TIER 4 SAVE SKILLS!! - Halloween Banner Review (2024 Edition)

Trick or treat! The Halloween Banner has dropped! This time, they have gone back to the dragon-theme approach, following last year's banner! But guess what? They added beast units to the mix so that it's not a full-on dragon fest. 

But honestly, when will we ever get a break from dragons and have something else? Wouldn't it be cool if we have a villain-themed Halloween banner instead, like a batch of selected antagonists reminiscent to what Disney did with its House of Villains? I think it would really spice things up.

But enough pondering - let's dive into the latest units and see what they got in store!

Halloween Askr

His horns were a dead giveaway from the silhouette, so I'm not surprised to see him revealed. With that said, I love his art direction! He's literally dressed like a god from Mount Olympus, which seems amusingly fitting given that he's already a god himself.

Horn of Harvest:

• Slaying
• Bulwark
• Breath of Life 4 (For Allies Within 2 Spaces)

Grants the following to unit if foe initiates combat, or if foe's HP ≥ 75% at start of combat:

• Atk/Def-X (Max: 15) = 6 + No. Of Allies Within 3 Spaces × 3
• True DMG (Incl. AOEs) = 20% Of Unit's Def
• True DR (Incl. AOEs) = 20% Of Unit's Def
• Breath of Life 4 (For Self)

If unit transforms, grants the following:

• Atk+2
• 7 Flat DMG Upon Special
• Tempo

His weapon is not too shabby, offering some more amazing support compared to his base version. Among his skills are Bulwark & BOL 4, which is rare as a weapon effect alone. Having BOL 4 is noteworthy because he can shut-down a ton of pre-combat damage without relying himself on being within 2 spaces of his allies. On top of that, Askr is going to have a preferred C skill, meaning you don't need to equip the inheritable version of that skill, further enhancing his support capabilities.

As for Askr himself, he turns out to be incredibly bulky, particularly his resistance against AOEs from units like Emblem Sigurd & Igrene, making him a strong frontliner. If you'd wish to boost his frontliner capabilities, then you can replace Reopening with Laguz Friend 4 at his B slot.

Sturdy Beast:

• Boosts DMG = X% Of Unit's Def
• X = 50 (When Transformed); X = 40 (Otherwise)
• Beacon Effect When Both Conditions Are Met:
• Special Is Ready Or Triggered Before & After Combat (Unit & Foe)
• Unit Is Transformed Or Unit's Def ≥ Foe's Def-4

This is a 3-cooldown count inheritable Special for Beast units, but it's more oriented to defense, which gives any of your Beast units some resilience against modern threats. As I mentioned earlier, it synergizes perfectly with Laguz Friend, but best suited for older units without Slaying in their weapons because it requires a 3-Cooldown Special at minimum.

His existing passives include D Bonus Doubler as well as he aforementioned Reopening.

Connected World:

• Unit Can Also Transform When:
• Is Within 2 Spaces Of Any Non-Heroes Ally
• During Turn 1 In AR-Defense

Grants the following to unit & non-Heroes allies within 3 spaces at start of turn & start of enemy phase:

• Atk/Def+6
  
• Resonance: Blades
• Resonance: Shields
• 50% DR-Piercing
• Time's Pulse 4

Grants the following to unit only if unit is within 3 spaces of an ally:

• Atk/Def/Res+5
• 40% DR On All Hits (Excl. AOEs)

His C skill is significant upgrade from his original, offering both Time's Pulse 4 & DR-Piercing support, and not just Resonance Blades & Shields. Time's Pulse 4 is still amazing until now because it allows your allies jumping through their Specials after combat, whereas DR-Piercing is not a big deal nowadays.

His transform condition becomes much more forgiving than usual. Instead of requiring him to be near to Beast or Dragon allies, he can simply transform by being close to any ally who's not a FEH OC. Additionally, his transformation is automatic on turn 1 in AR-D, which works similarly to Robin's ice terrain effect. It is a nice touch for him because he only gets Tempo when he's transformed, which is necessary for him to proc his Special in ease, especially for Galeforce where Guard is a big deal.

Overall, Askr proves to be an amazing support unit which makes him a great asset for a variety of team compositions in Aether Raids, Summoner Duels & Arena. Offering both BOL 4 & Time's Pulse 4 support from his kit alone is really insane, and the combination of these skills helps substantially in maintaining his longevity as a support unit.

