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Aether Raids Tier List Article - September 2022

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Summary of changes

In the update, Laslow was placed in Tier 1. This is subsequently retracted due to community feedback. For more explanation of the circumstances and discussion around Laslow, refer to the addendum

  • Brave Byleth (F): Sublime Light <TIER 1>
  • Brave Seliph: Enduring Legacy <TIER 1> (D)
  • Brave Tiki (Adult): Fated Divinity <TIER 2>
  • Brave Chrom: Fated Honor <TIER 1>
  • Jeralt: Blade Breaker <TIER 3>
  • Legendary Deirdre: Fated Saint <TIER 2> (AD)
  • Flame Lyn: Blazing Whirlwind <TIER 1>
  • Flame Muspell: Raging Inferno <TIER 1>
  • Flame Tana/Peony: Soothing Warmth <TIER 2>
  • Flame Mordecai: Gentle Firetender <TIER 3>
  • Brave Lysithea: Earnest Seeker <TIER 2> (D)
  • Brave Edelgard: Adrestian Emperor <TIER 1>
  • Brave Claude: Almyra's King <TIER 2>
  • Brave Dimitri: King of Faerghus <TIER 1>
  • Sothis: Girl on the Throne <TIER 4>
  • Legendary Julia: Crusader of Light  <TIER 2> (AD)
  • Haar: Black Tempest <TIER 2>
  • Young Innes: Frelian Moonlight <TIER 2>
  • Ascended Laegjarn: Flame Ascendant <TIER 1> (D)
  • Duessel: Obsidian <TIER 4>
  • Dimitri: The Protector <TIER 4>
  • Spring Veronica: Spring Princess <TIER 2>
  • Aversa: Dark One <TIER 3>
  • Young Soren: Hushed Voice <TIER 1> (D)
  • Jill: Fiery Dracoknight <TIER 3>
  • Myrrh: Great Dragon <TIER 3>

Introduction

Another year, another set of Choose Your Legends units, and another set of relatively impactful set of refines on the older Choose Your Legends units. In general, the game has somewhat stabilized as the meta for Aether Raids reached a relative equilibrium. We will continue to fine-tune the adjustments based on our own observations and community feedback. The introduction of Rearmed Heroes will also have a significant impact on how generic heroes will be evaluated, which is something that we will be looking to rectify in the next update.

Other Changes

Follow Up Cavalries

  • Duessel: Obsidian <TIER 4>
  • Dimitri: The Protector <TIER 4>

We had made adjustments to Swords and Axes with regards to automatic follow-ups with the likes of Coral Saber and Seahorse Axe. Lances were kind of left out in the update even though their roles were rather similar. As such, we adjusted Duessel and Dimitri, which both units have a relatively lackluster weapon that does not perform significantly better compared to the generic counterpart of Axes and Swords.

Defensive Considerations

  • Young Innes: Frelian Moonlight <TIER 2>
  • Ascended Laegjarn: Flame Ascendant <TIER 1> (D)

With more and more units having true damage in their weapon, Young Innes is slowly falling behind the pack in terms of damage output relative to the modern units. He continues to be a decent nuking option on Dark defense despite the steep competition of the other modern nukers, which lands him in a demotion in Tier 2. Whereas, the value of Ascended Laegjarn continues to balloon, as Laegjarn has very strong synergies with Medeus with the visible buff, and the relative lack of Panic in the offensive meta lands herself well to be a phenomenal nuke to be used on Dark defense. 

Skill Considerations

  • Spring Veronica: Spring Princess <TIER 2>
  • Aversa: Dark One <TIER 3>
  • Young Soren: Hushed Voice <TIER 1> (D)
  • Laslow: Dancing Duelist <TIER 1>

We also promoted some units based on skills that were introduced over the past month. Spring Veronica and Aversa are now much more viable than before due to the existence of SPD Pre-empt. While Brave Byleth might still be the best use of it, SPD Pre-empt on these 2 units can be relatively effective due to the rather significant combat boost that they get from their weapon. Young Soren is one of the few magic units that can mitigate damage reduction, which lands him to be an extremely effective defense unit on Dark Defense as there are now ways to guarantee Young Soren’s special. Lastly, the introduction of Godlike Reflexes means that Laslow essentially becomes a discount version of Brave Marth with the true damage on top of having a defensive mechanism that provides some level of protection should there be effects such as the likes of Hardy Bearing. 

