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Hinoka - Warrior Princess

5 Legacy

Obtainable as a 5 during certain summoning events only.

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
157
HP 41
ATK 35
SPD 32
DEF 25
RES 24

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 18 6 7 5 6
Middle 19 7 8 6 7
High 20 8 9 7 8

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 37 32 29 22 21
Middle 41 35 32 25 24
High 44 38 35 29 27

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

Hinoka functions best with an offensive boon due to her default options of weapon- both Hinoka's Spear and Brave Lance benefit from Attack or Speed boons.  Her Speed is on the lower side when comparing her to other upper-tier blue fliers, however, this is either made irrelevant with her Brave Lance set or rectified with her prf weapon's secondary skill.  She should dump Resistance and HP whenever possible, as neither of them really help her much when dueling melee-based enemies.

Boons

  • +ATK: Increasing her Attack makes her Brave Lance set more viable, as it offers her a default +6 damage on every initiation. Hinoka's Spear can also benefit from the additional damage, though speed is more preferred there.
  • +SPD: Hinoka's Speed rests at a lowish 32. Luckily, her prf weapon allows her to increase that to 36 if positioned correctly- an additional boon here will increase her Speed to 39, which is ideal for building around Hinoka's Spear.

Neutral

  • DEF: While Hinoka's Defense is not exactly stellar, it's high enough to generally keep her alive through an enemy attack or two. It's not a priority of hers, but it also shouldn't be lowered, as that would worsen her ability to duel her opponent.

Banes

  • -HP: HP is not necessarily important on Hinoka- her higher Speed will allow her to shrug off a single attack, and you're better off taking an HP bane over a Defense bane, particularly if you anticipate her being attacked more than once.
  • -RES: is her most ideal bane, unless you anticipate her dueling dragons often.

Skill Sets

Hinoka's Buff (Prf lance build)

Build by
Recommended
Hinoka's Spear (+Spd)
Alternate: Hinoka's Spear (+Eff)
A Swift Sparrow 2
Alternate: Fury 3
Reposition B Desperation 3
Alternate: Hit and Run
Glimmer
Alternate: Moonbow
C Fortify Fliers
Alternate: Hone Fliers
IVsSSpeed +3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +SPD  / -RES or -HP
  • Weapon: Hinoka's Spear (+Spd) or Hinoka's Spear (+Effect)
  • Assist: Reposition / User’s choice
  • Special: Glimmer / Moonbow / Luna
  • Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Life and Death / Fury 3
  • Passive B: Desperation / Flier Formation / Hit and Run
  • Passive C: Fortify Fliers / Hone Fliers / Varies on Team
  • Sacred Seal: Spd +3 / Atk +3 / Quickened Pulse

Hinoka's Spear opened up the door for Hinoka to lift herself head and shoulders above her blue flier competition. In addition to giving her a fantastic +4/+4 Attack/Speed stat boost when close to her allies, she can also take an additional forge boost, giving her more Speed, or an +Effect boost which offers both infantry and flier teammates exceptional mobility when she's on the field supporting them.  Either is good depending on your team needs, but as a solo unit, Hinoka benefits more from +SPD than she does from +Effect.

Swift Sparrow furthers her Attack and Speed potential, allowing her to offer up a crippling 59/46 Attack/Speed before Sacred Seals or buffs come into play (35/35 from a +SPD IV, 39/39 from Spear effect, 43/43 from Swift Sparrow, 43/46 from refining for +SPD, and 59/46 for factoring in actual weapon damage).  Life and Death or Fury are variants on this that alter her offensive capabilities slightly either by crippling or rounding out her defenses.

Her B slot ideally has a typical Desperation, which works particularly well if you're running fury on her. This allows her to work as a pseudo-brave unit (with that whopping 59 Attack) after she first takes damage. Flier Formation will still work here if you decide not to take her +Effect refine.

With all of this going on, Hinoka still ideally wants to have a teammate with Hone Fliers and will gladly give them a Fortify Flier buff in return- but if Hinoka is your only member capable of Hone Fliers, then she can still run that with great success and doesn't necessarily need the extra buffs, though a teammate with Goad Fliers would be the next best thing.

