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Analysis by Chibi_Chu
Miriel - Rapier Intellect

3-4

Obtainable as a 3 - 4 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
170
HP 37
ATK 37
SPD 40
DEF 25
RES 31

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 17 8 9 5 6
Middle 18 9 10 6 7
High 19 10 11 7 8

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 34 34 37 22 28
Middle 37 37 40 25 31
High 41 40 44 29 34

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

So a horse with wings is called a pegasus? Fascinating. (General Offense)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Recommended
Drifting Grace+ (+Spd)
Alternate: Spooky Censer+ (+Atk)
A Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot
Alternate: Life and Death (3 or 4)
Positional Assist B Null Follow-Up 3
Alternate: Special Spiral 3
Glimmer
Alternate: Blazing Special
C Atk/Spd Menace
Alternate: Res Smoke 3
IVs

+Atk and/or +Spd (+Atk for AoE Spam) / -Def

SAtk/Spd Solo 3
Alternate: Heavy Blade 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Drifting Grace+ (+Spd) / Spooky Censer+ (+Atk) / Flora Guide+ (+Spd)

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Glimmer / Blazing Special

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot / Life and Death (3 or 4) / Heavy Blade 4

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Special Spiral / Desperation 

Passive C: Atk/Spd Menace / Res Smoke / Atk/Res Menace

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Solo / Heavy Blade / Blade Session / Life and Death 

  • Miriel’s 37/40 offenses make her a potent Player Phase force. She has two builds for this: one that stacks her Speed to perform follow-up attacks as consistently as possible and one that focuses on spamming AoE Blazing Specials.
  • Speed Focus:
    • Drifting Grace and Flora Guide are both strong weapon choices. Drifting Grace heals Miriel for 10 HP at the start of the turn and grants +5 Atk/Spd during combat if her HP at the start of combat is ≥ 25%, while Flora Guide inflicts -5 Spd/Res on enemies within 2 spaces during combat. Which weapon is chosen may depend on Miriel’s B Slot.
    • With more units having follow-up prevention via weapons and Skills, Null Follow-Up is incredibly valuable, neutralizing these effects in addition to effects that guarantee the enemy’s follow-up attack. However, Desperation is a tried and true B Slot, allowing Miriel to perform her follow-up attack before the enemy can counterattack if her HP is ≤ 75%. If Null Follow-Up is used, Drifting Grace is Miriel’s ideal weapon, as she cannot use a Desperation effect to circumvent her sketchy bulk by 2HKOing before the enemy can counterattack. If Desperation is used, Flora Guide is her ideal weapon instead, as Drifting Grace’s 10 HP heal at the start of the turn may heal her over Desperation’s HP requirement.
    • Atk/Spd Boosting A Slots increase Miriel’s damage output and follow-up consistency, making them incredibly valuable. Note that Atk/Spd Push 4 and Fury are particularly beneficial if using Desperation, as their recoil damage may help Miriel safely fall into its HP requirement.
    • Atk/Spd Menace effectively grants Miriel +6 Atk/Def/Res and +12 Speed by inflicting -6 Atk/Spd on the nearest enemies within 4 spaces and granting Miriel +6 Atk/Spd. The bulk is especially appreciated if using Null Follow-Up rather than Desperation, as it may allow her to survive otherwise lethal counterattacks. A more budget-friendly option is Res Smoke, which simply inflicts -7 Resistance on enemies within 2 spaces of the target after combat.
    • Atk/Spd Solo and Blade Session both provide significant offensive boosts, making them strong Sacred Seal choices. Alternatively, Miriel can use Heavy Blade; in combination with a 2-cooldown Special (such as Glimmer or Moonbow), Desperation, and no Guard or follow-up prevention effects, she can activate her Special on her follow-up attack before the enemy can counterattack.
  • AoE Blazing Special Spam:
    • 4-cooldown Blazing Specials, Special Spiral, and Heavy Blade synergize well to make Miriel an excellent Player Phase nuke focused on dealing as much damage as possible with her AoE Special, then KOing with 1 in-combat attack.
    • When Miriel activates her Special, its cooldown will be at 4. After she attacks during combat, its cooldown will reduce to 2 assuming Heavy Blade activated and no Guard effect was active. Special Spiral reduces the cooldown of Miriel’s Special by 2 after combat every time it is activated; 2 - 2 = 0, so she will have her Special ready again. This strategy is particularly potent with refreshers that can grant Miriel additional actions.
    • Because Blazing Specials multiply the gap between Miriel’s visible Attack and the enemy’s visible Resistance by 1.5 to calculate AoE damage, her A and C Slots should be dedicated to maximizing this gap. This makes Life and Death Miriel’s optimal A Slot and either Atk/Res Menace or Res Smoke her optimal C Slot. Atk/Res Menace grants Miriel higher damage output against enemies that receive its Resistance debuff, while Res Smoke grants higher damage output compared to enemies that did not receive Atk/Res Menace’s Resistance debuff.

