Should You Pull - Zofia's Call Edition

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.

Unapologetic Cynicism

With some slight variances as a result of his higher BST, Python’s statline is remarkably similar to that of his predecessors, Summer Wolt and Sue. His good offensive statline of 32/35 provides him with a good baseline for dealing damage, though arguably his most distinguishing feature is his strong physical bulk of 69. This grants him some appreciable wiggle room compared to some of his competition in terms of build flexibility, as he remains one of the few archers who can safely take a hit from a physical damage dealer without relying on buffs or the effects of skills like Fury. 

Compared with the five star Brave Lyn

Compared with the five star Summer Wolt

Compared with the five star Sue

La Vie en Bleu

• Python’s base kit is a bit of an unfortunate case in that it hardly offers anything of value, coming with rather unimpressive skills like Steady Blow and Moonbow. Curiously enough, though, Python somehow happens to be the second unit in the entire game (after Robin (F)) to be in possession of B Tomebreaker, though it's definitely not something to fodder him off for. 
• His inherent access to the rather elusive Short Bow, an inheritable bow that grants its user +10 damage upon Special activations, does redeem his otherwise poor base kit somewhat. Given the limited options for weapons that archers typically have, Python having Short Bow right off the bat can prove to be a great boon for those who don’t want to expend a significant amount of resources to build him for an offensive role; this also makes for a decent Skill Inheritance option. 

A Mixed Bag

Python makes his way into Fire Emblem Heroes as a bow cavalier with a distinct inclination towards use in the Player Phase. With an offensive statline of 32/35, effective five-tile range, and access to class-exclusive buffs, the Apathetic Archer can perform admirably as frontline combatant while boasting decent survivability against physical threats to boot. However, while Python may not necessarily be a “bad” unit objectively speaking, he fails to bring anything truly new to the table and can struggle in carving a niche for himself; his green coloration also limits his overall applicability in comparison to his colorless counterparts. Furthermore, his relatively lacking base kit renders him a poor choice for those in search of lucrative skills to funnel into their favorite units. 

Should You Pull?

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

• You like Python as a character and want to make him a part of your team. 
• You don’t own another bow cavalier and want one to strengthen your cavalry-exclusive compositions. 
• You like the idea of having an archer who isn’t entirely reliant on skills like Fury and Desperation to function properly. 
• You want to inherit Short Bow onto another unit. 

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

• You have already invested in another bow cavalier and would prefer to use them over Python. 
• A majority (or potentially even all) of Python’s base kit will have to be replaced to maximize his offensive potential, and you would rather invest resources in another unit.
• You have no use for Python’s Skill Inheritance options and would prefer to save your orbs for other additions that catch your attention. 
• You dislike using cavalry units. 

Resolve of the Devoted

Silque’s statline is certainly an anomaly compared to that of other healers, featuring a surprising amount of physical and magical bulk at values of 74 and 70 respectively on top of reasonable Attack. This allows her to shine with a defensively oriented setup (unlike many of her contemporaries) and carve a distinct niche for herself; this is only bolstered further by her access to a four-point Asset in both Defense and Resistance. However, while indeed commendable for a healer, it should be noted that her effectiveness as a tank is compromised considerably by her low base Speed. 
 

Compared with the three star Azama

Compared with the four star Mercedes

Compared with the five star Loki

A Rose by Any Other Name

• Silque’s new inheritable staff, Melancholy, certainly packs a punch, resetting the Special cooldown of her opponent and any foes within two spaces to its maximum value; it also applies a devastating Guard debuff to further prevent her opponents from activating their Special. When utilized carefully, this combination of effects can mitigate a tremendous amount of damage that she or her allies may have otherwise taken. 

• Although this staff is quite powerful, in reality, it’s nothing new -- another staff with an identical effect (but slightly different wording) already exists: Witchy Wand. That being said, Melancholy still makes for a welcome addition as it is the first weapon with such an effect to be added to the regular summoning pool; this makes it a particularly attractive option for those who do not wish to wait until Halloween Mia comes as a focus unit on a banner (which is a rather infrequent occurrence). 

• The rest of Silque’s base kit is pretty good as well. Dazzling Staff and Earthfire Balm+ combined with her inherent access to Melancholy offer her considerable value as Skill Inheritance fodder, in addition to making her pretty cheap to build (though her statline does make it a bit difficult for her to run standard offensive healer sets). 

