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Analysis by Adonyx
Gordin - Altean Archer

3-4

Obtainable as a 3 - 4 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
148
HP 43
ATK 31
SPD 25
DEF 32
RES 17

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 18 6 5 7 3
Middle 19 7 6 8 4
High 20 8 7 9 5

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 40 28 22 29 13
Middle 43 31 25 32 17
High 46 34 29 35 20

IV Sets

Key stats worth increasing through nature if possible.
Complementary stats that matter, but not to the point of picking them over key stats for nature increase.
Relatively worthless stat that can safely be decreased through nature.
HPATKSPDDEFRES

Assets

  • +ATK: Gordin’s new weapon, the Renowned Bow, finally gives him something to focus on and excel at. Since it’s an improved Brave Bow, increasing Gordin’s Attack is ideal for maximizing his damage output.

Neutral

  • HP/DEF/RES: Since Renowned Bow greatly decreases Gordin’s Speed, it’s best to keep all his other stats at neutral to maximize his bulk.

Flaws

  • -SPD: Gordin’s Speed is easily his best Flaw due to his Renowned Bow decreasing it by 5.

Skill Sets

BUT MAAAARS (Offensive Nuke)

Build by
Recommended
Renowned Bow (+Eff) A Death Blow (3 or 4)
Alternate: Sturdy Impact
Reposition B Lull Atk/Def 3
Alternate: Special Spiral 3
Luna
Alternate: Moonbow
C Even Atk Wave 3
IVsSSturdy Blow 2
Alternate: Quickened Pulse

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD

  • Increasing Gordin’s Attack is ideal to maximize his damage with the Renowned Bow. Also, his Speed is mostly inconsequential due to his poor base Speed along with the Renowned Bow decreasing it further.

Weapon: Renowned Bow (+Eff)

  • The refined Renowned Bow is an improved Brave Bow with slightly increased Mt combined with debuffing enemies within 2 spaces with Atk/Def-4. The debuff effectively increases its Mt by 4 as well as giving Gordin the potential to run Heavy Blade or tank some damage if needed.

Assist: Reposition

Special: Luna / Moonbow / Dragon Fang / Ignis

  • Luna is ideal since it will activate every other combat thanks to Renowned Bow’s brave effect.

  • Alternatively, Moonbow can be utilized if running either the Quickened Pulse or Heavy Blade Seals.

  • Dragon Fang or Ignis are also options if utilizing Special Spiral and the Heavy Blade Seal to give Gordin access to a big damage nuke. 

Passive A: Death Blow (3 or 4) / Sturdy Impact

  • Maximizing Gordin’s Attack with Death Blow  is ideal since he will automatically double with the Renowned Bow. He’s unlikely to ever be able to quad strike his opponents, so Speed is unnecessary.

  • Sturdy Impact is a good option if utilizing Special Spiral and Ignis, as it will greatly boost his Ignis damage. 

Passive B: Lull Atk/Def / Special Spiral

  • Lull Atk/Def will improve Gordin’s damage output while also potentially allowing him to better utilize the Heavy Blade Seal.

  • Special Spiral is a good option to give Gordin reliable access to a stronger Special nuke with consistent Luna activations, or Dragon Fang/Ignis if utilizing the Heavy Blade Seal.

Passive C: Even Atk Wave / Threaten Def / Flexible

  • Gordin’s C slot isn’t particularly important for this build, but a self-buff like Even Atk Wave or a debuff like his base Threaten Def can help supplement his damage output.

Sacred Seal: Sturdy Blow / Quickened Pulse / Heavy Blade

  • Sturdy Blow is a strong option since it consistently improves Gordin’s damage output every time he attacks.

  • Quickened Pulse can be combined with Moonbow to give Gordin a stronger initial combat.

  • Heavy Blade is a bit tricky to utilize due to Gordin’s relatively shaky Attack stat, but is possible to maintain with some team support. It enables him to consistently activate Specials like Moonbow (or a higher cooldown Special like Dragon Fang or Ignis with Special Spiral) every combat.

Introduction

As a unit, Gordin has always struggled to find an identity and an area to excel in. His Defense sticks out as being a bit higher than most archers, but it still isn’t high enough to make him a strong physical tank compared to other units. Fortunately, his new weapon, the Renowned Bow, finally gives him an identity as a straight-forward Brave Bow archer. While the Renowned Bow isn’t particularly special, it does make Gordin a fairly powerful combat unit.\

Unfortunately, the one-dimensional nature of Renowned Bow only further emphasizes Gordin’s own one-dimensional nature. The Atk-4 combat debuff implies that Gordin should be able to handle some enemy attacks (and he can, in some cases), but the hefty Speed penalty of Renowned Bow combined with Gordin’s poor base Speed means that he really struggles to avoid being doubled by most enemies. Furthermore, building Gordin to be able to handle enemies on Enemy Phase directly detracts from his Player Phase prowess, an area he only moderately excels at in the first place.

Overall, Gordin is a decent combat unit thanks to Renowned Bow, and can technically provide some team support with proper positioning. His relatively one-dimensional nature means that he’s best suited toward niche uses (such as Arena Assault) outside of heavy investment.

Strengths

Renowned Bow

Renowned Bow’s effects are strong enough to help compensate for Gordin’s otherwise lackluster statline. It can be treated as effectively a 13 Mt Brave Bow, which allows Gordin to have fairly powerful damage output.

Good Availability

As a 3-4 star summon, Gordin is relatively easy to obtain multiple copies of for merging and obtaining optimal IVs.

Weaknesses

One-Dimensional

While Gordin is now a fairly powerful Brave Bow archer, he struggles to excel in any other role. This means he is relatively pigeonholed into a single role, and makes it difficult to take advantage of other options that he has access to, such as Null Follow-Up due to being an infantry unit. 

Outclassed

Even as a Brave Bow archer, Gordin is unfortunately heavily outclassed by units like Legendary Leif and Halloween Jakob both in terms of raw stats as well as mechanical functionality.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Bow

Effective against flying units.

Only Inheritable by Bow users.
50 2 4
Steel Bow

Effective against flying units.

Learns by default at 3 ★
Only Inheritable by Bow users.
100 2 6
Brave Bow

Spd-5. Effective against flying units.

Attacks twice if unit initiates combat.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Only Inheritable by Bow users.
200 2 4
Brave Bow+

Spd-5. Effective against flying units.

Attacks twice if unit initiates combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Only Inheritable by Bow users.
300 2 7
Renowned Bow

Effective against flying foes. Inflicts Spd-5.

If unit initiates combat, unit attacks twice.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 2 9
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Support Skills

Support Skills Rng. SP
Shove

Push adjacent ally 1 space farther away.

Learns by default at 4 ★
1 150

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Attack +1

Grants Atk+1.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
30
A
Attack +2

Grants Atk+2.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
60
A
Attack +3

Grants Atk+3.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
120
A
Vantage 1

Unit counterattacks first when attacked at HP ≤ 25%

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
50
B
Vantage 2

Unit counterattacks first when attacked at HP ≤ 50%

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
100
B
Vantage 3

Unit counterattacks first when attacked at HP ≤ 75%

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
B

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

Banners Featured In

Official Hero Artwork