EDIT: Please refer to the addendum for more information with regards to Laslow's placement. It has since been withdrawn.

Miscellaneous Changes

  • Jill: Fiery Dracoknight <TIER 3>
  • Myrrh: Great Dragon <TIER 3>

Jill and Myrrh are mainly consistency changes; both units are relative outliers in their classes, as Jill’s Galeforce capabilities and Myrrh being a strong melee specialist are no longer industry-leading compared to before. While they continue to be serviceable units in their roles, they are adjusted down to Tier 3 to reflect that reality.

Weapon Refinery

Brave Lysithea: Earnest Seeker <TIER 2> (D)

The main issue with Brave Lysithea was always that she could not set up by herself. That is partially solved with her refine doing 1 damage every single turn. While this does have a little potential in terms of HP manipulation strategies, Winter Bernadetta is still significantly better as she inflicts damage on everyone within 2 spaces so long as she is at 100% HP. This meant that it is much faster to set up using Winter Bernadetta as opposed to Lysithea. The team felt that Lysithea’s main role is likely to be on Dark defenses (as her weapon effects are disabled by Elimeme), and until there exists a way for mages to bypass damage reduction, Lysithea is slated for Tier 2. 

Brave Edelgard: Adrestian Emperor <TIER 1>

Brave Edelgard was already a premier Near Save unit with the advent of Stout Axe. The refine given to Flower Hauteclere does give Stout Axe quite a bit of condition, as it provides up to a 21-stat swing in Atk, Def, and Res, a Guard effect so long as the opponent moved before attacking, and additional healing. With the relative absence of Fatal Smoke in the current meta outside of Legendary Sigurd, Brave Edelgard could now be competitive even with her base weapon as a Near Save unit. The added benefits of warping and moving 2 spaces continue to provide value in terms of closing out games and securing Aether Structures. Needless to say, she remains in Tier 1 as she now has 2 phenomenal options in terms of builds. 

Brave Claude: Almyra's King <TIER 2>

The weapon solves 3 of Brave Claude’s issues; vulnerability to Fatal Smoke, vulnerability to Guard, and the general lack of bulk. The last part is probably the most significant in the current state of the game as there is an absence of Guard and Fatal Smoke in the current meta. Brave Claude reduces damage by 50% on the first hit and he gains the usual +10 to all stats, which does make him significantly bulkier than before. However, the lack of a competitive Passive B continues to be an Achilles heel for pretty much most ranged fliers, and his weapon does not help in preventing automatic follow-ups despite it preventing follow-up negations from the likes of Impact skills. At the very least, Claude is likely going to be performing very well as a super tank. Just watch out for double attacks from the likes of Bridal Catria and her friends (or you know, just cheat with Elimeme just because). 

Brave Dimitri: King of Faerghus <TIER 1>

Take what Askr was doing before and put him on a unit that can actually benefit from blessings. Furthermore, unlike Spring Maria which lacks a Passive B to make her truly outstanding, Brave Dimitri comes with Blue Lion Rule which is particularly impactful even in the modern context. With more and more units coming with different types of true damage and damage reduction piercing mechanics, Brave Dimitri is likely going to perform extremely well moving forward. For example, he is one of the few units that could take on Legendary Nanna pretty easily due to his true damage reduction on his weapon alongside Brave Seliph due to his percentage damage reduction with Blue Lion Rule. Dimitri lands himself in Tier 1 even despite the odds of being a standard enemy phase tank as opposed to Savior units; while Saviors are still better against high threat range comps, Brave Dimitri would definitely shine against the lower threat range compositions which safety of the Mythics and supports are less paramount.

