Building 'BUT MAAAARS' boi :feh_gordin:

kakyoin01 · May 31, 2020, 5:52am

~~FIVE POINTS!~~

Seriously though, Gordin looks really underrated. His BST and stat spread look eh, his refine appears to be somewhat weak, and he’s obviously loaded with meme potential thanks to that OVA. He also generally pales in comparison to L!Alm as an offensive archer, who I have at +10 +Spd.

But he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve:

A Prf with a Brave effect, good weapon type/color and deceptively good power/value in its refine
Notably high Defense
Can be blessed (unlike )

He looks rather viable for AR and cheesing higher-difficulty PvE battles. In some cases he may perform even better than L!Alm simply due to his Prf’s Brave weapon effect blocking enemy attacks. He can also take a physical hit nicely, and has a Prf that is much more flexible and potentially more supportive than Klein’s ().

Here’s what I drafted up for him:

With the above build, he will shred most lower Defense opponents before they can do anything. He can’t do much to an outright beefy tank like Idunn, but that’s where Bonfire comes in. Maybe I could run him alongside Duo Fonse or IP allies to ramp him up for on-demand , or something.

Anyway, does he seem like a good investment? And what about the above build could be better? He’d be primarily used for AR and cheesing more difficult PvE maps. I only saw one other post with the gordin tag on here, so some feedback would be appreciated, thanks!

(Based on observation, I think @RoyAhoy and @We_like_Ike have invested Gordin builds. Sorry if I missed @ing anyone else who does!)

RoyAhoy · May 31, 2020, 5:55am

This is actually pretty close to what I do except I use Special Spiral so he can hit his special every turn. But if the goal is to do as much damage as possible in one turn, keep the lull and add IP to his team

Banini · May 31, 2020, 6:16am

I don’t understand how a 9 mt Brave Bow with a guaranteed effective +4 Atk/Def/Res that can also be applied to allies would appear weak to anyone

We_like_Ike · May 31, 2020, 6:37am

Hey man! He is the 5 Points Champion, don’t you know. Yeah I use him all the time. I was eyeing him from day one cuz Max Mittelman is a great VA, and because Gordin is funny. But waited to build him until he got his refine, and it’s awesome man. So, I use him very similarly to your build draw up, only difference is I only use 1 IP on my ARD, so I run moonbow and he get’s that off. If you’re doing 2 IPs on Gordy, I’d use Luna instead. Big reason is that Gordon is killing anything without tanky def, with tanky def well I guess it could go either way so you could play around with Luna or Bonfire.

He is definitely annoying on ARD man, and is a great Hardy Bearing user. I’d definitely give it to him or have Hardy Bearing on your team somewhere. Also, Atk smoke is over Def smoke for ARD. With the Lull, his prf, and Atk Smoke, he effectively decreases enemy atk by -14 with no way for them to visibly buff outside drives, etc. Making him a defensive tank. Def smoke can help if he’ll be going again, but you don’t really need it.

Budget wise I just foddered one Demitri for the Lull and DB4. Impact is probably better to prevent BIke doubling, I just don’t have the fodder but hey thanks for the consideration. Gordin is already great with DB4 as it is, and it’s 4 extra damage on PP. That looks great though man.

I use him on both my ARD teams and I can definitely see teams avoid him haha. He is the reason for a lot of successes too.

Edit: I hummed and hawed about foddering Duo Ephraim or Dimitri for the double skills back in the day. But I do think DB4 or Sturdy Impact are better on him. If you have Dimitri kicking around, I’d fodder the lull and DB4 to him first and play around with that before committing the sacrificial Tibarn or SLyn to him for SI.

kakyoin01 · May 31, 2020, 6:49am

Well I mean, I don’t think it’s weak…but I see very little discussion about Gordin anywhere besides memes so I assume he’s being discounted pretty heavily. But if he’s run more often in higher-level play I admit to lack of experience on this one.

kakyoin01 · May 31, 2020, 6:53am

Excellent idea to test out DB4 + Lull Atk/Def on him first, I’ll definitely try that out before donating an Impact to him. It may be outright better in many cases since it doesn’t matter how threatening opponents are if you kill them outright before they can strike

Thanks for the in-depth analysis, lots of food for thought. I’ll play around with Luna on him and see how much special acceleration help feels right. Is there a particular AR season he does better in or can he be a menace on any season? Also do you re-bless him to use on both AR-D seasons, or just focus more on successful defenses and offensive scoring?

anon24094250 · May 31, 2020, 7:00am

Gordin is the best player phase archer in the f2p pool, Klein ain’t got shit on Gordin. Maaaaaybe Leon with his refine is comparable.

