Picking an inheritor for SPD Smoke

[TheEternalShade]

Well, I’m back again with a question surrounding my indecision and looking to gather opinions on my conundrum that can hopefully help me sort my own thoughts out.

So I got royally f_cked on the new banner. I mean a good several hundred orbs for 6 5*s, and the only banner unit I got was the Spark. I picked a Lilith, thinking I could still have gotten a Gustav because I never learn my f_cking lesson that RNGsus hates me with a burning passion.

But I’m going on a tangent. Basically, I have a lot of units I think could utilize Lilith’s SPD Smoke and I need help sorting out my thoughts one who should get the single copy I’ve got. These are my top contenders, as they are as of this moment. Some builds are still in-progress

Yen'fay

Self-explanatory. Triple mitigation is “haha damage?”

Say'ri

Say’ri is one of my favorite characters and I love her. She’s been massively outclassed lately, though, and this could bring her back a bit where she’s fallen off.

Lucina/Marth?

Lucina’s another character I really love and she’s my canon wife for Robin. I’ve been meaning to really commit to updating her, but haven’t really had anything that I could really use to update her with.
Marth? is F2P Lucina, so that one’s just as much, if not more of, a contender.

Soleil

Easily my most versatile swordswoman, she can fill a number of roles. Since her weapon gives her the Firesweep effect, SPD Smoke helps her cover for the fact that she can’t counter by doubling down on her mitigation effects for…64% mitigation? I think? I may be doing my math wrong, I’m doing it in my head.

Byleth

One of my favorite swordies, but far more situational; SPD Smoke gives my Byleth the mitiagtions a speedster like her wants without sacrificing her Windsweep strat for her Sword of the Creator.

Sharena

I try to build the Askr trio simply to have as a fallback for Arena seasons when I don’t have any of the bonus units invested in. That way, I always have at least one bonus unit ready to go. Given that she runs Spurn, doubling down on the mitigation with a grand total of +30 SPD (if using her three Bond skills). 63 SPD is not bad.

Summer Ogma

Love his design, and he’s quite effective in his role as a physical bruiser. Admittedly, he’s not topping my list of candidates; but he is a viable option.

Cordelia

An older initiator that is very speedy, making good use of the Smoke skill and the mitigation both. Also, she can make use of the Catch skill from Lilith as well (I believe I have a spare Lyre laying around). Problem is that she shares a similar role to my Masquerade Elidgan, one of my most-used and most-invested units who runs a Ninja Yari and does…a lot of damage.

Dagr

Dagr is best girl, and my favorite Mythic unit. I plan to +10 her, at some point.

Echidna

One of my favorite units, albeit one of my least used these days. I’ve been working on revitalizing her, starting with the Rein Axe.

Ninja Hana

See Echidna, but put her in AR.

New Year's Dagr

Another unit I have that I love, SPD Smoke gives her the benefit of being…pretty much the only DR these ladies have access to, while letting them keep their Null-F as well.

Pirate Hinoka

Similar situation as NY!Dagr, but squishier while also wanting to fight heavier-hitting units.

Ninja Lyn

Fast unit, powerful, very squishy, not access to mitigations outside of this Smoke skill. Could also use the Catch skill.

Sonia

My current merge project who’s still looking for a C-skill. I was considering Rouse A/S 4, but SPD Smoke could be good too while also giving her mitigation to counteract her inability to CC.

Summer Elise

Elise is my baby and I adore her. She wants good skills, and SPD Smoke could definitely help counter the fact that she’s a Year 1 unit. As much as I love her, that fact is getting harder and harder to make up for.

Ninja Corrin

See Lynja, but add in the “Elise” factor seen above.

These are my top contenders for the Smoke skill, so who do you guys think would make the best use of the skill?

• Yen’fay
• Say’ri
• Lucina/Marth?
• Soleil
• Byleth
• Sharena
• Summer Ogma
• Cordelia
• Dagr
• Echidna
• Ninja Hana
• New Year’s Dagr
• Pirate Hinoka
• Ninja Lyn
• Sonia
• Summer Elise
• Ninja Corrin

It’s also worth mentioning that I do have Vital Astra fodder available, which may also be added to the unit in question.
Yen’fay with Amatsu, Vital Astra, Spurn, and SPD Smoke 4 with Flayn as a partner is completely viable for me.

[PremiumMix]

There is only one right answer.
JK all are viable options, but Lynja would be a solid choice, Summer Ogma is also really good.

[TheEternalShade]

It’s also worth mentioning that I’m considering Muarim as a candidate as well; but I’m not yet committed to how I want to use him, so I didn’t list him.

I’m mulling over something like this.

Maybe Null-F or Null-C, I’m still thinking it all over.

[xchan]

I’d say keep FLilith. Her movement shenanigans are too good to miss out for a conditional DR.

If you are still thinking of foddering her, then NY Dagr would be the one I’d pick from that list as she is the one that will stay meta relevant for the longest time.

