Map
- Normal
- Infernal
Grand Hero Battle: Berkut
Say Uncle! Returning from the depths of Grand Hero Battle purgatory is Berkut, giving you the chance to beat his map if you haven’t completed it already. This is a great opportunity if you’re a newer player or didn’t have the right units to beat Berkut the other times his map has been run. As per usual, you should expect some curveballs, but the lack of reinforcements and easy-to-use defense tiles should make completion of Infernal a bit easier than it normally is. While the strange starting positions may give you some pause, there’s no issue with trying out the map until you figure out where to properly position your units. Trial and error will likely be key here -- and will serve you well if you don’t allow it to try your patience.
Before you begin teambuilding, it’s completely possible you already possess everything you need to beat this map. Created by Gamepress staff member RedFerrari1998, the video guide below uses only F2P units, no Skill Inheritance, and Seals -- see the description for more details. If it doesn’t work for you, though, then read on!
Who To Use
As is generally true of Grand Hero Battles, the individual units used is very important as they will primarily inform a strategy. There are a few routes one can take depending on what units are personally available, and, of course, adjustment based on the units one possesses is always a possibility.
Baiters
Although the enemies on this map will start moving regardless of whether you bait, damage, or KO them, it’s advisable to use a baiter so that your other units won’t be overwhelmed by your advancing foes.
Armors such as Hector, Valentine Hector, Fallen Hardin, Black Knight, Zelgius, and Winter Tharja are able to hit hard very upon counterattacking, especially if they’re making use of Quick Riposte or Vengeful Fighter, and can make use of Armored Boots to extend their range as well as class-specific buffs. Cavalry tanks like Sigurd, Xander, and Camus perform particularly well with class-specific buffs, but may struggle to maneuver due to trees.
Nowi, Young Tiki, Adult Tiki, Fae, Myrrh, and Fallen Robin all boast decent mixed defenses and also have access to class-specific buffs. Legendary Robin is also a potential choice, but may struggle due to her lack of color advantage, and, like Myrrh, must be wary of archers if she does not run Dragonskin or Iote’s Shield.
Great F2P options include Legendary Ike, who natively sports Warding Breath which boosts his Resistance and grants him cooldown reduction, and Fjorm, who is able to tank the red mage with her high Resistance and battle ranged foes with her exclusive Special, Ice Mirror. Brave Ike is another potentially F2P option (depending on if he was chosen as one’s free hero or not) who also offers cooldown reduction.
Strikers
As per usual, strikers are a potent force who can usually take out most foes without breaking a sweat. Though they can get easily cornered on this map, skills like Escape Route and Wings Of Mercy can grant them even greater mobility than they already possess.
Archers are powerful strikers that can either finish off foes on their own or provide an assist. In particular, however, Brave Bow users can be incredibly potent on this map due to their ability to overpower and finish off any foes your tanks may otherwise struggle with. New Year Corrin, Brave Lyn, WF Hinoka, Bridal Cordelia, Klein, and Setsuna are potential strikers you may want to use, with a special mention going to New Year Corrin and Brave Lyn given their F2P status.
Alternatively, melee Brave users are able to hit foes twice without retaliation, and may even quad hit if they outspeed an enemy. Cherche, Cordelia, Hinoka, Elincia, and WT Reinhardt are all great Brave users who can make excellent use of class-specific buffs. Finn is a great F2P option who would work particularly well in a cavalry team.
Brave and Blade tome wielders can also serve to be useful if your team composition provides them with the appropriate buffs, though speedy mages can also be effective strikers. Tharja, Reinhardt, Tailtiu, Linde, Nino, and WT Olwen are potential options here, especially if they are equipped with a Breaker skill to add to their coverage and are provided with class-specific buffs or a buffbot like Eirika or Ephraim.
A striker, however, doesn’t always require heavy investment. Although Alfonse isn’t speedy and doesn’t possess a native Brave sword, Death Blow (which he naturally learns) ensures that he can heavily damage if not outright KO most green enemies. Additionally, his good physical bulk ensures he can survive a foe’s attack if he must.
Dancers
Dancers help provide support, may even have a decent offensive presence themselves, and can usually tank a hit or two, if need be. Olivia, Performing Olivia, Performing Inigo, Performing Shigure, Performing Azura, Azura, New Year Azura, and Ninian all give the refreshment that high-firepower units need while also possessing the ability to provide an assist to KO an enemy.
