Meta Changes and Updates 17 (01/31/2023)
★ Latest Banners - Cure for Shyness | New Heroes: Rearmed L'Arachel & Aided Lute
☆ New Units - Ilian Mia, Ilian Azura, Ilian Minerva, Ilian Hilda | Rearmed L'Arachel, Morva, Franz, Aided Lute
☆ Free Units - Garcia
This is the monthly blog about changes in the meta for Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH). To know about any units that defined January's meta and any other game changes, read on!
List of Contents
New Content in January
New Weapon Refines
| Weapon Refinery Update | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Legendary Leif
|
 Altina
|
 Winter Altina
|
||
 Winter Sothis
|
 Death Knight
|
 Claude
|
 Sirius
|
|
New Banners
Engage
Active Period: 01/17/2023 ~ 02/07/2023
 Who Should You Pull From Engage?
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 Alfred
[8.5/10] |
 Céline
[8.5/10] |
 Chloé
[8.5/10] |
 Alear (F)
[8.5/10] |
Sage of Khadein?
Active Period: 01/11/2023 ~ 02/09/2023
 Who Should You Pull From Sage of Khadein??
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 Sage Nino
[8.5/10] |
 Sage Ursula
[8.5/10] |
 Sage Byleth (M)
[8.5/10] |
 Sage Linde
[8.5/10] |
Gods Renewed
Active Period: 01/01/2023 ~ 01/31/2023
 Who Should You Pull From Gods Renewed?
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 New Year Ash
[8.5/10] |
 New Year Elm
[8.5/10] |
 New Year Panne
[8.5/10] |
 New Year Askr
[9.0/10] |
New Mythic Heroes
| New Mythic Heroes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Fomortiis
[8.5/10] |
|||
New Resplendents
| 01/25 to 02/09 | 02/10 to 02/24 |
|---|---|
 Corrin (F)
|
 Brave Roy
|
Are they meta defining?
A lot of meta defining units dropped this January, starting with New Year Askr. His Duality Vessel accelerates his Special trigger, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 during combat, grants a guaranteed follow-up attack, inflicts Special cooldown deceleration onto his foe, grants true damage reduction equal to 20% of his Def, and reduces damage taken from area-of-effect Specials based on a Def check.
As proven by the regular Askr, true damage reduction is very powerful and makes him deceptively bulky.
Sage Linde is one of the best support units in the entire game. Her Celestial Globe grants 【Null Follow-Up】and the ability to ignore terrain penalties to Sage Linde and all allies within 2 spaces, making it a premiere support weapon. 【Null Follow-Up】 is a status usually only found on infantry units, with a few exceptions here and there. Being able to grant this status to any unit, regardless of movement type, is a very powerful effect.
Alear (F) is the fastest unit in the entire game as of the time of this article, with base 46 Spd and a superboon. Her base kit is loaded with Spd-based damage reduction effects that all add up to 82% damage reduction at maximum power.
On top of her amazing stat spread, Alear (F)'s Libération grants 【Charge】 to herself and her support partner which allows them to move up to three spaces in cardinal directions while ignoring negative terrain effects.
Finally, Fomortiis brings a very powerful Defense Mythic hero capable of fulfilling the Savior tank role without taking up a valuable non-Mythic hero slot. He has the skills and stat spread to excel in that role.
His exclusive A skill Nightmare ends the turn of the closest foes within 4 spaces of the foe who attacked him, making defeating him without leaving allies in vulnerable positions an even tougher task
Meta Changes
Arena
Meta Units
| Meta Units | ||
|---|---|---|
 Legendary Ninian
[9.5/10] |
 Legendary Azura
[9.0/10] |
 Legendary Chrom
[9.0/10] |
|
Alear (F)
[8.5/10] |
 Lumera
[8.5/10] |
|
It is currently a Water Season month and these are the heroes we expect to see the most in Arena aside from the usual suspects like Valentine's Chrom, New Year Peony, and Ninja Corrin (F).
Legendary Ninian, Azura, and Chrom
Legendary Ninian and Legendary Azura are Water Legendary units with enhanced refresh skills in Dragon's Dance and Gray Waves II respectively, while Legendary Chrom is a Water Legendary with an enhanced Reposition in To Change Fate! which grants him an additional action after using it.
