Pavise

These defensive specials block a percentage of enemy damage upon triggering. While their ranged counterparts (Aegis/Sacred Cowl) work against attacks from a distance, Pavise and Etsucheon work against melee-ranged attacks. The damage absorbed is a total percent of final damage taken, and even includes bonus damage such as from Wrath or a weapon like the Wo Dao. Compared to commonly seen damage-boosting specials, these are often seen on surgically thought out builds, to grant a certain winning matchup. Since these specials reduce damage directly (and don't work off Defense or Resistance) they are great for units with low Defense and Resistance.

Damage reducing specials have always been less viable compared to their damage-dealing counterparts, as most game modes focus more on defeating the enemy team rather that surviving yourself. Pavise and Etsucheon can be used to grant a squishy unit the ability to survive a duel they otherwise couldn’t. This can be good build strategy for melee-ranged glass cannons, who choose skills such as Life and Death. Breath skills and Blade skills all grant units a much faster special charge time. Pavise in particular can be employed to defend against powerful specials, if you don’t have the aforementioned skills to inherit to your own unit. Shield Pulse is a skill designed for use with defensive specials, allowing it’s users to gain additional damage reduction when the special triggers, and also reduce its initial cooldown. A combination of a Killer/Slaying weapon, Shield Pulse and the Quickened Pulse seal allows a unit to start the round with Pavise pre-charged for the very first attack.

As mentioned before, most modes in Fire Emblem Heroes revolve around defeating four enemies, and as such, specials that can score KO’s are generally seen as superior to those that prevent them. Since Pavise and Etsucheon have similar cooldown times to Bonfire/Luna/Iceberg and Moonbow, they sometimes have a hard time charging up before them. Pavise and Etsucheon also only block close-range attacks, leaving the user completely exposed vs. ranged damage, whereas offensive specials work on everyone. For longer game modes, healing specials such as Sol, Aether and Noontime will prevent more damage over time.