Healers
While not generally a great choice over units who can deal heavy damage or dancers, Healers can be incredibly useful in this Grand Hero Battle due to their ability to provide valuable healing to your tanks. Genny, Priscilla, Elise, Nanna, Wrys, and Lissa are potential additions to a team that may serve you well on this map.
Strategy
Strategizing for this Grand Hero Battle shouldn’t be too challenging due to the absence of reinforcements. While it can be difficult to exactly predict what will happen due to IV / Merge variance, here’s some general tips to get you started.
Stuck In The Middle With You
Berkut’s map certainly has unique starting positions, and that’s to put it lightly. Since it essentially forces you to split your forces, your first priority likely should be to either fortify your position or re-unite your team.
Ideally, you’ll want to influence the AI by at least having one baiter here, though if you can reach one of the defense tiles with a unit who can counterattack regardless of range, that may work as well. Otherwise, simply aim for KOing or heavily damaging one of the foes that charge forward. Do note that the archer carries a Firesweep bow and therefore can’t be KO’d on Enemy Phase.
Mad Skillz
If you’re using a striker or a dancer, you may want to consider allowing them to receive damage on this turn as well. Doing so will grant them the ability to use Escape Route to rejoin the rest of their teammates on the top of the map, and will also activate Wings of Mercy if any of your other units possess it. Since both of these skills are reasonably accessible (Escape Route 2 can be found on a 4 star Marth and Escape Route 3 can be found on a 4 star Cecilia, while Wings of Mercy 2 can be found on a 4 star Frederick and Palla and Wings of Mercy 3 can be found on a 4 star Cain) they shouldn’t require a lot of feather investment -- and unsurprisingly, teleporting around this map certainly makes it much easier to handle. Another handy tool is Savage Blow 3 (found on 4 star Camilla) and the Savage Blow Seal -- its AOE damage makes finishing off foes a less arduous task.
Two For The Price Of One
Unless your tank is desperately low on health, it’s almost always a good idea to bait more than one foe at once. Because almost every foe on this map is slow as molasses and they do not carry brave weapons, you don’t have to worry about being doubled -- meaning that even a disadvantageous matchup that pits the weapons triangle against you shouldn’t prove devastating. There’s no need to be overly cautious, especially one your team is reunited and you have numbers on your side.
Manipulation Mastery
As with every map, it’s possible that the AI will act in unpredictable ways like how the lance cavalier attacked Brave Ike first in the screenshot below, causing the axe cavalier to advance. If this happens, don’t panic! Slow down and see if there’s an immediate solution to your issue -- it’s possible that you will be in an even better position than you were in before. If you’re well and truly stuck, you may want to try the map again while adjusting your positioning. Moving a unit one space up, down, right, or left can sometimes make all the difference.
The Key Of Caution
Nothing is worse than losing at the very last moment, so once you’re down to only one foe in the enemy’s forces, it’s always a good idea to take your time. They may have a special charged, or they could have a Defiant or Brazen skill active that you’re not expecting -- which, if it catches you off-guard, will cause you to curse your quick fingers. In general, being methodical with your moves and paying close attention to the battle forecast is a good habit to have, since it will grant you the ability to see if you need the help of Seals or skills to help you KO or survive a foe. Since there’s no benefit to performing your turns quickly, you can stare for as long as you want… and maybe the solution will come to you when you least expect it.
If At First You Don’t Succeed
Don’t be fooled by video walkthroughs of any Grand Hero Battle that you watch -- it’s very rare for anyone to beat high-difficulty content (or record a video of themselves doing so!) on their first try. Additionally, the potential variance in unit builds that Skill Inheritance brought along with the random nature of summoning has resulted in pretty much every single summoner having different “building blocks” to work with. This, when combined with the high difficulty level of Infernal, may prove frustrating while someone is trying to find the right combination of units and moves. The key thing to keep in mind is that it may take some light Skill Inheritance and Seal shuffling and multiple tries of the map to find a strategy that works for you. Every single turn you complete gets you one step closer to completing the puzzle. Finally, reading about or watching videos of successful strategies may also help you break through a particularly difficult turn that you can’t complete, or may give you ideas of a new unit to use.
