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Analysis by Chibi_Chu
Fallen Rhea - Immaculate One

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
190
HP 46
ATK 43
SPD 18
DEF 40
RES 43

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 19 12 4 9 9
Middle 20 13 5 10 10
High 21 14 6 11 11

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 43 40 14 37 39
Middle 46 43 18 40 43
High 49 47 21 44 46

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

Adorned with Bloodstained Petals (Near Save)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Recommended
Ruinous Frost A Atk/Res Unity
Alternate: Mirror Stance 3
Positional Assist B True Dragon Wall
Iceberg C A/R Near Save 3
Alternate: D/R Near Save 3
IVs

+Atk and/or +Def or +Res / -Spd

SWarding Breath

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Ruinous Frost 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Iceberg 

Passive A: Atk/Res Unity / Mirror Stance 3 / Bracing Stance 3 / Close Def 4

Passive B: True Dragon Wall 

Passive C: A/R Near Save / D/R Near Save 

Sacred Seal: Warding Breath 

  • Rhea is a premier Near Save unit, as her optimized statline grants her extremely high damage output and bulk. If Rhea is within two spaces of an ally that is initiated against by a melee enemy, Rhea will participate in combat instead, in addition to receiving a minor stat increase (+4 to two stats) and all post-combat effects. When paired with a Far Save ally or ranged specialist, Rhea and her ally can tank several enemies at once while maintaining impressive damage output.
  • Rhea’s excellent damage and bulk are further exacerbated by Ruinous Frost, which inflicts -6 Atk on the enemy during combat and grants Rhea -1 Special cooldown, +6 Atk during combat, and true damage equal to 40% of the enemy’s Res on her first attack. Additionally, neither Rhea nor the enemy can perform a follow-up attack.
  • As Rhea cannot perform a follow-up attack, she ideally wants to OHKO, as enemies with a guaranteed follow-up will neutralize Ruinous Frost’s follow-up prevention, then likely perform a follow-up because of Rhea’s abysmal Spd. This set focuses on maximizing Rhea’s damage output to secure as many OHKOs as possible.
  • The combination of -1 Special cooldown, a 3-cooldown Special, and a Breath Sacred Seal allows Rhea to activate said Special on her first counterattack if no Guard effect is active. Iceberg is ideal given Rhea’s incredibly impressive 43 Res and True Dragon Wall’s Res-based damage reduction; in addition to stacking Atk, Res should also be stacked to maximize Iceberg bonus damage. With this in mind, Warding Breath is chosen over Steady Breath or Darting Breath, as Rhea appreciates additional Res more than additional Def and much more than additional Spd.
  • Atk/Res Unity and Mirror Stance 3 are Rhea’s best A slots, as they both increase Rhea’s Atk and Res. The former grants +5 Atk/Res in addition to Atk/Res debuff and panicked buff reversal during combat if Rhea is within two spaces of an ally, while the latter grants +6 Atk/Res and slows enemy Specials.
    • As most melee enemies deal physical damage, Bracing Stance 3 (+6 Def/Res) and Close Def 4 (+8 Def/Res) are still strong choices, with the former slowing Specials and the latter neutralizing enemy bonuses.
  • During Rhea’s first combat of each Player and Enemy Phase, True Dragon Wall grants up to 60% damage reduction, with each point of Res she has over the enemy granting 6% damage reduction. During subsequent combats, the cap is reduced to 40%, with each point granting 4% damage reduction. This significantly improves Rhea’s survivability and further incentivizes Res-stacking, with the icing on the cake being that Rhea also heals 7 HP at the start of every turn and after every combat if she has a Dragon or Beast ally.

Broken Memories Alight (Far Save)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Ruinous Frost A Distant Countering A Slot
Positional Assist B True Dragon Wall
Iceberg C A/R Far Save 3
Alternate: A/D Far Save 3
IVs

+Atk and/or +Def or +Res / -Spd

SWarding Breath

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Ruinous Frost 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Iceberg 

