Meta Changes and Updates 27 (03/13/2024)

This is the monthly blog about changes in the meta for Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH). To know about any units that defined March 2024's meta and any other game changes, read on!

New Recent Content

New Weapon Refines

Weapon Refinery Update
Seiros				Dagr				Gangrel
Midori			Fallen Corrin (M)			Annette			Bridal Micaiah

New Recent Banners

A Place to Rest

Active Period: 03/06/2024 ~ 04/05/2024

Who Should You Pull From A Place to Rest?
Spring Framme [9.0/10]	Spring Sylvain [9.0/10]	Spring Mirabilis [9.0/10]	Spring Chloé [9.5/10]

New Heroes (Attuned Ivy & Rearmed Hortensia)

Active Period: 02/18/2024 ~ 03/06/2024

Who Should You Pull From New Heroes (Attuned Ivy & Rearmed Hortensia)?
Rosado [9.0/10]	Kagetsu [8.5/10]	Hortensia [9.5/10]	Ivy [9.5/10]

May This Last

Active Period: 02/06/2024 ~ 03/06/2024

Who Should You Pull From May This Last?
Valentine's Myrrh [9.5/10]	Valentine's Ephraim [9.0/10]	Valentine's Selena [8.5/10]	Valentine's Lyon [9.9/10]

New Legendary Hero

New Legendary Hero
Legendary Alear (M) [9.5/10]

New Resplendents

03/25 to 04/09	03/10 to 03/24
Brave Hector	Selena (Fates)

List of Resplendent Heroes

Are they meta defining?

The Spring heroes are the most metagame-defining heroes released since our last update.

Valentine's Lyon is one of the best tankbuster units in the entire game, with his Tender Vessel granting 【Canto (1)】 and dealing unmitigated pre-combat damage based on his foe's Atk stat and whether Lyon wins a Res check or has weapon-triangle advantage against his foe. The pre-combat damage cannot be reduced and is a fantastic way of wearing down his foes before his high Atk stat finishes them off.

Valentine's Myrrh also stands out with her exclusive C skill Darkling Dragon granting【Warp Bubble】 to herself and either her support partner (if present) or to the ally with the highest Def within two spaces while having a built-in Far Save effect.

【Warp Bubble】 is a great effect that originated from Legendary Myrrh which prevents foes from warping into spaces within 4 spaces of the unit with this status effect. Skills like Assault Troop 3 or Wings of Mercy 4 become more difficult to utilize when this status effect is present!

This skill is what makes Valentine's Myrrh one of the best defensive tanks in the game, protecting allies from both attacks and from warping foes initiating surprise engagements.

The other heroes recently released, while powerful, aren't as metagame-defining as these two.

Meta Changes

Arena

Meta Units

Meta Units
Legendary Alear (M) [9.5/10]	Legendary Robin (M) [9.9/10]	Winter Byleth (M) [9.5/10]	Spring Mirabilis [9.0/10]

It is currently an Earth Season month and these are the heroes we expect to see the most in Arena aside from the usual suspects like Valentine's Chrom and other metagame relevant duo heroes.

Legendary Alear (M) is the Legendary hero we most expect to see in Arena due to being newly released. He will be the bonus Legendary unit for the entire month and will greatly help summoners achieve their maximum possible Arena scores.

His Divine One's Arts attacks twice on both phases and has a 50% damage reduction piercing effect, allowing him to deal significant damage to his foes, while his exclusive A skill Emblems' Miracle has a built-in Distant Counter and Miracle + full recovery effect while granting him Atk/Spd/Def/Res+9 and 40% damage reduction on his foe's first attack during combat.

Legendary Robin (M) is the other Earth Legendary hero we most expect to face in Arena with his popularity as well as great supportive kit.

Legendary Robin's exclusive tome Master's Tactics grants the 【Grand Strategy】 status to Robin and his nearby allies at the start of each turn. 【Grand Strategy】 is a Unity effect for Atk/Spd/Def/Res that persists through turns until the 【Grand Strategy】 status is neutralized. In simple terms, this status reverses all stat penalties by applying twice as much bonuses to each stat.

In addition to granting the 【Grand Strategy】 status, Master's Tactics also inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 to Legendary Robin and inflicts a -6 stat penalty to each nearby ally's two highest stats. These penalties are then reversed by 【Grand Strategy】, turning them into bonuses during combat.

