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Soul Scouting: Forma Building Guide - October 2022: Path of Radiance

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Introduction

For this iteration of Hall of Forms, we have a team of fighters hailing from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Notably, none of the units here are seasonally limited; three of them are exclusive to the main five-star pool, and the remaining one is a common pool blue mage infantry. Players have the chance to build up and possibly add the following units to their roster permanently by spending a Forma Soul:

We will briefly display optimal inheritance options for each unit and the advantages/disadvantages of spending your Forma Soul on them. As Forma Souls take a considerable amount of resources to acquire, it is important to get the most out of your Forma units before purchasing.

Note that any Forma unit you purchase will come with their base skills already. Therefore, there is little need to inherit these base skills during Hall of Forms unless you need to save refinery costs (especially PRF weapons needing Divine Dew) or simply don’t care for hyper-optimal inheritance. They also come completely neutral with no Assets and Flaws, which can be a factor depending on if you care to use Trait Fruits or not.

General Considerations

Forma Unit Rules

  • Any Forma unit you purchase will come with their base skills already. Therefore, there is little need to inherit these base skills during Hall of Forms unless you need to save refinery costs (especially PRF weapons needing Divine Dew) or simply don’t care for hyper-optimal inheritance.
  • Formas are acquired completely neutral with no Assets and Flaws. If you desire a certain Asset/Flaw combination, you will have to utilize Trait Fruits. Since you cannot merge Forma units into existing copies, this may pose an issue on resource spending if you already have the same unit with an ideal Asset.

Skill Considerations

  • When rolling skills from the current Forma skill pool, unique PRF skills are often prioritized over inheritables. It's a good idea to take PRF skills first to improve your chances at finding good inheritable alternatives; Hall of Forms will pretty much constantly hound you to take the PRF skills if you don't take them otherwise.
  • Due to their extreme rarity and superior SP value over most other Special skills, Ruptured Sky (typically available only on Byleth and their variations) and Blue Flame (available only on Owain) will vastly be preferred as a final Special choice. This extends to the bow-exclusive Deadeye and the dagger-exclusive Lethality.
    • Don't worry about not getting them too much, though! These skills are often not necessarily optimal; certain units may prefer running Specials from the low rarity pool like Sol, Glimmer, or Galeforce to achieve their goals. 
  • For the same reason as above, high-tier Assist skills like Rally+'s and Harsh Command+ are preferred on a potential purchased Forma to increase the unit's Arena scoring slightly as well as their overall value.
    • These, too, are also not necessarily optimal as positional Assists like Reposition are vastly preferred in most situations, and those can easily be inherited from lower rarity units like Norne or Barst.
    • Inheriting rally skills or Harsh Command+ too early in your Hall of Forms run can also inhibit your unit's ability to support other Forma allies and escape enemy range as well, increasing the likelihood of wasted Torches (the stamina currency for Hall of Forms) and thus wasted opportunities to get better skills.
  • Though optimal C Passive skills exist on a case-to-case basis, Joint Drives and Menace skills are essentially the most universal there is. Go for these (Joint Drive Atk, at minimum) if available and there aren't better C slot options for your unit in particular.

Jill

The build everybody will probably go for; Clash is a high-quality Atk/Spd skill that reaches max potency with Oath's (or Tempest or Assault Troop) additional movement options, and S/D Near Trace provides Canto and movement flexibility where Jill previously didn't have any.

Spd/Def Menace provides significant follow-up and damage improvements while synergizing well with Catch and Flow Flight, allowing Jill to more effectively achieve the maximum stat boosts these two skills offer.

Summary: 

Jill has a lot of things going for her, despite being a few pegs less than new. Talregan Axe, for one, has aged expressively well with a simple but effective list of effects: slaying, additional offensive stats, and Dive-Bomb built-in without needing to expend a B-slot for it. With the right additional tools — and she already comes with much of that between her default Atk/Spd Push and Spd/Def Rein — she maintains her position as a player phase powerhouse. 

Because she has so much going for her on base kit, however, using a Forma soul entails a couple of considerations. The only essential slot you'd need to actively seek options for is the B-slot; Chill Atk/Spd 2 is extremely replaceable — granted, at the time of her release, typical meta flier skill like Trace and Flows were not in the game yet. The other default skills, while improvable or sidegradeable, are already relatively rare and sought-out skills that help Jill do her job. 

