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Analysis by milkyytoast
Sully - Crimson Knight

3-4

Obtainable as a 3 - 4 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
154
HP 42
ATK 26
SPD 34
DEF 24
RES 28

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 17 6 7 6 5
Middle 18 7 8 7 6
High 19 8 9 8 7

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 39 23 31 21 24
Middle 42 26 34 24 28
High 45 30 37 27 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

Assets

  • +ATK: Sully’s superasset in Attack gives her +4 to the stat instead of +3. This raises the stat from an awful value 26 to a passable value of 30, especially when she is equipped with a higher mt lance.

  • +SPD: Sully’s Speed is in the awkward position of not really being high enough to help her consistently perform follow-ups herself, but not being low enough that it’s undoubtedly a dump stat. Increasing it will help her avoid being doubled, but +ATK is still more desirable. 

Neutral

  • DEF: Neither of Sully’s defensive stats are particularly good nor bad, but it is preferable to not decrease her already below-average Defense.

  • RES: Because Sully has a superflaw in Resistance (-4 instead of -3) and since she can tank red mages reasonable well with her prf, it is better to keep this stat at neutral.

Flaws

  • -HP: Since Sully has decent neutral HP at 42, reducing it to 39 won’t have much – if at all – of an impact on her matchups.

Skill Sets

Taking the Bull by the Horns! (Red Counter)

Build by
Recommended
Bull Spear (+Atk)
Alternate: Sapphire Lance+
A Fury 3
Draw Back B Swordbreaker 3
Luna
Alternate: Moonbow
C Hone Cavalry
Alternate: Spur Def 3
IVsSAttack +3
Alternate: Brazen Atk/Spd 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD/ -HP

Sully’s neutral Attack is simply awful, so increasing it is a top priority. If a +ATK IV simply isn’t available, though, +SPD can be used instead to deny follow-ups.

Weapon: Bull Spear (+Atk) / Bull Spear (+Spd) / Sapphire Lance

  • Considering its higher mt and ability to be refined for extra stats, there’s absolutely no reason not to use the Bull Spear over Sully’s default Sapphire Lance.

  • Unfortunately, the Bull Spear’s effect refine does not synergize well with Sully’s statline since she is not particularly defensively bulky.

  • For this reason, it’s a better idea just to take some free Attack (or Speed) rather than trying to work around the Bull Spear’s restrictions. An Attack refine is preferable, however, given Sully’s relatively low Attack at neutral.

  • In a pinch, the Sapphire Lance can also be used as well.

Assist: Draw Back / Flexible 

  • Draw Back is Sully’s native Assist and can be useful for strike and retreat strategies, but really, any Assist can be used here depending on the team’s needs.

Special: Luna / Moonbow

  • Given Sully does not have any particularly impressive defensive stats to scale her Special proc off of, the straight Defense reduction that Luna provides will help her break through bulkier foes. Moreover, Sully’s unimpressive Attack makes Specials that scale off Attack – such as Glimmer and Dragon Fang –  poor choices for her.

  • Moonbow can be used instead as a lower cooldown alternative at the cost of dealing less damage.

Passive A: Fury

  • Since Sully does not excel in any particular area, she appreciates the straight stat boost Fury will grant her more than most units do.

  • While the recoil from this Skill is less than ideal, its general utility is higher than exclusively Player Phase or Enemy Phase focused Skills.

Passive B: Swordbreaker

  • Since Sully’s primary role should be as a red counter, her native Swordbreaker helps her perform more efficiently against meta sword units like Fallen Mareeta.

Passive C: Hone Cavalry / Spur Def / Flexible 

  • Regardless of her C-Skill, Sully will perform largely the same. Therefore any Skill can be used here depending on the type of support that is needed in the team.

Sacred Seal: Attack +3 / Speed +3 / Brazen Atk/Spd

  • Given Sully’s low Attack, a further boost to it can’t possibly hurt. Likewise, her middling Speed also could make good use of a few extra stat points. Alternatively, and since Sully will likely be taking some damage in her first engagement, Brazen Atk/Spd gives her a substantial increase to both these stats once her HP is below 80%.

Crimson Star (General Dueler)

Build by
Firesweep Lance+ A Life and Death 3
Alternate: Brazen Atk/Spd 3
Draw Back B Drag Back
Alternate: Hit and Run
Luna C Hone Cavalry
Alternate: Spur Def 3
IVsSSpeed +3
Alternate: Brazen Atk/Spd 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -HP

Once again, a boost to Sully’s Attack is preferable here since it is so low at neutral. If follow-ups are of greater concern, however, +SPD can be used instead.

Weapon: Firesweep Lance  

  • Because Sully’s defensive stats aren’t particularly good, she will perform better when her foes can’t hit her back. The Firesweep Lance safely allows her to do this – assuming they are not carrying Null Follow-Up.

  • Sully will be unable to attack on Enemy Phase with this weapon, though, meaning that she will have to KO her foe outright, rely on an assist from a team member, or retreat once she attacks.

Assist: Draw Back / Flexible

  • Once again, Draw Back is Sully’s native Assist that can be of use in certain scenarios. However, any Assist can be used here.

Special: Luna 

  • Since Sully will not be activating Moonbow on her first engagement (as she will not be counterattacked), she might as well take advantage of the extra damage Luna will deal on the next Player Phase.

