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Analysis by UmbraCorvus
Young Merric - Changing Winds

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
162
HP 41
ATK 34
SPD 41
DEF 21
RES 25

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 18 7 10 5 2
Middle 19 8 11 6 3
High 20 9 12 7 4

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 37 31 38 18 21
Middle 41 34 41 21 25
High 44 37 45 24 28

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

Knave of the Wind (Sweep Offense)

Build by UmbraCorvus
Recommended
Winds of Change A Swift Sparrow 3
Reposition B Windsweep 3
Alternate: Watersweep 3
Righteous Wind C Odd Atk Wave 3
Alternate: Distant Guard 3
IVs

+SPD or +ATK / -DEF or -RES

SSwift Sparrow 2
Alternate: Death Blow 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Winds of Change

Assist: Reposition / Player Preference

Special: Righteous Wind

Passive A: Swift Sparrow 3

Passive B: Windsweep / Watersweep

Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Distant Guard / Player Preference

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow / Death Blow / Even Atk Wave

  •  While not quite a full fledged Knight of the Wind with Excalibur, Young Merric proves to be a mighty warrior with the combined forces of Winds of Change and his unique Special Righteous Wind. This build plays around the conditional Null Follow-Up effect that Young Merric receives if he is above 50% HP, or has a displayed bonus to one of his stats.
  • A Speed Asset gives Young Merric a further boost to his already sonic Speed with a Super Asset, though an Attack Asset will work just fine here as well. Dropping any of Merric’s defensive stats as a Flaw is ideal to preserve Merric’s Attack and Speed.
  • Merric’s unique Special, Righteous Wind, not only keeps Merric healthy for his HP threshold but it also can keep the rest of his team healthy with its special healing after combat. Be sure not to run Young Merric with allies that work around low HP Skills, as Righteous Wind will more often than not heal those allies out of their Skill’s HP conditions.
  • Much of Young Merric’s default kit works wonders on this build, as Swift Sparrow 3 already pushes his Player Phase offensive stats to further levels, while Windsweep allows him to attack physical units that can counter attack freely so long as he has higher Speed than them. Winds of Change will even let him follow-up despite Windsweep’s self-inflicted follow-up block so long as he meets the conditions for the weapon.
  • Watersweep can be taken over Windsweep if Young Merric is concerned more about taking out other mages or dragon opponents and is entirely up to preference.
  • Young Merric’s C Passive is very flexible, though a Wave Skill such as Odd Atk Wave can give Merric a displayed bonus to his stats even if he is nowhere near his team, excellent for those situations where he has dropped below the HP threshold for Winds of Change.
  • The Sacred Seal slot has multiple options, the Swift Sparrow Sacred Seal can improve Merric’s Attack and Speed even further, while the Death Blow Sacred Seal gives more Attack at the cost of not giving Speed. If Odd Atk Wave is being used in the C Passive, the Even Atk Wave Sacred Seal can be used to give Merric a displayed Attack bonus on both Odd and Even turns.

Zephyr Spellcaster (AoE Nuke)

Build by UmbraCorvus
Winds of Change A Life and Death (3 or 4)
Reposition B Special Spiral 3
Blazing Wind
Alternate: Blazing Light
C Odd Atk Wave 3
Alternate: Time's Pulse 3
IVs

+ATK / -DEF or -HP

SHardy Bearing 3
Alternate: Quickened Pulse

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Winds of Change

Assist: Reposition / Player Preference

Special: Blazing Wind / Blazing Light

Passive A: Life and Death (3 or 4)

Passive B: Special Spiral

Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Time’s Pulse / Player Preference

