It's Fallen Heroes time! These banners have been packed with potential lately, haven't they? So without any hesitation, let's jump straight into the units below.
Fallen Veyle
It's no surprise that this batch has Veyle as a Fallen Hero, whom I've been expecting to see for an obvious candidate.
Her weapon, Fell Child's Might grants Slaying, and for allies within 2 spaces, she offers 30% DR during their respective combat. Also, if Veyle initiates combat or her foe is ranged, she inflicts Atk/Res-6, and true penalties on Atk/Res based on 20% of her Res in combat. She then gets 30% DR from all hits, and charges her Special by 1 per hit during combat. Finally, she gets the Brave effect if her Res ≥ foe's Res+10, which adds an intimidating edge to her offensive potential.
Now, we have a powercrept version of Still Water 4, in the form of Crystalline Water, offering Atk/Res+8 at the cost of Def-8. This skill also neutralizes Panic as well as any penalties to unit's Atk/Res on both phases. Because of its exceptional cleansing ability, units who are heavily reliant on their Res stats can find it beneficial, other than getting some extra stat bonuses.
Fell Successor serves as an alternative to Veyle's usual preferred C skill, Fell Protection, but with some adjustments. This time, if she initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally, she inflicts Atk/Res-5 on her foe during combat. She retains the usual Scowl effect if her Res ≥ foe's Res +5, but what's interesting is that she can inflict Double Scowl as long as her foe is ranged. The same effect is applied to her allies within 2 spaces, whom will be granted Atk/Def/Res+4 during combat.
This feels like a side-upgrade to her base form, albeit one with more advantage. The Double Scowl effect is very strong and it can be handy against ranged nukes who constantly spam their Specials with each hit, like Ascended Merric and Citrinne. Other than that, she functions almost identically as a support unit.
Fallen Ursula
Ursula already?! Who in the office decided to shower her with so much love, like they did with Altina? Especially when other plot-relevant units like Jaffar receive little attention recently.
Her preferred weapon, Dead Crow Tome provides Slaying, and at start of turn, if her HP is 25% or above, she gains the Quickened Pulse effect, and grants Atk/Spd+6 and Desperation to herself and allies within 2 spaces for 1 turn. She also gets another Quickened Pulse effect if she has full HP. Under the same condition, at start of combat, she gets +6 to Atk/Spd and true stat bonuses based on 20% of her Spd, which is also used to deal true damage including Specials. She gets Offensive NFU and Null Guard if at full HP.
As if powercrept Still Water isn't enough, we get Verge of Death as a split tier for Life and Death 4. This time, it grants Atk/Spd+8 at a cost of 8 in Def/Res. Just like Crystalline Water, it neutralizes Panic and any penalties to Atk/Spd as well.
Ursula looks pretty strong, given that she can spam and deal true damage with AOEs on every turn. The synergy between these effects have maximised her nuking prowess. I think she's going to be a menace in Cav-Lines for AR-Defense teams, unless you have Gotoh to reduce her AOE damage.
Fallen Nergal
It's finally happened! After so many years of absence, Nergal's finally in the game, and as the major antagonist from Blazing Blade, his inclusion is definitely worthwhile, even if he doesn't receive the Mythic status.
At first, he gets Slaying from Ereshkigal. At start of turn, if his HP is at least 25%, he grants Atk+6 and Essence Drain upon himself and allies within 2 spaces. I've predicted something like this not long ago, which essentially steals all Bonus effects from the target foe and allies within 2 spaces to Nergal and everyone else with the Essence Drain effect. If the foe get defeated, they will restore 10 HP as well. However, this effect will only trigger if Nergal initiates the attack, and I believe he needs to survive in order to transfer the Bonus effects. Nonetheless, it's still very strong, but its impact on the game remains to be seen after some testing.
During combat, if Nergal's meets the same HP condition, he inflicts Atk/Res-6, followed by additional true penalties to his foe's Atk/Res based on 20% of his Res. In addition to that, he can deal flat damage based on the number of Bonus effects active on himself multiplied by 5, resulting in 25 damage with 5 effects at maximum. He can also reduce flat damage by a maximum of 15 if he has the same 5 Bonus effects multiplied by 3.
