Current Tier List Here

Number 22

Kronya is one of the first units to make the Hardy Bearing seal as popular as it is nowadays. This is due to the effect of her unique weapon Athame, where as long as her opponent’s HP is not full, grants her an in combat bonus to Attack and Speed +5 in addition to allowing her to attack first if her opponent initiates combat. The focal point of this weapon is that it essentially offers Kronya all the benefits of Vantage while still being able to have all of her HP, letting her achieve the ability to sweep while still being able to tank some hits. Having a Vantage effect in her weapon will free up her B slot for combinations that can only be replicated by Phina and Young Marth, who are 5* locked and seasonal locked respectively. The benefits can truly be taken advantage of when considering options as budget choices are rather lacking for Kronya in of synergizing with her Athame which primarily consist of Desperation and Wings of Mercy. The most obvious choice for a B skill that can be paired with a Vantage weapon is without a doubt Special Spiral for sweeping with precharged specials. Nabbing Close Counter for her A skill paired with Special Spiral + Glimmer/Moonbow is the bread and butter build that Kronyas had during her time as THE Aether Raids threat. As the meta has grown this build hasn’t necessarily been considered worse than what it was, it is just not the only thing players have to concern themselves with due to more offense threats being introduced. Other B skill options to be considered that can be effective on Kronya are Null C-Disrupt to stop units from canceling her attacks to maintain her Vantage procs, Lulls for consistent increase in bulk or damage output, Disarm Trap is an excellent option to have on a unit for either Light or Astra, and Null Follow-Up should speak for itself. As for Kronya’s C slot the budget choice easily goes to Savage Blow for enabling Athame’s Vantage effect onto other units without needing to go into combat first, it is arguably a mainstay on her kit when considering options for that reason. As for the unit wielding the weapon, Kronya has a base 39 Speed which is tied for the 2nd fastest of all free to play friendly units. While many go for one shot builds with her this high Speed that gets boosted by an active Athame means if any opponents are able to get a hit in on her, unless they’re among they fastest units in the game or get a guaranteed double, they will be only able to get one hit on Kronya. Going for 1 shots off a 31 base Attack may seem sketchy, but Athame’s in combat boost paired with any skills and an active special will do the deed on killing most units in the game, needing damage already on them from the likes of Savage Blow or Bolt Tower also helps with Kronya being able to kill. Her attack can also be improved by making +Attack with 100 trait fruits. Though one shot builds seem ideal, don’t forgo the idea of a bulk build with a healing special as Kronya has the ideal amount of defensive distribution to survive a hit or two and then heal up with Noontime and Sol, Athame even offers a pure +3 Resistance to improve her magical bulk. Kronya has some astounding dagger alternatives if Athame does wear out it’s welcome and you wish to take a different approach with her. Ignoring availability, some stand out alternatives include Courtly Fan, Ouch Pouch, Broadleaf Fan, and Maiougi Daggers. Although if you were to invest into Kronya with the intention of not using Athame at all, you would be better off investing into the likes of Kaze or Chad who boast similar statlines but no prefs. Overall Kronya is an excellent grail unit that the players have the option whose primary flaw being that she’s vulnerable to Hardy Bearing units and full health enemies, which can be difficult to break into sometimes if their Healing Tower cannot be broken as well as the recent addition of Odd Recovery, though the recent addition of Fatal Smoke has granted some leeway in preventing foes from healing. If given the proper skills she can perform in whatever is needed, what’s keeping her just out of S tier is needed access to more skills to perform at her best while a lot of grail units can perform their jobs with just budget skills as well as being more situational nowadays. Kronya is one of the first units to make the Hardy Bearing seal as popular as it is nowadays. This is due to the effect of her unique weapon Athame, where as long as her opponent’s HP is not full, grants her an in combat bonus to Attack and Speed +5 in addition to allowing her to attack first if her opponent initiates combat. The focal point of this weapon is that it essentially offers Kronya all the benefits of Vantage while still being able to have all of her HP, letting her achieve the ability to sweep while still being able to tank some hits. Having a Vantage effect in her weapon will free up her B slot for combinations that can only be replicated by Phina and Young Marth, who are 5* locked and seasonal locked respectively. The benefits can truly be taken advantage of when considering options as budget choices are rather lacking for Kronya in of synergizing with her Athame which primarily consist of Desperation and Wings of Mercy. The most obvious choice for a B skill that can be paired with a Vantage weapon is without a doubt Special Spiral for sweeping with precharged specials. Nabbing Close Counter for her A skill paired with Special Spiral + Glimmer/Moonbow is the bread and butter build that Kronyas had during her time as THE Aether Raids threat. As the meta has grown this build hasn’t necessarily been considered worse than what it was, it is just not the only thing players have to concern themselves with due to more offense threats being introduced. Other B skill options to be considered that can be effective on Kronya are Null C-Disrupt to stop units from canceling her attacks to maintain her Vantage procs, Lulls for consistent increase in bulk or damage output, Disarm Trap is an excellent option to have on a unit for either Light or Astra, and Null Follow-Up should speak for itself. As for Kronya’s C slot the budget choice easily goes to Savage Blow for enabling Athame’s Vantage effect onto other units without needing to go into combat first, it is arguably a mainstay on her kit when considering options for that reason. As for the unit wielding the weapon, Kronya has a base 39 Speed which is tied for the 2nd fastest of all free to play friendly units. While many go for one shot builds with her this high Speed that gets boosted by an active Athame means if any opponents are able to get a hit in on her, unless they’re among they fastest units in the game or get a guaranteed double, they will be only able to get one hit on Kronya. Going for 1 shots off a 31 base Attack may seem sketchy, but Athame’s in combat boost paired with any skills and an active special will do the deed on killing most units in the game, needing damage already on them from the likes of Savage Blow or Bolt Tower also helps with Kronya being able to kill. Her attack can also be improved by making +Attack with 100 trait fruits. Though one shot builds seem ideal, don’t forgo the idea of a bulk build with a healing special as Kronya has the ideal amount of defensive distribution to survive a hit or two and then heal up with Noontime and Sol, Athame even offers a pure +3 Resistance to improve her magical bulk. Kronya has some astounding dagger alternatives if Athame does wear out it’s welcome and you wish to take a different approach with her. Ignoring availability, some stand out alternatives include Courtly Fan, Ouch Pouch, Broadleaf Fan, and Maiougi Daggers. Although if you were to invest into Kronya with the intention of not using Athame at all, you would be better off investing into the likes of Kaze or Chad who boast similar statlines but no prefs. Overall Kronya is an excellent grail unit that the players have the option whose primary flaw being that she’s vulnerable to Hardy Bearing units and full health enemies, which can be difficult to break into sometimes if their Healing Tower cannot be broken as well as the recent addition of Odd Recovery, though the recent addition of Fatal Smoke has granted some leeway in preventing foes from healing. If given the proper skills she can perform in whatever is needed, what’s keeping her just out of S tier is needed access to more skills to perform at her best while a lot of grail units can perform their jobs with just budget skills as well as being more situational nowadays.

