Should You Pull Legendary - Elimine: Scouring Saint Edition

While it’s only been two months since Thorr was released as the previous Astra mythic, Elimine is here to shake up the meta nevertheless. She offers an extreme amount of utility across a variety of team compositions due to the effects of her unique Staff of the Saint and C skill Holy Ground. But is she worth your orbs? 

Elimine combines several useful effects that make her an excellent choice for an Astra mythic. She confers +4 Spd and +5 HP when used on a team with Astra-blessed units in Astra season in Aether Raids, as well as allowing the use of the 6th slot in Raiding Parties. Her weapon, Staff of the Saint, prevents foes from counterattacking in combat, buffs her allies within 2 spaces at the start of her turn with +6 Def and Res, and inflicts a new status condition, False Start, on any foes in a cardinal direction (North, South, East, or West straight along the map grid) that have Res less than her Res. False Start disables skills that activate at the start of a unit’s turn, so with this effect Elimine is able to strategically disable effects such as Upheaval, Triangle Attack from Bridal Catria, the March effect of Holy-Knight Aura, and many more. This is an extremely powerful ability that, if used right, makes many of the most threatening Defense keeps far easier to handle. 

In addition to this, Elimine also has a unique C skill, Holy Ground, which grants allies within 2 spaces of Elimine 30% damage reduction against enemy attacks as well as Def and Res +4 in combat. Because Elimine is a staff-wielder, she can also equip useful healing Assist skills such as Restore+ or Nudge+ which can be useful for keeping a unit healthy over multiple turns of combat. There is no doubt that Elimine is an extremely useful Mythic hero, one of the best ever, particularly if used on a team with enemy phase tanks. However, this does not necessarily mean she is worth your orbs. 

Elimine can also find some use in other modes, though she is not as obviously suited to most of them. False Start and Holy Ground have potential usage in Summoner Duels, but setting up the right positioning to activate False Start is much more difficult to do against a human opponent than a static defense team, and Elimine herself does not offer much as a combat unit except the ability to attack foes without being counterattacked. She is not the best choice for Arena, as she is held back by the lower SP costs of staff-exclusive skills as well as relatively low BST. She can be a useful unit in Arena Assault, if False Start prevents some effect from activating on an opponent’s team, similar to her use in Aether Raids. She could find similar use in many other modes as well, and Holy Ground’s damage reduction is a good choice to pair with a tank in many different modes. 

With all Legendary and Mythic banners, there are three units in focus on each color. As players have no control over which units they get of each color, beyond choosing what color of unit to pull, except for the single guaranteed summon after 40 summons available to FEH pass subscibers, it is important to consider the value of all units within a color when deciding whether to pull. 

On red, we have Legendary Seliph, Volke, and Constance. Legendary Seliph is an Earth Legendary Hero sword cavalry with the Pair-Up effect and a kit focused around enemy phase tanking. He is a decent choice for Earth Legendary but neither the most effective in combat or the best scoring among that group. He also has the rare inheritable skills Distant Counter and Joint Hone Def.

Volke is a Red Dagger Infantry with a unique kit. His weapon Fireman’s Hook combines well with Null Follow-Up and Lethality, also from his base kit, to allow him to attack most foes twice and activate Lethality on the second hit, doing massive damage if he survives the counter - or on the second Brave hit if he can activate Triangle Attack. He is a highly threatening hero when used with Bridal Catria, and a powerful but somewhat frail unit otherwise. He has the rare inheritable skills Lethality (currently only available on him), Sturdy Impact, Null Follow-Up, and Time’s Pulse. 

Constance is a Red Tome Flier with the unique weapon Agnea’s Arrow that neutralizes effects which prevent her follow-ups, as well as a variety of other stat effects. She is a decently powerful but fragile offensive unit, and has access to the rare inheritable skills Harsh Command+, Atk/Spd Push 4, A/S Far Trace, and Spd/Res Rein. 

On blue, we have Peony, Legendary Julia, and Hapi. Peony is a Light Mythic Hero Blue Tome Flier Dancer, with the unique dance Gentle Dream that buffs the target’s stats by 3 and confers the Orders effect, allowing them to teleport adjacent to any ally within 2 spaces. She is an excellent addition to many teams merely by virtue of being a Mythic Dancer, and the fantastic effects of Gentle Dream make her debatably still the best Light Mythic Hero. She comes with the rare inheritable skills B Duel Flying 3, Aerobatics, and Fortify Res 4. 

Legendary Julia is an Earth Legendary Hero Blue Tome Infantry. She has the unique tome Virtuous Naga, which is effective against dragons as well as providing a stat buff when she exceeds her foe’s Atk. She also comes with the rare inheritable skill Mirror Impact.

Hapi is a Blue Tome Cavalry. She has the unique Demonic Tome, which is effective against dragons and beasts and allows her to activate Specials more quickly. She also has the rare inheritable skills Atk/Res Catch 4 and A/R Far Trace. 

On green, we have Otr, Eitri, and Ascended Fjorm. Otr is an Anima Mythic Hero Axe Cavalry. As a Mythic Hero, he provides a stat boost of +5 HP and +5 Def to Anima-blessed units when used in Aether Raids in Anima season, as well as allowing the use of the 7th slot on Aether Raids Defense teams. He has the unique weapon Auto-Lofnheiðr, which grants him a guaranteed follow-up and some stats, as well as Canto 3 during turns 1 through 4. He also has the unique Special Brutal Shell, which charges itself fully at the start of his first turn on the map, and effectively reduces his foe’s Def by 50% when it activates. He also has access to the rare inheritable skills G Duel Cavalry 4, Flow Refresh, and Atk/Def Menace. 