  • To reiterate, Luna is suggested over stat-scaling Specials (like Dragon Fang, Bonfire, and Iceberg) due to Sully’s low Attack and unimpressive defensive stats.

Passive A: Life and Death / Brazen Atk/Spd

  • Life and Death -- despite decreasing Sully’s Defense and Resistance by five -- actually helps her survivability by allowing her to avoid enemy follow ups during both Player and Enemy Phase.

  • While other options like Swift Sparrow 3 and Atk/Spd Solo offer higher boosts to her offensive stats, their rarity and the fact that they only apply during Player Phase make them less versatile in Sully’s case. 

  • Brazen Atk/Spd is another accessible alternative that gives Sully a significant offensive boost once her HP falls below 80%. Since it would result in a very lackluster first engagement though, it is not the primary recommendation.

Passive B: Drag Back / Hit and Run

  • Drag Back and Hit and Run are interchangeable options for Firesweep users, allowing them to retreat after attacking and be swapped or repositioned to safety.

  • Drag Back is the primary recommended Skill, however, since it can help Sully move an enemy into the range of a powerful magic, staff, dagger, or bow-wielding ally.

Passive C: Hone Cavalry / Spur Def / Flexible 

  • Like in her first build, choice of C-Skill really doesn’t matter for Sully. She can use any Skill that her team requires of her.

Sacred Seal: Speed +3 / Brazen Atk/Spd / Darting Blow

  • While Sully would likely appreciate a further boost to her Attack, raising her Speed allows her to deny more follow-ups on Enemy Phase and therefore survive longer. 

  • Sully can also stack Brazens to gain a whopping +14 Attack and Speed when she is below 80% HP, but that means for her first engagement she will be rather slow without support.

  • Darting Blow offers an even greater +6 boost to Sully’s Speed in exchange for only being active on Player Phase, but if Sully is under the effects of Cavalry Buffs she will likely survive Enemy Phase regardless. ​​​​​​​

Introduction

As one of the launch units that everyone should know by now, Sully has long been known as a solid source of the Swordbreaker Skill, and, well… not much else. Although her base kit allows her to counter most red units quite handily, there is nothing about Sully specifically that makes her able to perform that job.

The biggest barrier in the way of Sully’s success is her awkward stat distribution, even when compared to other lance cavaliers available at 3-4 stars. When compared to units with better stat distributions like Oscar and Roderick, Sully simply doesn’t measure up among her peers, which makes her hard to recommend over them.

This is made even more evident by her exclusive weapon, the Bull Spear, which is an “upgraded” Sapphire Lance. When refined for an effect, it grants her a Brave effect on Enemy Phase, though only if she has a sword, lance, or axe wielding cavalier ally within 2 spaces. Not only can this restriction be hard to fulfill, Sully doesn’t really have the defensive stats necessary to make good use of this effect. Even when under the effects of Cavalry Buffs, the amount of investment that would be necessary to make her perform well makes her an undesirable choice.

It is important to note, though, that Sully makes an excellent answer to sword units without any Skill investment, and she’ll make short work of most reds as well. In modes like Arena Assault or Chain Battles, she makes for a good budget counter – as long as you don’t expect much else.

Strengths

Exclusive Weapon

While Triangle Adept weapons have their uses, the Sapphire Lance’s low mt hurt Sully considerably due to her low Attack. The Bull Spear all but fixes this issue by effectively giving Sully a 4 more attack, and that’s even before it’s refined.

Alright Resistance

Although Sully is really left wanting for a dump stat, her Resistance at base 28 allows her to tank most red mages pretty well, especially if she is using her native Sapphire Lance or Bull Spear.

Passable Speed

Sully’s base 34 Speed is just high enough to be considered salvageable, especially when she is under the effects of Cavalry Buffs.

Weaknesses

Awful Attack

Sully’s base 26 Attack is some of the worst that Fire Emblem Heroes has to offer. It cannot be understated how much this hampers her, and is one of the main reasons the best Sully can hope for is to be vaguely viable.

Below Average Defense

Unlike the only lance cavalier with lower Attack than her, Spring Xander, Sully’s Defense is below average as well. This means that she can’t really fill the niche of being an all-around physical tank, and severely limits the amount of interesting and effective builds she can run.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Learns by default at 1 ★
Steel Lance
Learns by default at 3 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Lance Users Only
100 1 8
Sapphire Lance

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

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Lance Users Only
200 1 8
Sapphire Lance+

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

Unlocks at 5 ★
Lance Users Only
300 1 12
Bull Spear

If unit has weapon-triangle advantage, boosts Atk by 20%. If unit has weapon-triangle disadvantage, reduces Atk by 20%.

Unlocks at 5 ★
400 1 16
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
Swordbreaker 1

If unit's HP ≥ 90% in combat against a sword user, unit makes a follow-up attack and foe cannot.

Non-Inheritable by green units.
50
B
Swordbreaker 2

If unit's HP ≥ 70% in combat against a sword user, unit makes a follow-up attack and foe cannot.

Non-Inheritable by green units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
100
B
Swordbreaker 3

If unit's HP ≥ 50% in combat against a sword user, unit makes a follow-up attack and foe cannot.

Non-Inheritable by green units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
B
Spur Def 1

Grants Def+2 to adjacent allies during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
50
C
Spur Def 2

Grants Def+3 to adjacent allies during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
100
C
Spur Def 3

Grants Def+4 to adjacent allies during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
200
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Awakening

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