Good morning/day/afternoon/evening/night everyone!.
Well, we’ve got our New Heroes just announced and they were announced earlier than normal, this time we get…!
“Desert Mercenaries”
From the Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones game we get six New Heroes finally arriving to FEH!, they’re:
- Tethys
- Gerik
- Ewan
- ↀEphraim+Lyon
-
Cormag
Let’s start with reviewing each character: by learning/remembering a little about who they are, :inherit:ance options and their utility if you’ll be a :favorite: with them.
Announcement trailer
| LINKS | Open the video in a new tab | View the japanese trailer |
|---|
Characters
Stats
As always the credits goes to SatsujinTM from Reddit for their impressive charts of New Heroes, click here for the source post!.
Important!: ignore the colors on Cormag’s stats, they’re a mistake
Tethys
| EPITHET | Beloved Dancer |
|---|---|
| WEAPON TYPE |
 Colorless Dagger |
| MOVEMENT TYPE |
 Infantry |
| INFORMATION PAGES | FANDOM | FE Wiki |
She’s the older sister of Ewan and is a dancer from Jehanna, a desertic nation in the west of the Magvel continent.
She’s a beautiful and charming dancer, like Ewan, she was abandoned by their parents at an early age, after a hard life in the streets she learnt to dance, and since then that became her source of income.
In FEH she arrives as a dagger user and is the second user of [The Cleaner+], and makes ☆[Dagger Exp. 3] a thing finally.
[Spd/Res Bond 3] also comes with her, this’ll further accentuate the fact she should be near her allies to support them
Demote opinion
With this skillset she’s the clear demote and I’m happy with that, she’s a well-loved character and is my unit of interest from the banner, she’ll be taken to +10 someday :favorite: :excidunn:.
More things to consider?: we have another unit already with the same weapon at 3★/4★ rarities and there is a similar skill also on a unit from 3★/4★ rarities, while it’s true we have Faye locked to 5★ who has [Bow Exp. 3] let’s not discard we’ll get a similar demote than Athena.
Stats
This is her statline:
And this is the one of a similar unit:
Tethys has beaten PA!Olivia in practically every area except attack by a negligible difference, not only powercrept in stats but also availability.
She’s got superbanes in HP and ATK but a superboon in DEF that can boost it to 27, giving her the chance to become a fairly tanky unit, I also recommend to change her dagger due to low base attack and to try building her more survival-oriented
Inheritance options
Her skillset doesn’t have much, ☆[Dagger Exp. 3] is the only new thing you can consider unless you get multiple copies, as only one suffices to train any dagger units you want, but if you really don’t need this then either her weapon or her A are to be considered, your call!
Aesthetics
“I’ve been working on a new dance, so let me know if you need a morale boost.”
Original art:
-
Artwork: 10/10
I need to say it, her artwork has been perfectly translated onto FEH with no detail left behind such as the dancer veil design, the style is lovely and mostly loyal to her original game, yet clearly new. -
VAing: 9/10
I’ve heard both of her VAs and I honestly find Jennifer Losi’s voice more fitting for Tethys’ character, it’s pretty god and her line is fitting, maybe it’d have been best if it was slightly more high-pitched but nowhere near the JP voice, other than that it’s still a lovely voice.
Gerik
| EPITHET | Desert Tiger |
|---|---|
| WEAPON TYPE |
 Axe |
| MOVEMENT TYPE |
Infantry |
| INFORMATION PAGES | FANDOM | FE Wiki |
Gerik is an experienced swordsman from Jehanna and leader of his own mercenary group, he’s kind and concerned for the members of his group, reason as to why Marisa and Tethys have feelings for him.
He grew up witnessing violence and abhor it, but wanted to protect those dear to him, this motivated the start of his long-running career as a mercenary.
In FEH he arrives as an infantry axe unit, which is a rare type of unit, the reason of the type choice is to allocate color space for Ewan to be the red unit and also is the secondary weapon of his [Hero] promotion back in his game (starting at D rank upon promotion).