Nothing to Scoff At

Silque breaks the mold with her highly specialized statline that diverges from the standard formula for a healer, being comparable to the likes of Winter Eirika in this regard though with slight variances due to having lower BST. With her access to four-point Assets in both of her defensive stats, she can make great use of weapons like her native Melancholy to boast commendable Enemy Phase prowess (for a healer); fully investing in these capabilities can be quite cost-intensive, however, as this requires the inheritance of valuable skills like Close Counter to truly be effective. On the flip side, Silque’s statline makes it difficult to utilize standard offensive builds and leaves her sorely outclassed in the Player Phase. If nothing else, her status as a healer offers her a great deal of utility through the valuable support that she can provide to wounded allies. 

Should You Pull?

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

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

• You want one of the more unique healers around, as she can actually perform well at a defensive role with the proper investment. 

• You want to inherit Melancholy, Earthfire Balm+, and/or Dazzling Staff onto another unit. 

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

• You dislike Silque’s specialized statline, which can be quite unwieldy to work around if aiming to build her for an offensively oriented role. 

• There’s a good chance that Silque will remain locked in the five star pool, and you would prefer to invest in another, more readily available healer. 

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

Viridian Stud

Given his status as an armored unit, Forsyth’s extremely min-maxed statline is par for the course and matches expectations on every front. His Attack stat’s strong base value of 40 (on top of his access to a four-point Asset) offers him immense raw damage output, and his mixed bulk stands out as one of the best in his class. Although this does come at the cost of him having horrendous Speed, this can be easily mitigated through the use of Bold Fighter, Vengeful Fighter, or Quick Riposte (either in his B slot or as a seal). 

Compared with the three star Effie

Compared with the five star Winter Ephraim

Compared with the five star Fallen Hardin

Salute the Sun!

Forsyth’s exclusive weapon, Sol Lance, is both simple and incredibly effective. In addition to granting him a passive Resistance +3, this lance will heal the young knight for 10 HP with every attack that he lands on a foe -- regardless of whether he actually deals any damage.

• Sol Lance pairs rather well with Forsyth’s impressive mixed bulk and serves to bolster his survivability even further, allowing him to excel when delegated to the role of a defensive tank. If paired with complementary skills like Special Fighter and Noontime, he can consistently heal off the majority of damage he incurs and circumvent the impact of his low Speed on his sustainability to a great extent. 

• It’s worth noting that Sol Lance also comes with the benefit of allowing Forsyth to leverage a good amount of healing against weakened opponents, as he is always guaranteed to restore a minimum of 10 HP without accounting for his Special activation. 

A Very Particular Set of Skills

• Fortunately enough for Summoners everywhere, Forsyth was blessed with the advantage of having a fairly strong base kit, though improvements can always be made. For instance, his native Def/Res Bond is a solid option on a budget to augment his bulkiness to even further extents but depending on the resources has one available, swapping it out in favor of Distant Counter makes for a worthwhile consideration to expand on the types of threats he can handle. 

• Bold Fighter is a strong component of his base kit and remains absolutely vital for any Player Phase or mixed phase setup (which he can run rather well thanks to his massive Attack); however, for use in Aether Raids, it may be best to exchange this skill in favor of Special Fighter to stack even more healing via Noontime for maximum potency. Joint Hone Def is also a decent skill that can be used to improve his ability to tank physical damage dealing opponents and Colosseum scoring potential. 

The Power of Diligence

Forsyth is one of the more standout units sharing the limelight on this banner for a number of reasons. For starters, his statline is impeccable and packs a powerful punch, with high values in everything except Speed. When combined with his access to the armor-exclusive Fighter skills, this allows the young knight to have the capacity to excel on the offensive, defensive, or even both. Forsyth’s most defining aspect, however, is his unique personal weapon, Sol Lance. Restoring 10 HP for each attack that he successfully lands on top of a passive Resistance +3, Sol Lance ensures that he can constantly maintain respectable levels of health -- and unlike other lance armored units who attempt to mimic this effect with Noontime and some form of Special acceleration, Sol Lance’s healing cannot be stopped by the effects of skills like Guard.

