Should You Pull - Book IV Begins: Peony and More Edition

This is a standard four unit banner, meaning that the odds start at 3%. Note that two units are occupying the red pool this time and since this is a four person banner, the odds for pulling a specific five star are a bit lower than in other banner types, so take caution. 

Versatility at its Finest

Eyvel’s overall statline is quite solid and features strong values across the board, in large part due to her immense BST of 172. While her offensive spread of 33/35 may not be particularly outstanding in comparison to some newer additions to the game, it nonetheless provides her with a good foundation for outputting consistent amounts of damage against opposing foes. Combined with her rather considerable mixed bulk, Eyvel is able to boast great versatility as she can easily be built to fulfill different purposes, with this ranging from offensive to defensive roles.

Compared with the free Astram

Compared with the free Rutger

Compared with the three star Hinata

 En Guard!

• Although a line of weapons with a Guard-like effect have already been introduced into the game last year in the form of Halloween weapons (such as Hack-o-Lantern and Bottled Juice), Eyvel’s Guard Sword is the first of its kind to be inheritable by sword units. It may not necessarily be anything game-breaking, but it remains a formidable defensive choice thanks to its effect of Special deceleration. 

• Eyvel also comes with Atk/Def Form, a new skill that increases her Attack and Defense stats depending on the number of nearby allies and serves to further bolster her defensive prowess. This makes for a decent choice of Skill Inheritance fodder as does her native Chill Atk, which can prove to be a worthwhile asset to consider with the mapwide debuff support it provides. 

New Beginnings

The only unit on this banner to lack an exclusive weapon, Eyvel joins the already bloated pool of infantry sword users with not much to her name other than a rather balanced statline. She sports relatively solid values across the board, her most standout featuring her immense physical bulk of 79; this offers her great durability and allows her to excel when equipped with defensively oriented setups. Fortunately enough for the mercenary, her base kit complements this inclination quite nicely, though her statline remains flexible enough such that she can perform admirably taking on a variety of roles. However, aside from her inherently good statline, there’s little else that serves to distinguish Eyvel from many of her direct competitors; this can make it difficult to recommend using her should one have already invested heavily in a similar (or better) unit.

A New Record

Statwise, Mareeta is an (almost) directly improved version of her Fallen incarnation, showcasing equal or better values on all fronts barring HP where she loses by 1 point. Her offensive spread of 35/42 is simply phenomenal and offers her fantastic firepower at all times; her Speed is especially remarkable as it sits as the highest in the entire game and can be bolstered even further with a four-point +SPD IV to boot. Despite her statline’s focus on maximizing her offensive capabilities, however, Mareeta’s survivability hasn’t suffered much either -- to the contrary, her physical and magical bulk of 72 and 64 combined with her high Speed make it quite difficult to quickly land a KO. Her base Resistance stat of 23 is a bit middling, but her PRF’s conditional +4 in-combat boost alongside her access to a four-point +RES IV allow her to mitigate this weakness to a notable extent.

Compared with the five star Ayra

Compared with the five star Mia

Compared with the five star Fallen Mareeta

Faster than the Speed of Light

Mareeta’s exclusive weapon, the aptly named Mareeta’s Sword, is undeniably powerful and allows her to perform exceptionally well in both phases, granting her a passive -1 Special cooldown on top of a Null Follow-Up effect and +4 in-combat boost to all of her stats when she has no adjacent allies. 

• This second weapon introduced thus far with access to built-in Null Follow-Up after the Creator Sword, Mareeta’s Sword offers the young swordswoman incredible versatility and combat prowess. Since a significant portion of her functionality derives from her ability to consistently perform follow-up attacks, having innate access to Null Follow-Up allows her to easily break through effects that would otherwise hamper her overall potential massively. 

• Furthermore, Mareeta’s Sword enables her to function as one of the few units capable of wielding Null Follow-Up and Null C-Disrupt simultaneously to gain coverage against the majority of prominent threats; this makes her an especially useful asset to have for Aether Raids, as this lends itself well to “supertank” strategies where support is centered around a singular unit. 

• This PRF also lends itself well to Galeforce set-ups, particularly due to its unique synergy with Windsweep and (to a lesser extent) Watersweep; pairing these skills together allows her to effectively function as a Firesweep Sword user and negate her opponent’s counterattack while remaining fully capable of being able to perform follow-up attacks, adding a much greater degree of safety to her attacks. 

• This is not to mention the -1 Special cooldown and potential in-combat boosts this weapon provides, both of which serve to further solidify Mareeta’s position as a powerful and versatile frontliner with the means of standing tall against most conventional threats.

Path of the Freeblade

• The rest of Mareeta’s base kit is equally as impressive and provides her with all the tools necessary to shine on the offensive. Atk/Spd Solo and Rouse Atk/Def are both highly desirable skills that help strengthen a unit’s self-sufficiency notably, granting various boosts and buffs depending on whether Mareeta has an adjacent ally or not. 