He finally introduces the long-awaited ☆[Firesweep Axe+], this’ll open up a lot more of possibilities for building your allies, and let me say it looks impressive:
He’s also boasted with plethora of rare skills including [Darting Blow 4] which was only on L!Alm, [Sudden Panic 3] that was only on F!F!Corrin and [Infantry Pulse 3] previously on 4 units, 3 of them being all axe wielders. Giving him a niche as offensive support and player phase damage dealer.
His special is [Moonbow] for further damage on a high defense enemy
Stats
This is his statline:
Let’s compare him with a similar unit stat-wise:
His speed compares to Hilda’s though Hilda has [Freikugel] and [Atk/Spd Solo 3] from start for dual-phased speed. Gerik however is more of PP despite the good bulk.
He gets only a RES superboon and a DEF superbane, +RES might be interesting for mixed tanking but it’s not that great
Inheritance options
As much as I’d like to recommend his rare passive skills the ☆[Firesweep Axe+] is, again, a thing, having a high-level recommendation over the rest, not only that, it was said it opens a lot of possible builds and candidates for it, Libra and Raven are good examples as they’re somewhat similar to Soleil.
If you’re not interested on it we can always consider his passives, my recommendation is to take [Darting Blow 4] along with [Infantry Pulse 3], [Sudden Panic 3] is also pretty good but unlike the A which has a budget LV3 version if you consider the B then you’ll be discarding the C, I honestly recommend A+C, that’s because we’ve got a refine for Virion who can potentially run [Sudden Panic 3] as part of his weapon rather than a skill
Aesthetics
“I was young and stupid once. The scar is my punishment.”
Original art:
-
Artwork: 9/10
The style is great, his expression hints to his kind personality, and the equipement was well translated, he gets extra details such as should pads and he inspires a stronger presence this time.
It feels a bit unloyal to his original art though, with the changes to his attire, but he still looks stunning. -
VAing: 10/10
Again, the english voice wins over the japanese ose. His voice is befitting as his introductory line, and expresses the regret from his past well.
Ewan
| EPITHET | Eager Student |
|---|---|
| WEAPON TYPE |
 Red Tome |
| MOVEMENT TYPE |
Infantry |
| INFORMATION PAGES | FANDOM | FE Wiki |
Ewan is a young boy studying magic under Saleh’s care (the grandson of the Elder of Caer Pelyn and an experienced sage, a mountain-surrounded village located in eastern Carcino, the comercial nation to the north of Magvel), he’s the younger brother of Tethys and is also part of Gerik’s mercenary group.
He’s born in Jehanna and is one of the three trainees from Magvel, young aspirants with a lot of potential and years of opportunities to hone skills.
In FEH he’s introduced as a red tome infantry unit finally completing the {serpent} family of weapons with ☆[Rauðrserpent+], this, his [Swift Stance 2] and the new ☆[Sabotage Spd 3] will allow him to tank speedy mages at range with relative ease.
Stats
This is his statline:
Let’s compare him with a unit that got a similar treatment:
And a unit that can have a similar role but is on the same color:
Canas was also a point of comparison, from what I’ve seen because of potentially similar role, but I prefer to compare with units that can also get assets on stats, so it’s a more fair comparison 
.
Overall, he’s beaten the two other units in almost every area except speed, he’s a bit slow but this can be worked. He has a superbane in HP and superboons in ATK, DEF and RES, giving him an interesting choice of applications: magic wall, mixed ranged tank or even change his role partially or completely to make him somewhat offensive, he has an high attack with superboon on it after all, but he’ll need investment for his ATK/SPD, specially the latter if you go for [Rauðrblade].
Calification of stats: 8/10
Aesthetics
“I’m Ewan, I’ve been training hard, let me demonstrate!”
Original art:
-
Artwork: 10/10
His artwork is perfect and keeps the essence of his character with nifty new details in his garment. -
VAing: 9.5/10
I feel it should’ve been a bit higher-pitched like in the JP version, which fits more his character, other than that it’s still appropiate and fairly fitting.
