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Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH)

Elm Builds and Best IVs

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★ Latest Banners - New Heroes: Harmonized CYL Ike, Lyn
☆ New Units - Harmonized Brave Ike, Harmonized Brave Lyn, Vanitas
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FEH Elm Banner

This is a ranking page for the hero Elm - Retainer to Embla 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 Elm.

Heroes With the Same Name
Elm - Retainer to Embla Icon Elm

Mythic Heroes - Duo Marth & Mythic Elm: Year 35! Featured Heroes
Legendary Ayra IconLegendary Ayra
[9.5/10]
Elm IconElm
[9.9/10]
Anniversary Marth IconAnniversary Marth
[9.5/10]
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[9.5/10]
Athos IconAthos
[9.5/10]
Nel IconNel
[9.0/10]
Legendary Robin (M) IconLegendary Robin (M)
[9.0/10]
Heiðr IconHeiðr
[9.0/10]
Legendary Camilla IconLegendary Camilla
[9.0/10]
Gullveig IconGullveig
[8.5/10]
Elffin IconElffin
[8.5/10]
Edain IconEdain
[8.5/10]

Elm Rating and Basic Information

FEH Elm Banner

Overall Rating 9.9/10
Reroll Ranking (excluding Inherit Skill) SS
(▶Reroll Ranking)
Ranking (including Inherit Skill) SS
(▶FEH Tier List)

Elm - Retainer to Embla: Basic Information

Color / Weapon Type / Move Type
Rarity
What Kind of Character Are They? ・Jaws of Closure ignores foes' Savior effects and inflicts 【Undefended】 on multiple foes after Elm's actions, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-5 and 50% DR shred on foes within 3Rx3C, has built-in bonus stats, up to +32 true damage, and +24 true DR on foe's first attack.
・New Opening allows easier transformation, grants bonus stats, null Guard, up to +12 bonus true damage, true DR on foe's first hit, and true DR on foe's Specials, and 7 HP post-combat healing.

Elm Skills at 5★


Might: 14  Range: 1
Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1).
When unit is in combat, foes' Savior effects will not trigger.
After unit acts (if Canto triggers, after Canto), inflicts 【Undefended】 on closest foes within 5 spaces of unit through their next actions.
For foes within 3 rows or 3 columns centered on unit, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-5 and reduces the percentage of foe's non-Special "reduce damage by X%" skills by 50% during combat (excluding area-of-effect Specials).
At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants bonus to unit's Atk/Spd/Def/Res= 15% of unit's Spd at start of combat, unit deals X x 8 damage (excluding area-of-effect Specials), and reduces damage from foe's first attack by X x 6 during combat (X = number of foes within 3 spaces of target, including target; max 4; "first attack" normally means only the first strike; for effects that grant "unit attacks twice," it means the first and second strikes).
At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise, unit reverts). If unit transforms, grants Atk+2 and unit can move 1 extra space (that turn only; does not stack).

Cooldown Count = 3
Boosts damage by X% of unit's Spd when Special triggers (if transformed, X = 50; otherwise, X = 40).
If both of the following conditions are met, reduces damage from foe's next attack by 40% during combat:
- Unit's or foe's Special is ready, or unit's or foe's Special triggered before or during this combat.
- Unit is transformed or unit's Spd ≥ foe's Spd-4. (Once per combat; excluding area-of-effect Specials).

If unit can transform, transformation effects gain "if unit is within 2 spaces of a beast or dragon ally, or if number of adjacent allies other than beast or dragon allies ≤ 2" as a trigger condition (in addition to existing conditions).
If defending in Aether Raids, at the start of enemy turn 1, if conditions for transforming are met, unit transforms.
If unit is transformed or if foe's HP ≥ 75% at start of combat, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+9 to unit, neutralizes effects that inflict "Special cooldown charge -X" on unit, unit deals +X damage (excluding area-of-effect Specials), reduces damage from foe's first attack by X during combat ("first attack" normally means only the first strike; for effects that grant "unit attacks twice," it means the first and second strikes), reduces damage from foe's Specials by an additional X (excluding area-of-effect Specials; X = number of spaces from start position to end position of whoever initiated combat x 4; max 12), and restores 7 HP to unit after combat.

Enables 【Canto (Rem. +1; Min 2)】while transformed.
If unit is transformed or unit's HP ≥ 25% at start of combat, inflicts Spd/Def-4 on foe and deals damage = 20% of the greater of unit's Spd or Def (excluding area-of-effect Specials), and also, if unit's Spd > foe's Spd, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.