[TheEternalShade]

PSA: you guys can vote for up to three units, you don’t have to pick just 1.

[AniCre001]

I dunno, the way I look at it you’re going to want to use it on someone with decent EP capabilities that’s going to be attacking on PP first. I wouldn’t bother wasting the skill on someone just for +6 Spd that they can get from an ally.

So the worst units I see(Shorter list compared to the other) are Cordelia(Unit that relies on her HP being high should very rarely EP), and the physical ranged units. They can technically run it but I don’t think you’re going to get much mileage out of Dodge from them.

I’d say Yen’fay, S!Ogma, and I suppose any unit with good enough Spd and decent enough defenses would be best choices as they can initiate on PP, activate Dodge, the +6 Spd, and the -7 Spd on nearby foes means they’ll tank well enough and take full advantage of the entire skill.

[TheEternalShade]

@AniCre001

I dunno, the way I look at it you’re going to want to use it on someone with decent EP capabilities that’s going to be attacking on PP first. I wouldn’t bother wasting the skill on someone just for +6 Spd that they can get from an ally.

To be fair, none of them are looking at just the SPD aspect of it. The fliers have no other source of DR, Flayn excluded, especially the squishy ones like Lynja, and much of the infantry is dual-stacking DR.

@AniCre001

So the worst units I see(Shorter list compared to the other) are Cordelia(Unit that relies on her HP being high should very rarely EP), and the physical ranged units. They can technically run it but I don’t think you’re going to get much mileage out of Dodge from them.

True, Cordelia does rely on keeping her HP up, which makes the mitigations from Dodge all the more valuable IMO, along with the SPS boost it gives, also giving her access to Catch to help her offenses (most notably, her desire to quad). I’m not saying she’s the best candidate for it, but I do think she’s a good candidate.

@AniCre001

I’d say Yen’fay, S!Ogma, and I suppose any unit with good enough Spd and decent enough defenses would be best choices as they can initiate on PP, activate Dodge, the +6 Spd, and the -7 Spd on nearby foes means they’ll tank well enough and take full advantage of the entire skill.

I’d say, in Yen’fay’s case, it’s morr that he just doesn’t care than it is him having defenses. XD
The real downside for most of them is that most of the units I consoder the strongest options already have something like A/S Menace, making me question whether SPD Smoke would truly be a good option on them instead of someone like, for example, Echidna or Lucina, who need better C-Skills. That’s the wrench stuck in my thought process, whether it would be better used on somebody who needs it more than somebody who wants or can use it.

[AniCre001]

I would probably just keep the fodder then. I very rarely give out expensive fodder anymore unless the unit in question is going to constantly be using it, synergizes well, and I use them often.

I probably should have led with this but if you’re that unsure on who to get the skill then I don’t think the skill is very important to you. That’s not to say it’s bad or anything of the likes but a skill like this, while powerful, is also niche. You should know when to fodder it off onto a unit as it’ll be the perfect skill for them regardless of previous skills inherited.

[TheEternalShade]

@AniCre001

I would probably just keep the fodder then. I very rarely give out expensive fodder anymore unless the unit in question is going to constantly be using it, synergizes well, and I use them often.

That’s an extension of the wrench I managed. Like I said, I’m having trouble deciding if the skill of which I have only a single copy would get the most usage on someone I use that needs a better skill - to use Sonia as an example - or if it would be better on someone who has a comparable skill but could still use this Smoke to great extent. An example to that end would be Yen’fay.

Sonia is a unit I use frequently, who has her Drifting grace to add to her survivability. SPD Smoke would give her a good boost in SPD as well as, and more importantly, DR to compensate for the fact that she is highly vulnerable in close quarters. I use her frequently, she can utilize the skill well, and she needs a better C-Skill.

Yen’fay, on the other hand, can inarguably use it better as an additional stack of DR on top of his Amatsu and Spurn. But that raises several questions that make me hesitate. “Does her really need quadruple DR?” since I typically run him with Flayn. “He already has A/S Menace, does he really need this skill when he has that while Echidna’s C-Slot is left wanting?”

@AniCre001

I probably should have led with this but if you’re that unsure on who to get the skill then I don’t think the skill is very important to you.

Now that, I outright disagree with. It’s not that the skill isn’t important or I don’t know how I want to use it. It’s that I can’t decide how to get the most mileage out of the single copy of it I have. Summer Elise could make use of it on top of her SPD and bulk; but as I said in the original post, it’s getting harder and harder to compensate for her being a year 1 unit.
If I had multiple copies of the skill, this wouldn’t nearly as much of a point of debate in my mind.

Also, this debate is very frequent in my head as to who should get what skill. I had the same problem when DR - and a large number of shiny new skills - first came out. I held on to ATK/SPD Catch 4 for months before finally deciding to give it to my Corrinja instead of, for example, Cordelia.