Number 23

Nemesis is the beginning of units with wasted potential. He has 176 BST with no superboons meaning that he is unable to score in the 180 BST bracket. Had he been able to score that high he would’ve been one of the better choices of all grail units. Instead he s in the same boat of the likes of Astram, Itsuki, and other 175 scoring units. When compared to Astram and Itsuki in the arena Nemesis does not have as prominent of niches as his competitors. Astram is able to provide some with Mercurius being able to buff some of his allies along with himself while Itsuki is able to take out any dragons that come his way. Nemesis’ Dark Creator S is entirely reliant on 3 other teammates having at least 90% healthy to reap in all of it’s benefits. If allowed to activate, Dark Creator S will grant Nemesis up to +6 Attack and Defense (2 per healthy ally) during combat and damage he would take from his FIRST combat per phase to be reduced by up to 45% (15% per healthy ally). A weapon like this would make Nemesis seem ideal for a frontline tank in for Aether Raids, however it is very easy to inflict the necessary chip damage needed to knock his allies out of Dark Creator S’s range with the 3 most common threats to that weapon being Savage Blow, Bolt Towers, and Duma’s Upheaval. How Nemesis was handled does not make him the ideal Arena or Aether Raids units in of usage. He can still get the job done of what he is to be built for. That being said, not being able to score like other gen 5 infantry and having a weapon with a requirement as awkward as Dark Creator S makes him rather lackluster. Nemesis was someone people considered to become a Mythic unit, instead we were given someone who can be considered as a joke pick in of decent scoring Arena picks.