OG Hinoka (Brave Lance)

Build by
Brave Lance+ A Death Blow 4
Alternate: Life and Death 3
Reposition B Hit and Run
Luna
Alternate: Moonbow
C Hone Fliers
IVsSAttack +3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD  / -RES or -HP
  • Weapon: Brave Lance
  • Support: Reposition / Draw Back
  • Special: Luna / Moonbow / Galeforce
  • A passive: Death Blow / Life and Death / Swift Sparrow
  • B passive: Hit and Run / Desperation
  • C passive: Hone Fliers / Varies on Team
  • Sacred Seal: Atk +3 / Spd +3 / Quickened Pulse

Hinoka has the flexibility to run a Brave Lance set with an Attack boon and her default Brave Lance, or an imitation quad set with a speed boon.  Though this build with a Speed focus pales in comparison to the more-accessible Cordelia, it's still worth mentioning as she can run it rather well.

With her Attack boon build, she predictably focuses on maximizing her Attack. Each point of Attack she gains is doubled due to the nature of her Brave Lance, so she wants to go all in with skills like Death Blow and seals like Atk +3.  Life and Death can also work with this build, particularly if you have a Speed Hinoka and are looking to make more of a quad set.

Hit and Run is always ideal, particularly for player phase fliers like Hinoka, because it allows her to dart into enemy territory and retreat back to her allies without compromising her safety. Desperation can also be run, particularly if building Hinoka for quads.

Fireswept (Firesweep Build)

Build by
Firesweep Lance+ A Life and Death 3
Alternate: Life and Death 2
Reposition B Swordbreaker 3
Alternate: Hit and Run
Moonbow
Alternate: Galeforce
C Hone Fliers
IVsSQuickened Pulse

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +SPD  / -RES or -HP
  • Weapon: Firesweep Lance
  • Support: Reposition / Draw Back
  • Special: Moonbow / Galeforce
  • A passive: Life and Death / Swift Sparrow / Heavy Blade
  • B passive: Swordbreaker / Hit and Run / Flier Formation
  • C passive: Hone Fliers / Varies on Team
  • Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Spd +3 / Heavy Blade

Firesweep Lance is a natural choice for Hinoka with a Speed boon, as it eliminates her need to worry about defensive stats. Worth noting that this build is extremely pricey, but its ceiling is worth the investment although Tana and Cordelia are slightly better at running this build than her due to their superior offensive stats.

Life and Death is the best A slot for her, due to defensive stats are generally unneeded for Firesweep build. Heavy Blade is a good choice for turn 1 Galeforce procs, however, this shouldn't be attempted unless you have another Hone Fliers buffer on your team to ensure that Hinoka has the maximum chance to proc her Heavy Blade. Due to the speedy nature of the metagame, Hinoka will have a difficult time securing doubles against Sword units- therefore, Swordbreaker is good to run in her B slot to circumvent that issue entirely. However, Hit and Run is also useful for positioning, as it allows her to escape enemy range after her turn.

Quickened Pulse allows for both a 1 turn proc of Moonbow as well as a 1 turn proc of Galeforce if Heavy Blade activates. 

This is a pricier build but allows for Hinoka to apply poke damage to opponents and support your team through killing powerful red units as well as helping to break Fighter skills of high-defensive armors without taking retaliating damage.

Introduction

As the only unit to possess Hone Fliers for the first several months of the game, Hinoka was highly sought after for many people wishing to create a flier emblem team. Her difficulties, however, have been numerous: her availability has always been her limiting factor, followed closely by the fact that she was generally outclassed by Cordelia and that her most desired buff- Hone Fliers- is a buff that only she came with.

Still, she has decent stats, matching Cordelia in Attack but losing out to her in Speed. Her similar Attack stat to Cordelia and Est means that she's still tied for the best user of Brave Lance among blue fliers, though her inability to give herself her own Hone Flier buff can make her fall short.  She's not meant to be run as a defensive unit either and will be outclassed in that role by units such as Tana, Valter, and Subaki.