As such, if you already have an existing copy of Jill with an optimal +ATK or +SPD Asset, it may feel a bit involuted to justify popping a Forma Soul onto her simply for a premium B-slot, which can be supplied through regular inheritance or managed with cheap useful alternatives like Wings of Mercy or Hit and Run. A player-phase melee flier also isn't something that is terribly required this day and age; Jill is a pretty badass unit if you do get her though.

Recommended Skills: 

Weapons: Talregan Axe

Assist: Any Rally+ or Harsh Command+

Special: Ruptured Sky, Blue Flame, Galeforce

A-Passive: Atk/Spd Catch 4, Surge Sparrow, Atk/Spd Clash 4, Atk/Spd Solo 4, Atk/Spd Push 4, Life and Death 4

B-Passive: Flow Flight, Flow Force, Flow Refresh, Flow Guard, S/D Near Trace, A/D Near Trace

C-Passive: Atk/Spd Oath 4, Atk/Spd Menace, Even OR Odd Tempest, Assault Troop, Spd/Def Hold, Spd/Def Menace

As stated before, the B-passive skill is the highest priority on Jill as her other passives are by default filled in with role-relevant, high-quality skills with only sidegrades or small improvements to be made. As such, Flow and Near Trace skill are the modernly fashionable options here. Taking any Flow variant will especially allow Jill to ignore effects that would impede her follow-up — which is a big deal considering Talregan Axe requires a follow-up at all in order for its consecutive attack effect to kick in. Traces are good as secondary options that contribute further stat dominance (and more Spd is something Talregan Axe appreciates) and the ever-so-valued post-combat movement in Canto. 

While Atk/Spd Push 4 and Spd/Def Rein are already solid if not a bit basic, some alternatives are worth considering on a final purchased Jill copy. Notably, Atk/Spd Catch 4 offers the highest Atk/Spd swing of other usual options, and Atk/Spd Clash can reach the same levels if you take a C-slot that improves movement such as Assault Troop, Tempest skills, or Oath 4. To make Talregan Axe doubles more likely, you can run a conventional C-skill manipulation such as, again, Oath 4 or Menaces

Volke

Volke is already pretty built, making most builds at best a sidegrade compared to his base kit. Although, taking a more hyper-offensive road with Speed and damage-boosting passives will definitely see more bloody results compared to his kit's more generalist approach.

Fireman's Hook happens to be everything an AOE spammer could ask for between CD -1, Flashing Blade, and Tempo effects. Life and Death and Special Spiral are thus provided accordingly to cycle and boost damage consistently.

If you HAVE to swap out Volke's weapon to increase the Forma value, Florid Knife is the weapon to do it with due to infantry units' inability to access Canto otherwise. Atk/Spd Menace and Chill Def/Res 3 both serve to do significant enemy deterioration, allowing Volke and his allies to more confidently go in for the kill.

And if your skill rolls turn out really, REALLY badly, no fret as Volke basically already comes with all skills he could want by equipping them after purchase. Fodder unit indeed. Recommended only if you don't have a copy already or want a permanent copy of him.

Summary: 

Volke is a bit of a surprise this batch, to say the least. At this time of writing, it has merely been less than a year since his release, and as unit, he's near the top of the dagger class with a solid weapon in Fireman's Hook as well as a wide arsenal of infantry and dagger skills — something he makes EXTREMELY evident with a default skillset that's considered sickeningly stock "meta". 

Indeed, Lethality, Sturdy Impact, Null Follow-Up, and Time's Pulse is just an entire package deal all around…which, at the same time, calls into question whether Volke actually benefits from Hall of Form's skill pool or is worth spending a Soul on at all. It's ultimately your call: Volke is a great unit but isn't a necessity at all, but what he DOES have is a few alternative skill pool options worth considering (though few and far between), and if you didn't have him already, he has some neat value as an Aether Raids defender and overall combat unit. 

