Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH)

Merlinus Builds and Best IVs

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This is a ranking page for the hero Merlinus - Pherae's Clerk from the game Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH). Read on to learn the best IVs (Individual Values), best builds (Inherit Skill), weapon refinement, stats at Lv 40, and more for Merlinus.

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Merlinus IconMerlinus
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Merlinus Rating and Basic Information

FEH Merlinus Banner

Overall Rating 7.0/10
Reroll Ranking (excluding Inherit Skill) Unranked
(▶Reroll Ranking)
Ranking (including Inherit Skill) C
(▶FEH Tier List)

Merlinus - Pherae's Clerk: Basic Information

Color / Weapon Type / Move Type
Rarity
What Kind of Character Are They? ・Rare colorless dagger cavalry unit
・Inflicts Spd/Def debuffs with weapon skill
・Can warp to weakened allies with B skill

Merlinus Skills at 5★


Might: 9  Range: 2
After combat, if unit attacked, inflicts Def/Res -6 on foes within 2 spaces of target through their next actions.

Range: 1
Moves adjacent ally to opposite side of unit.

Enables unit to warp adjacent to any ally with HP ≤ 50%.

Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic or staff, grants Def/Res +4 during combat."

Merlinus Best IVs

Recommended IVs

Stat Superboon/Superbane IV Recommendation
HP (20) HP Superboon ★★★★★
Atk (14) No Attack IV ★★☆☆☆
Spd (9) No Spd IV ★★★★☆
Def (7) No Def IV ★★★☆☆
Res (5) Res Bane ★★★★☆

◯ = Stat gains +4 with a superboon, ✕= Stat goes down by -4 with a superbane, - = No assets or flaws

See the IV Checker for All Units Trait Fruits—How to Change IVs

When using an Ascendant Floret, we recommend getting the next superboon if it fits the hero. If not, consider what stat your hero needs most.

+Spd/-Atk

The best IVs for Merlinus are +Spd and -Atk. A higher Spd stat allows Merlinus to get a ton of follow-up attacks on his foes. It also protects him from hostile follow-up attacks. Merlinus has an abysmally low Atk stat and it is not worth raising to increase his damage by a tad bit so it should be the bane you take. Since he is a 4★ demote, it is fairly easy to get another copy of him so make sure to get that 1st merge to eliminate his bane.

As tempting as it might be to run a dagger cavalry unit as an offensive unit, Merlinus' Atk just can't make the cut! He is a debuff-type support and not a primary offensive option.

+Spd for a +10 Merge

We recommend a +Spd IV when merging Merlinus to 10. This is for the same reasons as above. With this IV, he can reach 42 Spd which is at a range where he can score lots of follow-up attacks if he has ample support from allies.

If you plan to run Merlinus as a unit in Pawns of Loki where HP is very important, you can go for a +HP IV instead. He has a superboon in this stat so your IV choice will be put to great use.

Merlinus Best Builds

Make sure to upgrade Smoke Dagger+ to access a more powerful debuffing effect for Merlinus!

Close Counter Merlinus

Emblem Icon: -
Passive Skill BGuard 3
Attuned Skill Icon: -

How to Use, Explanation

Compared to the budget build, this Close Counter build is very high investment. Close Counter allows Merlinus to spread debuffs frequently by baiting attacks in the enemy phase. Ruptured Sky allows him to deal more damage as it leverages foe's Atk stats to deal damage. Panic Ploy 3 leverages his high HP to inflict even more debuffs to the enemy! Guard 3 and Close Def 3 provides him with some stats to survive longer and inflict tons of debuffs into the enemy team.

It can be said that this is a more offensive take to Merlinus compared to the budget build.

Budget Merlinus

HOT
Special Skill IconVengeance
Emblem Icon: -
Attuned Skill Icon: -

How to Use, Explanation

The goal of this build is to improve Merlinus' bulk to allow him to spread debuffs as safely as possible. He already has decent HP so getting Armored Blow 3 will pad him with some stats to make good use of his HP. Distant Guard 3 and Close Guard 3 works well with Wings of Mercy 3 as it allows Merlinus to warp to allies in need and provide them with some defensive stats.