These three Water Legendaries are a large reason why Water season is more difficult than any other season, and we're having Water season for an entire month. Arena scoring encourages skills with high SP costs, which are generally upper tier Rally skills instead of movement or refresh skills. Having access to movement or refresh skills without sacrificing Arena score is a huge boon for your offensive team and a headache when facing them as well.
Alear (F) and Lumera
Alear (F) and Lumera are speedy sword infantry units that are the bonus units early in the month.
Alear (F) comes with a ready-to-use base kit that effectively grants her 82% damage reduction, while her exclusive sword Libération grants 【Charge】 to herself and her support partner which allows them to move up to three spaces in cardinal directions while ignoring negative terrain effects.
Terrain is an important factor when playing Arena, and being able to ignore effects that slow movement can lead to knockouts that most units wouldn't be able to reach.
Lumera is a free unit given through her Grand Hero Battle map. Her Monarch Blade grants a flat Spd+3, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 during combat, applies a Guard effect onto the foe, deals damage equal to 15% of Lumera's Spd, and applies Spd-based damage reduction up to 40%.
Together with her impressive base 43 Atk and Spd, she is a fantastic free unit with most of the effects that fast units would ever need. She is missing an accelerated Special trigger, but this can be worked around by equipping quick charge Specials.
How to Counter
Legendary Ninian and Legendary Azura are difficult to face due to not knowing which ally they will refresh, making combat unpredictable. However, you can spend the first turn finding out by simply ending turn in place.
The enemy team will most likely be unable to reach you when advancing; this will allow you to determine which hero is refreshed. From there, you can bait that hero into attacking you, and then you can clean up the rest of the foes afterwards.
Legendary Chrom's To Change Fate! is a bit different, in that he will only use it if it allows him to bring one of his allies out of the attacking range of your units.
Armed with this knowledge, you can either ensure that the enemies aren't in range when they advance, or by using this to bait Legendary Chrom himself with a unit that can survive his attack and knock him out on the return hits.
Alear (F) has multiple sources of damage reduction, but all of them are non-Special and can be pierced by effects like Lethality and Deadeye.
She also does not have an effect that slows down her foe's Special charges on her base kit, leaving her prone to these piercing Specials. She can equip these skills on her B skill slot, but that would remove Close Call 4 which significantly reduces her damage reduction.
Lumera does not have a Distant Counter effect and no accelerated Special trigger, leaving her prone to be attacked by ranged units without fear of her activating her Special for extra damage.
She can be equipped with these skills, but that would hinder her performance by losing her valuable A slot which is home to the best skills for speedy infantry units like Atk/Spd Finish 4 and Atk/Spd Ideal 4. A speedy unit without these skills (or similar) on their A slots are significantly worse than those with said skills. Having less Atk/Spd reduces Lumera's true damage and damage reduction, and can lead to her being outsped by her foes.
Aether Raids
Meta-Defining Units
| Meta Units | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Fomortiis
[8.5/10] |
 Arval
[8.5/10] |
 Embla
[9.0/10] |
|
Fomortiis
The Aether Raids meta has shaken up tremendously with the introduction of Fomortiis.
What makes Fomortiis a pain to face in battle is his exclusive A skill Nightmare. This skill inflicts Atk/Def-10 on his foe during combat and reduces damage from his foe's first attack by 30%.
More importantly, after combat, Nightmare ends the turn of the closest foes within 4 spaces of the foe who attacked him. This is an amazing effect which indirectly improves his survival by receiving less attacks, and the 4 space condition makes it a difficult skill to play around. Galeforce teams will require careful positioning in order to avoid this effect.
Fomortiis' status as an Armored Defense Mythic hero allows him to fulfill the Savior role without taking up a valuable non-Mythic hero slot in Aether Raids Defense team compositions. He can equip Savior skills and protect the team from powerful initiators, while the rest of his team can be fully geared towards offensive performance.
While Duma is another Armored Defense Mythic, his C slot is occupied by Upheaval+, which is the primary reason to field Duma. Fomortiis doesn't have an exclusive skill in his C slot, allowing him to equip Savior skills while fulfilling his non-Savior role.
His overall bulk is impressive, with base 46 HP, 46 Def, and 44 Res. As of the time of his release, his base 46 Def is the highest in the entire game, and his base 44 Res is the second highest. He will need these stats in order to fulfill his role, as he will not receive Mythic blessing bonuses due to being a Mythic hero himself.
