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Analysis by lordhelpme
Roy - Young Lion

3-4

Obtainable as a 3 - 4 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
158
HP 44
ATK 30
SPD 31
DEF 25
RES 28

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 19 7 8 5 3
Middle 20 8 9 6 4
High 21 9 10 7 5

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 41 26 27 22 25
Middle 44 30 31 25 28
High 47 33 34 29 31

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 BOY (Defensive / Melee Specialist)

Build by lordhelpme
Recommended
Binding Blade (+Eff) A Atk/Def Unity
Alternate: Sturdy Stance 3
Positional Assist B Null Follow-Up 3
Moonbow
Alternate: Ignis
C Joint Drive Def
Alternate: Atk Smoke 3
IVs

+ATK or +DEF

SSteady Breath

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Binding Blade (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Moonbow / Ignis / Sol / Noontime

Passive A: Atk/Def Unity / Sturdy Stance / Atk/Def Solo / Atk/Def Ideal

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Lull Atk/Def / Mystic Boost

Passive C: Joint Drive Def / Atk Smoke / Def Smoke / Menace Skills / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Steady Breath / Atk/Def Solo / Mystic Boost / Sturdy Stance

  • Binding Blade’s ample Defense/Resistance boost and innate Quick Riposte effect naturally lends the Young Lion to defensively-tuned playstyles, and the advent of Far Save helps him focus strictly on his melee match-ups to benefit from normal A skills without necessarily losing coverage. Increasing his Attack or Defense to improve his damage and physical bulk respectively are his best options. 
  • Atk/Def Unity is a seriously powerful A skill that helps Roy absorb stat debuffs with impunity, reversing their effects entirely; it comes with the highest ceiling of all his options from a stat viewpoint but remains rather scarce. Alternatively, Roy can equip a fourth-tier Stance skill to prevent enemies from freely gathering enough Special charges to burst through his defenses — a helpful quality even when equipped with Null Follow-Up as his uninvested Speed is not all that reliable. One may also pick between other options like Atk/Def Solo and Atk/Def Ideal for pure stat boosts depending on preference between their varying conditionals. 
  • For his B skill, Null Follow-Up shines to help mitigate damage against foes with automatic follow-up attacks and ensure that his innate Quick Riposte is not shut down by opposing Impact skills; overall, it’s a fairly useful asset that is sure to assist against common attackers. Lull Atk/Def is a somewhat weaker option whose usefulness varies on how often you actually run into visible buffs, and Mystic Boost provides constant post-combat healing though its other effects are functionally useless here. 
  • Joint Drive skills are a common recommendation, though for good reason as they essentially provide stats for free — and in Roy’s case of an otherwise flat statline, such skills are more than welcome. Smokes are also useful when baiting multiple opponents in one Enemy Phase, with Menace skills being considerable upgrades provided you can get the positioning right. 
  • The Steady Breath Sacred Seal is exceptional for the faster Special activation rate it provides; it can be leveraged for instant triggers on each counterattack with cooldown options like Moonbow, or more powerful choices like Ignis that would otherwise take too long to activate. If unnecessary (due to preference or if Summer Hilda / Brave Lucina support is available), any Sacred Seal that enhances Attack and/or Defense may be used. 

power of god and anime (Defensive / High Investment All-Purpose Tank)

Build by lordhelpme
Binding Blade (+Eff) A Distant Counter
Positional Assist B Null Follow-Up 3
Alternate: Spurn 3
Sol
Alternate: Noontime
C Joint Drive Spd
Alternate: Pulse Smoke 3
IVs

+ATK or +DEF or +SPD or +RES

SAtk/Spd Solo 3
Alternate: Atk/Res Solo 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Binding Blade (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Sol / Noontime

Passive A: Distant Counter 

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Spurn / Null C-Disrupt

Passive C: Joint Drive Skills / Smoke Skills / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Solo / Atk/Res Solo / Spd/Res Solo / Mystic Boost 