Halloween Lethe (Demote)

It was pretty unusual for them to introduce the demote being the second unit. Before that, I was shocked to see that her skills are capped at Tier 3, along with her preferred weapon, and I thought it might have been a technical issue or something.

Hungry Cat Fang:

• Slaying
• Time's Pulse 4
• Omni+X (Max: 14) = 5 + No. Of Foes Within 3R & 3C × 3
• Null Follow-Up
• Null Guard
• Full DR-Piercing On Special

If unit transforms, grants the following:

•  Atk+2
• Inflicts Atk/Def-X On Foe
• X (Max: 6) = No. Of Spaces Moved From Start to End Positions of Whoever Initiated Combat, + 3
• 30% DR On 1st Hit (If X ≥ 5)

This is a really good unit for a demote because of Time's Pulse 4 which essentially allows her to run Galeforce in Aether Raids. If you give her a low cooldown Special, she can basically loop her Special after combat and spam some full damage-reduction piercing, which is really strong for someone as a 4 star focus.

Then, she offers Atk/Spd Clash 3 and S/D Near Trace 3 as progression fodder.

Halloween Nah

She can finally join the party with her mother, not to mention it's also her first alt since 5 years of her debut.

Stone of Delights:

• Slaying
• Adaptive DMG (Against Ranged Foes)
• Special Cooldown -1 To Unit & Allies Whose HP ≤ Unit's Max HP (Start of Turn)

Grants the following to unit if unit is within 3 spaces of an ally:

• Atk/Def/Res+X (Max: 14, Automatically Applies When Triggering Savior) = 5 + No. Of Allies Within 3 Spaces × 3
• X Flat DMG; X Flat DR On All Hits (Incl. AOEs; Max: 16; Min: 8)
• X = Unit's Max HP - Foe's HP At Start Of Combat
• Scowl
• Special Cooldown -1 Post-Combat

It appears that she excels in role compression being able to grant Pulse support to any ally who's max HP is below Nah's HP, so it's important that you stack as much of her HP as you can. It's basically Infantry Pulse but open to all movement types which is really nice because anyone can pre-charge their Specials.

She's essentially a Save unit, so she gets a ton of stats and flat damage-reduction in her weapon, which also applies for AOEs. Again, she needs to keep up with her HP check to get the most of it.

Additionally, she gets Armored Blaze & Earthfire Boost 3 for building up her HP, and we get a new inheritable B skill for dragons being Dragon's Scales. 

Dragon's Scales:

Grants the following to unit if foe initiates combat or if unit's HP ≥ 25% at start of combat:

• Inflicts Atk/Def/Res-X On Foe
• X (Max: 11; Otherwise, 0) = 4 + Difference Between The Greater of Def Or Res
• Guaranteed Follow-Up
• Special Cooldown Jump -1 Before Foe's 1st Hit
• 50% DR-Piercing

It is a defensive skill similar to Laguz Friend, but it's not replaceable in any means since the latter is way better. But still, it makes sense for armored dragons like Nah because they also need some form of Special Cooldown Jump so they can loop defensive Specials like Pavise. Again, Shield Fighter does way better, but not everyone has spare copies of Fjorm, which makes it a decent alternative.

We finally got Tier 4 Saves in the game, the moment after they released Fjorm with Shield Fighter. This time, Nah has D/R Twin N Save, which basically grants her stats, 7 HP healing and being able to loop unpierceable damage-reduction effects twice from offensive Specials like Armored Beacon & Armored Blaze, suitable for units like Winter Edelgard.

Even though we've anticipated this, it's not too crazy in particular as it's too niche. Plus, it doesn't score high in Arena like High Dragon Wall, which ultimately makes this Tier 4 version very underwhelming in comparison, but I'm glad it's relatively tame, especially after we've drained our orbs on Shield Fighter.

In general, Nah proves to be a solid Near Save option in several game modes, yet being green really hurts her chances of surviving red units like Brave Felix unlike we've seen in her showcase because he doesn't have Null Follow-Up in his S slot. She can be decent, but I would argue that there are a couple of Near Save options who can do better.

Halloween Nagi + Idunn (Harmonized)

The pairing is fine, I guess? I'm not too sure about Nagi as a character, and how would she relate to Idunn other than being dragons themselves. Yet, I really like that artwork.

