Looking forward to it personally. Even though Valflame (by the way that name really bothers me now that the official translation for the Crusader is Fjalar- names being changed a bit I can handle, but the thing was called Falaflame in Japan so now its name makes no real sense) doesn't have its massive Mt from its original game, Arvis is a pretty interesting unit with his massive RES to active its double ploy effect (plus his inbuilt C slot ploy skill). If they release some more ploy skills via sacred seals it turns him in a really powerful debuff unit. That's without mentioning how he's just a really good Red Tome just on his own, and aside from allowing him ever more flexibility in a healer support role, the Recover Ring can also synergize well with the omnipresent Fury which pushes his stats even higher. He's just a really flexible unit overall (and is another nice middle finger to daggers which are still waiting for some kind of buff).
Also yeah, Ayra and Sigurd both have +5 BST like villager units do, which is pretty clear power creep. It makes it so that Sigurd has a higher BST than normal infantry despite having a pony to ride around on. That's without accounting for the fact both of them have two very powerful exclusive skills. Oddly enough, Deirdre, Arvis, and Arden all don't have that bonus BST. The only other units that have it were the two CYL winners (BIke and Bow Lyn), but most people assumed that was just a special case.
Also you guys are underselling Arden, he's awesome. Because of his guaranteed Quad it means you can make his dream come true by sticking Galeforce on him and giving him an armor march. Watch him zoom across the map and delete two units for you.
At least her name wasn't localized as Odly as poor Od's was (plus its still pretty phonetically similar to Fala). And yeah, all Arvis needs is a Spd Ploy Seal and he'll be set for Ploy life. That said, Recover Ring is pretty neat, but it does prevent him from stacking it with Renewal due to occupying the same slot (although Recover Ring is strictly superior anyways since it heals the same amount overall as Renewal 3, but the healing comes more frequently; Recover Ring on a Falchion user would've been amazing). Either way, he'll be our first Red Tome GHeB and will be a solid contender (unlike F!Robin; although the game handed out Cecilia for free a couple of times anyways so its all good).
Meanwhile, your description of Arden reminds me of that Super Thracia hack where the first stage has an Arden randomly stuck into it who basically serves as an IWTBTG trap due to possessing capped stats and instant transmission (this also suggests that somebody on the dev team was probably thinking of that very same hack when they implemented him into FEH). Also it is hella amusing that he's the one running around with the
Hero Brave Sword and the
Pursuit Follow-Up Ring (I want to believe that the T_T or a 5 star Level 40 speech will casually reference him getting paired up with Ayra).
And yeah, Sigurd and Ayra are basically CYL units in disguise. Hell, Sigurd even comes with all three Support Skills like Bowlyn and Bike (while Ayra trades one of those for the game's first fourth tier Special). Not to mention that those two are the ones the first two Paralogue 13 stages are named after.
Anyways, having finished up everything available short of CCs and SAs, I pulled for Dancers with the Orbs I've got but got pretty screwed on color representation (3 Red Orbs, which are only useful if I were gunning for an Olivia, and not the Dancer Festival kind). I did walk away with a 4 star Clair (there, that's all of Gaiden's/Echoes' Blue units), but my pity rate still remains at 3.75% as I dare not dive into that minefield (especially since I'm still short on Red Gaiden/Echoes units).
Curse Breaking Edit: Umpteenth time was the charm. Olivia mkII Get! I want at least one more Dancer so I'll pull again (at least I only need try for Blue and Green Orbs now). Of course she's +HP and -Spd which sucks (-Def would've been better, although she can at least live with -Spd since Dancing is her priority and she can still damage foes).
GHeB Double Edit: Beat Lunatic Arvis and got him for the upcoming T_T. Interesting side note is that Arvis also namedrops Maera, his ancestor from the Loptyr side of his family. Wasn't aware that he was aware of this particular lineage prior to the timeskip (or maybe it was Deirdre's full lineage he was unaware of at first), though maybe he took a look at his Holy Blood chart beforehand and didn't mention it during the game.
Holy Blood Edit: And done. That didn't take that long in the face of Mounted Emblem (and a fully upgraded Distant Def Seal). Didn't even need a Dancer or a Stamina Drink this time. Just a team of 5 star Blarblade Ursula with Reposition, Hone Cavalry Red Tomebreaker 2, and the Distant Def 3 Seal, 5 star Eliwood with Reposition, Deathblow 3 and Fortify Cavalry, 5 star Gronnblade Cecilia with Reposition, Triangle Adept 2 and Hone Cavalry and a 4 star Frederick with Draw Back, Fury 2 and Fortify Cavalry.