ↀEphraim+Lyon
| EPITHET | Dynastic Duo |
|---|---|
| WEAPON TYPE |
 Lance |
| MOVEMENT TYPE |
Infantry |
| INFORMATION PAGES | |
 DUO SKILL
|
Adds [+1 Movement] status to infantry and armored allies within 2-square radius of the unit for a turn, this includes the Hero himself. Effect lasts for a turn and doesn't stack.
(Confirmation about this here) |
Ephraim is the crown Prince of Renais, a nation located at the center of Magvel and home of the beloved Princess Eirika, his twin sister. He’s a skilled lance wielder unmatched by anyone of his country on said weapon, he’s been personally taught by Duessel, the “Obsidian” and one of Grado’s Six Generals, this empire of Magvel and covers a wide area in the southwest.
Lyon is the Prince of Grado and son of Vigarde the Emperor, he’s a close friend from childhood with Eirika and Ephraim.
He always wanted to be a strong ruler of his empire and had one-sided feelings for Eirika, and was jealous of Ephraim. With Knoll, a dark magic researcher from Grado, they’ve found a forbidden spell that allows foresight, he saw a terrible future and started to work with the Fire Emblem. After this experiment the Fire Emblem split into two, and Lyon used the part that turned him into a major antagonist of the game’s plot, because an evil force took over him.
In FEH, ↀEphraim&Lyon arrive in another iteration as the second Duo Hero, with the former being the head unit and the latter being the cohort.
This time we get a different Duo Skill that boosts the movement of infantry and armored units in a 2-square radius of the Duo Hero by 1 for a turn, including the very Duo Hero. In [Aether Raids] this can mitigate the need of any other movement-boosting skill as it can be used up to two times on many matches.
ↀEphraim&Lyon also comes boasted with rare skills, he comes with ☆[Reginleif] which is Ephraim’s original weapon when we first get him and is like a lance [Rapier] because of dual armor/cavalry killer, however this time it grants a passive ATK+3 and if the unit passes an attack check with the enemy he’ll make a guaranteed follow-up attack.
We also get ☆[Heavy Blade 4] having the very same effect as [Flashing Blade 4] but with an attack check instead. He’s also the second wielder of [Lull Atk/Def 3] which is a really nice skill and comes with [Odd Atk Wave 3].
Stats
Do you… do you see this?, this is really aggravating and concerning:
This is powercreep at its finest, a fully merged +10 OG Ephraim has a bit less stats than a neutral ↀEphraim+Lyon without merges, while you can see this as the “combined power of two Heroes”, it’s not what should matter, the game is taking an wrong direction in terms of balance.
But regarding their stats, it’s quite powerful, he can get a superboon in attack to further boost their efficiency with ☆[Reginleif] and the activation of ☆[Heavy Blade 4], it’s the clear winner over any other asset, and he has superbanes in HP and SPD.
RES might make an interesting take as it’s a superboon to make him somewhat mixed in taking damage, pushing his base to 29
Calification of stats: 6/10, fitting but too strong
Inheritance options
☆[Heavy Blade 4]+another skill depending of the recipient, no other questions asked.
His B is only useful on many DEF-targetting units that have a good defense and his C can help bladetomers or mages.
As for where you get [Heavy Blade 3] you have very little options, either Ike or Jamke at 5★ stars
Aesthetics
“No matter the foe we’ll win.” —Ephraim.
“I’ll do my best” © Nino —Lyon.
Their original art:
-
Artwork: 9.5/10
Yamada Kotaro is a legend, it’s been proven already :navarreculture:. This art is impressive and translates really weir their personalities and working together. -
VAing: 9/10
Greg Chun and Mark Whitten are the fitting voices for Ephraim and Lyon respectively.
Ross
| EPITHET | His Father's Son |
|---|---|
| WEAPON TYPE |
Axe |
| MOVEMENT TYPE |
Infantry |
| INFORMATION PAGES | FANDOM | FE Wiki |
Other information
Description
Ross is a young villager from Ide and son of an once general of Renais Garcia.
He aspires to be like his father and is shown to be serious about it.
In FEH he arrives as an axe wielder infantry unit with a [Brave Axe+] straight at the 3★/4★ pool.