Opposing Stones:

• Slaying
• Dragon Effectiveness
• Svalinn Shield
• Adaptive DMG (Against Ranged Foes)
• Distant Counter
• 80% DR Against AOEs
• Gronnraven Effect
• Time's Pulse 4

Grants the following to unit if foe initiates combat or if foe's HP ≥ 75%:

• Atk/Def/Res-X (Max: 14, Automatically Applies When Triggering Savior) = 5 + No. Of Allies Within 3 Spaces × 3
• True DR = 20% Of Unit's Res
• 7 HP Healing Post Combat

Grants the following to allies within 3 spaces during combat:

• Atk/Def/Res+4
• 7 HP Healing Post Combat

The weapon effect makes her a solid Far Savior, though it's not the best in my opinion. As we can see from the trailer, she barely survives Ursula, leaving her a few HP which makes me question her survivability against most other units who can still pierce through her damage-reduction with their Specials. Regardless, being able to cancel out armor effectiveness as well as Distant Counter are a nice touch to her Savior capabilities, especially when dealing with Attuned Micaiah.

Additionally, she's able to loop her Special with built-in Time's Pulse 4 so that she can finish off her foes with her Dragon's Roar. It seems like this year's Halloween revolves around Time's Pulse 4 which is crazy to think about it, and even armored units start to have ways to charge their Specials post-combat. Even then, it's not really necessary to have Time's Pulse 4 for your Save units because they're not meant to kill; they need to survive, so I would opt a rework of her base kit w./ Shield Fighter & Aegis if you manage to get some extra copies of Fjorm.

Her passives remain the same, with Scowl, Dragon's Scales & A/R Twin Far Save being essentially the Tier 4 version of itself that also functions similar to Nah's variant.

Last but not least, her Harmonic skill grants Atk/Res+6, Resonance: Shields, neutralizes dragon effectiveness as well as any Penalty effects and Warp Bubble for 1 turn to her allies who are from Archanea and Binding Blade, together with 30 HP Healing. Now, there is a limited selection of good units when it comes to these games, so her Harmonic support isn't really insane, but Warp Bubble is still useful given that more players are giving out Celica's ring to their favorite units.

Nagi is still a solid choice if you're a big advocate for Save Ball strategies, yet she gets overshadowed 10 times by others like Myrrh and Fjorm, who has better role compression and does even better as a Save unit. From Aether Raids to Summoner Duels, you know the drill, but for Nagi, I think she might suffer the same fate as Duma two years ago as both of them had short lifespans after their release. Like I said, she needs some re-investment in order to improve her chances of surviving, just like the other armored units who're not Fjorm.

Final Thoughts + Will I Summon?

Historically, the Halloween banner has been the least impactful banner getting powercrept shortly after its release and after looking at this year's batch, the same can unfortunately be said for this one. The enhanced versions of these Save skills would not make any substantial on Save units in general, as they would still prefer running Shield Fighter anyway.

Askr on the other hand, turns out to be incredible as a support unit, which rightfully makes him the star of this banner compared to the two dragon units, at least until we get to see his base version's refine next year.

Therefore, I don't think it's worth spending so many orbs on this banner unless any of these units are your favorites, or if you don't have Fjorm yet and you desperately need better Save options.

Up next, I'll be writing two of my summoning sessions on September's releases in one post, that being the Ice Tribe & Emblem Sigurd banners, each with some differences in results. Let me know if you're excited for the Halloween units, and be sure to save your orbs from this treaty temptation!

IMPORANT UPDATE!!

My uploads will be getting less frequent than usual because I just started university and that I have been busy with my studies, which leaves me hardly any time to write about my thoughts on FEH's releases. With that said, I would truly appreciate your understanding given my circumstances.

THE MOVEMENT KING RETURNS!! - Emblem Sigurd Banner Review

Sigurd is now the 4th Emblem Hero we've received, and he's ready to get his revenge after the less-than-stellar refine of his Legendary counterpart. It's kind of ridiculous that we're going back to the chronological order of these heroes except for Ike. It's almost like he's too popular of a lord to be released anytime soon!

Anyway, let's take a peek at what he has to bring to the table. Interesting enough, he's a lance unit instead of wielding his signature Tyrfing.

