Difference Between Visible and Invisible Buffs and Debuffs

This will explain how visible and invisible buffs and debuffs work and interact with each other in Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH). To learn how different types of buffs affect your units and what you can do to avoid debuffs affecting your team, read on!

How do Visible and Invisible Buffs and Debuffs Work?

Buffs (or bonuses as they are called in-game) are effects that are beneficial to the unit receiving them, while debuffs (or penalties) are effects that are detrimental.

Buffs and debuffs include increasing or decreasing a unit's stats, though there are some that count other effects that grant a unit another beneficial effect.

Some skills will count a bonus or buff like extra movement effects such as Legendary Sigurd's Holy Knight Aura.

There are also skills that count any detrimental effect as debuffs, such as being affected by Guard 3 or the movement-restricting effects of Gravity+.

Most buffs and debuffs are oriented towards combat, which is mainly what will be discussed here.

Visible Buffs and Debuffs are clearly shown on a unit

Visible Buffs

Legendary Lilina is shown here with buffed Atk and Spd after receiving the effects of Hone Cavalry.

Visible buffs, as the name says, are buffs that can be seen on a unit either at the start of turn or any time an Assist Skill (such as Rally Atk/Spd+) is used during the player phase.

The affected buffed stats are shown in blue on a unit and will usually last until the next turn.

Visible Debuffs

Rinkah is shown here with debuffed Atk and Spd after receiving the effects of Hríd's Freezing Seal skill.

Like visible buffs, visible debuffs are also seen on a unit, now shown in red.

The notable thing about visible debuffs is that they only last until a unit's next actions, which means if a skill like Dance is used, the debuff will be removed from that unit.

Invisible Buffs and Debuffs kick in when requirements are met

Usually used for combat

Reinhardt gains the effects of Death Blow 4 and Death Blow 3 when he attacks!

Invisible buffs are usually combat-oriented, providing beneficial effects to the unit either at the start of combat or during combat.

They are not shown in a unit's stats, but are shown before the unit's attack pushes through.

In the case of a skill like Death Blow 4, the boost to a unit's Atk is only shown when they initiate combat and will not apply if they are attacked.

Fallen Dimitri's Murderous Lion skill inflicts Spd/Def-3 to Ishtar if he is not adjacent to an ally.

The same holds true for invisible debuffs.

Usually, they are used to give the unit possessing the skill an edge when they initiate combat.

In the case of Fallen Dimitri shown above, Murderous Lion will also prevent his target from counterattacking if they are able to.

Different invisible buffs and debuffs may have different requirements so be sure to read the tooltip carefully!

Visible Buffs and Debuffs vs. Invisible Buffs and Debuffs

Invisible Buffs and Debuffs are more useful

Ninja Lyn receiving stacking invisible buffs from her own skills and various allies around her.

Because of the nature of invisible buffs and debuffs, they are often more useful than visible buffs or debuffs because they are not affected by skills that check for bonuses like Aversa's Night or Panic Smoke 3.

This means that your units can attack other units or tank hits without worrying of being debuffed at the start of the turn.

Another useful tip is that invisible buffs can stack their effects, while visible buffs cannot!

You can have several units with different buffing effects or have a unit with two of the same invisible buff skill as a skill and a Sacred Seal.

This also means that you do not have a cap on how high a unit's stats can go depending on the different skills they and their allies have.

For instance, in the example shown above, Ninja Lyn's stats are being increased by invisible buffs, such as:

• Being S-supported with New Year Peony (giving her +2 to all her stats when they are adjacent to each other)
• Normal Peony's Flower of Joy and having Drive Atk 2 as a Sacred Seal
• New Year Peony's Bond of the Álfar and Joint Drive Atk
• Ninja Lyn possessing Swift Sparrow 3 and having Blade Session 3 as a Sacred Seal.

This results in her unleashing an extremely powerful attack and defeating Lon'qu!

However, Visible Buffs and Debuffs are useful depending on the situation

AoE Skills Calculation and Countering

Legendary Lilina's Special will only check for visible debuffs on her target enemy unit.

Visible buffs or debuffs aren't out of the running, however! They have their own uses and their own times to shine.

For instance, AoE Specials such as Legendary Lilina's Gifted Magic or Ophelia's Blazing Light, will only check for visible buffs on their targets.

The more visible buffs on a unit, the more damage they can potentially deal.

This can be countered, however, by buffing a unit's Res with visible buffs to reduce the amount of AoE damage they take or giving them a visible debuff on their Atk to lower their damage such as Chill Atk 3.

Absorbing Chill Skills and Shrines

Another way that visible buffs could be used is as a way for one unit to absorb any debuffing skills on the other team such as the shrines in Aether Raids or skills like Chill Spd 3 or Chill Atk 3.

This is a way to manipulate things to go in your favor by having your bulky units take the debuffs, leaving your more offensive units free to attack.

Countering Debuffs

Visible Debuffs are easier to counter

Visible debuffs ae easily countered by several other skills.

The most notable is Harsh Command+, which will convert any debuffs into buffs when used on an ally.

As mentioned before, since visible debuffs only last through a unit's next actions, they can be nullified by using Dance.

There are also several other units that nullify any debuffs being inflicted to their stats because of their kit such as Brave Hector, Brunnya, and Idunn.

Counter Invisible Debuffs by stacking your own buffs

Unfortunately, there are no skills that straight up counter invisible debuffs to a unit's stats, so the best way to go is to fight fire with fire.

You can cancel out an invisible debuff by stacking several buffs (visible or invisible) to bulk up your own unit or to debuff the enemy unit to lower their firepower.

For effects that prevent counterattacks such as Dazzling Staff 3 or Fallen Dimitri's Murderous Lion, you can opt for a skill like Null C-Disrupt to nullify it.

Do note, however, that Null C-Disrupt will not nullify the Spd/Def-3 that Fallen Dimitri inflicts.

Conclusion

More often than not, invisible buffs and debuffs are shown to be more powerful than visible buffs and debuffs, however, there are times that the latter can be useful.

It all depends on how you build your team and the goals you have in mind, so don't be afraid to experiment!

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