Should You Pull?

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

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

• You want a strong defensive hero whose strengths lend themselves perfectly to one of the more popular strategies in Aether Raids. 

• You want a nearly ready-to-go lance armored unit to complete your armor team. 

• You want to inherit Bold Fighter and/or Joint Hone Def onto another unit. 

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

• You already invested in another lance armor and don’t really have much use for Forsyth.

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

• You dislike using armor units. 

Flawless Technique

Catria’s offensive statline of 38/36 is phenomenal and far outstrips that of many other fliers, allowing her to possess a formidable offensive presence right off the bat. Her Attack is especially remarkable due to it also being a four-point Asset, which she can use to strengthen the effect of her Astra Blade considerably. In addition, thanks to her bloated BST, Catria’s defensive stats do not suffer all that much from her statline’s focus on her offensive capabilities, and grant her the flexibility of being able to take a few hits if deemed necessary. 

Compared with the five star Laegjarn

Compared with the five star Elincia

Compared with the five star Legendary Ryoma

Shooting Star

Catria’s unique personal weapon, Astra Blade, capacitates the pegasus knight to obtain a substantial amount of offensive might, granting additional Attack and what is essentially a Glimmer activation per attack (though with a few notable differences).

• One of the main considerations to keep in mind here is that the damage boost Astra Blade provides is true damage, meaning that it cannot be negated by her opponent’s defensive stats. This quality is incredibly beneficial to her offensive capabilities as it allows her to bypass the Weapon Triangle to an extent, as Astra Blade does not account for the damage reduction applied to Catria when fighting against a blue opponent. 

• This allows her to heavily wound, if not outright kill a vast number of threats with relative ease assuming she can consistently maintain high levels of Attack. However, one should take caution when engaging against foes with strong Defense stats as her effectiveness is much less against them. 

• In addition, unlike Legendary Alm’s Luna Arc, Astra Blade’s effect is not restricted to a specific phase. This provides Catria with an unprecedented amount of versatility as she can easily be built to fulfill a variety of needs. For instance, aside from standard Player Phase builds, Catria has the potential to excel in the Enemy Phase with a Vantage  sweeper setup, which can be a particularly attractive option if using her in Aether Raids Offense. 

Familial Bonds

• Catria comes with Atk/Spd Bond 4, a skill that functions exactly like its previous versions but grants a stronger in-combat boost and neutralizes any Attack or Speed debuffs that may be affecting its user. 

• While somewhat impractical in Aether Raids given how constantly maintaining adjacency is not always within the realm of possibility, Atk/Spd Bond 4 is still a decent option for most other modes and can make for a useful asset to ensure that Catria’s offensive potential is untampered with. 

• This skill may also be a strong contender for Skill Inheritance for those aiming to optimize their scoring potential in Colosseum modes given its high SP cost. 

Pride of the Whitewings

In terms of both functionality and art, Catria is arguably the most captivating unit to share the spotlight in this banner. Her offensive statline by itself is already impressive and stands out as one of the best in her class, granting her noteworthy damage potential; this strength is only highlighted further by her access to a four-point Attack Asset. Catria’s exclusive weapon, Astra Blade, builds upon innately high firepower even further and offers her the power of a Glimmer activation per attack; unlike regular Glimmer, though, Astra Blade’s damage boost is unaffected by the Weapon Triangle and deals true damage. Since this effect is not contingent upon who initiates combat, this makes the young Whitewing an incredibly versatile unit at one’s disposal with the means to excel in both phases. However, Catria is not perfect or unstoppable by any means; any high Defense foe can quickly cripple her effectiveness, as will any archer who happens to cross her path. 

Should You Pull?

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

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

• You want a strong offensive hero who can perform exceptionally well on the offensive and defensive depending on what is needed of her. 

• You want one of the strongest red fliers in the game to complete your flier team. 

• You want to mess around with potential strategies revolving around Astra Blade’s unique mechanism.

• You want to inherit Atk/Spd Bond 4, Aerobatics, and/or Spd Tactic onto another unit. 

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

• You already invested in another sword flier and don’t really have much use for Catria.

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

• You dislike the odds of pulling for a red unit on a four-person focus banner. 

• You dislike using flying units.