Emblem Sigurd

Holy-War Spear:

• Canto (3)
• Slaying
• Gallop (At Start Of Turn)
• Unit Moves 2 Extra Spaces

Grants the following to unit if unit initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally:

• Omni+X (Max: 14) = 5 + No. Of Foes Within 3R & 3C × 3
• True DMG (Incl. AOEs) = 20% Of Unit's Def
• 50% DR-Piercing (Excl. AOEs)
• 7 HP Healing Post-Combat

How crazy is that: 5-MOVEMENT?! The extra 2 movement from Gallop makes it a very strong Bonus effect, and units like Brave Chrom and Citrinne can essentially copy the status effect for themselves. But beware of Nergal & Tina because they can steal this status effect is treated as a Bonus effect, turning the tides and having the enemy team sweep across the entire map in no time~

As for his weapon, it's not too shabby, but let's not forget - he can deal True DMG with his AOE Special, which is rare for a melee nuke.

Override:

• AOE DMG = 1.5 × (Unit's Atk - Foe's Def Or Res)
• Self-Refresh After Hitting 2 Or More Foes With Special (Once Per Turn)
• 40% Unpierceable Beacon Effect DR

It's gets even more insane - he can initiate Galeforce just by hitting multiple enemies with his AOE Special! This makes him strong as a Galeforce initiator in AR-Offense, but keep in mind that unlike Brave Felix, who can refresh himself, Sigurd is still vulnerable to traps.

For his Passives, he gets Atk/Def Excel and Fatal Smoke 4, though the latter can be replaced with Shadow Shift, a more recent skill that works beautifully with his built-in Canto 3, allowing him to Repo any ally out of danger from his foes.

But that's not all. From what we saw in the reveal trailer, Sigurd can activate his AOE Special at an instant after moving 4 or spaces, and that's thanks to a new inheritable B skill introduced with him:

Momentum 4:

If unit/foe initiates combat after movement:

• Atk/Def-3 On Foe
• Guaranteed Follow-Up 
• True DMG (Max: 20; Incl. AOEs) = Clash × 4

If unit has an AOE Special, triggers the following:

• Special CD Jump-X Before Combat
• X = 2 If No. Of Spaces Moved ≥ 3 Clash; X = 1 Otherwise

Note: If unit does not have an AOE Special, the same effects will apply, but before unit's 1st hit during combat.

This skill is undeniably strong, though not quite as meta-breaking as Laguz Friend 4. It is restricted to melee units, excluding armored ones. It's perfect for Sigurd because the True DMG from this skill can stack with his weapon's effect, which applies to AOEs as well. The combination of his weapon and his skill really makes it extremely hard to survive his attacks. Frontliner strategies are getting tough, like you can't simply rely on Emblem Ike tanking at the frontlines with ease.

Other units like OG Edelgard, Brave Eirika and Brave Seliph can also benefit from this skill  because it makes pre-charging their Specials a lot easier without heavily relying on support such as Bridal Embla.

Last but not least, his Emblem Effect provides some Flat DMG from your Specials via Clash × 2, and it grants you Canto (X). Ranged units get Canto (2), whilst melee units get Canto (3) instead. You'll also get 1 extra movement, excluding ranged cavs which is significant. I know Canto Control exists everywhere but, it's still a very useful effect, particularly for units who need to retreat after their combat.

In summary, Sigurd is an extremely potent nuke thanks to his 5-extra movement and his whopping amount of True DMG from his AOE Special. He can not only work as a WOM Galeforce unit, but he can also excel as a powerful hit-and-run unit in both AR-Offense and Defense, as well as Summoner Duels. His Gallop status is immune to Stall, and it's a game-changer for his mobility.

Surprisingly, his Emblem ring shines well on armored units, granting them Canto which dramatically improves their mobility also. Because of this, this unit make it a compelling option for your max-invested armored units in Arena. 

Returning Units

The overall banner provides incredible value in the blue pool, where Sigurd shares the spotlight with Mythic Lumera and Emblem Celica, the latter making her first rerun. This is obviously the best color to focus on since you'll get two Emblem units and one top-tier Mythic for Light Season simultaneously. Lumera stands out as the best Light Mythic for her Divine Vein support, which can even neutralize Robin's ice terrain when positioned strategically. On the other hand, Celica's still a nightmare to face in all modes, thus in my opinion, she remains as the worst addition to the game.

The green & red pools are decent, yet Micaiah has significantly elevates the former for being a top tier support unit, who's more than just premium fodder. She's also color sharing with two Mythics from Astra season being Seiðr & Heiðr, who can greatly boost your scoring after investment.