• Mareeta also comes packed with an entirely new B slot skill: Close Call. Functioning as an improved version of Hit and Run, Close Call retains this skill’s usual effect and takes it one step further by also reducing damage received during combat and from Aoe Specials; this damage reduction can scale all the way up to a whopping 40% depending on how much faster one is than their opponent, potentially mitigating a great deal of damage. 

Shooting Star

Making her second appearance in Fire Emblem Heroes (this time freed from the clutches of her cursed sword), Mareeta manages to stand out amongst a sea of fellow infantry sword users thanks to the overwhelming might of her exclusive weapon, Mareeta’s Sword. It carries three unique effects, most notable of which being built-in Null Follow-Up; this itself constitutes a meaningful advantage in Mareeta’s favor through the flexibility of having a free B slot for other strong alternatives, such as Null C-Disrupt, Windsweep, and her native Close Call. When taken into consideration alongside her PRF’s other effects and her impeccable overall statline, this combination of attributes collectively grant the young woman immense versatility and transform her into one of the most powerful sword units around. 

Should You Pull?

Here are some reasons to try your luck on red orbs:

• You like Mareeta and/or Eyvel as characters and want to make her/them a part of your team. 

• You want to mess around with potential strategies revolving around Mareeta’s Sword.

• You like the idea of having a sword user with the flexibility of alternating between various roles thanks to a versatile statline. 

• You want to use Mareeta or Eyvel as Skill Inheritance fodder. 

Here are a few reasons you may want to stay away from red orbs: 

• There’s a good chance that Eyvel will demote to the four star pool, and you would prefer to take your chances and save your orbs for another addition. 

• You dislike your odds of summoning on a four-person banner with two people occupying the red pool.  

• You have no use for Mareeta or Eyvel’s Skill Inheritance options or another red infantry sword wielder.

Déjà Vu

Osian’s offensive statline of 35/36 is quite good and stands out as one of the best in his class, being comparable to the likes of other formidable axe wielders such as Gerik and Raven. His overall bulk isn’t particularly lacking either, allowing him the flexibility of being able to directly take on a few hits in the course of battle. In addition, since his statline is pretty balanced, he is relatively flexible in the way that he can be built and utilized — especially when taking his Speed into consideration.

Compared with the five star Gerik

Compared with the three star Raven

Compared with the five star Hilda

Ostian or Osian?

Osian’s exclusive weapon, Vouge, is relatively straightforward. In addition to granting him a passive -1 Special cooldown, this axe comes packed with a conditional Distant Counter effect built-in, requiring that Osian have 50% HP or greater at the start of combat in order for this to remain active. 

• Despite being one of the simpler PRFs to be introduced in recent banners, Vouge’s effectiveness should not be underestimated. By granting him the ability to counterattack against ranged opponents immediately, Osian is able to handle a much wider breadth of opponents than normally possible; this also lets him run another A slot skill of his choice (such as his native Mirror Stance 3)to supplement his combat prowess. 

• Due to Vouge’s reliance on his ability to maintain high levels of health throughout the course of a battle, this weapon pairs exceedingly well with healing specials such as native Noontime and makes him a prime choice of “supertank” for certain strategies. Be sure to keep an eye on his current level of health at all times though, otherwise he may fall below his weapon’s HP threshold and subsequently lose the majority of his functionality as a unit. 

Packed with Purpose

• Similarly to most other recently-introduced units, Osian comes with an outstanding base kit that lends itself well to his preferred playstyle (i.e. defensive). His native Mirror Stance 3 is a notably dynamic skill that brings an amalgam of offensive and defensive utility, increasing his raw firepower and magical resilience simultaneously on top of boasting a Guard-like effect of Special deceleration in the Enemy Phase.

• The rest of Osian’s base kit shares a similar focus on maximizing his raw damage output and includes powerful skills such as Wrath (which helps him activate his Special at a faster rate and deal more burst damage upon reaching its 75% HP threshold) and Even Atk Wave. Having innate access to such valuable and synergistic skills makes him extremely cheap to build (as well as a good source of Skill Inheritance fodder), as simply equipping him with an Assist will complete his build. 

Hotblooded Youth

Osian makes his debut in appearance as an infantry axe wielder with commendable offensive might. His statline alone makes him quite versatile; with a superb offensive statline of 35/36 and solid overall bulk, Osian is undoubtedly a highly versatile unit who can meet one’s expectations swimmingly at numerous different roles. Also, unlike the recent hordes of infantry axe wielders to enter the fray (such as Echidna, Gerik, Ross, etc.), Osian enjoys access to a PRF weapon of his own: Vouge. Carrying two strong effects in the form of accelerated cooldown and innate Distant Counter (provided that his HP is above 50%), Vouge allows him to make the greatest use of his statline and perform excellently as a defensively oriented nuke -- and what’s more, his base kit’s phenomenal synergy allows him to do so with minimal investment. 

Should You Pull?

Here are some reasons to try your luck on green orbs:

• You like Osian as a character and want to make him a part of your team. 

• You want a strong, versatile hero whose well-rounded statline allows him to excel at various different playstyles.

• You want to inherit Mirror Stance 3, Wrath, and/or Even Atk Wave to another unit. 

