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Should You Pull - Desert Mercenaries Edition

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The Odds

Percentile Red Blue Green Colorless
0% 5 5 5 5
5% 14 14 14 14
10% 26 25 20 25
15% 37 36 29 20
20% 48 47 39 46
25% 60 59 48 56
30% 73 71 58 67
35% 86 83 68 79
40% 99 97 80 92
45% 115 110 92 105
50% 132 126 105 120
55% 151 144 119 136
60% 170 161 135 153
65% 192 181 154 172
70% 216 206 174 195
75% 248 234 197 221
80% 285 268 227 250
85% 334 312 263 289
90% 403 373 316 346
95% 519 479 411 440
100% 1444 1447 1325 1732

This is a standard four unit banner, meaning that the odds start at 3%. As there is a unit of every color, the odds for pulling on each color are pretty good, though slightly less so than a three unit banner.

Tethys: Beloved Dancer

Unparalleled Grace

Despite having a significant advantage over her direct competition in terms of BST, Tethys’ statline remains quite lackluster, with both her low base Attack stat and poor physical bulk preventing her from acting as a strong solo combatant; this consequently limits her build flexibility greatly. That being said, the enchanting performer’s statline does come with its own share of strengths, most notably her base Speed of 35 that allows her to deny enemy follow-up attacks relatively frequently. When capitalized on alongside her formidable magical bulk, Tethys can potentially distinguish herself from her contemporaries as an effective check to incoming magical threats with the proper support and investment. 

Compared with the five star Performing Olivia

HP Atk Spd Def Res
+4 -1 +1 +7 +6

Compared with the five star Hoshidan Summer Xander

HP Atk Spd Def Res
+0 -8 +18 -11 +18

Compared with the five star Hoshidan Summer Elincia

HP Atk Spd Def Res
+4 -2 +0 +3 +13

Street Smarts

  • Unfortunately for the Beloved Dancer, Tethys’ base kit is incredibly underwhelming and includes skills like Spd/Res Bond and Dagger Exp. that will likely need to be replaced if aiming to make the greatest use of her unique strengths, though they’re decent options at lesser levels of investment. However, this does render her value as Skill Inheritance fodder quite low. 

  • While nothing new, The Cleaner is an interesting component of Tethys’ base kit that lets her quickly shut down foes who are dependent on receiving substantial amounts of support to function properly. If wanting to specialize her as a counter for sources of magic damage, keeping this weapon might be a good idea to let her stand tall against Blade tome mages whose reliance on field buffs would render them easy pickings thanks to The Cleaner’s effect. 

Charming Performer

Tethys stays true to her performance in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones and boasts favorable values in Speed and Resistance, being quite similar statwise to her predecessor Performing Olivia but with much more overall bulk. This combination makes her well-suited for an anti-magic role to grant her some much-needed combat utility. Aside from such a role, though, Tethys fails to stand out in comparison to other refreshers as her low Attack restricts her usefulness as a combatant heavily, thus diminishing her worth to revolve mainly around Dance and not much else. Be that as it may, Tethys’ status as a refresher nonetheless grants her a tremendous amount of overall utility as the ability to grant an ally another turn is invaluable, and will often mean the difference between victory and defeat. 

Should You Pull?

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

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

  • You want another refresher to add to your ranks, which can be quite useful for times where having multiple of them is beneficial (e.g., Chain Challenges and Arena Assault).

  • You want a refresher with high magical durability and a lack of disadvantaged match-ups.

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

  • Many refreshers can operate similarly to Tethys, as the value that they add is not necessarily based on their combat performance.

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

  • You have no use for Tethys’ Skill Inheritance options or another refresher.

Ewan: Eager Student

Truehearted Trainee

Despite his rather unassuming outward appearance, Ewan’s overall statline certainly packs a punch and enables him to consistently output significant amounts of damage, most notably for its massive Attack stat of 37. Combined with his access to a four-point Attack Asset and weapons like Rauðrblade, Ewan can quickly accumulate an impressive amount of raw firepower and present a formidable offensive threat in both phases with the proper kit. His great Resistance stat and relatively decent Speed stat further solidify his combat prowess, with his main weakness being his poor physical bulk; he does, however, have just enough to avoid being flatout KO’d by opposing physical threats when equipped with skills like Fury.

