd Unity
Positional Assist B Null Follow-Up 3
Dragon Fang
Alternate: Noontime
C Human Virtue II
IVs

+SPD or +ATK 

SMystic Boost 3
Alternate: Atk/Spd Form 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Dragonbind (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Dragon Fang / Ignis / Noontime / Moonbow 

Passive A: Unity Skills / Stance Skills / Ideal Skills / Solo Skills

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Null C-Disrupt / Atk/Def Bulwark 

Passive C: Human Virtue II

Sacred Seal: Mystic Boost / Solo Skills / Form Skills / Bond Skills / Distant Def

  • Legendary Roy is a textbook all-rounder with the myriad of flexible tools he has at his disposal — and while he may suffer a bit from a lack of specialization, he has enough to work with to fight capably in a number of situations as a generalist. This build aims to focus on this precise quality, with Assets to both offensive stats being preferred for their overall coverage and maximum firepower; however, +DEF or +RES IVs may also be considered depending on desired leans as well.
  • Specials with a four-turn cooldown are preferred as refined Dragonbind’s Breath + Guard nullification makes them surprisingly consistent (especially when paired with Null Follow-Up), all the while retaining their potency. However, one may consider two-turn cooldown options like Noontime and Moonbow if immediate activations are preferred.
  • His A skill is quite flexible since while he prefers skills that enhance both Atk and a secondary stat, what that secondary stat actually is largely depends on personal preference. Choosing Spd offers the most general coverage, but enhancing either of his defensive stats also works well for tanking purposes as pure bulk is important as well — in which case, it may be prudent to use him as a melee or ranged specialist and pair him with a Savior ally to ease the burden on him.
    • Regardless, as for what type of A skill to use:
      • Unities are excellent for their exceptional ceiling in providing stat enhancements while removing the difficulty of dealing with debuffs.
      • Stance skills, on the other hand, become much more prudent if not using Null Follow-Up as to exploit the Guard effect to prevent foes with automatic doubles from freely charging their Special against him. 
      • Ideal and Solo skills don’t offer any secondary effects, but conversely come with generally consistent and high stat ceilings with minimal strings attached.
  • Null Follow-Up is by far Legendary Roy’s ideal B slot, as it helps him utilize his naturally high Spd to shut down foes that would otherwise perform doubles regardless; this also makes him much bulkier in practice considering Human Virtue’s damage reduction effect, which applies to his foe’s first attack only. 
    • However, as it’s possible to get access to this skill through outside means (such as Legendary Byleth’s Professorial Text or Inf. Null Follow), other alternatives can be considered. This includes Null C-Disrupt if emphasizing ranged combat to bypass counterattack negation, or Atk/Def Bulwark to limit effective enemy range for flexibility in support positioning when using Roy as a main carry.

Exploding Flame Blade (Damage Reduction Stacking)

Build by lordhelpme
Dragonbind (+Eff) A Kestrel Stance 3
Alternate: Atk/Spd Unity
Positional Assist B Spurn 3
Dragon Fang
Alternate: Noontime
C Human Virtue II
IVs

+SPD 

SAtk/Spd Form 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Dragonbind (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Dragon Fang / Ignis / Noontime / Moonbow 

Passive A: Kestrel Stance / Atk/Spd Unity

Passive B: Spurn / Close Call / Repel / Frenzy

Passive C: Human Virtue II

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Form / Atk/Spd Solo / Atk/Spd Bond

  • The young lord may also consider leaning into the damage reduction effect of Human Virtue II, utilizing a B skill that enables Speed-based damage reduction (such as Spurn and Frenzy) to stack it further. This is more of a gimmick considering not only the prominence of Deadeye effects, but also that such effects combine multiplicatively (not additively) for a maximum damage reduction of 64% — but it remains an option all the same. A +SPD IV is naturally advised here.
  • Of all his choices for such B skills, Spurn is undoubtedly the best as its secondary effect of slightly strengthening Special activations pairs well with Roy’s faculty for activating them. All his other options at the time of writing — Frenzy, Close Call, and Repel — are interchangeable as their supplementary effects beyond damage reduction have no bearing on his Enemy Phase combat. 
  • The choice between Kestrel Stance and Atk/Spd Unity in Legendary Roy’s A skill largely comes down to personal preference — the former is likely ideal for further defensive coverage through permanent Guard in the Enemy Phase, but the latter can be considered if you really think he’ll have a hard time maintaining the +10 Spd advantage necessary for his damage reduction’s optimal bonus.

Strengths

Dragonbind

While refinements for Distant Counter weapons have been largely disappointing for the most part, the upgrade Legendary Roy received to Dragonbind was actually pretty solid, gaining relatively helpful and impactful effects: the new Spectrum +4 boost helps his statline keep pace with newer additions, and the combination of a Breath effect and Guard nullification makes it extremely easy to leverage rapidfire Special activations without deterrence.

These effects combined with Dragonbind’s innate ability to enable counterattacks regardless of enemy range and dragon effectiveness helps solidify Legendary Roy’s generalist capabilities — and while generalists are admittedly not nearly as strong anymore due to specialization now being preferred after the introduction of Savior skills, he’s still not in a bad position in the slightest.

