Tempest Trials - Breath of Destiny

Event Overview

This special event contains a series of maps you must fight your way through from beginning to end. Losing does not mean game over, as you can retry with a second team. At the end of each round, points are received based on clear speed, survivability and bonus units. Your total points are tallied and used to unlock various rewards, many of which are exclusive to the Tempest Trials. Additionally, there is a player ranking with large feather rewards given to those with the highest scores.

Other Rules

• Bonus allies gain significant stat boosts (HP+10, +4 other stats).
• Bonus allies gain double EXP and SP.
• Your first two runs per day earn triple points.

Notable Rewards

4★ Eliwood - Devoted Love (2,000 Score)

• Eliwood's new form is an Armored Lance-wielder. He has very well-rounded stats, but truly excels in his attack, which is second only to Effie. Thanks to his huge base 175 BST, He's strong even at four stars. He can be sacrificed to inherit Goad Armor to other units, which previously only came on the coveted Hector. Rally Atk/Def can also be inherited this way.

Threaten Atk 1 seal (12,000 Score)

• This Sacred Seal lowers the attack of enemies standing within two spaces (at the start of your turn). Threaten Atk is one of the more useful C slot skills, and it's great for content such as the Tempest Trials or Chain Challenge. Units who run a sustain tank build such as Brave Ike can make great use of this seal. However it's considered somewhat inferior to Atk Smoke, which provides a larger debuff and is easier to trigger for offensive units.

Fortress Res 1 seal (20,000 Score)

• Fortress Res at max level grants a flat +5 resistance at the cost of -3 attack. It's a niche skill primarily used by magic tanks, although generally speaking they prefer Fury in their A slot, or Distant Def as their Sacred Seal.

5★ Eliwood - Devoted Love (30,000 Score)

• A five star version of Eliwood. His weapon lets him ignore Hone/Fortify buffs on units with Bows, Daggers, Tomes or Staves, and can be inherited to other units if desired. He can be sacrificed to get Fire Boost 3, a rare but decent skill, especially so on Arden.

Armored Boots seal (40,000 Score)

• Armored Boots is a new skill, which grants any Armored unit +1 movement, so long as their health is at 100% at the beginning of the turn. It does not stack with Armor March. This ability lets Armored units take the offensive without relying on Armor March. It's a great skill when used outside of Armor teams.

All seals can be upgraded within the Sacred Seal Forge to their higher-level counterparts. Orbs, feathers and crystals are awarded up to 100,000 score. Sacred Coins are also available, with the highest tier being 27,500 score. Up to 10,000 feathers can be obtained depending on your score ranking compared to other players.

Team Building

Without further ado, let us jump into the team-building part of the guide. Instead of talking about just completed teams, I’ll be talking about the elements that make those teams successful, so that players with varying boxes can construct viable teams. Unless otherwise stated, all units from here on out are assumed to be running their recommended builds. A team with the best chance of success will have the following: 

• As many bonus units as possible, as they receive huge stat boosts.
• Source of healing, such as healing specials or a staff-user.
• Strategy for the final map and boss.
• Weapon Triangle coverage, as the actual units within each map can vary.

Bonus Units

The first units you’ll want to think about using are of course, the bonus units. With their huge stat bonuses (+10 HP, +4 to all other stats) They will punch far above their normal weight. All bonus units receive the same stat boost. Always endevor to have at least one bonus unit on your team, as they increase your score by 20% or 40% respectively. Bonus units do not stack (the score increase is capped at 40%). 

40% Units

• Hector (LA): The new Hector is crazy strong, with a monstrous attack stat and +10 damage on specials. With Wrath and any healing special, he will decimate foes and keep himself topped up. He's a great pick alongside fellow armor and comes with Distant Counter.

• Lyn (LA): Lyn is a strong tome-user who as an armored unit, works great alongside Hector(LA). She hits very hard with a Blade tome, but has great speed and resistance. Unfortunately, she will have trouble with Lilina due to her color.

• Roy (LA): Roy is a Cavalry, and alongside Lilina, enables Cavalry teams to shine. Roy provides excellent offensive power with his 35 base attack, and with a Brave Bow will utterly decimate the Tempest Trials.

• Lilina (LA): She's a fantastic partner to Roy due to her offensive magic capabilities. Together with Roy or other Cavalry, she can clear maps extremely quickly. Giving her G Tomebreaker is a great idea to help her beat opposing Lilina.

20% Units

• Eliwood (LA): A good all-around blue unit with high stats, especially in Attack. He can fit right into an Armor team with Hector(LA) or previous reward units such as the Black Knight or Arden.