Compared with the three star Tharja

HP Atk Spd Def Res
-1 +5 -1 +0 +15

Compared with the three star Lilina

HP Atk Spd Def Res
+3 +0 +8 +4 +4

Compared with the five star Hubert

HP Atk Spd Def Res
-3 -2 +1 +4 +10

You Mean the Chaos Emera- erm, Skills?

  • Ewan’s introduction marks the completion of the “Serpent” family of weapons, as he comes with the final one to be added into the game: Rauðrserpent. While not necessarily anything game breaking or overly influential, this tome remains a respectable weapon for defensively oriented red mages like Winter Tharja, and Ewan himself can make good use of it function as an anti-ranged check.

  • Coincidentally, Ewan also comes with the final Sabotage skill to enter Fire Emblem Heroes: Sabotage Spd. This skill scales nicely with Ewan’s high Resistance stat and allows him to quickly hamper much of an opposing team’s offensive potential through its debilitating, mapwide debuff. While comparable to Chill Spd, Sabotage Spd (as well as other Sabotage skills for that matter) differ in that they have a greater likelihood of targeting multiple foes. 

Ready to Learn!

Ewan enjoys the benefits of having an exceedingly bloated BST for a mage, resulting in him having an edge over his competition simply by merit of having more stats to allocate. This has seemingly worked well in his favor as evidenced by his ability to excel at both offensive play and magical tanking, while still having enough physical bulk to safely take a single hit from physical damage dealers. Ewan’s Attack is likely his statline’s most notable feature due to its markedly high base value of 37 and access to a four-point +ATK IV; this grants him the flexibility of being able to shine with a Vantage sweeper setup on top of standard Player Phase sets. However, while his excellent statline and greater BST does help differentiate him from his competitors, his lack of an exclusive weapon makes it difficult to recommend him over another red mage like Tharja if one has already invested in them. 

Should You Pull?

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

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

  • You like the idea of having a mage who has the flexibility of alternating between various roles thanks to a versatile statline. 

  • You want to inherit Rauðrserpent+ or Sabotage Spd onto another unit. 

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

  • Most of Ewan’s base kit (while definitely solid) will have to be replaced to heighten his offensive prowess as much as possible, and you would rather invest resources in another unit you like more or with far greater availability. 

  • While Ewan is certainly strong, he brings nothing new to the table and you would prefer to save your orbs instead for other additions that bring more interesting mechanics. 

  • You have no use for Ewan’s Skill Inheritance options or another red infantry mage.

Gerik: Desert Tiger

Offensive Might

Gerik’s offensive statline of 37/36  is quite good and stands out as one of the best in his class, being comparable to the likes of other prominent axe wielders such as Hilda and Raven (though he does lack access to an exclusive weapon of his own). Furthermore, despite his statline’s clear inclination towards maintaining high levels of firepower, Gerik’s overall bulk isn’t particularly lacking either. This means that he will generally have no problem taking hits during combat, making him fairly flexible in the way that he can be built and utilized — especially when factoring his Speed into the equation.

Compared with the three star Raven

HP Atk Spd Def Res
+6 +3 +1 +5 +0

Compared with the free Linus

HP Atk Spd Def Res
+5 +0 +3 -2 +3

Compared with the five star Hilda

HP Atk Spd Def Res
+4 +0 -1 +2 -1

Mercenary’s Tact 

  • After nearly two years since the introduction of the last Firesweep weapon with Soleil, the Firesweep Axe finally becomes available to Summoners via Gerik’s base kit. Having inherent access to this weapon is a significant boon in his favor as it allows one to build him for an offensive role without expending an unnecessary amount of resources (especially given how limited weapon choices can be at times), but it can potentially be replaced by something like a Slaying Axe for a more defensively oriented playstyle to effectively utilize his solid bulk. In addition, this makes for a pretty good Skill Inheritance option. 