Passive A: Distant Countering A Slot

Passive B: True Dragon Wall 

Passive C: A/R Far Save / A/D Far Save 

Sacred Seal: Warding Breath 

  • Rhea can also be a strong Far Save unit, protecting allies from ranged attacks. Her optimized statline is just as key for Far Save as it is for Near Save, in addition to Ruinous Frost’s:
    • -1 Special cooldown, allowing Rhea to activate Iceberg (a Special that increases damage by 50% of Rhea’s Res) on her first attack with the Warding Breath Sacred Seal if no Guard effect is active.
    • +6 Atk to Rhea and -6 Atk to the enemy during combat, improving damage and bulk.
    • Follow-up prevention for both Rhea and the enemy, promoting an OHKO-centric playstyle.
    • True damage on Rhea’s first attack equal to 40% of the enemy’s Res. In combination with an Iceberg activation, Rhea’s first attack is typically incredibly powerful, enabling her to succeed in the aforementioned OHKO-centric playstyle.
  • However, as Rhea is a Colorless Dragon rather than a Colorless Beast, she does not have innate Distant Counter, meaning she will need a Distant Countering A slot to counterattack against ranged enemies.
    • Distant Storm is ideal for Rhea, as she gains +5 Atk during combat in exchange for 5 recoil damage (which is counteracted by True Dragon Wall, which heals Rhea for 7 HP at the start of every turn and after every combat if she has a Dragon or Beast ally). Distant Stance is the next strongest option, granting +5 Res with no recoil; this helps with Rhea’s Iceberg damage, magic tanking, and damage reduction.
  • In addition to the aforementioned healing, True Dragon Wall grants 6% damage reduction for every point of Res Rhea has over the enemy (up to 60%) on her first combat of every phase, which is then reduced to 4% per point (up to 40%) for subsequent combats. This gives Rhea even more incentive to stack Res, as doing so minimizes damage taken against mages, maximizes Iceberg damage, and secures True Dragon Wall’s damage reduction.

Strengths

Optimized Statline

46 HP, 43 Atk, 40 Def, and 43 Res are immaculate values, making Rhea incredibly strong both offensively and defensively.

Ruinous Frost

Ruinous Frost is Rhea’s powerful personal weapon.

  • As with many personal weapons, it grants -1 Special cooldown, enabling Rhea to activate her Special more frequently.
  • If the enemy initiates combat or their HP is ≥ 75% at the start of combat, it:
    • Grants Rhea +6 Atk and inflicts -6 Atk on the enemy, improving her damage output and bulk.
    • Grants true damage equal to 40% of the enemy’s Res on Rhea’s first attack, making her damage threatening even against high-Res enemies.
    • Prevents both Rhea and the enemy from performing a follow-up attack, improving Rhea’s survivability while not hurting her damage output since she lacks both Spd and a guaranteed follow-up attack anyway.

True Dragon Wall

The tradition of Rhea alts getting Res-based damage reduction continues with Fallen Rhea. While Seiros and Halloween Rhea have normal Dragon Walls, Fallen Rhea has the True Dragon Wall, a direct powercreep of her previous versions’ B slot.

  • For the first combat of each Player and Enemy Phase, Rhea gains up to 60% damage reduction, with each point of Res she has over the enemy granting her 6% damage reduction. This damage reduction applies not just during combat, but also before combat, reducing damage taken from AoE Specials.
  • For subsequent combats, the cap on this damage reduction is lowered to 40%, with each point of Res Rhea has over the enemy granting her 4% damage reduction (identical to normal Dragon Wall).
  • Additionally, if Rhea has a Dragon or Beast ally, she heals 7 HP at the start of the turn and after every combat.

With most potent damage dealers investing little to no skill or support effects into Res, Rhea can easily reach True Dragon Wall’s damage reduction cap, significantly improving her survivability. The healing after every combat and at the start of every turn provides Rhea with some sustainability as well, making her extremely difficult to KO.

Armored Advantages

In combination with Ruinous Frost and True Dragon Wall, Rhea’s Armored status granting her superior BST and access to Near Save and Far Save allows her to excel in the current meta.

Weaknesses

Double-Edged Follow-Up Prevention

Rhea’s aforementioned follow-up prevention is a two-way street—that is, she prevents both herself and the enemy from performing follow-up attacks. While this is generally favorable because of her abysmal Spd and no guaranteed follow-up, it can be harmful should the enemy have a guaranteed follow-up; this cancels out with follow-up prevention, allowing the enemy to perform a follow-up on the usual condition of having ≥ 5 more Spd than Rhea. It is also worth noting that Null Follow-Up negates both ends of Rhea’s follow-up prevention.

As a result of Ruinous Frost, Rhea’s playstyle is rather OHKO-centric. Though she performs exceedingly well at this playstyle thanks to her remarkable damage output, should she fail to OHKO, enemies with guaranteed follow-ups and anything even resembling a Spd stat will both survive (since she cannot attack again) and land two attacks. The accumulating damage may be overwhelming for Rhea, and her team may face problems when cleaning up surviving enemies in the following Player Phase.

