Where did this idea come from that we're capped at having 16 legendary heroes?
Also, Hrid's Gjoll is almost always a very large upgrade over L!/Ephraim's Flame Siegmund, the reason breaker skills don't see more play has to do with the fact that they tend to just cover the squares on slower units against faster units of the same kind - faster units or armor units (or units that like armor units gain attacks without speed, like BA Micaiah) meanwhile focus on general damage or tankiness with their B skills (Wrath, Desperation, Fighter skills, Special Spiral). But an omnibreaker all in one skill is sort of OP, which is why OG!Hector really wants Thunder Armads (it'd allow him to omnibreak with one less skill and make him able to do it on offense as well by letting him run Bold Fighter).
This is not to say that Hrid outclasses L!Ephraim. Partially, this comes down to stats (Hrid's as yet unknown, of course), the value of Solar Brace, etc. But Hrid definitely has a better player phase if you compare Galeforce sets where L!Ephraim can't even use his B skill.
(Hrid may have a better enemy phase "sort of" - an applicable breaker beats a Quick Riposte effect, but if you can avert a Hrid player phase onslaught the right assists and C skills can reverse the penalties that enable his set. So there's that. [EDIT: I don't think movement penalties can be reversed, so Hrid can gain his omnibreak effect irreversibly in short durations.])
Unrelated note, but I've been thinking about what is "powercreep" and what is not when it comes to skills like Death Blow 4, Fortress Def/Res 800, and Steady Stance 4.
And I've come to the conclusion that these skills aren't necessarily powercreep, rather they just clearly violate old patterns. Now that's a necessary but not necessarily a sufficient factor in powercreep, as there may be a factor in intent. For instance, with the relatively large stat and effect increases in Fortress Def/Res and Steady Stance 4, IS may be signaling that they want to make enemy phase units great again, or they may be signaling that their calculus regarding the value of defensive stat increases is changing. (For an example of what I'm talking about here, they may come to regard a skill like Bracing Blow as in 90% of cases only technically giving the user 1 stat that it is making use of, so they may decide to make a Bracing Blow 3 comparatively more powerful than a Steady Blow 3.)
I dunno if I would call his weapon staight upgrade.
It is generally better, but Ephraim's weapon is a easy to use. Just rush him into the enemy ranks and have fun.
Especially if you go for a sustain buils with his B skill.
Debuffs are often easy to hit, but you need to be more mindful. Ploys can be avoided and chills can proc on the wrong enemy.
And smokes are only after a fight
I hope Hrid has crap def and good res. To make him overlap less with other red cavs.
But with Hrid you can let the team do a lot more heavy lifting to set up the phase/sweep, with L!Ephraim a teammate positioned wrongly is counterproductive, the teammate has to stay behind or come into action second.
Hrid can get a break on possibly the whole team from any space if you come with 1 of every Chill, wield Smoke, utilize Gravity.
And, come to think about it, does the Gravity status even have a way of being removed?
I think that they just work differendly.
Hrid works best when the team is build around him. Ploys, chills ect just to keep the debuffs in 24/7.
He'll work well with Gunnthra and staff cavs.
Ephraim (and Eirkia& Walhart) can work as solo units, with the rest of the team doing their own thing.
I don't think the team has to be "built" around Hrid, in that a unit like B!Veronica can go on any team or certainly any cavalry team, but definitely synergizes with Hrid more than L!Ephraim.
The "ease" with which L!Ephraim is used isn't really a point in his favor, either. The "setup" Hrid requires doesn't potentially subtract from team performance, Hrid's "complicated" setup in fact may just be him having to move second after another unit. ("Setup" can get a lot more complicated, I give the example of BA Micaiah again.)
The value of a foe not being able to make a follow-up attack can also lead to episodes where an equal stat and skill Gjoll/Galeforce Hrid would survive against a comparable foe where a Flame Siegmund/Galeforce L!Ephraim wouldn't.
Short story:
Hrid is going to be a very good unit.
He'd be perfect if he was an axe unit but ah well.
For Galeforce builds Hrid wins. The smoke allows him to make sure any second unit he fights to be debuffed.
Ephraim still will be able to use solar brace well for sustain. And he's blue, so no direct competition.
A lot will depent of Hrid's stats. I'm hoping he won't go crazy and be above 160.
As a matter of story he maybe should be a cavalry unit - he's a lord who's operated within enemy territory / behind enemy lines, he's probably had some need for speed.
If he's mix-maxed appropriately for general situations then he'll have low speed, though having higher speed would help against units with middling speed that gain guaranteed follow-ups or prevent follow-ups.
Catria targets Atk/Def, while Hrid targets Atk/Spd, so not exactly the same debuffs. She also comes with Chill Res.
Also, don't forget about healers. They can inflict AoE debuffs, and negative statuses like gravity or pain. I've been using Gunnthra + S!Catria + Priscilla as my wind team. Hrid will fit right away.
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