Eitri is a Fire Legendary Hero Green Tome Flier with the Pair-Up Effect. She has the unique weapon Grim Brokkr, which gives her a guaranteed follow-up on initiation, as well as Canto 2 during turns 1 through 4. She also has the unique B skill Divine Recreation, reducing her foe’s stats and the damage their first hit deals and giving her a proportional damage buff. She has the rare inheritable skills Atk/Res Solo 4 and Atk/Res Rein. 

Ascended Fjorm is an Ascended Green Axe Armor. As an Ascended Hero, Fjorm grants the player one Ascended Floret the first time she is summoned, which they can use to Ascend a second stat boon on and Hero of their choice. In addition to this, Fjorm herself can ascend a second stat boon without using a Floret. Fjorm has the unique weapon Nifl’s Bite, allowing her to counterattack all foes at all ranges and preventing any effects that disable her counterattacks, an effect which is currently unique to her among armors. She also shares the skill Ice Mirror with other versions of Fjorm, which reduces damage taken from an enemy with range=2 by 30% before boosting Fjorm’s next damage by the amount of damage reduced. She comes with the rare skills A/R Far Save, Steady Posture 3, and Hardy Fighter, the latter of which is currently unique to her. Using Hardy Fighter in combination with Ice Mirror to reduce damage has made Ascended Fjorm one of the most powerful and popular Far Save tanks in the current meta. 

On colorless, we have Elimine, Ashera, and Legendary Claude. Ashera is an Astra Mythic Hero Colorless Tome Infantry that provides a stat boost of +5 HP and +5 Res, as well as allowing the use of the 6th team slot in Astra Raiding Parties. She has the unique tome Order’s Sentence, which buffs her Atk proportional to buffs present on her allies within 2 spaces, making her very powerful under the right circumstances. In addition, her unique C skill Order’s Restraint buffs herself and allies within 2 spaces with Atk and Res +6 and the effect Null Panic at the start of her turn, making them immune to the bonus-reversing effects of Panic. 

Legendary Claude is an Earth Legendary Hero Colorless Bow Flier with the Pair-Up Effect. He has the unique weapon Failnaught, which among other effects grants him the effects of Null Follow-Up. He also has the unique B skill Fallen Star, which reduces the damage his foe’s first attack deals by 80% when he either initiates combat, or in his first combat after he has initiated combat. This effect makes him very difficult to KO with a counterattack under most circumstances, and makes him one of the most powerful Earth Legendary Heroes. In addition to this, he has the rare inheritable skills Atk/Spd Catch 4 and Spd/Def Rein. 

The needs and wants of every player in FEH will differ based on their own situation and their own priorities, so it is impossible to make recommendations that apply to everyone. People will want to use different heroes or invest in different modes. However, there are some general observations that can be made to help you come to your own decision. 

Colorless has potentially extremely high value to a player looking to gain powerful Astra Mythics as well as a powerful Earth Legendary. Elimine and Ashera both provide scoring from merges, like all mythics, so players in need of this may wish to pull. In addition, their effects synergize with each other quite well, as both provide excellent support for enemy phase tank teams; Ashera providing buffs and Null Panic, while Elimine provides healing, damage reduction, and False Start to disable certain challenging enemy skills. Claude is an excellent hero in many different modes, even if the player does not wish to use him in arena or does not obtain enough copies to make it worthwhile for scoring, and his Atk/Spd Catch 4 is also a highly desirable skill to inherit for many cavalry and flying units that want high Atk and Spd. 

Red provides some decent heroes, but is probably not worth spending large amounts of orbs on for anyone except those who are specifically aiming to merge Legendary Seliph and would be happy to get some copies of Volke or Constance. 

Blue provides decent value in the sharing of Peony and Julia for players that are looking for merges on one or both of them, and wouldn’t mind the other. Peony is an excellent Light Mythic and Julia is a decent Earth Legendary, so this is not a bad choice for either of those needs, but there will no doubt be better options if the player isn’t specifically committed to either of them. Hapi is also a useful Hero, but not exceptionally powerful or extremely useful in most contexts. 

Green has three units that are potentially extremely useful in the right context. Otr is debatably the best Anima mythic available at this point, though opinions will vary on whether he is better than Seiros or Mirabilis, and none of them are the clear winner. He also has access to several rare useful skills, including being the only hero with G Duel Cavalry 4, which players might want in order to use some specific green cavalry hero in Arena or another mode with similar scoring. Eitri is a fantastic Fire Legendary Hero, with great combat and extreme utility by virtue of having ranged attacks, flying movement in the many arena maps that reward it, and Canto 2 to retreat after KOing an enemy unit. Ascended Fjorm is an excellent choice if a player needs a Far Save unit, is currently the only unit with Hardy Fighter, and also grants one Ascended Floret if the player has not already summoned her some other way. Green is a fantastic color if trying to get one or two copies of a couple great units. 

Of course, we must also consider the future. The 5th anniversary of FEH is nigh upon us, no doubt coming with multiple events including summon focuses on which players might want to spend orbs. The 2022 edition of the A Hero Rises event will no doubt happen soon. In previous years, players have voted for a single Hero to be distributed to every player for free, and the top four voted Heroes have been featured on a summoning focus shortly after the voting event. Depending on which Heroes players vote for, this may be worth saving orbs for - though of course we don’t know which Heroes will appear on that banner, and something may change about the way that the event is run compared to previous years. But Elimine’s Mythic Hero banner provides solid value for players who need it, especially those who have been struggling in Astra season Aether Raids. There may be better opportunities down the line, but this one is definitely worth considering.