Number 24

Shamshir is definitely an impressive refine for Marisa to have received, it along with Pent’s Tome of Reglay are the first weapons to have Time’s Pulse incorporated into it. Pairing Time’s Pulse with the innate Slaying aspect of Shamshir would be a fantastic weapon in of itself but IS decided to slap even more into it by adding 7 true damage whenever Marisa procs a special as well as a conditional +5 in combat Attack and Speed boost. This weapon has transformed Marisa from an outclassed generic unit to a very viable pick amongst the many free to play sword infantries. The stat boosts provided can allow Marisa to achieve an incredible offensive spread of 38 Attack and 44 Speed with just flowers and no merges or skills. When paired with Time’s Pulse in her C slot she can proc 3 cooldown specials like Bonfire instantly meaning she can hit hard right off the bat, if you wanted to, you can even throw Wrath or Quickened Pulse in build for the chance of instant 4 cooldown specials. The main thing that Marisa gets docked in for points is lacking the innate good scoring unit’s like Itsuki, Nemesis, and Astram though that can be circumvented with sacrificing her A slot for a Duel skill if you so desire to use her for Arena.

Number 25

Much like Itsuki, Astram is one the best infantry sword units you could invest into being one of the few free to play friendly red units that one can invest into capable of scoring in the 175 BST bin once merged. Astram also shares this trait with Nemesis, however Astram is much more flexible in of what he can be used for thanks to his more generalized statline and a preferred weapon that further inflates his stats. Astram’s Mercurius gives a +4 to all stats to himself and all physical damage dealers nearby provided he is equal to or above half health. These buffs make Astram’s already impressive Attack, Speed, and Defense even better while attempting to patch up his lower Resistance. If complimented by the Bonus Doubler, this weapon allows Astram to self buff himself by +8 to all stats. It is certainly a wonderful weapon for a free to play unit to possess, but unlike Itsuki’s Mirage Falchion, there are situations where it can be harmful to Astram. Due the requirement of staying in a healthy HP range to be active in addition to the visible buffs capable of being exploited by Panic can often make Mercurius a glorified Silver Sword or even the cause in which Astram becomes weaker.

When comparing Astram and Itsuki’s stats they both are rather similar in HP, Attack, and Defense with the biggest difference being Astram having 6 more points of base Speed and Itsuki having 11 more points of base Resistance. Astram’s lower Resistance is arguably a more prominent flaw when comparing the two’s stats as a base 21. As for Astram compared to Nemesis it really boils down to Astram having much higher Speed (13 points higher) while Nemesis possesses much higher Resistance (12 points higher). While there is another gap in Resistance, unlike Nemesis, Astram is capable of doing so much on either phase while Nemesis will often be delegated to the enemy phase. Almost like Young Minerva, Astram can use whatever skills he can get his hands on to great effect so it is a matter of what build you favor him having. What gave Itsuki the edge is simply his worst with his preferred weapon still offers some benefits towards him while Astram at his worst either gets nothing or loses something. That being said, his weapon is not the end all be all and you can avoid those situations leaving you with a great handyman who rivals some of the best options you have.

Numbers 26 +27

It cannot go without mentioning how much of a presence Aversa has had due to being one of the first units added into the grail poll after it’s launch and many player’s first grail unit that they would +10. Aversa’s early popularity was largely due to late 2018 FEH having a lack of Sudden Panic, Sabotage skills, and other unit’s with similar effects built into their weapons. Her weapon, Aversa’s Night, will inflict a -3 to debuff to all stats and Panic onto any enemies who are both adjacent to an ally and have HP that is equal to or less than Aversa’s current HP -3. With many unit’s not investing into their HP outside of receiving a boost from Legendary/Mythic buffs, Aversa is able to utilize HP boosting skills to force people to play around her weapon until they lower her HP by some manner. Even if they choose to avoid buffs, making the Panic status useless, they are still at risk of receiving the debuffs. The ever looming manner of debuffing paired with access to Guidance and Order skills makes Aversa an excellent unit. Statwise, Aversa’s base 34 Speed when compared to Iago’s 27 allows for her to double a lot more units if she is to see combat. Her 33 base Attack can be considered middling by the standards of a world where every banner offers up a unit with 40 Attack, leading for special procs to be the biggest offensive threat Aversa can impose. Aversa’s Defense and Resistance are rather poor due to her stat distribution favoring HP. While Aversa’s Night may force her into a more ive role given her lower overall stat distribution by today’s standards, she can still be constructed in an offensive manner when switching out her tome. However, her only standout options would be Raourblade and Raourfox due to red tomes having less than stellar weapon variety. Aversa being the only Mage Flier that is free to play friendly leaves a lack of direct competition and many people already investing into her has made her a staple in Arena and Aether Raids who’s primary selling point has become less unique. Iago is a different take on the design given to unit’s like Aversa. To explain his weapon, because it is a long one, Iago’s Tome has a different effect for odd and even numbered turns with one condition being the enemy having HP the equals Iago’s current HP -3. On odd-numbered turns if Iago’s opponents are not adjacent they receive Attack and Speed -4 with the Guard status placed on them. If on even-numbered turns and they are adjacent they can receive Defense and Resistance -4 with the Panic status placed on them, this effect is where a similarity to Aversa shine through. Iago’s heavy description of a weapon practically tells your opponent how they have to play if they don’t want to be inflicted with those penalties and debuffs needing to alternate the placements of their units each turn as opposed to just keeping them separated. There are not a lot of skills that synergize with both effects, but a standout choice would be your choice of Sabotage skill as Iago has impressive Resistance that gets boosted by his tome. But with his high HP he can most certainty see himself as part of many Infantry Pulse teams. Iago also boasts the highest neutral Attack of all free to play friendly mages which means he can deal a good amount of damage if he sees combat. If you choose to not build him ively orientated, being an infantry unit allows Iago many useful combat skills for all slots when compared to Aversa including Lulls, Impacts, Special Spiral, etc. His Speed and Defense are rather low when compared to the rest of his stats, but if you so desire you can boost them up to a workable degree while still maintaining either an offensive or ive build. When compared to Aversa, Iago loses the ability to use flier mobility skills and Aversa’s higher Speed for the ability to deal more damage with 2 hits, Iago is more capable of using Resistance reliant skills and access to skills a flier cannot use. Iago’s relevancy has not been as prevalent and if he were to get hit he would accumulate more damage than Aversa could thanks to his lower speed making him easier to double. Receiving more damage makes his weapon’s HP requirement harder to meet. While alone Aversa or Iago may not appear threatening, they apply pressure on the opponents that their teammates can take advantage of while still able to perform well. Aversa is one of unit’s who began the debuff meta and Iago takes what she has started and offers a different spin on it.