Competition

While Rhea is no doubt an incredibly strong unit, she faces competition from a myriad of peers. Common Near Save units include Arden, Halloween Myrrh, Brave Hector, Ascended Idunn, Halloween Robin (M), and Fallen Edelgard, while common Far Save units include Brave Hector (again), Ascended Idunn (again), Nagi, Valentine’s Robin (F), and Fallen Edelgard (again). All of these units can perform Rhea’s roles with relatively similar, if not even greater ease depending on the scenario, though vice versa also applies.

In particular, Rhea’s status as an Armored Dragon rather than an Armored Beast is almost purely detrimental, as Armored Beasts gain +2 Atk and Distant Counter on transformation while Armored Dragons get…nothing. While it could be argued that some of Rhea’s effects probably would have been locked behind transformation if she were an Armored Beast (similarly to the Galeforce and damage reduction effects Fallen Edelgard receives from Twin-Crest Power and Armored Wall respectively being locked behind transformation), lacking innate Distant Counter makes Rhea a potentially weaker Far Save option than others, though she is still more than viable nonetheless.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Fire Breath
Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Only inheritable by Dragon units.
50 1 6
Fire Breath+
Learns by default at 2 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Only inheritable by Dragon units.
100 1 8
Flametongue
Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Only inheritable by Dragon units.
200 1 11
Ruinous Frost

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). If foe initiates combat or if foe's HP ≥ 75% at start of combat, grants Atk+6 to unit, inflicts Atk-6 on foe, and unit's first attack deals damage = 40% of foe's Res during combat, and also, both unit and foe cannot make a follow-up attack. If foe's Range = 2, calculates damage using the lower of foe's Def or Res.

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

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Night Sky

Boosts damage dealt by 50%.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 3
Glimmer

Boosts damage dealt by 50%.

Unlocks at 4 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 2

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Warding Stance 1

If foe initiates combat, grants Res+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
50
A
Bracing Stance 1

If foe initiates combat, grants Def/Res+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
120
A
Bracing Stance 2

If foe initiates combat, grants Def/Res+4 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
A
Bracing Stance 3

If foe initiates combat, grants Def/Res+6 during combat and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
A
True Dragon Wall

If unit's Res > foe's Res, reduces damage from attacks during combat and from area-of-effect Specials (excluding Røkkr area-of-effect Specials) by percentage = difference between stats × 6 (max 60%) for this unit's first combat in player phase and enemy phase and percentage = difference between stats × 4 (max 40%) for this unit's second combat or later. If dragon or beast ally is on your team (excluding unit), restores 7 HP to unit at start of turn and after combat.

Non-Inheritable skill.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
B
D/R Near Save 1

If a foe uses sword, lance, axe, dragonstone, or beast damage and initiates combat against an ally adjacent to unit, triggers【Savior】on unit.  If unit triggers Savior, grants Def/Res+1 during combat.  【Savior】 Unit takes ally's space, enters combat in ally's place, and receives all after-combat effects.  Savior will not trigger if ally is on terrain that unit cannot move to or if multiple units are able to use Savior during the same combat. If Savior triggers, after-combat movement effects do not occur.

Only inheritable by armor units.
Unlocks at 1 ★
100
C
D/R Near Save 2

If a foe uses sword, lance, axe, dragonstone, or beast damage and initiates combat against an ally within 2 spaces of unit, triggers【Savior】 on unit.  If unit triggers Savior, grants Def/Res+2 during combat.  【Savior】 Unit takes ally's space, enters combat in ally's place, and receives all after-combat effects.  Savior will not trigger if ally is on terrain that unit cannot move to or if multiple units are able to use Savior during the same combat. If Savior triggers, after-combat movement effects do not occur.

Only inheritable by armor units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
200
C
D/R Near Save 3

If a foe uses sword, lance, axe, dragonstone, or beast damage and initiates combat against an ally within 2 spaces of unit, triggers【Savior】on unit.  If unit triggers Savior, grants Def/Res+4 during combat.  【Savior】 Unit takes ally's space, enters combat in ally's place, and receives all after-combat effects.  Savior will not trigger if ally is on terrain that unit cannot move to or if multiple units are able to use Savior during the same combat. If Savior triggers, after-combat movement effects do not occur.

Only inheritable by armor units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
300
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Three Houses

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