With the introduction of Hinoka's Spear, a new prf weapon, new life has been breathed into Hinoka.  Now she functions with a near-permanent +4/+4 Attack/Speed buff if near an infantry or flying ally and opens up her team for far more mobility options with her +Eff refine, allowing both Guidance (for infantry and fliers) built into her weapon.  This singlehandedly allows her to compete with the top tier blue fliers again and gives her an edge over fliers that did not have a prf, such as Cordelia and Est.

Strengths

High Attack

35 base Attack is the highest among lance fliers, tied with Est and Cordelia.

This makes her ideal for a Brave Lance + Death Blow build.

Hinoka's Spear allows her to gain +4 additional attack if near an ally, giving her the highest Attack stat among blue fliers.

Decent Speed

32 base Speed is lower than Tana, Cordelia, Shanna or Shigure, but Hinoka's Spear more than makes up for that with a +4 to her Speed when near an ally. This allows her to actually outstrip Cordelia, Shanna and Catria, tying with Tana for the highest Speed stat among blue fliers.

Flier buffs such as Hone or Goad Flier, as well as a Speed boon can bring her to high Speed threshold that is enough to kill most meta units.

Good Skillset

Hinoka needs little SI sacrifices to shine, as she comes with Brave Lance and can learn Hinoka's Spear.

Her C slot is Hone Fliers, which is crucial for flier teams.

In addition, Hinoka's Spear offers both her flier and infantry allies excellent movement and positioning support. In this way, Hinoka can be a fantastic support unit, as well as a devastating offensive unit.

Weaknesses

Poor Defenses

41 HP with 25/24 Defense/Resistance makes it difficult to build her as a brawler, as it is unlikely that she'll be able to take more than one or two hits per engagement.

This is somewhat mitigated by the ability to increase her Speed, limiting the amount of attacks she'd need to withstand from her opponent.

Typical Flier Weaknesses

Hinoka is absolutely unable to deal with Merric- his bulk is too high to oneshot on Player Phase and he will kill her easily in Enemy Phase.

Archers in general also serve to counter her effectively; particularly archers with high Defense and/or Speed that she'd have difficulty KOing in player phase.

Middle of the Pack

Without her prf lance, Hinoka pales in comparison to lower-rarity blue fliers; Cordelia has higher Speed than her and Est has the same Attack (arguably all that matters in the Brave Lance/Death Blow build) with much easier availability.

Hinoka lacks the versatility of her fellow 5 star exclusive blue, Tana, and is badly hurt by the fact that she cannot buff herself with Hone Fliers.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Steel Lance
Lance Users Only
100 1 8
Brave Lance

Spd-5. Attack twice when initiating combat.

Lance Users Only
200 1 5
Brave Lance+

Spd-5. Attack twice when initiating combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Lance Users Only
300 1 8
Hinoka's Spear

Grants Atk/Spd+4 during combat if infantry or flying ally is within 2 spaces of unit.

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

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Rising Wind

Before combat this unit initiates, foes in an area near target take damage equal to (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
150 4
Blazing Wind

Before combat this unit initiates, foes in an area near target take damage equal to 1.5x (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
300 4

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Defiant Def 1

Grants Def+3 at start of turn if unit's HP < 50%

Inheritable by all units.
40
A
Defiant Def 2

Grants Def+5 at start of turn if unit's HP < 50%

Inheritable by all units.
80
A
Defiant Def 3

Grants Def+7 at start of turn if unit's HP < 50%

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
160
A
Hone Spd 1

Grants adjacent allies Spd+2 through their next actions at the start of each turn.

Inheritable by all units.
50
C
Hone Spd 2

Grants adjacent allies Spd+3 through their next actions at the start of each turn.

Inheritable by all units.
100
C
Hone Fliers

Grants adjacent flying allies Atk/Spd+6 through their next actions at the start of each turn.

  • Requires Hone Atk 2 or Hone Spd 2.
Only inheritable by flier units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem Fates

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Official Hero Artwork