Part of the Plan grants a guaranteed follow-up attack and another Unity effect to Robin and inflicts Atk/Spd/Res-8 onto his foe.

The Unity effect from this skill stacks with the Unity effect from 【Grand Strategy】, doubling down on in-combat stat bonuses based on current stat penalties applied to Robin.

Winter Byleth (M) is a common +10 unit in Arena as he is arguably the best Savior unit in the game currently.

His Holy Yule Blade applies a Special decaying effect (if Byleth's foe has an offensive Special skill and Byleth wins a Res check) of up to -3 based on the number of spaces moved by the unit initiating combat, and is automatically -3 if Byleth triggered a Savior effect. This effect is what cements Winter Byleth (M) as the best Far Save unit in the game, as he can prevent his foe's Special skills from activating, allowing him to withstand attacks using his impressive bulk.

Spring Mirabilis is a new seasonal demote hero with an exclusive refresher assist.

Spring's Dream refreshes the target ally's turn and grants Atk+6 and 【Bonus Doubler】 to the target ally and all allies within 2 spaces of that ally, while also applying Atk-6 and 【Panic】 debuffs to the nearest foes within 5 spaces of that ally and all foes within 2 spaces of those foes.

Being a seasonal demote hero, she is easy to merge up to +10, requiring significantly less orbs to acquire 11 copies compared to 5 star exclusives.

Her exclusive refresher assist Spring's Dream scores just as high as dual Rally+ skills, making it a viable choice for Arena without sacrificing scoring. Arena is a difficult game mode when attempting high-scoring runs, as the lack of movement and refresher assists can leave your units vulnerable to defeat if positioned poorly.

Having a refresher unit on the team without sacrificing the maximum score possible is a great help and will make Arena runs significantly easier.

How to Counter

Legendary Alear (M) can be difficult to defeat with his Miracle + full recovery effect, but aside from his brave effect, he doesn't hit significantly harder than most other units.

Position a unit to tank his attack on the enemy phase and trigger his Miracle + full recovery effect, and then defeat him in player phase.

Legendary Robin (M)'s Unity effects can be annoying, but they can be played around. Refrain from bringing visible stat penalty effects and position your units so that the unit Robin is chasing is far away from your other units. This will increase the chances of Robin being separated from his allies, preventing him from buffing them with 【Grand Strategy】.

Winter Byleth (M) has a formidable enemy phase, but his player phase is severely lacking. Do not engage on him and simply allow him to move forward and attack your units. He should be unable to knock out your units and die on the counterattack.

Spring Mirabilis can be dealt with similar to other refresher units. Have her refresh the turn of one of her allies, sending them far away from the rest of their team. Pick the straggler off, and then repeat until Mirabilis is the last enemy remaining.

Aether Raids

Meta-Defining Units

Meta Units
Freyr [9.5/10]	Embla [9.5/10]	Bridal Catria [9.5/10]	Winter Edelgard [9.9/10]

The Aether Raids meta has added the Spring units into the high rank metagame, but has remained relatively similar since the addition of Freyr.

Galeforce strategies have swapped Summer Edelgard with the new and improved Winter Edelgard, and Savior teams have incorporated Winter Byleth (M) to withstand Special skipping units such as Wind Tribe Claude.

However, offensive teams have resorted to fielding units that deal unmitigated pre-combat damage, such as Valentine's Lyon and units with Flared Sparrow or Flared Mirror plus either Assassin's Strike or Occultist's Strike.

Aside from Valentine's Lyon, the most common culprit for unmitigated pre-combat damage is Ninja Sanaki, as she can pierce through damage reduction while also being a Duo Hero capable of activating Duo's Hindrance.

To counter teams with these effects, bring a Galeforce team composition with a beacon unit with multiple actions equipping Fury 4 and Fury 3 Sacred Seal and then a handful of units with Wings of Mercy 4 or Wings of Mercy 3.

Galeforce teams aim to sweep the map on turn one, preventing the enemy team from using their offensive-oriented units to defeat one of your units.

Use Smite or other positional skills like Guidance 4 to send the beacon unit in, have them attack as many times as it takes to lower their HP to the Wings of Mercy threshold, and then sweep the rest of the map while trapping one foe to allow yourself to collect the Aether resources.

Freyr

Freyr has breathed new life back into defenses which were neutered by Elimine's Staff of the Saint, opening the door for their return.

Freyr's main role is to provide support through Dream Deliverer's ability to cleanse all 【Penalty】 effects onto himself and nearby allies. Key allies include Bridal Catria, Winter Cordelia, and heavy nuker units to team up with the aforementioned two units.