Number 28

The Penalty Attack Boost refine is a great effect in and of itself doing wonders to increase Ursula’s damage output and makes her a terrifying Aether Raid threat. Due to the varying types of School and Shrine structures, Ursula has an easier time getting the debuffs she would need inflicted to destroy her opponents when compared to other modes. With Cav Lines being a threatening setup that is designed to put pressure on offense teams from turn 1 using the great reach of ranged cavalry, and Ursula’s Blue-Crow Tome makes her one of the most terrifying options that’s easily accessible. However, where Ursula is at her best is a portion of the game where she is controlled by AI instead of the player. Not to say that Ursula does not offer anything in the likes of Aether Raids offense, it’s simply that using more of the debuff structures on offense will restrict being able to deal with the same type of strategy Ursula is used on defense to abuse. It is also worth mentioning Ursula is only scary against units inflicted with debuffs as against foes without debuffs or the ability to neutralize them, her damage output becomes lacking coming off a base 29 Attack. With the introduction of Menace skills Ursula is able to become more self-sufficient in securing debuffs on an enemy or two before going into combat, even though the skill does not apply to her entire threat range it can be argued to be a superior debuff option than a smoke in her C slot. Ursula is definitely a fantastic option to consider if you desire to improve your defense setup and for better or for worse that is where she shines the brightest, given any unit that has to compete with Reinhardt must take what they can get.