  • Gerik also sports innate access to two remarkable support skills — Sudden Panic and Infantry Pulse — that scale off of his HP stat. While each has their own individual merits, both ultimately possess immense worth and can quickly shift the tide of the battle in his team’s favor when implemented properly. Accordingly, one should take caution if considering using him as Skill Inheritance fodder for either one of these skills, though both are ultimately great choices. Gerik himself can utilize them relatively well thanks to his ample amount of HP. 

Leader of the Pack

Gerik debuts in Fire Emblem Heroes as a powerful infantry axe wielder with one of the strongest offensive statlines amongst his class on top of solid overall bulk; this makes him a highly versatile unit who can perform a variety of different roles quite effectively depending on what is needed of him. Although he does lack access to a PRF weapon to further develop his astounding combat potential, his statline is sufficient enough to warrant his usage as he can perform well even when equipped with generic weaponry. For example, aside from what his base kit alone may suggest, Gerik can shine as a defensive generalist to capitalize on his sheer versatility and use him as a “supertank” in Aether Raids Offense. 

Should You Pull?

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

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

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

  • You want to inherit Firesweep Axe, Darting Blow 4, Sudden Panic, and/or Infantry Pulse 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 Gerik. 

  • While Gerik is certainly strong, he brings nothing new to the table and you would prefer to save your orbs instead for other additions that bring more interesting mechanics. 

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

Ephraim: Dynastic Duo

New and Improved

The latest incarnation of the Restoration Lord sees him return with a vengeance, boasting a powerful statline heavily inclined towards both dealing and taking damage. Ephraim’s most notable feature in this regard is his massive base Attack stat of 39, which can be bolstered even further via his four-point Attack Asset; this allows him to inflict substantial amounts of damage on opposing foes quite easily, even without taking his accompanying skillset into account. His physical bulk remains standout amongst his peers and allows him to charge into combat against opposing physical threats without worry of incurring significant health loss, and his base Speed stat offers some defensive value in denying enemy follow-up attacks. Ephraim’s weakest area here is definitely his middling Resistance, but even this can be mitigated to a great extent if so desired thanks to his four-point Asset in this stat.

Compared with the three star Lukas

HP Atk Spd Def Res
-4 +4 +8 -1 +8

Compared with the three star Donnel

HP Atk Spd Def Res
-2 +4 +1 +5 +2

Compared with the five star regular Ephraim

HP Atk Spd Def Res
-4 +4 +5 +5 +5

Reinvigorated Power 

Ephraim’s exclusive weapon, Reginleif, is a simple, but potent weapon that ensures his follow-up when his Attack exceeds that of his opponents OR when affected by any type of buff that temporarily increases movement (such as the one granted by Legendary Azura’s Gray Waves. Reginleif also deals effective damage against armored and cavalry foes. 

  • This weapon is a phenomenal supplement to Ephraim’s innately high damage output, constituting the key behind his strong offensive potential. Through its effect of guaranteed follow-up attacks under the proper conditions, Ephraim can bypass the impact of his middling Speed (which mainly serves the purpose of denying doubles) and establish a dominating offensive presence. The additional damage he can deal against certain enemy types is a cherry on top. 

  • Although this effect is not locked to a specific phase, Reginleif can prove especially effective when paired with Player Phase setups, specifically (but not limited to) those that revolve around the use of Galeforce. Ephraim in particular can excel with such setups for a couple of reasons: his Duo Skill’s movement buff grants him mobility far beyond what would typically expected of him (as well as his allies), and his status as an infantry unit allows him access to skills like Null Follow-Up and Time’s Pulse that help ensure his ability to actually activate Galeforce in a single round of combat. 

  • Furthermore, unlike other units whose weapons require them to maintain a careful distance from their allies to benefit from guaranteed follow-ups (such as his Legendary incarnation’s Flame Siegmund, Ephraim has no such limitation. This makes providing him with team support a much easier task and opens him up more defensively oriented options. 