  • Retaining his signature defensive focus, this build aims to maximize Roy’s balanced statline and infantry skill access to have him operate as the team’s main carry (i.e. an “omni”-tank). His choice of Asset is fairly versatile as a result — realistically, the best choice boils down to your preference and the type of support being provided to him — but those hoping to exploit damage reduction skills are more hard-locked into +SPD.
  • Although not really an issue for general gameplay or in lower tiers of competitive modes, the loss of a stat-boosting A skill in exchange for Distant Counter is felt much more harshly in upper echelons— especially for someone like Roy who features a lukewarm overall statline at base. This makes incorporating a mix of high merges  Summoner Support, Dragonflowers, and his Resplendent if available alongside support from his allies pivotal for his success, particularly for Speed-based builds. 
  • Roy has a few different options for his B skill:
    • Null Follow-Up is once again exemplary – and may be even more coveted here – to entirely shut down incoming threats with automatic follow-ups. Roy has no other way to impede the offensive performance of such foes, so this effect does wonders to safeguard his longevity (especially with the ubiquity of units like Valentine’s Lif who depend on such effects for their performance) while also supplementing his damage a little through guaranteed breakthroughs of Impacts.
    • Speed-based reduction skills like Spurn, Repel, and Close Call are fantastic for enhanced durability, decreasing the amount of damage he takes from opposing foes depending on how much faster he is than them. This scales up to a potent maximum of 40%, but the fact that Roy only has 31 Speed makes it prudent that one packs as many Speed boosts as possible. 
    • While not nearly as universally appreciated as the former two, Null C-Disrupt helps in case you have a particularly difficult time against units like Dazzling Staff or Firesweep Bow wielders; it may be possible to simply neutralize them during the Player Phase instead, but this may not always be a safe option.
  • Healing Specials are a great way to bolster his survival via a consistent source of sustain, though do take caution if an opponent is equipped with Fatal Smoke on the opposing team. Noontime is recommended if access to accelerated cooldown support (e.g. Brave Lucina, Summer Hilda, New Year Velouria) is available, otherwise Sol tends to be more favorable. 
  • Much of the same that could be said for Roy’s C skill in the first build applies here, with Joint Drive, Smoke, and Menace skills providing useful strengthening to his statline. Pulse Smoke is more notable here, though, for Aether Raids Offense depending on how often you run into teams centered on hastened Special activation mechanics, such as Infantry Pulse
  • Sacred Seals that increase Roy’s key stats — though preferably in the form of a Solo skill — complement this build, but Mystic Boost is an interesting alternative stats for further counterplay to staves with an extra helping of healing.

Strengths

Binding Blade

Roy’s exclusive Binding Blade remains his most compelling selling point thanks to its improved Quick Riposte effect upon refinement. It may not be as overloaded as weapons seen on more recent sword contemporaries, but free follow-ups during the Enemy Phase is still useful to leverage his other skill slots further develop his performance. The additional defensive boosts and dragon effectiveness it provides are nice bonuses as well for improved durability and an occasional damage enhancement. 

Infantry Benefits

The free B and Sacred Seal slot provided by Binding Blade’s refinement (since he absolutely needs Quick Riposte included somewhere in his build) thankfully does not go to waste by merit of his infantry status; with access to useful exclusive skills like Null Follow-Up, Null C-Disrupt, and Spurn, the Young Lion's ceiling is not nearly as low as it would have been otherwise.

Fantastic Availability 

By merit of being available in the 3-4 ✰ pool, Roy has a relatively easy time in acquiring merges and ideal IVs in comparison to most of his direct competition, which is useful due to his performance scaling significantly the more investment he receives. 

Weaknesses

Relatively Flat Statline

Roy’s innate statline definitely shows its age with a lack of a truly distinguishing quality barring his HP pool of all things. His mediocre Attack may prove particularly inhibiting by causing him to miss KOs at crucial moments, and his bulk is much more suspect to surprise deaths if the necessary support and investment is unavailable.

Strong Competition 

The pool of infantry sword units is extremely bloated and will only continue to grow, which causes Roy to face an incredible amount of competition for a slot on a given team -- especially compared to those who can fulfill similar defensive roles with greater ease.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Sword
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
50 1 6
Steel Sword
Learns by default at 3 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
100 1 8
Silver Sword
Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
200 1 11
Binding Blade

Grants Def/Res+2 when this unit is attacked.

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

Support Skills

Support Skills Rng. SP
Shove

Push adjacent ally 1 space farther away.

Learns by default at 4 ★
1 150

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Triangle Adept 1

Gives Atk+10% if weapon-triangle advantage, Atk-10% if disadvantage.

Excludes Colorless Weapon Users.
50
A
Triangle Adept 2

Gives Atk+15% if weapon-triangle advantage, Atk-15% if disadvantage.

Excludes Colorless Weapon Users.
Unlocks at 3 ★
100
A
Triangle Adept 3

Gives Atk+20% if weapon-triangle advantage, Atk-20% if disadvantage.

Excludes Colorless Weapon Users.
Unlocks at 4 ★
200
A
Seal Def 1

Inflicts Def-3 on foe through its next action after combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
40
B
Seal Def 2

Inflicts Def-5 on foe through its next action after combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
80
B
Seal Def 3

Inflicts Def-7 on foe through its next action after combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
160
B

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

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