In contrast, the red pool has Emblem Marth, alongside Legendary Yuri and Legendary Hinoka from Wind & Fire seasons respectively. While decent, this is not the ideal banner if you're looking for Marth alone unless you're aiming for Arena merges.

Finally, the colorless pool is the weakest by far. Fallen Veyle might be decent thanks to her double Scowl support, but she has fallen off shortly as Scowl effects start to get irrelevant. Meanwhile, Gullveig and Legendary Guinivere are just disappointingly lackluster - both of them can be simply summarized in one word: underwhelming.

Final Thoughts + Will I Summon?

To wrap it up, I'd say it is a solid banner, despite its minor flaws. That said, having two Emblem Heroes from one color would give you an edge in progressing throughout the game, so for me, I'll be summoning on this banner mainly for Emblem Sigurd himself. His devastating combat prowess and his insane mobility warrants him a must summon. Before this, I've summoned on the Ice Tribe banner and it's quite dreadful, so I have to save up to reach the minimum.

Regardless, if you already have Celica, then I'd suggest waiting for his rerun in December, as he's color sharing with the newest Legendary unit who might offer better value.

Let me know if you're excited for Sigurd, the movement king himself, and as always, be sure to save your orbs before Sigurd gallops and snatches them all!

A BERNIE BEAR STAMPEDE - Continuation on CYL8 Summons

Upon my recent summoning session on the CYL8 banner, I debated whether to keep pulling since I don't have Bernadetta, who turns out to be an incredibly strong unit. Not gonna lie, I can't pinpoint anyone who stands out to be the weakest, as they bring something highly valuable to the table.

The banner lasted until the Solm banner's release, and I didn't want to burden myself with summoning on Blue in December, where I'm currently focusing on my Emblem Ike merge project. So, I decided to bit the bullet and keep on investing until I get Bernadetta. It's value is just too good to pass up.

So, without further ado, let's jump right into these anticipated pulls!

Report #19

15th September - As usual, I was pulling on full circles, not bothered about getting duplicates because their fodder is amazing. It's good that I can spark one more time on this banner so that I can secure at least a copy of every focus unit and utilize them however I want.

This time, my summoning session started off strong with a second copy of Robin after 8 pulls. Hush Spectrum has started to fall off with the introduction of Creation Pulse & Shield Fighter. Yet, there is no denying that her ice terrain support continues to be a huge nuisance in AR-Offense.

Then, I got Flavia from the 4* Special pool. I can barely remember what she does as a unit, aside from having DR-Piercing upon her Special which is not a rare sight nowadays. Still, I'm glad that she's finally out of the pity breaker pool for good, as her fodder is terrible.

Four blue orbs popped up, and guess who showed up as I pulled the second blue orbl? It's Brave Bernadetta! And it did not stop there - not one, not two but THREE Bernadetta copies back-to-back. WHAT IN THE FEH IS THIS?! I can't believe that my barracks suddenly got flooded with a horde of Bernie bears, as if they just awoke after their RNG hibernation! It feels like a dream if you think about it.

Her fodder is decent though, with Assassin's Strike & Curved Shot as viable options for a ranged nuke investment. In this case, I have two existing candidates in mind to consider for Curved Shot, but I'm not sure who for now.

Next, Robin appeared again on the 73rd pull, which opens up more options for offering Creation Pulse as fodder. It essentially makes Scowl effects no longer a threat anymore, now that Emblem Ike can run his Special without a single hindrance. That's the hero!

Now that I've reached 80 summons, it's time for me to redeem my second Spark via Alfonse, who has the best fodder by far.

Conclusion

I did not expect my luck to turn around so dramatically for the second run! Still, I've seen stuff like this since I summoned on the Elusia banner, which was definitely a wild rollercoaster. You know? I could have ended the summoning session here after getting three copies of Bernadetta, but I felt like there was even more value from this banner that I had to squeeze out, especially with the chance to get more copies of Robin, followed by a second Alfonse for inheritance purposes.

Meanwhile, we're eagerly awaiting for news of the upcoming Emblem Hero expected at the near end of this month. If that unit in particular doesn't bring anything game-changing, I might skip this one and instead, pull for either Shield Fighter from the Ice Tribe Banner, or the Solm Banner. Even so, Emblem Heroes are by far the most tempting unit types to pull for thanks to their longevity as rings, making us harder to resist.

As always, be sure to save your orbs!