Number 29

New Years Keaton would start 2021 off on a positive note in of players getting powerful grail units. While Keaton would continue the trend of Melee Infantry being 176 BST, thus needing a superboon to score 180, he was fortunate enough to have his only superboon go into his Attack which would improve what his weapon sets out to do. Resolved Fang is the only weapon that Keaton will be able to use as there are no inheritable Beast weapons, this thus gives him by default the transformation effect all Infantry Beasts have in dealing +10 damage when he procs a special while transformed. As for the other effects of his weapon, Renewed Fang grants Keaton a flat Defense +3, then when Keaton’s opponent is at or above 75% HP at start of combat, Keaton will get Defense +5 while his opponent suffers Defense -5, and finally a true damage effect akin to Naesala’s where Keaton will deal true damage based on the difference between the Defense of him and his foe (dealing at most 7 damage when he has 10 more defense). Every part about this weapon makes Keaton terrifying to fight to fight when healthy as it synergizes so well. Keaton having the 2nd highest base Defense in the game at base 43 (46 with weapon equipped) paired with Renewed Fang offering an inherent difference of 10 Defense means that without stacking a ludicrous amount of Defense, Keaton will be dealing 7 true damage to most of the heroes in the game. The Defense buff/debuff also improves his bulk and attack power as the debuff will increase how much normal damage he deals with his already high base 41 Attack (45 if you give him his superboon with Trait Fruit) while the buff gives him an effective 51 Defense. The enemy 75% HP requirement does not bode well for any long lasting fights, but Keaton will still be able to be a destructive first initiator or wall to place in front of healthy physical units. Keaton possesses such a high combination of Attack and Defense at the cost of his Speed and Resistance. The low Resistance of 20 can be a blessing and a curse as for Arena purposes he can potentially take enough damage from common Dancers like Legendary Azura to make them wanna attack him as opposed to dancing (they would need to deal at least 5 damage to do so). On the other hand any other competent mage will leave a major dent into Keaton if they don’t take him out in a single round of combat due to doubling his base 24 Speed. Ruptured Sky being a common Arena special does him no favor as well as it would boost a foe’s damage by 40% of Keatons Attack as opposed to just 20% it would do to a non Beast/Dragon. Due to his Attack and Defense being very high, you could focus all of his skills into fixing his low Speed or Resistance, however it would be better to focus on one instead of trying to salvage both. Being an Infantry leaves Keaton with many skills a heavy damage dealer like him can use. Wrath deserves a mention for now being a not too hard skill to attain skill from Astram/Ninja Hana, potentially allowing Keaton to deal up to 27 points in true damage when a special procs with both the conditions of Renewed Fang and Wrath met. With Arena being what a high BST unit like him would be invested for, Keaton is somewhat flexible in of types of builds due to being the first 180 BST capable grail unit to possess a pref weapon and thus not need 2 300 SP skills to achieve max score like the other grail units that can score 180. While he would still be able to and would like the likes of a t Drive, the prospect of being able to run a Smoke skill, Time’s Pulse, or even a Tactic can prove useful. Keaton also has his place on an Aether Raid offense team for being able to tank physical hits very well to the point where he could prove a sufficient part of an anti-cavline team. Keaton without a doubt started the year of 2021 off with a bang and gave us hope that this year will offer more free units that are just as impressive as him. As long as you avoid trying to survive most mages, you’ll be investing into a very powerful one hit wonder.

Number 30 + Number 31

Flame Emperor and Ena both share the title of being the highest scoring units accessible via free to play friendly methods being able to score in the 180 bst bin. Ena however can only achieve this feat when given trait fruits to become + Speed which is her only superboon. While that can viewed as an unwelcome necessity to score the same as Flame Emperor who can do that naturally, Ena being infantry as opposed to armored makes her much easier to use when it comes to movement. Flame Emperor’s armored movement is very restricting in regards when it comes to their highest possible scoring build. While Ena also shares the need of both a 300 SP A skill and C skill, if Flame Emperor wants 2 movement then they must use Armored March seal which requires the use of a 2nd armored unit that must stay next to Flame Emperor at all times. While Ena favors general movement Flame Emperor makes up for it in their abundance of build options compared to Ena. Ena is restricted to a few viable Breath options and her stat line favors enemy phase builds. Meanwhile Flame Emperor has access to plenty of great Axe options within the 3/4* and grail pools and if given access to the 5* exclusive fighter skills then Flame Emperor can be built for any kind of phase. As for their class weaknesses, Flame Emperor and Ena possess what are arguably 2 of the most common effective weaknesses being an Armor and a Dragon respectively. Several people choose to invest into armored slaying s for their arena core due to the abundance of armors present with the highest possible scoring unit in the game (Brave Edelgard) being one. Meanwhile Ena’s dragon weaknesses also has its presence as dragons have seen a recent spark in their usage with the release of Legendary Corrin and the recent Halloween Banner adding many useful tools/units to their options. This in turn increases the need in dragon slaying units with earth and fire season each having 2 excellent dragon slaying legendaries that still see use today (Earth: Julia +Tiki, Fire: Marth + Roy). Even though their classes won’t always favor them in the mode in which they are needed for most, Flame Emperor and Ena can perform well against any units that don’t possess that inherent advantage. In water season they can both favor well against the major annoyances in Legendary Azura, Leif, and most non-speed Chroms. As for wind season it’s not a season that the two straight up dominate or suffer in as Legendary Corrin would be the only seasonal threat to their survival. Ena being Red is probably the more favorable color choice between the two for arena, as the highest scoring units at the time of her release are more reds and greens than there are blues. Ultimately Flame Emperor and Ena are units that people choose to invest into as Arena scorebots. They can be used for Aether Raids too, however what they contribute there is much a necessity when compared to the rewards they can help achieve in the arena. But as we get more and more unit’s new heroes demoted or added to grails the appeal of these two may dwindle in favor of units who can score just as well and can potentially offer much more. They’re fantastic picks for anyone who wants to build an Arena core now and there is not a unit who compete with their score without spending hundreds of orbs on 5* locked units.