He has Def/Res Oath 4 which finally made its debut after a long wait. Also, he has C Bonus Doubler and Special Spiral 4 retain their high value in terms of fodder.
Overall, Nergal proves to be a very formidable support unit, capable of draining Bonus effects from of his enemies for his own benefit. It's much reminiscent to his role in his original game, where he seeks quintessence by killing living beings. Adios to omni-tanks in Aether Raids and Summoner Duels!
Rearmed Lumera
We got a Rearmed Dragon, in the form of uhh...Lumera. For this month, it feels like we're about to get a Tempest Trials+ for Book 5, and I'm hoping for Dragon Fafnir to make an appearance, but my hopes have been shattered. What the hell? Lumera's arrival shortly after her Mythic alt? That's so robbed! She doesn't even transform at the penultimate chapter of Engage!
Put that rant aside, we have Arcane Fellstone as another Arcane weapon for dragons. Other than Slaying, at start of combat, if Lumera's HP is above 25%, she grants bonuses to all stats based on 25% of her foe's Atk - 4 (max 14, min 5). Then, she gets 40% Brave DR from foe's first attack and accelerates her Special by 1 per hit. If she's faster than her foe, she gains Null Follow-Up, and for a dragon as always, adaptive damage against ranged foes.
This weapon seems like an improvement compared to Arcane Grima, especially if you're running a mixed-phased generic dragon on your team, and seeking additional Bonus effects. Moreover, with Null Follow-Up available, you don't need the seal nor Magic Null-Follow, so you can easily run Counter Roar 4 for stackable damage reduction on the frontlines.
Spd/Res Scowl 4 can be nice, but it feels conflicted given that most Res-based dragons tend to be slower, while the faster ones are usually less Res-oriented.
Last but not least, we have Corrupted Dragon as yet another side upgrade to Dragon Monarch. It's basically the same, but the only difference is that if her ally lands on the Divine Vein terrain, instead of getting 30% DR from attacks, she can fully pierce through DR when her Special triggers.
In general, I don't see any change in this unit, because she has the same support capabilities as her Mythic counterpart. However, this build seems to lean towards her tanking capabilities, which deviates from Lumera's usual niche. Unless you're in need of duplicating fodder for more generic dragons, stay away from this one, especially if you already own the Mythic version.
Final Thoughts + Will I Summon?
I've rather surprised that this Fallen Banner feels somewhat tame upon its release. Veyle and Lumera appear to be mere side upgrades to their base counterparts, whereas Ursula looks like an enticing choice for a nuke, yet I feel like we may get stronger nukes in the future. However, the true standout of this banner belongs to Nergal in my opinion, since he introduces an incredibly insane effect, akin to the vampires' feast, that sets him apart from the rest of the units.
Even so, I can't shake off my disappointment that Fallen Fafnir is not included, leaving him stuck in male OC purgatory for an uncertain amount of time.
You know what? I've decided to change my summoning plans. I'm ditching out the goal of collecting every single Engage unit on release, unless they're either game-breaking or one of them are my favorites. The meta is becoming increasingly competitive, and I feel like my units would become sitting ducks if I were to obtain them all, which would be a waste of orbs.
Besides, the Bridal banner might have enticing offerings, and let's not forget about this month's Legendary banner which has insane value in terms of returning units. I've even considering investing Emblem Ike to +10 in the future, since I have fun using him as a frontliner and he's my favorite lord from the franchise. So in the meantime, I'll skip this banner for now after using up my tickets. I might get a Nergal by chance.
Feel free to share if you're pulling for any of these units. Thank you so much for reading my thoughts on this somewhat anti-climatic banner, and may your orbs remain safe from this tempting bait. Let's not give up just yet. There may come a day when Fafnir gets out of the shadowrealm once and for all, much like Freyr did last year. We should probably give him some cake after that.
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