Our Bonds Give Me Strength! 

Ephraim’s status as a Duo Hero naturally grants him access to a Duo Skill of his own, which he can activate once per battle (or potentially more if using the Duo’s Indulgence structure in Aether Raids Offense). Upon activation, Ephraim will grant himself as well as any infantry and armored allies within two spaces +1 movement for the duration of the turn. 

  • Functioning essentially as an AoE movement buff, Ephraim’s Duo Skill can be quite potent when combined with precise timing and the proper team composition, with one of its most notable applications being found within infantry Galeforce setups for use in Aether Raids Offense. While this skill may not be as the one recently seen on Halloween Hector, it nonetheless remains a key component of the young prince’s kit and should certainly not be underestimated. 

  • In addition, this Duo Skill also allows Ephraim to instantly benefit from Reginleif’s effect as the +1 movement it provides satisfies its prerequisite conditions. This can be useful in the possible scenario that his opponent’s Attack stat well exceeds his own, though the likelihood of this happening should be relatively low given the extent to which he can augment his Attack. 

Packed and Ready to Go 

As if this weren’t enough, Ephraim’s base kit is extremely solid and includes everything but a functional Assist skill, with the majority of his kit consisting of reasonably valuable skills. This makes him incredibly cheap to build as a minimal amount of investment is needed to maximize his overall performance -- and for those interested in bolstering the potential of other units instead, Ephraim is a great source of Skill Inheritance fodder as well. 

  • Ephraim comes with the highly anticipated Heavy Blade 4, a skill enhances his overall damage output considerably  through accelerated Special cooldown and an additional +5 damage per hit when his Attack exceeds that of his opponent’s. This synergizes nicely with Reginleif due to their identical activation requirements.

  • Lull Atk/Def and Odd Atk Wave also appear here and serve to further develop his raw damage output, with the former being especially potent given the prevalence of field buffs in enemy team compositions. Both potentially make for excellent Skill Inheritance options as well, though Lull Atk/Def remains the more valuable of the two as Ephraim is only the second unit in the game who comes with it.

Reckoning Spirit

Making a surprise appearance alongside his friend Lyon, Ephraim steals the spotlight this banner for a number of reasons. To start off, his statline is fantastic and lends itself perfectly to a “bruiser” archetype, featuring exceptional values in Attack and Defense (as well as access to a four-point +ATK IV) alongside reasonable defensive Speed. While this alone may not be nothing special, it is this statline combined with the power of his exclusive weapon, Reginleif, that offers Ephraim fearsome offensive might, guaranteeing his follow-up attack against opponents with lower Attack or when affected by a movement buff. Armored and cavalry foes are especially susceptible to his onslaught due to his PRF’s effective damage against them. As a Duo Hero, Ephraim even boasts the ability to heighten both his own mobility and that of any infantry or armored allies within two spaces thanks to his own Duo Skill, not to mention his high scoring potential in Colosseum modes. Overall, Ephraim makes for an exceedingly versatile unit whose unique strengths enable him to fulfill a variety of purposes simultaneously.

Should You Pull?

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

  • You like Ephraim (or Lyon) as a character and want to make him a part of your team. 

  • You want a versatile hero who can perform exceptionally well in the Player Phase and even boasts some supportive capabilities to boot.  

  • You want to mess around with potential strategies revolving around the +1 movement Ephraim can grant to any infantry or armored allies within two spaces via his Duo Skill.

  • You want to inherit Heavy Blade 4 and/or Lull Atk/Def onto another unit. 

  • You want to grab a copy of Ephraim before he goes off-focus and becomes unavailable for an unpredictable amount of time. 

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

  • You don’t really have much use for Ephraim as you’ve already invested in another infantry lance user and/or you are uninterested in his Duo Skill. 

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

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About the Author(s)

Lordhelpme (a.k.a Carlos Rivera) is a content contributor for the GP Fire Emblem Heroes site. Has been part of the team since March 2018 and is actively involved in the community. Avid fan of all things cute, eccentric, and related to the Fire Emblem and Legend of Zelda series.