FE Heroes: my blitzkrieg team

(Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor ep.11)

We've been saying that FE Heroes is the simplification of the traditional FE series on game consoles onto the portable platform. In order to set up a minimal battle system we may either allow a team of 3 or a team of 4.

A team of 3 comes naturally from both real ancient battles and novels: one attacking unit, one defending unit and supportive unit. In FE there is a another special correspondence: a team of 3 allows the elemental cycle to be completed. But of course battling with teams of 3 is too boring, and we have the colourless typed unit as well. The fourth unit allows the possibility on the use of tactical units, as well as enforcing one of the above roles.

So here I want to introduce my balanced team that I have been using.

The killer queen: Ursula

"My master has been complaining that I did not receive proper illustration...but that's not a problem because my target will stand no chance to have a single glimpse on me."
A: Death Blow 3 [Fury]
B: Desperation 3 [Quick Ripsote/Vantage]
C: Threaten Res 3
S: Attack 1
D: Reciprocal Aid
SP: Moonbow

Her superior attacking ability allows her to two-hit-KO almost all red, blue melee, cavalry, armored, flying and green melee units. As a cavalry unit her mobility allows convenient use of the reciprocal aid - she can even switch HP among other units! Desperation allows double hits without receiving further damage, although I hesitate to put Fury on her because that affects the use of reciprocal aid. Moonbow is kind of a standard fast-charging SP nowdays, and is very effective given her double hit ability.

The magical tank: Julia

"Oh...someone produced 0 damage on me...yet again."
A: Fury 3 [Resistance 3]
B: G Tomebreaker 3
C: Hone Spd 3 [Breath of Life 3]
S: Fortify Def 1
D: - (To be added. Draw back?)
SP: Iceburg
[] - Skills to use in the trials

Another unit with solid magical stats. She can attract and tank most magical firepower (especially those cavalry magical units), and when unit approaches they will be swiftly killed by Ursula. With Ursula's elemental cover she only needs to face green and blue units, so the G breaker works very well against even the toughest green magicians like Nino.

When she stays at the back she supports the team well with her supportive skills. She can stay directly behind the melee units so that she can at the same time support the unit at the front, and attack.

The specific/tactical solution: Takumi

"I break archers...but not only those."
A: Close Counter
B: Bow Breaker 3
C: Threaten Spd 3
S: HP 3
D: - (To be added)
SP: Vengeance

Problem arises: there are units with high resistances and attacks physically - the fliers. So Takumi is a perfect solution here. Takumi is the ultimate solution to fliers as well as all units with low attack high resistance (typically staff users) that Ursula and Julia cannot quickly eliminate. Bow breaker allows him to finish all archers (in particular Takumi, who is considered the greatest threat usually). When he cannot find specific target he serves as a steady physical damage output as well.

The core/physical tank/red unit: Olivia

"Oh please give no chance to the enemy to have a peek of my dance!"
A: Death Blow 3
B: Sword Breaker 3
C: Hone Atk 3
S: Speed 1
D: Dance
SP: Escutcheon

Ursula, Julia and Takumi are all distant attackers. Once the enemy tanks all the damage and come close the formation can be very restrictive. At the beginning of the battle distant attackers may be exposed if they go beyond the front line too much - so we need Olivia to pull them back. This is the unique unit [besides Azura] that makes the improved hit-and-run tactics possible. Being a red unit she is also capable of dealing with green units that Ursula and Julia cannot properly deal with -- especially the king -- Hector(s). I gave her sword breakers to deal with red units just in case. Hone attack is the perfect skill for her because units always surrounds her as the origin of the blitzkrieg, too.

Two evident weaknesses:
- Hector with Vantage. Olivia is the only unit that can defend his attack. Hector alone is usually fine (Julia hone def + Ursula recovering), but if Hector drags her away the other units will be exposed .
- Dagger users: they have moderate def and resistance yet attacking physically, so all three distant attackers will experience difficulty dealing with them. Again Olivia is the solution, but if that does not work out the team is in great trouble. Precise positioning is often required to wipe them off.

Takumi is a specific solution against bowers, and Kaguro is the specific solution against dagger users so I often switch between them. However Takumi enjoys full skill inheritance and a higher physical stats so he will still be my short term choice. It's not a long term solution because they are only specific solution but not as useful as Ursula and Julia in general. When I look at their skill points (effectively the kill count), the SP of Takumi is less than half of Ursula's -- so he does not really kill a lot.

One last negative on this team: I get used with Olivia too much that I do not know how to play when I have a team without her. That is precisely the case when I was going through the tempest trials where you will need multiple teams (usually), but I only have one Olivia. Eventually I came up with another strong team (Nino, Tharja[+40%], Ryoma and Kaguro) but it's only for the boss stage specifically. I don't think it will stand any chance against any matured 680+ arena team.

Results so far:
- Arena: @690+, tier 18~19
- Clears all 7 stages in the trials event sometimes, 6 stages at least