Begone, foul miscreation. (Aether Raids Defense)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Drifting Grace+ (+Spd)
Alternate: Spider Plush+ (+Spd)
A AR-D Atk/Spd (3 or 4)
Assistless
Alternate: Rally Assist
B Null Follow-Up 3
Luna C Time's Pulse 3
Alternate: Fatal Smoke 3
IVs

+Atk and/or +Spd

SBlade Session 3
Alternate: Hardy Bearing 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Drifting Grace (+Spd) / Spider Plush+ (+Spd) 

Assist: Assistless / Rally Assist / Positional Assist 

Special: Luna 

Passive A: AR-D Atk/Spd (3 or 4) 

Passive B: Null Follow-Up

Passive C: Time’s Pulse / Fatal Smoke / Panic Smoke

Sacred Seal: Blade Session / Hardy Bearing / Quickened Pulse 

  • Miriel’s high offenses, relatively low HP, and access to excellent Blue Tomes allow her to become a strong Aether Raids Defense unit.
    • While low HP can be bad because Miriel will have a more difficult time surviving enemy attacks, it more importantly makes her an easy recipient of infantry allies’ Infantry Pulse, which grants her -1 Special cooldown on Turn 1 if her HP is less than theirs. The combination of 1 Infantry Pulse, Time’s Pulse, and Quickened Pulse allows Miriel to immediately ready a 3-cooldown Special such as Luna. With 2 or more Infantry Pulses, she can drop Quickened Pulse and/or Time’s Pulse for other C and S Slots that will be discussed later.
  • If Assistless, Miriel will receive refreshes more frequently, as the AI tends to prioritize moving units without Assists before units with them. Alternatively, she can use a Rally Assist to Rally an ally whose range reaches the enemy; by doing so, Miriel can extend her own range beyond what it was at the start of the phase, allowing her to attack in tandem with her ally. If neither of these are particularly sought after, however, then she can simply use a Positional Assist to ensure (as much as possible) that she moves after refreshers; she can also bring threatening allies away from the enemy with Positional Assists such as Reposition and Draw Back.
  • Drifting Grace’s straightforward +5 Atk/Spd during combat improves Miriel’s damage output and follow-up consistency. A strong alternative weapon is Spider Plush, which grants Miriel +5 Attack and inflicts the enemy with -5 Attack and a Guard effect (-1 Special cooldown charge per attack) during combat; this significantly improves Miriel’s bulk, which may allow her to survive certain matchups at low HP. This is valuable because if her HP drops to ≤ 50%, allies with Wings of Mercy can warp to spaces adjacent to her, initiating a surprise offensive.
  • Miriel’s A Slot is dedicated to maximizing her offenses, which can be done via AR-D Atk/Spd. Depending on the number of undestroyed defensive structures, Miriel can gain up to +10/11 Atk/Spd during combat. The same logic applies to her Sacred Seal (with Blade Session capping at +9 Atk/Spd during combat), though the aforementioned Quickened Pulse can be used to ready her Special on Turn 1. Hardy Bearing can also be used, which helps dismantle Vantage strategies (focused on a low HP unit sweeping the enemy team with one counterattack) by disabling Skills that change attack priority.
  • With guaranteed follow-ups and follow-up prevention being incredibly common, Null Follow-Up is vital for Miriel’s damage output and survivability, as it neutralizes both effects.
  • If not using the aforementioned Time’s Pulse to ready Miriel’s Special on Turn 1, Fatal Smoke and Panic Smoke are strong alternatives. The former prevents the target and enemies within 2 spaces from healing during or after combat, while the latter reverses the visible buffs of the target and enemies within 2 spaces after combat. Given the prominence of healing and units that give visible buffs (such as Peony and Plumeria), these effects are incredibly valuable.