Legendary Julia: Crusader of Light  <TIER 2> (AD)

Dragons are getting increasingly common, and Legendary Julia got refined just at the right time and they are on the rise. Unfortunately, as mentioned in Brave Lysithea’s analysis, Deflect Magic continues to pose a threat for most mages at least until a counterplay exists. While Legendary Julia is indeed much better than before with the likes of damage reduction, debuff nullification, and the usual bumps in stats, it is still inadequate to counter the common non-Dragon saves such as the likes of Ascended Fjorm and Brave Hector, which is unfortunate as Hardy Fighter disables Legendary Julia’s guaranteed follow-up, which does gimp her effectiveness to some extent. 

Haar: Black Tempest <TIER 2>

A Brave weapon that activates in the enemy phase would almost always perform well on the tier list so long as you do not have an offense spread of a toilet bowl, and Haar is definitely no exception. He ditches his bow weakness for blue magic weakness, which is definitely fair as he is probably going to be taken out with or without the magic weakness due to his subpar Res stat. Furthermore, Haar also gained the true damage reduction effect similar to the likes of Brave Dimitri and Spring Maria, which can be helpful as a form of additional protection similar to the likes of Brave Marth and Ascended Mareeta. We felt that similar to the other units with double-hitting effects in the enemy phase, Haar lands himself well in the Vantage sweeper role. He slots right beside all the other double-hitting units in Tier 2. 

Sothis: Girl on the Throne <TIER 4>

Sothis needed a lot of help in order to perform her role as an Aether Raids Defense Mythic. Unfortunately, the developers did not even make an attempt to make her viable under any circumstances. Null C Disrupt is downright useless in a defensive context, her refine is not much better than a Distant Counter refine from 2 years ago, and Sirius while has her damage increased (by a measly 5%) and the Tempo effect, it is too little for Sothis to do anything. In fact, none of these addresses Sothis’s biggest problem; lack of a win condition. At the end of the day, Sothis is just a tickling machine that would not likely do much damage unless the attacker somehow parked Dagr right in front of Sothis. She continues to be the only defensive Mythic in Tier 4, as she is likely to be detrimental for almost any defense, with the only benefit of the remix being stat-refining Sublime Surge to provide more HP for Infantry Pulse. 

I felt depressed writing this. Save me. 

New Units

Brave Byleth (F): Sublime Light <TIER 1>

The general lack of Hardy Bearing meant that Brave Byleth is likely going to perform relatively well as a Vantage sweeper with the help of SPD Pre-empt and the defensive mechanisms of Divine Pulse. Her lower bulk also discourages the use of rally traps with the help of the 5 damage rule (units that do more than 5 damage would prioritize attacking even if they get taken out).  This meant that Brave Byleth’s game plan is rather safe outside of the aforementioned Hardy Bearing and Miracle effects such as the likes of Ascended Celica and any nukes with the help of Ymir. 

Brave Seliph: Enduring Legacy <TIER 1> (D)

Take whatever Legendary Sigurd does, and make him hit about twice as hard. That is essentially Brave Seliph as he has the true damage based on the foe’s Def similar to the likes of Legendary Alm, on top of the Null Follow-Up effect on his weapon. Furthermore, he also retains his usual gimmick of having a Miracle effect on his weapon. This meant that not only does he hits hard, but he is also notoriously difficult to kill. His only minor gripe is that his additional movement and Null Follow-Up are attached to his C skill, which is a start of turn effect that can be switched off by False Start. For now, we are slating him as a Dark defense unit, but it is possible that he might also be good for Anima season despite his Elimeme vulnerability. We will keep a close eye on Seliph, as he is probably the main unit of this batch of Choose Your Legends unit that left a deep mark in the landscape of the game. 

Brave Tiki (Adult): Fated Divinity <TIER 2>

In order for super tanks to be rated favorably, it takes so much more as opposed to Save tanks. This is because not only do they have to be good against more threats as opposed to being specialized, but they also have to survive with more limited support options. This is partially solved with the existence of the Bulwark skills, but that is something that Brave Tiki would, unfortunately, have to take an opportunity cost as her personal skill is a Passive B. While the combination of New Divinity being a spruced up Dragon Wall on top of her cooldown penalty effect on her weapon provides immense synergy as most damage reduction counterplay does come from specials, this is unfortunately not very helpful against Bridal Catria compositions on Dark season, and space control compositions in Anima season, which both compositions are arguable the best of each season right now. This meant that Tiki right now seems to be in the middle of nowhere in terms of viability. At least until the meta shifts, she is slated for Tier 2 for now, but things can definitely change in the near future. 