Map Enemies
- Hard
- Lunatic
- Infernal
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
45 | 41 | 16 | 24 | 18 | |
Weapon | Berkut's Lance+ | A | Water Boost 3 | ||
Support | B | ||||
Special | Blazing Flame | C | Ward Cavalry |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
36 | 34 | 18 | 19 | 23 | |
Weapon | Killer Axe | A | Life and Death 3 | ||
Support | B | ||||
Special | Moonbow | C | Breath of Life 2 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
29 | 34 | 19 | 12 | 27 | |
Weapon | Rauðrwolf | A | Distant Def 2 | ||
Support | B | Axebreaker 2 | |||
Special | C | Fortify Cavalry |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
34 | 31 | 25 | 15 | 20 | |
Weapon | Gronnraven | A | Warding Blow 2 | ||
Support | B | Seal Spd 3 | |||
Special | C | Threaten Res 2 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
34 | 35 | 18 | 19 | 23 | |
Weapon | Firesweep Bow | A | Swift Sparrow 1 | ||
Support | B | Seal Spd 2 | |||
Special | C | Fortify Cavalry |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
60 | 49 | 23 | 31 | 25 | |
Weapon | Berkut's Lance+ | A | Water Boost 3 | ||
Support | B | ||||
Special | Blazing Flame | C | Ward Cavalry |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
49 | 46 | 25 | 26 | 30 | |
Weapon | Killer Axe+ | A | Life and Death 3 | ||
Support | B | ||||
Special | Moonbow | C | Breath of Life 3 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
40 | 46 | 26 | 17 | 35 | |
Weapon | Rauðrwolf+ | A | Distant Def 3 | ||
Support | B | Axebreaker 3 | |||
Special | C | Fortify Cavalry |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
45 | 42 | 32 | 20 | 28 | |
Weapon | Gronnraven+ | A | Warding Blow 3 | ||
Support | B | Seal Spd 3 | |||
Special | C | Threaten Res 3 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
48 | 47 | 23 | 25 | 24 | |
Weapon | Firesweep Bow+ | A | Swift Sparrow 2 | ||
Support | B | Seal Spd 3 | |||
Special | C | Fortify Cavalry |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
69 | 52 | 25 | 34 | 27 | |
Weapon | Berkut's Lance+ | A | Water Boost 3 | ||
Support | B | Vantage 3 | |||
Special | Blazing Flame | C | Ward Cavalry |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
57 | 54 | 32 | 23 | 28 | |
Weapon | Killer Axe+ | A | Life and Death 3 | ||
Support | B | Desperation 3 | |||
Special | Moonbow | C | Breath of Life 3 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
46 | 49 | 28 | 19 | 38 | |
Weapon | Rauðrwolf+ | A | Distant Def 3 | ||
Support | B | Axebreaker 3 | |||
Special | C | Fortify Cavalry |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
52 | 45 | 35 | 22 | 31 | |
Weapon | Gronnraven+ | A | Warding Blow 3 | ||
Support | B | Seal Spd 3 | |||
Special | C | Threaten Res 3 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
55 | 50 | 25 | 27 | 26 | |
Weapon | Firesweep Bow+ | A | Swift Sparrow 2 | ||
Support | B | Seal Spd 3 | |||
Special | C | Fortify Cavalry |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
57 | 53 | 27 | 28 | 33 | |
Weapon | Silver Lance+ | A | Grani's Shield | ||
Support | B | Renewal 3 | |||
Special | C | Goad Cavalry |
User Submitted Teams
This team works splendidly while using some unorthodox skill compositions.
The Ryoma I used successfully was +hp -def; I tried with a +speed -res but for his job Ryoma needs res, so if you have a -res Ryoma try using the HP seals or use a res booster on Tiki/your axe of choice.
Ryoma's skills were Defiant Attack, Hone Speed, and Night Sky - entirely vanilla with only Squad Ace A 1 seal to ensure he can tank. Night Sky is important to use over Astra, although any skill with 4 or less cooldown should work.
Azura's IVs are relatively unimportant as the most vital aspect of her has to do with her B skill. She has speed +3 and Escape Route 2, in addition to her base weapon and Sing. No sacred seal or special needed, but Escape Route is mandatory.
I used Tiki but any fast strong/quick riposte axe user should do the job. She was +speed -res but for her job she should be fine with anything that isn't -attack. Her skills are 100% vanilla with no Skill Inheritence or sacred seal needed.