This is a defensively-oriented build for Merlinus as it uses his great mobility to improve his and his allies' bulk. If you need a more offensive build, check out the Close Counter Merlinus build.

Source Heroes for All Skills

Merlinus Stats

Stat Rankings

Neutral Stats at Lv. 40 (5★)
163
HP
HP 50 50
Rank: 6/1077
Atk
Atk 20 20
Rank: 980/1077
Spd
Spd 35 35
Rank: 425/1077
Def
Def 31 31
Rank: 361/1077
Res
Res 27 27
Rank: 435/1077

Stat Values

Lv 40+10 Stats (5★)

HP Atk Spd Def Res Total
+10 Merges W/ Skill Bonuses 55 33 40 36 31 195
Lv.40 +10 55 24 40 36 31 186

HP Atk Spd Def Res Total
+HP
Lv.40 +10
58 24 39 35 31 187
+Atk
Lv.40 +10
54 27 39 35 31 186
+Spd
Lv.40 +10
54 24 42 35 31 186
+Def
Lv.40 +10
54 24 39 38 31 186
+Res
Lv.40 +10
54 24 39 35 34 186

Stats at Lv 40

HP Atk Spd Def Res Total
5★- Adjusted for Skills 50 29 35 31 27 172
5★ Lv.40 50 20 35 31 27 163

Initial Stats (with Skills)

HP Atk Spd Def Res Total
5★ Lv.1 20 14 9 7 5 55

Stat Comparison of Similar Heroes

Hero
HP
Atk
Spd
Def
Res
Total
39 43 47 21 30 180
40 47 31 30 32 180
43 47 45 20 23 178
35 42 45 16 35 173
40 43 39 31 16 169
43 36 39 27 23 168
38 37 43 18 32 168
Merlinus Icon Merlinus
50 20 35 31 27 163
38 35 41 17 25 156
36 36 34 16 28 150
39 33 37 17 24 150
35 38 25 16 35 149
34 33 37 18 22 144
33 34 35 16 26 144

Note: Stats bonuses from skills are not taken into account.

Merlinus Roles, Strengths, and Weaknesses

Merlinus Roles

Merlinus - Pherae's Clerk Roles
Close Physical AttackClose-Physical Ranged Physical Attack ImageRanged-Physical Close Magic AttackClose-Magic Ranged MagicRanged-Magic
Physical Wall ImagePhysical Wall Magic WallMagic Wall Effective ImageEffective Weapon Movement AssistImageMovement Assist
No Exclusive Skill ImageExclusive Skill No All Range Counterattack ImageAll-Range Counter RecoveryRecovery No Refresher ImageRefresher
No Legendary Hero ImageLegendary No Mythic Hero ImageMythic No Duo and Harmonized ImageDuo /
Harmonized
No Resplendent ImageResplendent

Merlinus is a ranged physical attacker (range = 2). Therefore, when not accounting for the Weapon Triangle, the amount of damage he deals will be equivalent to his Atk minus the foe's Def stat.

Merlinus Strengths

Very high HP stat

Merlinus currently (November 2020) holds the title as the highest HP cavalry unit. This allows him to run skills like Panic Ploy 3 fairly easily as it relies on having a great HP stat. Check out our Close Counter Merlinus build to learn how to run Panic Ploy on Merlinus.

This also makes him an obvious choice for a cavalry unit in Pawns of Loki as scoring in that game mode relies heavily on units having high HP stats.

The mentioned Close Counter Merlinus is an offensive take to Merlinus and the Budget Merlinus build is a defensive one. Check out the builds section for an explanation on how both builds work.

Debuff opponents with Smoke Dagger+

Smoke Dagger applies a -6 Def/Res debuff after combat on all foes within 2 spaces of Merlinus' target. Once upgraded, it will instead inflict -6 Atk/Spd/Def/Res so make sure to get that upgrade as that debuff is massive! It allows Merlinus' allies to swoop in and finish off those weakened enemies.