Brave Chrom: Fated Honor <TIER 1>

For Galeforce teams, you can’t really go wrong with Brave Chrom. As he is the first version of Chrom with the Reposition shenanigans on top of a melee cavalry, this meant that this is also the first version that can both Reposition for free and activate Galeforce at the same time. His weapon also facilities the use of this extremely well due to the cooldown reduction and acceleration on the weapon, with the additional buffs based on visible bonuses being just an added bonus that is not really necessary to perform his role well. The Armor effectiveness also bodes well to tackle most of the potential armored units 

Jeralt: Blade Breaker <TIER 3>

The follow-up effect as mentioned is something that is nothing worth writing home about. However, the support that he can potentially provide is very useful as he does not need to pass any stat check in order to activate the Panic effect. When viewed as support on top of being a decently capable clean-up unit, it is adequate for him to at least be considered for Tier 3, as he can definitely be used in creative ways to unexpected effects due to the relative rarity of Panic in the offensive meta.

Legendary Deirdre: Fated Saint <TIER 2> (AD)

Legendary Deirdre does have immense stat swing on her weapon, but she suffers the exact same problem as Legendary Julia; while dragon effectiveness is great, the existence of Deflect Magic with Hardy Fighter marred Deirdre’s potency in general. Hence, she joins her daughter in Tier 2 as well.

Flame Muspell: Raging Inferno <TIER 1>

There’s not much difference between both versions of Muspell, with their primary use being the provider of the Domain of Flame buff with true damage. While Flame Muspell has stronger clean-up potential with his weapon, Flame Muspell being colorless could spell trouble should the foe runs C Feud, which is slightly more common than R Feud to cover for the original Muspell. However, these are mostly edge cases, which meant that in general these 2 units can be used interchangeably in Aether Raids. This also meant that they share the same tier as well. 

Flame Tana/Peony: Soothing Warmth <TIER 2>

The whole point of Canto is the ability to Hit and Run. Unfortunately, Canto 1 is simply not enough to perform the role to a reliable standard even if it is on support. Furthermore, the rise of dragons also meant that Windsweep is no longer the panacea to prevent counterattacks, which is likely mentioned in the previous few articles as well. This meant that Tana’s defensive contribution might not be as good due to ranged fliers continuing to be starved for options in 2022. Despite this, Tana still has the refresh as her Duo skill, which can definitely come into play as it can refresh units from Sacred Stones and more importantly, original characters from Heroes (most Mythics are original characters). Hence, she is slated for Tier 2 due to this reason. 

Flame Mordecai: Gentle Firetender <TIER 3>

Flame Mordecai will definitely serve well as a modern melee specialist. His weapon inflicts Atk debuff based on his Def, which is definitely useful for any melee specialists who want to emphasize their physical bulk. However, it is worth noting that dragons are making a return, with Medeus being an extremely important match-up to face for any melee specialist, which unfortunately Mordecai does not fare particularly well. 

Flame Lyn: Blazing Whirlwind <TIER 1>

The kicker with Flame Lyn is her personal skill, Verdict of Sacae. The requirements are probably the closest thing to not having requirements at all, and the added damage from specials plus healing is also extremely helpful in the enemy phase. Furthermore, as she is an Infantry, she can make use of the Bulwark skill to ensure that foes could not bypass her and attack her allies. Simply put, she is a premier melee specialist that could rival the likes of Near Save units when kitted with the proper skills. As such she is placed in Tier 1.

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About the Author(s)

Maskilraid is a writer specialising in Fire Emblem Heroes. He situates in the tiny island of Singapore, and is a fanatic in crafting Aether Raids Defence teams. He also has academic background in Statistics, providing statistical analysis of the pull rates in Fire Emblem Heroes.

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