Inflicts Spd/Def-4 on foe, disables skills of all foes, excluding foe in combat, and grants Special cooldown count-1 to unit before unit's first attack during combat.

Elm Best IVs

Recommended IVs

Stat Superboon/Superbane IV Recommendation
HP (19) HP Superbane ★★★☆☆
Atk (10) Attack Bane ★★★★☆
Spd (9) Spd Boon ★★★★★
Def (9) No Def IV ★★★☆☆
Res (8) 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 / -Res

The best IVs for Elm are +Spd and -Res. Elm's Spd is his best stat, mostly due to his bonus stats calculation from Jaws of Closure and the Null Follow-Up effect from Bestial Agility, which is his best B skill.

Elm's Res is his least important stat due to his role as a physical initiator. He will most likely be facing physical frontline units, thus reducing his Res is preferred over reducing his Def.

+Spd for a +10 merge

We recommend +Spd when merging Elm up to +10 for similar reasons above.

Elm Best Builds

General Use / Budget Elm

HOT
Attuned Skill Icon: -
Updated on 04/28/2025

How to Use, Explanation

Elm's base kit already functions great as an offensive initiator. Emblem Sigurd ring, while somewhat redundant, improves Elm's Canto to 3 and allows him to retreat further back after bursting down a foe. Emblem Celica ring can also be used to immediately reach the enemies as well, and is the preferred ring if Elm is paired with Legendary Sakura.

Source Heroes for All Skills

Elm Stats

Stat Rankings

Neutral Stats at Lv. 40 (5★)
195
HP
HP 41 41
Rank: 360/1322
Atk
Atk 43 43
Rank: 263/1322
Spd
Spd 48 48
Rank: 2/1322
Def
Def 33 33
Rank: 380/1322
Res
Res 30 30
Rank: 426/1322

Stat Values

Lv 40+10 Stats (5★)

HP Atk Spd Def Res Total
+10 Merges W/ Skill Bonuses 46 62 53 37 34 232
Lv.40 +10 46 48 53 37 34 218

HP Atk Spd Def Res Total
+HP
Lv.40 +10
48 47 52 37 34 218
+Atk
Lv.40 +10
45 50 52 37 34 218
+Spd
Lv.40 +10
45 47 56 37 34 219
+Def
Lv.40 +10
45 47 52 40 34 218
+Res
Lv.40 +10
45 47 52 37 37 218

Stats at Lv 40

HP Atk Spd Def Res Total
5★- Adjusted for Skills 41 57 48 33 30 209
5★ Lv.40 41 43 48 33 30 195

Initial Stats (with Skills)

HP Atk Spd Def Res Total
5★ Lv.1 19 24 9 9 8 69

Stat Comparison of Similar Heroes

Hero
HP
Atk
Spd
Def
Res
Total
Elm Icon Elm
41 43 48 33 30 195
40 45 48 36 25 194
41 46 48 36 23 194
40 45 47 35 22 189
41 40 45 27 31 184
41 43 44 31 24 183
41 34 40 17 40 172
42 39 43 23 25 172
42 41 30 36 18 167
39 32 38 24 29 162
41 38 31 34 18 162

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

Elm Roles, Strengths, and Weaknesses

Elm Roles

Elm - Retainer to Embla Roles
Close Physical Attack ImageClose-Physical Ranged Physical AttackRanged-Physical Close Magic AttackClose-Magic Ranged MagicRanged-Magic
Physical Wall ImagePhysical Wall Magic WallMagic Wall Effective ImageEffective Weapon Movement Assist ImageMovement Assist
Exclusive Skill ImageExclusive Skill No All Range Counterattack ImageAll-Range Counter RecoveryRecovery No Refresher ImageRefresher
No Legendary Hero ImageLegendary Mythic Hero ImageMythic No Duo and Harmonized ImageDuo /
Harmonized
No Resplendent ImageResplendent

Elm is a close physical attacker (range = 1). 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.

Elm Strengths

Jaws of Closure Counters Savior Tanks

Elm Attack

Elm's exclusive weapon Jaws of Closure is the main bulk of his strength as a unit, making him one of the best initiator and support hybrid units in the entire game.

When Elm is in combat, Jaws of Closure completely disables foes' Savior effects, allowing Elm to attack his intended target without interference from enemy Savior tanks.