Sacred Seal: Hardy Bearing / Quickened Pulse

  •  Young Merric is perfectly capable of a strong AoE Special Spiral build thanks to Winds of Change carrying a Slaying effect. As this build is more concerned with maximizing Young Merric’s damage in a single strike, as well as the fact that AoE Specials utilize displayed Attack for their calculations, an Attack Asset is recommended. Any Flaw stat to Merric’s defenses can be taken, but a special shout out to an HP Flaw is given as having lower HP can help Young Merric be affected by Infantry Pulse support for easier setup.
  • A Blazing AoE Special is recommended for damage maximization, and the type of Blazing AoE Special is mostly up to preference. Blazing Wind is simple and easy to use, while Blazing Light can be useful when Young Merric is part of an Aether Raids Defense Team as the AoE pattern can help catch most support units off guard.
  • Life and Death is the A Passive of choice for giving Young Merric as much displayed Attack as possible, while Special Spiral is mandatory in the B Passive for this build’s consistent AoE Special spam.
  • The C Passive is mostly up to preference for this build, Wave Skills make a return for a self sufficient way to achieve Young Merric’s alternative condition to activate Winds of Change, while Time’s Pulse is an option that can help Young Merric require less setup to begin his AoE Special offense.
  • The Hardy Bearing Sacred Seal can completely shut down Vantage, which is a common counter to AoE builds that frail units such as Young Merric often fear, and as such is recommended greatly. The Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal does not provide the safety against Vantage, but it does allow for Young Merric to have even less external aid to help set up his AoE Special.

Last-Ditch Squall (Desperation Offense)

Build by UmbraCorvus
Winds of Change A Swift Sparrow 3
Alternate: Flashing Blade 4
Reposition B Desperation 3
Alternate: Windsweep 3
Moonbow
Alternate: Luna
C Odd Atk Wave 3
Alternate: Distant Guard 3
IVs

+SPD or +ATK / -DEF

SEven Atk Wave 3
Alternate: Swift Sparrow 2

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Winds of Change

Assist: Reposition / Player Preference

Special: Moonbow / Luna

Passive A: Swift Sparrow 3 / Flashing Blade 4

Passive B: Desperation / Windsweep / Watersweep

Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Player Preference

Sacred Seal: Even Atk Wave / Swift Sparrow / Death Blow / Brazen Atk/Spd / Flashing Blade

  •  It almost seems blasphemous to replace Young Merric’s Righteous Wind on anything that isn’t an AoE build, but there is a reason for this build; the fact that Righteous Wind is completely anti-synergetic with low HP teams. This build is meant for teams that still wish to utilize Young Merric alongside teammates that favour  low HP scenarios such as Brazen users, Vantage users, or Wings of Mercy/Escape Route users, etc., but do not have the means to run an AoE build.
  • The Asset of choice can be either Young Merric’s Speed Super Asset, or an Attack asset to push out more damage. Any of Young Merric’s defenses can be dropped, with a Defense Flaw being the first recommendation of choice.
  • Moonbow is ideally the Special of choice, though if Flashing Blade is utilized to take advantage of Young Merric’s high Speed, a higher cooldown Special such as Luna makes a great option.
  • Young Merric’s default Swift Sparrow 3 is excellent for this offensive focus, while Flashing Blade 4 is a strong alternative that gives Young Merric true damage if his Speed is higher than his opponent’s while also accelerating his Special cooldown.
  • Desperation will allow Young Merric to attack twice in a row before his opponent can counter attack once he has fallen to the 75% HP or less requirement. While Windsweep and Watersweep are strong options for Young Merric to attack opponents safely, there is a disadvantage to the fact that Young Merric is unable to duel magic damage if he runs Windsweep, and vice versa against physical damage if running Watersweep. Desperation eliminates this worry, and the lack of Righteous Wind means that being healed out of Desperation range is not a problem.
  • This build will often result in Young Merric dropping below his over 50% HP threshold due to the lack of Righteous Wind. As such, ensuring Young Merric stays with displayed bonuses is more important than ever. Wave Skills are a great way to ensure this, though the C Passive is flexible if Merric’s team can provide him with displayed bonuses.
  • The Sacred Seal Slot has many options at Young Merric’s disposal. If committing to the Odd Atk Wave C Passive, the Even Atk Wave Sacred Seal gives Merric a displayed bonus every turn. The Swift Sparrow and Death Blow Sacred Seals remain stable sources of increased offensive potential as they always are, while the Brazen Atk/Spd Sacred Seal can give a larger boost at the cost of setup. If insistent on running Luna as the Special and Flashing Blade 4 is not used in the A Passive, the Flashing Blade Sacred Seal is to be used here.

Strengths

Blistering Speed

Young Merric is supersonic by default, with a wonderfully high base 41 Speed. Not only this, but Young Merric even sports a Speed Super Asset that can give him 45 base Speed to work with, even before Skills or his weapon are taken into account. Young Merric’s Attack doesn’t even fall too short either, being a very respectable base 34.