Strengths

Strong offenses

With an impressive 37 Attack and 40 Speed, in addition to a 4-point Speed Asset, Miriel can deal high damage and consistently perform/avoid follow-up attacks. 

Decent magical bulk

While not great, Miriel’s 37 HP and 31 Resistance sum to a workable 67 magical bulk, usually sufficient for surviving at least one magical attack.

Infantry Blue Mage advantages

Access to weapons such as Drifting Grace, Spider Plush, and Flora Guide--in addition to access to Skills such as Null Follow-Up, Lull Spd/Res, and Time’s Pulse--prove useful for improving the Rapier Intellect’s combat performance and efficiency. Additionally, Miriel almost never needs to concern herself with taking Infantry-effective or Tome-effective damage due to their scarcity; the only remotely common unit with either is Guinivere, whose Aureola has the latter.

Weaknesses

Low physical bulk

In typical mage fashion, Miriel’s unimpressive 25 Defense leaves her prone to being OHKO’d by enemies that target her Defense. As such, her Enemy Phase consistency is questionable, and she may struggle to survive counterattacks on Player Phase.

Lacks a personal weapon or Skill

Unfortunately, Miriel’s lack of a personal weapon or Skill leaves her outclassed by Blue Mage peers with personal weapons; these include Ishtar, Sacred Stones Selena, Reinhardt, Marianne, and Micaiah. Thanks to Mjölnir, Tome of Storms, Dire Thunder, Icy Fimbulvetr, and Thani respectively, they can fill offensive and/or defensive niches better than Miriel can.

Did any of them study and pioneer gravity in Askr, though? Didn’t think so.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Thunder
Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Blue Tome Users Only
50 2 4
Elthunder
Learns by default at 2 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Blue Tome Users Only
100 2 6
Blárlion

At start of turn, grants Atk+6 to adjacent allies for 1 turn. At start of combat, if foe's HP ≥ 75%, grants Atk/Res+5 to unit during combat.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Blue Tome Users Only
200 2 8
Blárlion+

At start of turn, grants Atk+6 to adjacent allies for 1 turn. At start of combat, if foe's HP ≥ 75%, grants Atk/Res+5 to unit during combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Blue Tome Users Only
300 2 12
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Support Skills

Support Skills Rng. SP
Draw Back

Unit moves 1 space away from target ally, who moves to unit's former position.

Learns by default at 4 ★
1 150

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Atk/Spd Ideal 1

At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100% or if【Bonus】is active on unit, grants Atk/Spd+3 to unit during combat. 

【Bonus】

All effects that last "for 1 turn" or "that turn only." Includes bonuses granted by a skill like Rally or Hone and positive status effects (extra movement or effects like Dominance).

Excludes Flying and Cavalry Units
Unlocks at 3 ★
60
A
Atk/Spd Ideal 2

At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100% or if【Bonus】is active on unit, grants Atk/Spd+4 to unit during combat. 

【Bonus】

All effects that last "for 1 turn" or "that turn only." Includes bonuses granted by a skill like Rally or Hone and positive status effects (extra movement or effects like Dominance).

Excludes Flying and Cavalry Units
Unlocks at 4 ★
120
A
Atk/Spd Ideal 3

At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100% or if【Bonus】is active on unit, grants Atk/Spd+5 to unit during combat. 

【Bonus】

All effects that last "for 1 turn" or "that turn only." Includes bonuses granted by a skill like Rally or Hone and positive status effects (extra movement or effects like Dominance).

Excludes Flying and Cavalry Units
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
A
Spd/Res Link 1

If a movement Assist skill (like Reposition, Shove, Pivot, etc.) is used by unit or targets unit, grants Spd/Res+2 to unit and target ally or unit and targeting ally for 1 turn.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 1 ★
60
B
Spd/Res Link 2

If a movement Assist skill (like Reposition, Shove, Pivot, etc.) is used by unit or targets unit, grants Spd/Res+4 to unit and target ally or unit and targeting ally for 1 turn.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
120
B
Spd/Res Link 3

If a movement Assist skill (like Reposition, Shove, Pivot, etc.) is used by unit or targets unit, grants Spd/Res+6 to unit and target ally or unit and targeting ally for 1 turn.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
B

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Awakening

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