Recommended Skills: 

Weapons: Fireman's Hook / Florid Cane+

Assist: Any Rally+ or Harsh Command+

Special: Lethality, Ruptured Sky

A-Passive: Atk/Spd Unity, Atk/Spd Ideal 4, Atk/Spd Solo 4, Swift Sparrow 3, Atk/Spd Push 4, Steady Impact, Life and Death 4, Sturdy Impact

B-Passive: Lull Atk/Def, Lull Spd/Def, Special Spiral, Chill Def/Res 3, Null Follow-Up

C-Passive: Atk/Spd Oath 4, Atk/Spd Menace, Time's Pulse

Again, Volke by default comes with basically everything most dagger infantry units could ever want, so even if you get a bad roll of skills on him, purchasing him is considered a pretty safe bet overall. As such, his default kit options are basically listed as options here simply for finality's sake. There are a few skills worth thinking over in each category — with hard exception to Fireman's Hook due to its list of great effects compared to generic options. If you absolutely MUST, though, Florid Cane is an alternative that grants a form of Canto — something that infantry daggers like Volke normally can't access — while maintaining a fair amount of additional offense. 

In any case, Volke can opt to go the conventional fast attacker route with damage and speed-increasing passives. For this potential purpose, there are many, MANY Atk/Spd A-slots to consider over Sturdy Impact; any Def-based Lull will do the job; and Atk/Spd Oath and Atk/Spd Menace are great offensive swing C skills in general. Miscellaneosly, Steady Impact still maintains the massive Def increase and follow-up cancellation effect of Sturdy before it while favoring follow-ups over damage. Chill Def/Res 3 is a neat and rare team player option that not only improves damage overall but also provides preprepared widespread debuffs on groups of enemies as well. Finally, Life and Death 4 + Special Spiral is a specialty combination for a possible AOE Special build; Volke is notably a pretty notable candidate of the build due to Fireman's Hook making the strategy extremely consistent between its CD -1, Tempo, and Flashing Blade effects.

As a small note, Ruptured Sky, is still a pretty rare Special worth taking if only because it can be precharged by Fireman's Hook's CD -1 and Time's Pulse — it largely makes the Flashing Blade effect on Fireman's Hook useless, though, and is pretty small fish overall compared to Lethality.

Shinon

Standard Whitecap build focused on building Speed and damage in very solid hyper offense. Shinon also isn't an emo loser anymore so he gets to use Oath for more Atk/Spd and movement options. The passives also work well with Double Bow if you ever switch back.

Improves upon Shinon's intended base kit use: using Double Bow to extend counterattacks to melee enemies. With it, Spd Smoke 4 helps tank in the absence of other sources of damage reduction, Null Follow-Up shuts down anti- and automatic follow-up, and Atk/Spd Solo is simply there to encourage keeping up Double Bow's conditions and remind you that Shinon is indeed an emo loser.

Summary: 

Shinon is an infantry bow unit who is also a case of "great kit / lower improvement value syndrome", but suffers less of it compared to Jill and Volke. At the moment, Shinon doesn't serve a particularly exceptional purpose in most competitive modes outside of being a combat unit of choice. 

In short, his A and B passives could stand to have better options overall, plus, Time's Pulse and Deadeye are already skills many bow units would kill to have. As for his weapon, Double Bow largely outranks most alternative inheritable choices as its Slaying effect, spectrum stats, and ability to counterattack melee enemies make it a very solid general purpose tool overall. The only true exceptional alternative would be Whitecap Bow, a standard on most offensive bow units with Shinon's statline due to its ability to double strike with full Mt power (unlike Brave Bow).

Recommended Skills: 

Weapons: Whitecap Bow+, Double Bow

Assist: Any Rally+ or Harsh Command+

Special: Ruptured Sky, Blue Flame, Deadeye

A-Passive: Atk/Spd Ideal 4, Atk/Spd Solo 4, Atk/Spd Push 4, Atk/Spd Unity, Swift Sparrow 3

B-Passive: Spd/Def Tempo, Null Follow-Up, Lull Spd/Def, Special Spiral

C-Passive: Atk/Spd Oath 4, Atk/Spd Menace, Atk/Def Menace, Spd/Def Menace, Rouse Atk/Spd 4, Joint Drive Spd, Joint Drive Atk, Spd Smoke 4, Inf. Null Follow

Whitecap Bow is such a great player phase weapon that it bears considering over Double Bow even after purchase; Shinon has the great Spd and Atk stats and infantry tools to make use of it, after all. 