More importantly, after Elm acts, Jaws of Closure inflicts 【Undefended】 on the closest foes within 5 spaces. The key word here is acts; Elm doesn't even need to enter combat to apply 【Undefended】 to enemy units.

Jaws of Closure also inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-5 and applies 50% damage reduction piercing to foes within 3 rows or 3 columns centered on Elm. This effect allows Elm to apply additional support for his allies even from far distances, or use these effects himself to further cripple his foes whenever he attacks.

In combat, Jaws of Closure grants Elm bonus Atk/Spd/Def/Res equal to 15% of his Spd, and up to +32 bonus true damage per attack and +24 bonus true damage reduction on his foe's first attack based on the number of foes within 3 spaces of Elm.

Jaws of Closure prevents foes' Savior skills and isolates key targets, then the bonus true damage per attack combined with Elm's high Spd allows him to burst down those foes with ease.

New Opening Allows Easier Transformation and Improves Combat

Elm's New Opening A skill gives him easier transformation conditions and allows him to transform immediately on Aether Raids Defense.

In combat, New Opening grants Elm Atk/Spd/Def/Res+9, neutralizes effects that slow down his Special cooldown charges, up to +12 bonus true damage, true damage reduction on foe's first attack, and true damage on foe's Specials (excluding area-of-effect Specials) based on distance travelled, and 7 HP post-combat healing.

The true damage and true damage reduction effects of both Jaws of Closure and New Opening stack, giving Elm up to +44 bonus true damage per attack and +36 true damage reduction on his foe's first attack.

With Elm's ability to isolate key targets and ignore Savior effects, Elm can instantly burst down his foes, and with Elm's high Spd stat, it will be difficult to generate follow-up attacks against him, allowing his true damage reduction effects to shoulder the brunt of his foe's attacks.

Elm Weaknesses

Weak to Bows

As a flying unit, Elm takes 1.5x damage from bows and weapons effective on flying units. Be sure to keep them out of the range of archers and leave them to other units.

Heroes with Effective Skills

Should you Unlock Potential?

Should You Unlock Potential for this Hero? Cannot Unlock Potential

Elm - Retainer to Embla Only Appears as a 5 Star Hero!

Elm - Retainer to Embla only appears as a 5 Star Hero. We will include whether or not you should Unlock Potential for Elm - Retainer to Embla if a 4 Star version is released!

Unlock Potential Tier List

Elm - List of Skills

Weapons

Skill Name Might Range Effect Learned At
4 1 At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise, unit reverts). If unit transforms, unit can move 1 extra space. (That turn only. Does not stack.) If unit transforms, 5★
6 1 At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise, unit reverts). If unit transforms, unit can move 1 extra space. (That turn only. Does not stack.) If unit transforms, 5★
9 1 At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise, unit reverts). If unit transforms, unit can move 1 extra space. (That turn only. Does not stack.) If unit transforms, 5★
14 1 Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1).
When unit is in combat, foes' Savior effects will not trigger.
After unit acts (if Canto triggers, after Canto), inflicts 【Undefended】 on closest foes within 5 spaces of unit through their next actions.
For foes within 3 rows or 3 columns centered on unit, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-5 and reduces the percentage of foe's non-Special "reduce damage by X%" skills by 50% during combat (excluding area-of-effect Specials).
At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants bonus to unit's Atk/Spd/Def/Res= 15% of unit's Spd at start of combat, unit deals X x 8 damage (excluding area-of-effect Specials), and reduces damage from foe's first attack by X x 6 during combat (X = number of foes within 3 spaces of target, including target; max 4; "first attack" normally means only the first strike; for effects that grant "unit attacks twice," it means the first and second strikes).
At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise, unit reverts). If unit transforms, grants Atk+2 and unit can move 1 extra space (that turn only; does not stack).
5★

Assists

This Hero has no Assist skills that can be learned.

