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Best IVs for Mixed Defense Nowi?

I'm trying to sort out the best bane or boon for my Nowi.

She has +def lightning breath, warding breath, QR 3, drive res 2, and bonfire, but that's a placeholder for aether.

I'm between +Atk and +Res/Def for Boons, and -Spd or -HP for banes, which is my biggest question anyway.

Pros of -spd: Get doubled to charge special faster, get more bulk from not having to lower HP.
Cons of -spd: Gets doubled by everything scary, including Julia, falchions, etc. (She probably doesn't live those anyways?)

Pros of -HP: Easy to patch up since LB refine gives +5 hp, and Summoner Support also gives +5 at S. Lets her keep a speed stat.
Cons of -HP: Misses some favorable doubles, reduces overall bulk a bit.

Asked by Spencer8 months 3 weeks ago

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Answers

-hp,+atk

What important doubles does she avoid by not going -spd? or are you just -spd averse?

It's not so much the doubles she avoids. The dragons by and large can afford the hit to HP, because most of them have such high HP pools to begin with, and they gain 5 from refining their breath attacks.

And Nowi lives through Falchions quite well. It takes a lot of dedicated buffing up for them to cut her down. The most dangerous is Alm without a doubt, but if you have Nowi initiate the attack, he doesn't get his Double Lion attack, and he likely won't live through her attack anyway(his Res is....quite low) I know of a set for Chrom that can make him 1 hit her, but that's not something you'll have to worry about from the AI. It requires Ally support for 1, which is not considered for opposing teams. Marth's Atk is just too low to cut through Nowi as long as you have her def buffed up decently, which it sounds like you do.

That just leaves the two faces of Lucina. She can have at most 50 HP and 23 res, if they are neutral and she's max merge. You have no chance to outspeed her at that level, unless Nowi is majorly dedicated for speed. 37 base +12 mt gives her an atk of 49. Sadly, there is simply no way to boost this high enough to take Lucina out in one shot, and short of Swordbreaker to block the double, or a set that maximizes Nowi's defense, she will be cut down.

So really, you only need to watch out for Lucina.

Okay, so again I ask, what does neutral spd do for her that -spd does worse or that it's valuable enough to reduce her hp? I mean it's really not that big of a difference tbh, but I just don't see the point in having 27-31 spd.

That speed is important.

But why? Can you point to a specific instance in which it is helpful? In a meta where the baselines speed is basically 35 after skills? With Nowi only hitting 31 at +10 merges?

Edit: Unless you're suggesting she be +spd? Which can somewhat defeats the purpose of the QR Breath set, imo.

I am with you. -Spd is the best bane. You want some doubles to activate your special. Any slow characters that Nowi even has a chance of doubling are already running skills like Vengeful Fighter.

It's a matter of boons and banes. Nowi's Spd bane is a superbane, meaning it's reduced to a truly pitiful 23 speed when unmerged, and 27 when fully merged. That means you can be doubled by a neutral speed Fae. A Fae. It also means that neutral speed Deidre will always double, so there's not even a small chance of surviving that ever. Brave Ike also says hello. All of those have 28 speed neutral. Keep in mind that there's even more Green units who are less common, who also have speed ranging from 28 to 31 and can now double Nowi because of her speed drop. Also keep in mind that an opposing neutral speed Nowi with any sort of speed boost (like from Fury or merges) will double.

Essentially, several Green units that normally you might survive in a pinch situation can now double on you, meaning you just get T-Bagged on by them. Additionally, much more Blue and Red units can double, who are also in that 28-31 speed range, although you'll still beat them. Having a -Spd bane just means you'll be taking a lot more chip damage from assorted enemies, and lose more to some dangerous Greens.

But, obviously, you'll avoid most situations against Green units when using Nowi, and she still beats the things she's supposed to. Since the Hp remains neutral, you can still use Panic Ploy or Infantry Pulse - two of her best C-Slots. That's why -Spd is a contender for best bane. However, I personally would go for -Hp, if you're not going for Panic Ploy or Infantry Pulse. The marginal increase in total bulk caused by a neutral Hp doesn't make up for the extra damage that you can end up taking sometimes from unexpected doubles.

Essentially, I recommend -Spd if you're using Panic Ploy or Infantry Pulse and want a mixed Nowi. If you aren't using those abilities, -Spd will work just fine, and is actually pretty solid with Aether and Steady Breath since you want more units to double you. Both banes are on pretty equal level though.

Hope this helps!

Hey thanks for this! I think I just got caught up on losing out on some special charge from not getting doubled, but I see how those truly slow match-ups might be good to have.

Mine is +res -hp, I already have a Lukas to tank anything physical and wanted Nowi to be a mixed tank. She's nearly done.

I’ve got a +res -hp nowi and she’s great. She can take down a merged, buffed, deathblow moonbow Reinhart. I run fury and distant defense on mine which is largely responsible for this too. Quick Riposte is great too, allowing her to take out Lyn. I run vantage on mine which works out well with the -hp, but if you really want to go -spd then quick riposte is (I guess) the better option. Anyways, importance of speed being able to double certain blue units, along with making her overall match ups better. Not to mention if you have someone on your team running chill speed, it works in your favor not to run a speed bane.