Aside from Dream Deliverer, Freyr also functions as a decent offensive unit with high bulk. Dream Horn has two sources of damage reduction, protecting Freyr and allowing him to survive more often to provide further support in the later turns. Melee beast cavalry units aren't a good offensive archetype, but offense isn't the reason why Freyr should be fielded in teams. His allies will provide the firepower instead.

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.

Dedicated players are still 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 and Flier Lines involving Legendary Hinoka or Spring Chloé 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 offensive units have no trouble picking off the weaker members of raiding parties.

Bridal Catria and Winter Cordelia

Bridal Catria and Winter Cordelia have similar roles on their teams: providing a double-attack buff to their allies. The main differences between the two, aside from their kits, are:

• Wedding-Bell Axe's 【Triangle Attack】 requires two allies, but they can be within 2 spaces of said allies.
• Inseverable Spear's 【Dual Strike】 only requires one nearby ally, but the ally has to be adjacent to another ally with 【Dual Strike】.

While Bridal Catria and Winter Cordelia are above average attackers themselves, granting a double attack to heavy nukers such as Brave Lysithea or Valentine's Chrom allows them to rip holes through most units, including tank units.

Winter Edelgard

Winter Edelgard is the premiere unit for offensive strategies such as Galeforce and Hit and Run.

With Raging Tempest's +1 movement and 【Charge】, Winter Edelgard can easily reach the enemy units and begin the offensive assault. Raging Tempest's bonus true damage and extra action when combined with Black Yule Lance's Special skipping effect allows Winter Edelgard to easily punch through enemy units, and then either continue the offensive with Galeforce or retreat back to the safety of her allies.

Dedicated Galeforce teams will equip Fury 4 and the Fury 3 Sacred Seal on Winter Edelgard, allowing her to fall below the Wings of Mercy threshold. Her allies can then warp in and clean up the enemy team.

How to Counter

Freyr himself isn't a threatening unit. Rather, he enables threatening strategies that require specific setup to overcome.

Against Catria Ball or Cordelia Ball, the most common team compositions that Freyr enables, the best strategy is to break their formation by attacking once with a unit that can survive, then retreat to safety to engage the enemy AI.

The AI will then make their actions, hopefully separating Bridal Catria (or Winter Cordelia) from their Savior allies. If successful, you can then snipe the Harmonic flier down to severely reduce the enemy team's offensive firepower.

You can also rely on Bolt Tower to wear down the Savior units and use a Galeforce strategy to clear most of the enemy team in one turn while they're weakened. Medeus is a Dark mythic and thus should not be present alongside Freyr on the same team.

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 and Winter Edelgard are an amazing units to field against Embla Cavlines, with their ability to act up to three times in one turn with Galeforce. Equip self-recoil skills like Fury on their A and Sacred Seal slots, and bring a handful of units that can act multiple times in one turn with Wings of Mercy 3 or the upgraded Wings of Mercy 4 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.

Finally, consider bringing an Omnitank unit and move them forward into the line of fire. This unit should be incredibly self-sufficient and capable of withstanding multiple attacks from different foes.

Bridal Catria and Winter Cordelia enable a similar strategy of granting double attacks to nearby allies. If Freyr isn't present on the enemy team, bring Elimine to apply 【False Start】 to these units and neuter them completely.

If Freyr is present, apply the strategies mentioned above on the Freyr section, or bring a unit with Spd/Def Ruse 4 to apply 【Schism】 to key units, disabling Triangle Attack and Dual Strike.

Winter Edelgard will be the offensive unit that most Defense teams will prepare for.

To help counter her, either prepare a sturdy Green Near Save unit with some support skills surrounding the entire team, or field an offensive team capable of reaching the raiding party on turn one and block the bottom row with structures to make it difficult for Winter Edelgard to engage on turn one.

It is worth noting that Winter Edelgard's damage reduction piercing effect is only applicable to non-Special damage reduction skills. Specials like Pavise will still work against her.

Fire Emblem Heroes - Related Guides

FEH Guide Wiki Top Page

▶︎Return to the FEH Guide Wiki Top Page

Popular Links

IV Checker	Hero Tier List	Rerolling
Pull from These Summons!	Unlock Potential Tier List	Beginner's Guide
All FEH Heroes	Skills and Sacred Seals	Weapon Refinery