• Ninian: Dancers have always been amazing units for running the Tempest Trials, and Ninian is no exception. The extra stats help to patch up her attack and hit hard when she needs to. She's a great unit on nearly any team, but shares a color with Eliwood and Lyn.

• Klein: Klein is notable for being one of the easiest archers to build, due to coming standard with a Brave Bow and Death Blow 3 at four stars. He can be used even at four stars, and this is one of the best chances to build up his Hero Merit. He has great synergy with Ninian and enough power to clear the Trials with ease.

• Clarine: It's very nice to have a healer available as a bonus unit. Clarine provides reliable heals to a team, has excellent mobility due to being Cavalry and a well-rounded statline which gives her better than average survivability.

Healers

Thanks to the 2.0 update and forging, staff-users are stronger than ever and are highly recommended for all kinds of teams. They are by far the most reliable and powerful healers available, and can also provide strong chip damage to neutralize strong threats. Clarine is the standout choice here, as a bonus unit. However they are not the only option on the table.

There are a few types of builds which can be used to heal teams without using a dedicated healer. The first of these is the “Renewal Medic”, a build type which relies on healing from Renewal and the legendary weapon Falchion. Reciprocal Aid is a must-have skill to ensure clean transferral of health to allies. Forging Falchion greatly increases the healing from this type of build.

Lastly, there is the "sustain tank" build. With a cooldown -1 weapon such as a Slaying Axe, Steady Breath, Quick Riposte and Aether, a unit can charge and fire off their special every round of combat keeping their health topped up over a long time.

Dancers

These are some of the most potent allies for Tempest Trials, offering both safety and speed to your run. In short, they are great for all the usual reasons, but are affected by their low combat stats, which can hold them back. Due to team limitations, if you choose to field a dancer they must be a respectable combat unit in their own right, with either a full build or something close. Performing Azura is an excellent choice of unit, as with the bonus stat buffs she receives she can more than hold her own in direct combat.

Sweepers

One of the fastest ways to clear the Tempest Trials is with a powerful ranged attacker wielding a Brave bow or Blade tome. Combined with a buffer or dancer, they can destroy most units in the trials with ease once they are under the Desperation threshold. Nino, Linde, Rhajat, Tharja, Katarina, L'Arachel, Ursula, Brave Lyn and Reinhardt are all common choices. Lilina(LA) and Roy(LA) are the best choices amongst the bonus units, with Klein as a trailing third.

Using Autobattle

For those looking to save time, the autobattle feature lets you quickly gain tempest points with minimal effort. When creating an autobattle team, there are a few considerations:

Difficulty

• Hard (5 Battles) is the most suitable difficulty for most players, assuming you can field a full team of five star characters. With enough bonus units or merges, it may be possible to do the lower infernal difficulty.

Team Building

• Team building considerations are mostly the same for manual teams. The AI tends to play recklessly, making tanky units with well-rounded statlines and Distant Counter fare the best.
• A dedicated healer is nearly always better unless you have multiple units with Aether or other healing. If you choose a dedicated healer, don’t forget to un-equip their weapon. Otherwise, the AI will treat them like a ranged attacker, and play aggressively with them.
• Don't forget to pack a bonus unit!
• Flying units tend to be poor choices, unless equipped with Iote's Shield. This is because the AI's reckless playstyle often leaves them in the range of common and deadly archers.

Examples

• Distant Counter Units: Hector(LA), Nowi, Dorcas, Hector, Ike, Ike(VL), Ryoma, Black Knight, Young Tiki, Zelgius
• Sustain Tanks: Brave Ike, Ike, Ike(VL), Brave Lucina, Raven
• Dedicated Healers: Clarine, Any staff-user!
• Other Healers: Masked Marth/Lucina, Chrom, Arvis, Linde, Performing Olivia, Alm, Marth
• Sweepers: Lilina(LA), Roy(LA), Klein, Brave Lyn, Lute, Reinhardt, L'Arachel, Olwen, Nino, Delthea, Celica, Bridal Cordelia

Enemies to watch

• Triangle Adept/Gem Weapon Users: Oscar, Sanaki, Seth, Sully, Stahl, Titania, Subaki, Palla, Cordelia
• Breaker Skill Users: Oscar, Abel, Sully,
• Firesweep Weapon Users: Roderick, Faye
• Brave Weapon Users: Luke, Cain, Abel, Klein, Elincia, Camilla, Hinoka, Cordelia
• Effective Weapon Users: Rhajat, Kagero, Merric, Micaiah, Raigh, Mathilda, Julia, Deirdre, Caeda, Cherche, Frederick, Est, Florina, (All Archers)
• Wrath/Wo Dao Users: Sonya