Gotoh
Gotoh is a Light Mythic hero which fulfills two roles as support and a Magic tank.
His Brilliant Starlight grants Def/Res+6 and 80% damage reduction against area-of-effect Specials to himself and his nearby allies at the start of each turn. This allows his team to reliably withstand area-of-effect Special damage from skills like Gifted Magic and Blazing Flame.
As for his combat potential, his exclusive A skill Gift of Magic inflicts Atk/Res-10 on his foe, grants him a guaranteed follow-up attack, and has a similar effect to refined Urvan where it grants him 80% damage reduction on consecutive attacks received after the first while forcing his foe to make all of his/her attacks consecutively.
Gift of Magic paired with his amazing Res and above average Def allows Gotoh to tank some hits and survive, allowing the raider to collect the Aether resources before clearing the map.
Arval
Arval isn't a new hero, but they are the third unit in the color-sharing trio on Fomortiis and Gotoh's banner, giving players a great opportunity to acquire more Arval copies.
Rite of Souls is the main reason to field Arval in your Defense teams. It accelerates Special trigger, inflicts 【Guard】 on foes within 3 rows or 3 columns at the start of turn, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 to Arval during combat, deals true damage equal to 20% of Arval's Res, and denies their foe's follow-up attacks.
Applying 【Guard】 to multiple enemies discourages enemy phase strategies by preventing Specials from being triggered, encouraging a player phase strategy. Paired with Fomortiis, the two can protect each other's weaknesses, making the Defense team truly formidable.
While Elimine's Staff of the Saint can nullify Rite of Souls, Arval's base 43 Res and base Still Water 4 make applying 【False Start】 very difficult.
Embla
Embla still warps Light/Dark season by being the Mythic to prepare multiple teams for.
Her exclusive C skill Severance inflicts 【Undefended】 and 【Feud】 on all foes within 3 columns or 3 rows centered on Embla at the start of the turn, shutting off Savior skills and rendering supports useless.
Players have begun fielding two Emblas, with one in column 2 and the other in column 5. This setup inflicts 【Undefended】 and 【Feud】 onto all six columns, effectively shutting down Save balls from the start.
Cavlines have been the main teammates of an Embla composition, with their extended range allowing instant offense on turn one. With the Emblas shutting off support and Savior, the Cavalry units have no trouble picking off the weaker members of raiding parties.
How to Counter
Fomortiis has different counters depending on his build.
The Far Save build requires reaching enemy phase turn one in order to transform and activate his Distant Counter effect. Field an aggressive raiding party and use a powerful ranged unit to defeat him on turn one while he cannot counterattack. Nightmare's end-turn effect won't trigger if Fomortiis falls in combat.
The Near Save build is trickier to defeat, especially if he is equipped with Hardy Fighter 3. We recommend fortifying your team's survival against aggressive compositions like Cavlines and leaving Fomortiis as the last unit.
Gotoh protects his team from area-of-effect damage, but doesn't protect against other pre-charged Specials.
Instead of area-of-effect Specials, equip single target Specials like Glacies and Dragon Fang instead. Defeating one enemy usually leads to a surrender anyway, ensuring you do not lose Lift.
Arval's Rite of Souls can be shut down by a properly built Elimine. Change her boon to +Res and equip skills that boost visible Res like Still Water 4 or Fort. Def/Res 3, and pair those with Phantom Res 3.
Embla shuts down Savior balls, and is often fielded on a Cavline team. These teams have powerful offensive options, but they all lack bulk.
Ensure you field an offensive raiding party in Light season such as Galeforce or Hit and Run. Using these teams, you can pick off most of the enemy units on turn one and then either retreat or unit block the remaining enemies in order to collect Aether resources on future turns.
Summer Edelgard is an amazing unit to field against Embla Cavlines, with her ability to act up to three times in one turn with Raging Storm and Galeforce. Equip self-recoil skills like Fury on her A and Sacred Seal slots, and bring a handful of units that can act multiple times in one turn with Wings of Mercy 3 equipped in order to sweep the map and keep your units safe.
Alternatively, a Vantage strategy can be fielded against these teams in order to prevent knockouts on any of your raiding party units.
Use a unit with high Atk, equip Vantage 3 or similar skills onto them, and move them forward. If using Vantage, ensure that they are under the HP threshold and that none of the enemy units can bypass it through the use of Hardy Bearing or sweep effects.
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