Buffs Allies Using Distant Guard 3

A very easy to trigger buff, Distant Guard 3 grants +4 Def/Res in combat to all ally units within 2 spaces of her if the foe is using a bow, dagger, tome or staff weapon. The fact that the range for this weapon is 2 spaces makes it very easy to utilize as it can help keep Merlinus safe from units that can easily take him out.

Can Warp to Allies in Need

Wings of Mercy 3 allows Merlinus to teleport to spaces adjacent to allies if their HP ≤ 50%. This allows Merlinus to potentially turn the tides of battle together with that ally using the his debuffs and buffs mentioned above. This is especially important in Grand Hero Battles where all allies need to survive for you to clear the map.

This works well with Distant Guard and Close Guard 3. Check out the builds section to know how to utilize Wings of Mercy 3 to easily provide allies with more bulk.

Merlinus Weaknesses

Very weak Atk stat

Merlinus has a very weak Atk stat. It only reaches 29 with Poison Dagger+ at level 40. It is recommended that you strategically treat him as a debuff-type support instead of a primary offensive option.

Weak to Cavalry Effective Weapons

Merlinus takes 1.5x damage from cavalry-effective weapons like Ridersbane, and one blow from this type of weapon is sure to take her down. Make sure you know what weapons you are up against before hopping too far into the line of battle!

Heroes with Effective Skills

Should you Unlock Potential?

Should You Unlock Potential for this Hero? C Rank Icon

We Do Not Recommend Unlocking Potential for Merlinus - Pherae's Clerk!

We cannot recommend you to Unlock Potential to make Merlinus - Pherae's Clerk a 5 Star Hero. Merlinus - Pherae's Clerk is difficult to make use of except under specific conditions. Unless Merlinus - Pherae's Clerk is a favorite character of yours or you have excess Hero Feathers to spare, we recommend you pass on Unlocking their Potential.

Unlock Potential Tier List

Merlinus - List of Skills

Weapons

Skill Name Might Range Effect Learned At
3 2 After combat, inflicts Def/Res -3 on foe through its next action. 3★
5 2 After combat, inflicts Def/Res -3 on foe through its next action. 3★
6 2 After combat, inflicts Def/Res -4 on foes within 2 spaces of target through their next actions. 3★
9 2 After combat, if unit attacked, inflicts Def/Res -6 on foes within 2 spaces of target through their next actions. 5★

Assists

Skill Name Range Effect Learned At
1 Moves adjacent ally to opposite side of unit. 4★

Specials

This Hero has no Special skills that can be learned.

Passives

Skill Name Effect Learned At
Enables unit to warp adjacent to any ally with HP ≤ 30%. 3★
Enables unit to warp adjacent to any ally with HP ≤ 40%. 3★
Enables unit to warp adjacent to any ally with HP ≤ 50%. 4★
Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic or staff, grants Def/Res +2 during combat." 3★
Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic or staff, grants Def/Res +3 during combat." 4★
Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic or staff, grants Def/Res +4 during combat." 5★

Merlinus as a Source Hero

Merlinus Avatar

Value of Skills ★★★★★

Inheriting Wings of Mercy 3 and Distant Guard 3

Merlinus can be used to inherit the skills Wings of Mercy 3 or Distant Guard 3. Please take note that Distant Guard 3 can only be inherited at 5★ so you would need to spend some feathers before being able get it off him if you have a 4★ copy.

How to Get Merlinus / Illustrations / Voice Actor / Quotes

How to Get Merlinus

Obtain Through Regular Summon

Merlinus is a Hero who can be pulled from any summon.

Note: Not currently a featured hero in any Summon events.

Current Focuses and Which You Should Pull From

Voice Actor and Illustrator Information

Voice Actor
(English)
Brad Venable
Illustrator DAI-XT
Appears In

Illustration

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