Here are a few reasons you may want to stay away from green orbs: 

• You have already invested in another axe user and would prefer to use them over Osian. 

• You want to save orbs for a future banner with more powerful units, or one of your favorite characters that has yet to be added to the game. 

• You have no use for Osian’s Skill Inheritance options.

Image of Loveliness

For a dancer, Peony’s overall statline is pretty decent. Her magical bulk and offensive statline are thoroughly respectable, with her moderately high Speed stat of 36 being a useful advantage due to its defensive properties; when capitalized on with the proper skillset, Peony can deny enemy follow-up attacks fairly reliably and gain a good amount of additional survivability. However, in large part due to simply having an insufficient amount of stat points to allocate, the lively fairy’s physical bulk is resultantly incredibly disappointing. While this doesn’t really detract from her usefulness all that much given her primarily support-focused role, it still poses a serious detriment worth considering in anticipation of instances where combat is unavoidable.

Compared with the free Rinea

Compared with the five star Bridal Ninian

Compared with the five star Legendary Azura

A New Take on an Old Standard

Peony sports access to two exclusive skills of her own. The first is Flower of Joy, a great supportive weapon that grants any ally in her cardinal directions a +3 Atk/Spd in-combat boost. The second is Gentle Dream, an exclusive Assist skill that retains the refreshing properties of Sing and Dance but takes it a step further: any ally she uses it on (as well as allies in the cardinal directions of her and her target) will subsequently gain a unique movement buff comparable to Aerobatics for the duration of the turn, in addition to a +3 buff to all of their stats. 

• While Peony’s Flower of Joy + Gentle Dream combination may lack the potency of Legendary Azura’s Prayer Wheel + Gray Waves (as the latter directly increases a target ally’s range by one and can grant much higher field buffs), the young fairy more than makes up for this via the ability to support multiple teammates simultaneously. With careful positioning and planning, Peony can even apply her unique buffs to all of her allies with a single use of Gentle Dream, subsequently improving their maneuverability immensely. 

• Unlike Gray Waves, Gentle Dream’s movement buff is not restricted to specific archetypes and can be appreciated by any ally so long as they fall within the skill’s range. This can prove to be a great boon if utilizing Peony in a mixed team composition with cavalry or armored units where her greater applicability can truly shine. 

• Furthermore, thanks to the unique way in which Gentle Dream’s movement buff works, Peony will typically have no need to run skills like Guidance, further differentiating her from her brethren as she has the flexibility of running another C slot skill or seal for further optimization. This also makes her quite resource friendly as her default kit provides her with enough utility such that investing heavily is often unnecessary. 

Dawn of a New Era

• By virtue of being a Light Mythical Hero, Peony possesses a great deal of value for those aiming to maximize their scoring potential in Aether Raids Offense; when fielded alongside heroes equipped with the corresponding Blessing, she can increase one’s Lift substantially during her season. 

• While she does face stiff competition from the previous reigning queen of Light Season, Eir, Peony’s exceptional supportive capabilities as a dancer do make her a better fit for certain strategies in Aether Raids Offense. One notable example can be found in Galeforce-centered setups where making the greatest use of one’s mobility is key; in such scenarios, Peony shines and can make for an invaluable asset at one’s disposal. 

Elf on a Shelf 

Peony is an exceptional support unit defined by the distinct strengths of her two personal skills: Flower of Joy and Gentle Dream. While Flower of Joy is certainly an excellent asset in her arsenal, Gentle Dream remains the more impactful of her two PRF skills and is particularly notable for its mapwide coverage, not to mention the unique mix of movement and field buff utility it provides. As one of the two Light Mythical Heroes currently available, Peony’s worth as a unit is only bolstered further as she can play an integral role in maximizing one’s scoring potential in Aether Raids Offense, especially when deployed alongside another Light Mythical Hero (such as Eir or a second copy of Peony). However, in exchange for her sheer supportive capabilities, Peony lacks any sort of real offensive prowess and can struggle engaging in extended rounds of combat; this can be mitigated by equipping her with an offensively oriented weapon like a Blárblade tome, though this comes with its own issues of sacrificing some of her supportive potential and reach.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Should You Pull?

Here are some reasons to try your luck on blue orbs:

• You like Peony as a character and want to make her a part of your team. 

• You want a powerful refresher who can support multiple allies concurrently. 

• You want to mess around with potential strategies revolving around the unique movement Peony grants via Gentle Dream. 

• You want to inherit B Duel Flying, Aerobatics, and/or Fortify Res 4 onto another unit.  

• You want to grab an additional copy of Peony to maximize your Aether Raids scoring potential during Light weeks.

Here are a few reasons you may want to stay away from blue orbs: 

• You have already invested in another refresher and would prefer to use them over Peony. 

• You have no use for Peony’s Skill Inheritance options and would prefer to save your orbs for other additions that catch your attention. 

• You are satisfied with the free copy we get of her and don’t need another one. 

• You want to save orbs for a future banner with more powerful units, or one of your favorite characters that has yet to be added to the game.