With either Bow in mind, you'll mainly be seeking skills which increase Shinon's overall Atk/Spd competency. The B-slot is where things get colorful, as all infantry units do: Spd/Def Tempo ensures the smooth charging of Shinon's Special, Null Follow-Up is simply a good even-ground skill (especially in this day and age where anti-follow-up skills are so common), any Def-based Lull will prime Shinon's overall damage, and Special Spiral combos with Double Bow's CD-1 or Whitecap Bow's double hitting well to fire off Deadeye in one sitting. As long as you keep Shinon at least one space away from his teammates, skills that reward ally nearness like Atk/Spd Oath and Unity will generally still perform well with Double Bow's Solo requirement.  

Ilyana

Standard enemy phase build with a focus on maintaining as much recovered health as possible between Finish and Blooms.

A more "enemy denial"-themed defensive build with degrading effects such as bonus negation and Guard.

If you want a fast blue mage with ridiculously stacked skills and reliable upkeep, this is it.

The build provides quality support; there's literally never enough outsourced Null Follow-Up, and the stat swings from Love Bouquet, Rally, and Ruse can turn around matchups really quickly.

Summary: 

Ilyana returns yet again to Hall of Forms as a blue infantry mage, and she is the only common 4-star and also the only unit without an existing PRF weapon in this batch. This has its ups and downs: additional copies of Ilyana will be fairly easy to come by if you plan on investing even further in the Forma copy, and Ilyana can only benefit from the massive amount of skills her infantry status and Hall of Forms offers. Ilyana may struggle to make a name for herself if you already have good blue mages (especially Legendary Deirdre) in your barracks, though. Additionally, due to her largely lacking default kit, her resulting skillset should attain the highest value possible for Forma Soul usage.

Recommended Skills: 

Weapons: Pact Blooms+, Spider Plush+, Love Bouquet+, Drifting Grace+, Flora Guide+, Silver Goblet+

Assist: Any Rally+ or Harsh Command+

Special: Ruptured Sky, Blue Flame

A-Passive: Atk/Res Finish 4, Atk/Res Ideal 4, Atk/Spd Ideal 4, Mirror Impact, Sturdy Impact, Still Water 4, Swift Sparrow 3, Distant Def 4, Atk/Res Unity, Atk/Spd Unity, Atk/Spd Push 4, Atk/Res Push 4, Atk/Spd Solo 4, Atk/Res Solo 4

B-Passive: Lull Atk/Res, Atk/Res Tempo, Lull Spd/Res, Null Follow-Up, Special Spiral, Atk/Res Ruse, Spd/Res Ruse, Atk/Spd Ruse, Chill Def/Res 3, Sabotage Atk, Sabotage Spd, Mystic Boost

C-Passive: Atk Smoke 4, Joint Dist. Guard, Joint Drive Atk, Joint Drive Res, Atk/Res Menace, Atk/Spd Menace, Atk/Spd Oath, Time's Pulse, Inf. Null Follow

Thanks to Ilyana's huge skill selection and lack of PRF attachments, she generally has three avenues to go down: enemy phase Res tank, high Atk/Spd-invested attacker, and ally supporter, all with overlapping skills.

  • Enemy Phase Tank: generally speaking, you'll simply want to stack Atk/Res skills here along with other useful effects such as healing and bonus negation in all slots possible. Pact Blooms and Spider Plush are Ilyana's best enemy phase weapons due to adding healing and Guard in addition to pretty good Atk/Res swings. Following this, the number of options are rather endless between Atk/Res Finish providing additional healing and damage upon Special trigger, Atk/Res Unity providing protection against debuffs, Mystic Boost providing even more sustain, Lull Atk/Res denying attempt to buff against Ilyana, and so on. 
  • Attacker: Gather all the premium damage-boosting skills you can roll here; Ilyana has way too many options between Drifting Grace and Flora Guide boosting Atk/Spd at the same time, countless A-slots which boost her offenses, Special or damage-priming B-slot options like Lull, Tempo, or Special Spiral, and various C passives which do the same. You can run one-shotter or maximum Speed variations of this archetype with some confidence in Ilyana's statline. 
  • Supporter: With Love Bouquet or Silver Goblet as the weapon of choice along with other forms of passive/active support options such as Rally+Ruse, Chill Def/Res 3, and Sabotages, along with great C options like Inf. Null Follow and Joint Dist. Guard, Ilyana can turn the tide of battle totally in your other carry units' favor.
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