He, along with Ewan, were the two trainees missing on the game and they’re now finally in!
Stats
This is his statline:
And this is the statline of two similar units:
He clearly beats them in HP, ATK and DEF, his SPD is loosely inferior to Barst and his RES in on par with Arthur but largely beats Barst’s.
He has an interesting statline to work with, he got no superbane and superboons in HP, ATK and RES, opening this strong boy to a nice selection of builds, from a supportive one to even mixed tanking or simply offensive from start, he’ll even make better use of [Infantry Pulse 3].
I’ll definitely be taking this guy to +10 someday!
Calification of stats: 9/10
Inheritance options
Well, there’s not much, he has [Fire Boost 3] at 4★ and is another [Brave Axe] wielder
Aesthetics
“I train ALL the time. I have to if I’m going to be the greatest warrior in all of Renais! How else will I surpass Dad!”
His original art:
-
Artwork: 10/10
Another excellent job, the style is new but remains loyal and retains this young axeman’s character -
VAing: 10/10
The voice acting too!, the voice pitch is all right and the quotes fit him while they hint us at his backstory
Cormag
| EPITHET | Aloof Lanceman |
|---|---|
| WEAPON TYPE |
Lance |
| MOVEMENT TYPE |
 Flying |
| INFORMATION PAGES | FANDOM | FE Wiki |
Other information
Argon / Exys Inc.
Brad Venable
GHB unit
Description
Cormag is a gentle and compassion commander from the Grado Empire and is Glen’s brother (the “Sunstone” from the Six Generals).
He had a countryside childhood with his brother, having worked the fields for harvesting and chasing birds, later many events during the backstory and development of the game would.
In FEH he debuts as a flying lance unit.
Stats
This is his statline:
And the one of a somewhat similar unit:
They both have an incredibly similar statline, Valter is still as viable if you have him and stands a good choice of a unit, his [Cursed Lance] even helps to be on par though with 4 backfire damage.
If you haven’t got Valter, considering Cormag is a great idea, his powercreep isn’t that big of a deal and will score well when his seasons on arena come around
Calification of stats: 10/10
Inheritance options
[Dull Close 3] is finally easily attainable at 4★, though from a grail unit. [Def Opening 3] also comes with him but at 5★. It’s okay fodder, the former skill particularly has its usages.
As of me… he’ll be +10ed someday too!
Aesthetics
“I’m Cormag. And this wyvern is Genarog. Nice to meet you.”
Original art:
-
Artwork: 10/10
Impressive effort of the artist, his details are well-translated, he even has his stern expression. -
VAing: 9/10
The voice acting is great, his voice was mostly good as I went to Gamepedia to hear them, but I liked the JP VAing more than this one, this quote though, and a few other ones (two of the short lines when touching his sprite on the map) feel not fitting of him in terms of voice tone, hear this one:
It’s however, a nice reference to his support with Natasha, where he’s searching for a cleric to heal a kitten
Unit choice
This banner is excellent, but I feel ↀEphraim+Lyon were forced in to continue the trend of the Duo Heroes…
I feel that Saleh would’ve made a much much better blue, after all he’s part of Gerik’s group of mercenaries and Ewan’s menthor, not only that, he’s capable of using light magic on his game, sothis color and a weapon such as [Aura] could’ve made a fitting choice and addition
Final evaluation
- Gameplay: 8/10
- Aesthetics: 8/10
8/10
Reference
| ↀ | Duo Hero |
|---|---|
| ☆ | New skill |
|
☠ (emoji) |
Grand Hero Battle (GHB) unit |
Bonus
Finale
THIS IS IMPORTANT!, open the details block here:
Information concerning ↀEphraim+Lyon availability
During the announcement of our New Heroes we’ve got indication that they “may or may not” be available in a future summoning event, it’s important that in the duration of the banner, preferably on its early days, you choose if you really need this Duo Hero, think carefully if you want this Duo Hero for any use, whether it’s :inherit: or :favorite:
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As always, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy reading this review as much as I enjoy making them :)
Thank goodness I found it tho!
meanwhile my tickets will be ready lmao.