Winds of Change

Winds of Change is a loaded unique weapon for the young mage of the wind. It lowers his cooldown count by 1 with its Slaying effect, is effective against Fliers, and at the start of combat if Young Merric has a displayed bonus applied on him or is equal to or above 50% HP he is given +5 Attack/Speed alongside gaining a Null Follow-Up effect. This unique weapon is not only powerful, but also extremely flexible due to the two different ways to reap its benefits. The Null Follow-Up effect even allows for Young Merric to use Skills such as Windsweep and still be able to land follow-up attacks, which is wonderful considering he comes with Windsweep by default. Truly mind blowing!

Righteous Wind

If a unique weapon wasn’t enough, Young Merric also has a unique Special that he can work around. Righteous Wind boosts Young Merric’s damage based on 30% of his Speed stat, and after combat if activated, it will heal Young Merric and all his allies on the field by 10 HP. The healing does not stack if Righteous Wind activates multiple times in one instance of combat, but it can heal multiple times per turn if Merric is able to fight in another instance of combat. The healing will even still occur in the event that Young Merric is defeated in battle, so long as he activated Righteous Wind prior to his defeat.

Weaknesses

Easy Sweeping, Trouble Duelling

Young Merric has plenty of ways to avoid taking hits from his opponents, whether it be Windsweep, Watersweep, Desperation, or using the Hardy Bearing Sacred Seal on an AoE build to not have to fear Vantage. However, at the end of the day Young Merric has extremely poor defenses on both ends of the spectrum. As a result, extra care must be taken to ensure that Young Merric does not take too many hits, as he is quite unlikely to survive more than one strike.

Righteous Wind’s Anti-Synergy with Low HP Skills

Righteous Wind definitely helps Young Merric with most situations, addressing both his damage alongside keeping him healthy for his weapon’s HP condition as well as his allies. This does pose a problem for some teams however, as some units generally do not want to work around receiving healing in an uncontrolled manner. There exists many Skills that ideally want lower HP requirements to be reached, and Righteous Wind can mess with their stability. As a result, Young Merric must either be placed in teams that benefit from the healing, or completely ditch his powerful Special just to work well alongside these types of compositions.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Wind
Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Green Tome Users Only
50 2 4
Elwind
Learns by default at 3 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Green Tome Users Only
100 2 6
Rexcalibur
Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Green Tome Users Only
200 2 9
Winds of Change

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). Effective against flying foes. At start of combat, if a bonus granted by a skill like Rally or Hone is active on unit or if unit's HP ≥ 50%, grants Atk/Spd+5 and neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 2 14
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
Righteous Wind

Boost damage by 30% of unit's Spd.

Restores 10 HP to unit and all allies after combat.

(Healing does not stack if triggered more than once per combat. HP restored to allies even if unit's HP reaches 0.)
 

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
500 2

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Darting Blow 1

If unit initiates combat, grants Spd+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
50
A
Swift Sparrow 1

If unit initiates combat, unit granted Atk/Spd+2 during battle.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
120
A
Swift Sparrow 2

If unit initiates combat, unit granted Atk/Spd+4 during battle.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
A
Swift Sparrow 3

If unit initiates combat, grants Atk+6, Spd+7 during Combat

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
A
Windsweep 1

If unit initiates attack, no follow-up occurs. Against foe with sword, lance, axe, bow, dagger, or beast damage, if unit’s Spd - foe’s Spd ≥ 5, foe can’t counterattack.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 1 ★
50
B
Windsweep 2

If unit initiates attack, no follow-up occurs. Against foe with sword, lance, axe, bow, dagger, or beast damage, if unit’s Spd - foe’s Spd ≥ 3, foe can’t counterattack.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
100
B
Windsweep 3

If unit initiates attack, no follow-up occurs. Against foe with sword, lance, axe, bow, or dagger, or beast damage, if unit’s Spd - foe’s Spd ≥ 1, foe can’t counterattack.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
B
Distant Guard 1

Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic, or staff, grants Def/Res+2 during combat."

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
60
C
Distant Guard 2

Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic, or staff, grants Def/Res+3 during combat."

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
120
C
Distant Guard 3

Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic, or staff, grants Def/Res+4 during combat."

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

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