Last is Reinhardt. Any decent Reinhardt set should do, Ursula also works here so long as she has the same B slot as this Reinhardt which is also vital. I used a +attack -hp Reinhardt with death blow 2, Wings of Mercy, and Fortify cavs (useless here, this spot can be used for anything) as well as Moonbow. The sacred seals aren't necessary but Quickened Pulse works basically the same with this team strategy.
To start you need to have Tiki and Ryoma on the bottom while Azura sits on the uppermost position and Reinhardt stares Berkut face to face. Make sure your axe user is in range of the not-Berkut lance cav, don't move Ryoma or Tiki from their starting positions. Reinhardt moves up near the defense tile and azura, have her dance him to the single space safe from energy range right beside Azura.
Tiki dispatches the Lance while Berkut and the archer move in close to Azura and Reinhardt. The axe cav is not a threat right now.
Move Ryoma to the green mage and kill, there is going to be a red mage on the defense tile near him and move Tiki into the safe zone away from the red mage, inching toward Berkut's direction. Have Reinhardt move behind azura and the tree to hit the Firesweep archer. Dance with Azura and make sure Reinhardt is behind the tree to ensure Berkut has to engage Azura. Reinhardt kills.
Azura tanks a hit from Berkut but is wounded. She can now Escape Route to safety by Tiki, to the right of her. With her safe move Reinhardt with Wings of Mercy to Azura and out of Berkut's range. Ryoma should have tanked the red mage and killed thanks to Night Sky.
As Berkut moves down have Tiki kill him with ease, then leave her in range of the axe cav. she will survive and deal heavy retaliation damage, have Reinhardt move up and finish the axe cav off.
Video: https://youtu.be/0vIJyAx9O28
Basically, use Frederick as bait for Berkut and have Xander buff him. Then use Camus and Azura to rescue Frederick when he's low on health.
Azura and Camus took some hits, but they can handle it. Xander and Frederick did all the fighting.
Seals helped a lot.
Have Hector and Ryoma aggro at the bottom section of the screen. Hector on the right and Ryoma on the left. Hector should have an easy time dealing with the two lance users due to his insane bulk. Have a red unit that can tank magical attacks and retaliate to get rid of the tome users and ensure Hector's safety. In my case Ryoma tanked the red tome cavalry and kill the green tome user via vantage. Place Nino and a dancer/singer unit at the top right corners. The bow knight and the axe cavalry will try to get to them. Have Nino kill the bow knight with dance/sing supp and make sure she's out of the danger zone for the next turn. By now thing became self explanatory since enemy units should be very low or can be one shot.
Camus neutral (fury, hone, SEAL hp, glowing thunder)
Xander neutral (fury, hone, bonfire)
Reinhardt (any) (fury, goad, quickening pulse, moonbow)
Olwen (any) (blarblade, fury, hone)
The idea is get Camus in the bottom right tile with Xander bottom corner and Olwen right on top.... Reinhardt on top right corner defense area. from there Camus will bait and 3 enemies will be low and take it from there.... wow was hard to come up with that simple solution...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOJrq5B05eA
You'll want to do this with camus in the right lower defense tile when he is boosted by a hone. He can me boosted by a goad instead if and only if he is merged to have a increased speed point to double.
Be prepared for many close calls.
Requeriments:
*28 Res +/- on Azura. WoM 2 would be enough.
* Goad Cavalry and QR on Camus
This is how it's done:
Start by putting Titania on the defensive tile on the right. (2, -2) Next, you should move Camus down and to her righ (2, -3), then Azura below Titania separated by the tree. (2, -4). Finally, Xander goes to the defensive tile on the top right where no enemy should attack him. (3, 3)
Titania MUST be attacked by both Berkut and the Archer, and Camus should be attacked by the Blue Cavalier below Berkut. Now it's time to counter attack.
Titania should be able to finish Berkut thanks to Goad Cav buff or similar. Then, move Xander down and attack the Blue Cavalier that Camus already brought down with QR. Finally, attack the archer with Camus. Now here's the thing...
Azura, using WoM should move besides Camus and attack the Red Cav, and kill it.
Now on the enemy face, the green mage will attack Azura. She MUST have 28 Res (and enough speed to not get doubled) as mentioned previously and survive with 1 hp remaining (Yes, even with her personal Lance, she won't die)
Now, Camus should bring him down to low hp with Sing; use Azura to give Camus another attack, and move her one tile up for Titania, where she should be able to attack and kill the mage with no problem.
Then finally, move Xander in order to block the incoming Green Axe Cav to finish the map.