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Sacred Seal Forging

Sacred Seal Forging

Introduction

With the advent of forging, Sacred Coins can now be used to purchase and upgrade seals. This is a huge game-changer, as seals effectively function as a skill once fully upgraded. As coins are scarce, prioritising which seals to upgrade is of utmost importance.

Once you’re done with the Intermission map in Story mode, the Sacred Forge will be unlocked.

Earning Sacred Coins

Arena assault is currently the most prominent method of earning Sacred Coins. While it is similar to the standard arena, the caveat is that players can only use the same unit once while fighting a continuous string of battles. Use of items and scouting opponents via map preview are heavily encouraged.

The table below shows the breakdown of ranking rewards:

Ranking Sacred Coins
1~100 30
101~1,000 25
1,001~5,000 22
5,001~10,000 19
10,001~20,000 17
20,001~30,000 15
30,001~50,000 14
50,001~70,000 13
70,001~100,000 12
100,001~200,000 11
200,001~300,000 10

Sacred Coins can be also found in Voting Gauntlets starting from “The Blood of Dragons”. 45 coins can be earned from quests each round, up to a grand total of 135, while 80 coins can also be found on Tempest Trials starting from “Genealogy of Light”.

Finally, 10 coins are awarded in Arena simply by winning a battle.

Seal Creation/Upgrade Priority

Seal Creation/Upgrade Priority

This list is meant to be a general guide. Ultimately, pick the seal that matches your play-style and arena experience.

High Priority

Seals that have wide applications between multiple units. They are considered the best in their role, and are strongly encouraged to be upgraded to reach their potential.

- Atk+3 / Atk/Def 2Spd+3: Straightforward seals that bolsters a hero’s offense. Brave weapon wielders like Cherche appreciate more raw power, while the latter benefits units with middling speed (B!Charlotte).

- Atk Ploy / Def Ploy/ Res Ploy : Simple debuffs that are easy to use, given that most Arena threats have low Res. Anti-mage units like Caeda/Est can run this seal with little issues.

- Atk Smoke / Spd Smoke: Another simple to use seals, just like Atk/Def Ploy. Units with a good Enemy Phase benefit from this skill, increasing their tanking potential.

- Close Def: Though melee units are not as threatening as ranged heroes, Close Def is still a great option to upgrade, especially with the release of more melee threats such as Ayra and Mia.

- Def Tactics: A strong defensive buff to teams with mixed movement compositions, this seal is especially potent on Infantry Bladetomes and Eirika with her refined Sieglinde. 

- Distant Def: With ranged units arguably being the most threatening heroes in Arena, Distant Defence is a must have for any DC/ranged enemy-phase unit.

- Hone Atk / Hone Spd: When it comes to hyper-offence team compositions, Hones are the buffs of choice for Player Phase heroes, such as Firesweep and Bladetome wielders. 

- Panic Ploy: As Panic Ploy is the only reliable method of spreading Panic status, this seal is extremely useful when facing against Bladetome and Horse/Flier Emblem enemy compositions. 

- Quick Riposte: Arguably the current “king” of Sacred Seals, having Quick Riposte as a seal allows other powerful B skills such as Wrath/Guard to be run in tandem. Honourable mention goes to Hector, as this seal combined with Armads allows him to double in Enemy Phase with Wary Fighter equipped.

- Spur Atk / Spur Spd / Drive Atk: For teams favouring Enemy Phase units, these are the support seals of choice to aid allies in their killing potential when baiting enemy heroes.

Mid Priority

Seals that have niche functions on certain heroes. While some units heavily benefit from using them, their limited versatility makes them a less desirable choice for upgrades.

- Brash Assault: With the weapon forge, Eldigan is a strong candidate to use this seal, especially since his unique weapon passive combined with Fury makes it easier to lower his health to the required threshold. Slow heroes that run Brave Weapons can also run BA along with Desperation, especially since most have bulk to tank a hit.

- Breath of Life: A potent seal for game modes with consecutive maps, like Chain Challenges/Tempest Trials. The gradual healing effects however are not as effective in the fast paced Arena (Assault). A fine seal to upgrade if one is focused on clearing PvE content.

- Deflect Melee / Deflect Missle / Deflect Magic: Primarily used to counter Brave weapons and fast Firesweep units. While niche, heroes like Reinhardt and Brave Lyn are some of the most prominent threats in Arena. Useful if your team struggles with them.   

- Flier Formation: Heavily offensive Flier teams appreciate this skill, being able to easily manoeuvre themselves/allies for both offensive and defensive purposes.    

- Fortify Def / Fortify Res: The seal of choice for Bladetome support units like Ephraim/Eirika. While Double Rally skills exists, these seals are still useful if on a budget.

- Fortress Res: While this seal may find use on Healers who prefer bulk over attacking prowess such as Azama, this skill should be prioritised last compared to other defensive seals such as Close or Distant Def. 

- Guidance: A blessing for semi-armor teams, this seal negates the need of finding Tana, letting you run your flier of choice along with your Armors.

- 
Hardy Bearing: Negating Vantage/Desperation regardless of health is a nifty advantage. Useful if your team has a problem with Vantage units (e.g Hector), otherwise a more versatile seal is preferred.

Heavy Blade: A specialised pick for Player Phase heroes who can reliably double in addition to hitting hard, such units are few and far in between. Nevertheless, the ones who do (Ephriam, Nino, Cherche) reap the benefits of unleashing powerful specials faster.

- Drive Def / Spur Def / Spur Res: While not as attractive as their offensive counterparts, these seals are still helpful in sustaining an ally’s bulk when baiting units.

- Phantom Speed: With Wind/Watersweep skills being the only ones affected, this seal doesn’t see much use outside of glass cannons or debuffing units.

- Poison Strike: Particularly potent on units who avoid retaliation on Player Phase such as Firesweep users and Jaffar with his refined Deathly Dagger, this skill sees little use otherwise in a game where one-rounding is heavily favoured. 

- Threaten AtkThreaten Spd: A decent supplement to any hero who can bait and take a hit. While nothing exceptional, it makes for good filler in modes such as Arena Assault.

- Savage Blow: While useful in game modes like Tempest Trials, the nature of Arena makes this a risky proposition, especially when triggering a foe’s “Wings of Mercy” is almost a death sentence. That being said, healers with Pain+ are optimal units to run this seal on, as they can chip away at enemies without fear of retaliation. 

Low Priority

Seals that are generally outclassed by more reliable picks. While by no means useless, the scarcity of Sacred Coins makes it hard to justify purchasing/upgrading them.

- Def+3 / Res+3: These seals are outdone by Distant Defence/Deflect seals in terms of tanking prowess. Fortunately they come free, so one doesn’t have to worry about purchasing them.  

- HP+5: Although it is a useful seal to reach higher thresholds for HP based skills like Panic Ploy, the boosts from upgrading it is marginal. 

- Obstruct: An extremely niche skill that sees little practical purpose, as enemy movement is easily exploitable with proper positioning.

- Seal Atk: In a game where eliminating the enemy in one round is of utmost importance, Seal Atk is redundant as a defensive tool, especially when weapons such as refined Dark Breath exist.