Zephiel Character Analysis [Fire Emblem Heroes/ FE: Heroes]

Zephiel

Personal Evaluation	8.0/10
Attribute / Weapon	Red/Sword
Rank	3~5  stars
Title	The Liberator
First Appearance	Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
Voice Actor	Taylor Henry

The monarch of Bern in Elibe. He lived a cheerful childhood but his perspective of the world was shattered. As king, he desires to have the world under the reign of dragons. He first appears in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade but can be challenged in Fire Emblem Heroes.

Stats

His default kit is a mixture of good and bad passive skills. Zephiel learns Life and Death 3 by default which does not pair well with his B passive Wary Fighter 3 as it hampers his sustainability. Another limitation is that his Stats are only neutral which is a double edged sword.

At first it is an advantage as it prevents him from getting any banes, but the problem is he fails to get a boon as well. Zephiel could fit in a team however because of his stats, but he requires some Skill inheritance investment to perform excellently.

Initial Stats

Skill List

Weapons

Name	Mt	Rng	Details	Default	Reqs
Iron Sword	6	1	–	–	SP: 50
Steel Sword	8	1	–	–	100 SP
Silver Sword	11	1	–	☆☆☆☆	☆☆☆, SP: 200
Eckesachs	16	1	Inflicts Def-4 on foes within 2 spaces through their next actions at the start of each turn.	–	☆☆☆☆☆, 400 SP

Special Skills

Name	Cooldown	Description	Reqs
Retribution	3	Grants bonus to damage dealt equal to 30% of damage suffered.	Default: ☆☆☆☆ Unlock: ☆☆☆ SP: 100
Reprisal	2		Default: – Unlock: ☆☆☆☆ SP: 200

Passive Skills

Name	Type	Description	Reqs
Life and Death 1	A	Grants Atk/Spd+3. Inflicts Def/Res-3.	Unlock: – SP: 50
Life and Death 2		Grants Atk/Spd+4. Inflicts Def/Res-4.	Unlock: ☆☆☆☆ SP: 100
Life and Death 3		Grants Atk/Spd+5. Inflicts Def/Res-5.	Unlock: ☆☆☆☆☆ SP: 200
Wary Fighter 1	B	Prevents follow-up attacks in combat from unit and foes if unit’s HP≥90%.	Unlock: – SP: 60
Wary Fighter 2		Prevents follow-up attacks in combat from unit and foes if unit’s HP≥70%..	Unlock: – SP: 120
Wary Fighter 3		Prevents follow-up attacks in combat from unit and foes if unit’s HP≥50%.	Unlock: ☆☆☆☆ SP: 240

Strategy

Zephiel has exceptional HP and Def allowing him to sponge multiple Attacks. Combining his stats and skills, he covers his Spd through Wary Fighter, preventing follow-ups to boost his already high defensive sustainability. He acquires Life and Death 3 which unfortunately has a huge trade-off between increasing his offense at the cost of defense. If Zephiel is designed to capitalize on bulk, consider leaving the slot free.

Unfortunately even as an exceptional neutral exclusive hero, he is only obtainable through Grand Hero Battles. This is a liability since there is a limit to the amount of merges that can be done. Moreover, he has weak Res making him susceptible to Tome units and dragonstone bearers.

As an armored unit, he shares the same burden with others and with absence of distant counter on his default kit he is forced to tank multiple hits before he can retaliate. This is concerning when pit against Blue tome units that have high Atk and Spd.

Counting Skill inheritance, Zephiel appreciates added sustainability. Passive Skills like HP+5 can augment this. To provide additional options for maneuver, consider passing Pivot and replace his Special Skill with either Bonfire or Ignis. The former presents a much lower cooldown, but the latter is essential for Chain Challenges and Tempest Trials because of the higher damage increase.

Because of his poor Res stat, he appreciates support from units that can take care of Magic casters. Heroes such as Nino or Julia can deal with Blue tome threats to give Zephiel trouble.

Counter

• Reinhardt – Capable of ORKOing him as he is blessed with Dire Thunder to deal with his weak Res.
• Abel – You could make a case for Abel who not only acquires Swordbreaker 3 by default but also has the Def and class advantage over Zephiel to deal significant damage.

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