I’d build him:

sturdy impact/lull atk def/time’s pulse/death blow and a 2 cd special or the same build but with special spiral and a 3 cd special. SS is kind of meh on defense, probably would use the first build with a 3 charge special if he’s pulsed in that case.

For an IP team, he could potentially boost his defense high enough to run bonfire over luna, especially in astra.

We_like_Ike · May 31, 2020, 7:12am

Yeah no worries man. I find DB4 works really well in PVE content cuz I use him to clear most abyssal maps with dancer support. He wants to shut the enemy down in one encounter, so extra attack helps. For PVE I run him with with Moonbow/Glimmer and HB3 seal, DB3 is still fairly new and so my muscle memory hasn’t really changed from equipping HB3 haha. I can see where DB3 would be better if you run SpS for his B slot, as it just gives him that much more damage output with the special.

From my experience, I think lull Atk/def may be better for ARD. This due to the debuffing effect on defense, a stat most always buffed (along with everything else, ofc). So the lull will remove all defensive ability outside of drive, etc.

I use him on both ARD teams, I just switched his blessing when I locked him into either. I’m assuming you lock your AR defense teams? Never want to assume, just wondering haha. I recently revamped my ARD after not caring for a year, and the teams I run now (with him included) shut most teams down. I’m revamping again to include considerations for FLyon and LEdelgard, since that darn galeforce bs is annoying to deal with haha.

Edit: Oh, and in the revamp is expectantly Duo Alfonse with maxed out Duo’s Hindrance, since I get a plethora of Duo Alfonse, Idunn, some Palla, and I anticipate Micaiah, knocking at my door and it’s annoying. So now they can’t run those teams lol. Or they can and hope they can KO Alfonse before turn 7…

kakyoin01 · May 31, 2020, 7:21am

Gotcha, makes sense. I often tinker with my defense teams in AR most seasons, since many of the ideal heroes I’d use in them aren’t at max merges and full builds yet. I’m finally focusing heavily on building up for more competitive modes going forward, so it’ll take me some time before I can get away with that for long periods of time.

Zartholomew3K · May 31, 2020, 7:24am

Yeah, just slap two pulses on that boi with that build and he’ll be wrecking a lot of stuff. HB on a brave bow unit also fights a Kagero’s dart vantage, and the defense he has over Klein means he fights off Altina effectively.

He’s a good investment, don’t worry about that. I think you’d like Special Spiral to spam bonfires for PVE maps if you can, but lull atk/def is very consistent and works just fine. As a budget person, I’d be interested in Escape Route and death blow seal with savage blow on c or the brashperation combo if I invested into Gordin for PVE without shiny toys for skills.

We_like_Ike · May 31, 2020, 7:25am

Ah, makes perfect sense man. Yeah a lot of my characters aren’t at optimal merges, etc yet either haha. I just switch my skills and seals around a lot, that it would totally mess my ARD teams up if they weren’t locked. It’s fun getting a streak of wins though man. You’ll enjoy it with the right comps.

Edit: Uh not assuming you don’t get a streak of wins already haha.

kakyoin01 · May 31, 2020, 7:26am

I considered Escape Route or WoM on him initially…maybe with the right AR team comp he could put them to good use. Warrants further consideration, yeah.

Zartholomew3K · May 31, 2020, 7:29am

I view WoM on ARD to be… the one skill you put on your nuke if you have nothing else, hahahah (my nukes have been equipped with WoM 2 because no Cains, feelsbadman). Escape Route is a bit weird on ARD, I think, but it holds some value if you can trick them into triggering a lightning trap.