I've always lamented how Niles got really shafted with his stats in this game, especially since I consider him one of the best units in Fates. So I was playing around to see what I could do with him, and I've hit on something much better than I expected. Niles can actually be a decent offensive archer with this build. He's not gonna replace Bridal Cordelia or Brave Lyn anytime soon, but he should be totally useable like this.
IVs: +spd -hp (or -def)
Weapon: Slaying Bow (+spd)
Assist: Ardent Sacrifice or any
Special: Iceberg
A: Brazen Atk/Spd
B: Desperation
C: Def Ploy
Seal: Flashing Blade
Stats at 5*+0: 36/37/39/17/34
Stats at 5*+10: 40/41/43/21/38
(Good lord, the poor guy has more speed than attack even with his weapon equipped, wtf IS.)
From the beginning, Niles was clearly designed to be a low-attack res tank who did most of his damage with his special, and I actually got a bit of use out of him this way in my early days of playing the game. (Then I pulled a Klein, and poor Niles was lost to the abyss.) But with the flashing blade seal, Niles can now do damage with his special consistently. Assuming he doubles his opponent, he can proc his 2-cooldown iceberg every player phase, for a minimum of 17 extra damage. And once he's in Brazen range (which he'd want to be anyway so desperation is active), his attack and speed would reach 44/46, with his attack going up to an effective 49 if he can land def ploy (that's starting to look almost convincing). These numbers are assuming no merges - with merges he can get quite a bit higher.
I love this build especially because Niles is one of the best users of it. Yes, +res Summer Gaius or +spd Innes could theoretically run it a touch better, as they have the same speed and either 5 or 8 more attack, which would make up for the slightly decreased iceberg damage and less consistent ploying since they have 3 less res. But Niles, unlike the other two, is *much* more available for merging and a lot easier to obtain with the right IVs. I know, even with this build no one's gonna be reaching for Niles over their Brave Lyns, but for those of us who like Niles...
Note on IVs: the +spd boon is mandatory, but the bane can be either def or hp. Go for def if you care about preserving every last bit of his magical bulk. Go for hp if you care about bst (def is a superbane) or if you want to still be able to use ardent sacrifice to trigger desperation even at high merge levels.
Note on weapon forge: I considered a +res forge, for a higher-damage iceberg and better ploying, but ultimately I went with +spd, because if Niles can't get the double he's sunk, plus most units with more than 33 res have low enough def that it shouldn't be a big deal. (Outside of some armors, Fjorm, and a couple of dragon builds, anyway, but those units are likely to give Niles a bad time regardless.) A +res forge might become more viable if Niles has increased his speed through merge levels, but even then you may choose to run more speed.
Note full of wishful thinking: Hey IS, want to give Niles a prf? Maybe with a Wrath effect? I know, Wrath isn't normally available for ranged units, but flashing blade isn't available to fliers and that didn't stop you from putting it on Caeda's weapon. Niles has the same attack as Caeda. Like her, he needs something major to make him viable. Just saying. ;)
Niles was always meant to fight mages, and like Felicia, his statline assumes that they don't have much def. That's why he doesn't have much atk. He was not meant to get rough with the def-bulky types. (Felicia wasn't either, but I guess IS decided her atk is so low they could afford to let her use her ice powers in actual combat and not just as a special.)
Your build is definitely quite potent. Squeezing out as much atk as you can and backing it with a heavy iceberg.
Yeah, Niles and Felicia are pretty similar in that way. It’s also possible that IS will do something similar to what they did for Felicia if they ever do give him a refine, but I kind of hope for something a little different just for variety’s sake.
It’s kind of funny, Niles was a speedy low-attack mage-killer in Fates as well, but he was a much more useful unit, and Heroes is missing all the mechanics that made him good. (They also reduced his speed a bit, from “blistering lightning fast” to merely “pretty good”. Sigh.)
I completely agree with pretty much everything said. I also like Niles, and had a hard time placing him as something remarkable. His Atk is low, but it's not like his Spd makes up for it. He should at least have Felicia's 37 neutral Spd, and he doesn't even have a fancy Prf to make up for it.
I built a similiar idea (pretty identical, actually). I wasn't convinced in his Iceberg damage, but Def Ploy really helps (on top of Brazen; I went for Fury instead). If you can get him to double consistently (like, 95% of enemies) with something like Drive Spd, I'd consider Glacies. Think of it, his Atk should be enough to 2HKO squishy mages as it is. With a hard Glacies (+Res Tactic), he might be able to put down some Hectors.
Yeah, I’d probably 4*+10 him except I never seem to pull him enough, and usually I need the ones I do pull for iceberg fodder. Might just build a 5* one now and merge him down if it becomes feasible. Or wait until I finish my current merge projects and then start slowly 5* merging him, if I’m feeling crazy.
Yeah, Felicia, Caeda, and Fir all come to mind as units with the same low attack as Niles (actually lower in Felicia’s case), but they have 36/37 speed AND they’ve all gotten fancy prfs that help them do more damage. Niles is overdue.
The Glacies idea is good, I went for consistency over power but it might be worth it if it helps him take out bulkier units. One reason I’d love a wrath effect on his hypothetical prf weapon is that he could potentially run a “Glacies every other hit” build, as long as the weapon still had a regular cooldown reduction in addition, a la Berserk Armads. Although I’d settle for a Wo Dao effect which would boost his Iceberg by 10.
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