Human Virtue II

The enhanced effects of Legendary Roy’s exclusive Human Virtue help supplement his consistency further by a good amount, rounding out his performance. The wording on the skill, however, admittedly gets a little weird, so to break things down a bit:

  • First, keep in mind that Human Virtue II now grants Roy and any human allies (i.e. non-dragon and beasts) within two spaces at the start of the turn +6 visible Atk/Spd. 
  • As long as Roy keeps one of those allies within two spaces for any subsequent combat, he gains an additional +6 Atk/Spd during combat (for an effective +12 boost altogether), and can gain boosts to his Def/Res as well if you can manage to buff those allies in those stats.
    • This is essentially like a re-skinned version of Ashera’s core mechanic between her Order’s Restraint and Order’s Sentence skills, and works well for the same reasons: this helps Roy exploit the maximum effect of visible buffs without being entirely gutted by buff nullification or Panic.
  • Human Virtue II also grants damage reduction and while the in-game wording is yet another mouthful, it ultimately translates to the following:
    • As long as he can enhance three human allies with his default Atk/Spd buff at the start of the turn — and moreover, keep those allies in that same range for every ensuing combat — Roy enables an immediate 36% damage reduction from his foe’s first attack in every round of combat, with every ally contributing 12%.
    • This can be pushed to a maximum of 40% damage reduction pretty easily, as one of those allies only needs a minimum of +4 Def or Res active (which can be enabled by the simple inclusion of a Hone, Fortify, or Tactic skill).

Neither of these effects are particularly new or exciting, but they’re effective — and considering that these bonuses remain neatly packaged in Roy’s C skill, this offers great flexibility as he still has access to an open B slot to bandage lingering weaknesses.

Solid Offensive Statline

Legendary Roy’s base Atk/Spd values of 34/38 are pretty respectable despite his age, remaining fairly competitive when accounting for Dragonflower access. Further, the effective +16 augmentation he receives to both through his exclusive skills makes his offensive ceiling much higher than it may seem on paper, in addition to making well-adept at avoiding doubles and utilizing Null Follow-Up.

Infantry Benefits

The young lord’s infantry status is the finishing touch on his adeptness for being an all-rounder, with access to crucial skills like Null Follow-Up, Null C-Disrupt, and Atk/Def Bulwark offering even greater flexibility in fine-tuning his role on any given team. 

Weaknesses

Legendary Drawbacks

As an ultimately combat-focused hero, the Blazing Lion’s Legendary status often imposes far greater restrictions than it does benefits, as Roy relies on being used specifically within Fire Season for competitive use in Aether Raids to benefit from Mythic Blessings. Attempting to use him otherwise severely limits his performance, preventing access to these benefits in addition to rendering the main benefit of his Legendary status — his scoring boosts in Colosseum modes — entirely null.

Mediocre Resistance

Legendary Roy’s base Resistance stat of 26 actually isn’t the worst compared to fellow myrmidon-archetypes, but it’s still not enough to entirely eliminate the risk of being killed against offensively-oriented mages given their excessive firepower. However, it should be noted that this should typically only be a problem if forcing him to engage in extended rounds of combat or specific hyper offensive units, as his combination of a high Speed stat and Human Virtue make it extremely unlikely for him to ORKO’d easily.  

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Sword
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
50 1 6
Steel Sword
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
100 1 8
Silver Sword
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
200 1 11
Dragonbind

Effective against dragon foes. Unit can counterattack regardless of foe's range.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 1 16
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Dragon Gaze

Boosts damage by 30% of unit's Atk.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 4
Dragon Fang

Boosts damage by 50% of unit's Atk.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 4

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Bonus Doubler 1

Grants bonus to Atk/Spd/Def/Res during combat = 50% of current bonus on each of unit's stats. Calculates each stat bonus independently.

Infantry Units Only
60
A
Bonus Doubler 2

Grants bonus to Atk/Spd/Def/Res during combat = 75% of current bonus on each of unit's stats. Calculates each stat bonus independently.

Infantry Units Only
120
A
Bonus Doubler 3

Grants bonus to Atk/Spd/Def/Res during combat = current bonus on each of unit's stats. Calculates each stat bonus independently.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
A
Renewal 1

At the start of every fourth turn, restores 10 HP.

Inheritable by all units.
60
B
Renewal 2

At the start of every third turn, restores 10 HP.

Inheritable by all units.
120
B
Renewal 3

At the start of every second turn, restores 10 HP.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
B
Human Virtue

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to any allies that are not beast or dragon allies, grants Atk/Spd+6 to unit and those allies for 1 turn.

Non-Inheritable skill.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
C
Human Virtue II

At start of turn, if unit is within 2 spaces of any allies other than beast or dragon allies, grants Atk/Spd+6 to unit and those allies for 1 turn. Grants bonus to unit's Atk/Spd/Def/Res during combat = highest bonus on allies other than beast or dragon allies within 2 spaces. Calculates each stat bonus independently. Reduces damage from foe's first attack during combat by X% (X = total value of bonuses on the 3 allies other than beast or dragon allies with the highest bonus totals within 2 spaces; max. 40).

Non-Inheritable skill.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem Heroes

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