Specials

Skill Name Effect Learned At
(Cooldown Count = 3) Boosts damage dealt by 50%. 5★
(Cooldown Count = 4) Boosts damage dealt by 150%. 5★
(Cooldown Count = 3) Boosts damage by X% of unit's Spd when Special triggers (if transformed, X = 50; otherwise, X = 40).
If both of the following conditions are met, reduces damage from foe's next attack by 40% during combat:
- Unit's or foe's Special is ready, or unit's or foe's Special triggered before or during this combat.
- Unit is transformed or unit's Spd ≥ foe's Spd-4. (Once per combat; excluding area-of-effect Specials).
5★

Passives

Skill Name Effect Learned At
If unit can transform, transformation effects gain "if unit is within 2 spaces of a beast or dragon ally, or if number of adjacent allies other than beast or dragon allies ≤ 2" as a trigger condition (in addition to existing conditions).
If defending in Aether Raids, at the start of enemy turn 1, if conditions for transforming are met, unit transforms.
If unit is transformed or if foe's HP ≥ 75% at start of combat, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+9 to unit, neutralizes effects that inflict "Special cooldown charge -X" on unit, unit deals +X damage (excluding area-of-effect Specials), reduces damage from foe's first attack by X during combat ("first attack" normally means only the first strike; for effects that grant "unit attacks twice," it means the first and second strikes), reduces damage from foe's Specials by an additional X (excluding area-of-effect Specials; X = number of spaces from start position to end position of whoever initiated combat x 4; max 12), and restores 7 HP to unit after combat.
5★
If unit's HP = 100%, removes the condition to transform. If unit's Spd ≥ foe's Spd+13, neutralizes effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat. 5★
If unit's HP ≥ 50%, removes the condition to transform. If unit's Spd ≥ foe's Spd+7, neutralizes effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat. 5★
Removes the condition to transform. If unit's Spd > foe's Spd, neutralizes effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat. 5★
Enables 【Canto (Rem. +1; Min 2)】while transformed.
If unit is transformed or unit's HP ≥ 25% at start of combat, inflicts Spd/Def-4 on foe and deals damage = 20% of the greater of unit's Spd or Def (excluding area-of-effect Specials), and also, if unit's Spd > foe's Spd, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.
5★
If in combat against a colorless foe, disables skills of all foes, excluding foe in combat. During combat, disables skills of all colorless foes, excluding foe in combat. 5★
If in combat against a colorless foe, disables skills of all foes, excluding foe in combat, and inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-2 on foe during combat. During combat, disables skills of all colorless foes, excluding foe in combat. 5★
If in combat against a colorless foe, disables skills of all foes, excluding foe in combat, and inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 on foe during combat. During combat, disables skills of all colorless foes, excluding foe in combat. 5★
Inflicts Spd/Def-4 on foe, disables skills of all foes, excluding foe in combat, and grants Special cooldown count-1 to unit before unit's first attack during combat. 5★

Elm as a Source Hero

Elm Avatar

Value of Skills ★★★★★

Elm has Nimble Beast, Bestial Agility, and Preempt Screech as inheritable options.

While these skills are amazing for offensive Beast units, we recommend keeping at least one copy of Elm for your use, as he is a fantastic unit.

List of Source Heroes The Best Fodder Units

Community Feedback

How would you rate Elm?

Top tier hero. Must summon. 12
Votes
Summon if you need his/her hero archetype. 0
Votes
Summon if you like this hero. 0
Votes
Summon for his/her Skill Inheritance options. 0
Votes
Pass on this hero. 3
Votes

If you have feedback about this hero page, let us know in the comments section below!

How to Get Elm / Illustrations / Voice Actor / Quotes

How to Get Elm

Obtained through a Special Summoning Event!

Elm is a limited time Hero who can be pulled from a Mythic Hero Summoning event. They do not appear in regular summons.

Event Name Focus
Double Mythic Heroes: Alfaðör & Váli Banner
Double Mythic Heroes: Alfaðör & Váli
Mythic Heroes Summon
Elm - Retainer to Embla Icon Elm

Starts:11/16/2025
Ends:12/04/2025

Voice Actor and Illustrator Information

Voice Actor
(English)
Landon McDonald
Illustrator Kozaki Yusuke
Appears In

Illustration

FEH: Related Guides

Mythic Heroes - Double Mythic Heroes: Alfaðör & Váli

Double Mythic Heroes: Alfaðör & Váli Banner

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[9.5/10]
Brave Baldr IconBrave Baldr
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Alfaðör IconAlfaðör
[9.9/10]
Váli IconVáli
[9.9/10]
Brave Sharena IconBrave Sharena
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Mythic Lyn IconMythic Lyn
[9.9/10]
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[9.5/10]
Rune IconRune
[9.5/10]
Brave Eikþyrnir IconBrave Eikþyrnir
[9.5/10]

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Comment

3 Anonymous Anonymous 4 months

*normal

2 Anonymous Anonymous 4 months

How is this 9.9? Nirmal camilla beat it with only like 2 merges

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