FEH New Year's Banner - Should You Summon?

As the New Year rings in, so do new heroes dressed in Hoshidan New Year's garb. Azura,  Takumi, and Camilla have come in traditional kimonos to use things that shouldn't be used as weapons as killing devices, as is typical of most seasonal banners. In this post, I will be discussing the stats and skills of each unit, and whether or not they're worth summoning for.

Azura: Celebratory Spirit

The Hoshidan songstress, in her second seasonal incarnation, dons a traditional kimono for the new year celebrations. Azura comes in a new class of her own as a flying dancer, meaning that she has additional mobility to travel to allies that need to be sung to, and that fact alone makes Azura one of the best units in the game. Azura also has an impressive Spd stat of 35, but her Atk is somewhat low at 30, but players should be using her as a support unit rather than someone that will see combat often. Azura's defensive spread is also rather middling; at 22 Def and 26 Res, it would be unwise to place her anywhere near the front lines. 

Azura's real use lies in her skills. She comes with Earth Dance, which will let her shore up an ally's Def stat by up to 5 in a pinch, but you could also replace it with the dancer-typical Wings of Mercy, which would allow her to teleport adjacent to any ally at or under 50% HP. Also in her base kit is the much-coveted Hone Fliers, which lets Azura buff flier allies for a massive +6 Atk/Spd, further solidifying Azura as a support unit. Finally, her weapon, Hagoita+, acts as a Drive Def/Res skill, which, with the rest of the skills in her base kit, will allow her to buff all four stats of a flier ally.

Why would you summon?

Flier dancer. FLIER DANCER. Azura can buff ALL FOUR STATS if she's near another flier ally. Seriously, she's a must for Flier Emblem. You haven't gotten any extra Hinokas or Halloween Nowis and are getting a bit desperate for Hone Fliers. I personally believe this banner is worth summoning for just for Azura.

Why wouldn't you summon?

Um... you've already built your Flier Emblem team? You just don't like Azura? 

Takumi: Prince of Soup

Everyone's favorite pineapple prince dons what he calls a kimono but upon a Google search I found out is actually a hakama. The trend of using strange items as weapons continues, as Takumi is a dagger user that throws... mochi. They must be damn sharp mochi at that, too, because Takumi is the best offensive dagger unit in the game with a lovely 34/34 offensive spread. While his Def stat of a measly 17 leaves much to be desired, Takumi also sports a decent 27 Res. 

The most valuable skill on Takumi is Atk/Res Bond, which debuted on Halloween Nowi back in October. It essentially acts as a self-granted Spur skill when adjacent to any ally, which means that Takumi's Atk can be raised to 39 and his Res stat up to 32, which makes him also adept at tanking magic hits and retaliating. Takumi also comes with Bowbreaker, but with that Def stat, he's clearly not meant for any kind of physical combat. (It's a pretty ironic skill to have, considering that the non-seasonal Takumi is an archer.) Finally, Takumi's weapon, Kagami Mochi+, serves as both a killer weapon and an AoE debuffer, assisting the rest of your team in a clean sweep of the enemy team and synergizing well with his default Moonbow, which will allow Takumi to pierce through the enemy's Def easily with a mere 1 charge cooldown, which, with his high Spd, will allow him to proc it in most rounds of combat that he's involved in.

Why would you summon?

You want an actually decent dagger user. Takumi's base kit, aside from Bowbreaker, synergizes very well with his stats. You want to see how this prickly pineapple will end up using mochi as daggers.

Why wouldn't you summon?

Takumi's Def stat is really low. His Res stat, while decent, might not be enough to tank meta-defining units like Reinhardt. Your faith in dagger units has been forever ruined by the likes of Jaffar.

Camilla: Holiday Traveler

The Nohrian princess returns in her second seasonal variant, this time donning what I seriously doubt to be a kimono, but I'll roll with that for now. Camilla is one of four sword-wielding flier units, and the first one to be riding a wyvern. She also sports a great 33 Atk and 35 Spd, making her one of the best offensive red fliers, trounced only by Elincia. Camilla also possesses a fair amount of Def at 31, making her one of the best candidates for the Iote's Shield sacred seal. Her weak point is her meager 23 Res, which could give her trouble in combat with mages and dragons.

Camilla comes with a new A-slot skill, Spd/Def Bond, that, like the rest of the Bond skills, grants her +5 Spd/Def when adjacent to another ally. With Camilla's already impressive Spd and Def, this skill could work to make Camilla into a tank that can get hit hard and hit back harder. Her special, Draconic Aura, works well with her high Atk to boost her damage, especially with her high Spd, and Ward Fliers lets her give in-combat fortifications to flier allies, which, stacked with Kadomatsu+'s +2 Def/Res, grants a total of +6 Def/Res in combat.

Why would you summon?

You want a sword flier and don't want to invest in Palla or Caeda to make them work. You want Spd/Def Bond for another unit. You want a physically bulky and fast flier and Camilla's normal incarnation's low Atk is just not doing it for you.

Why wouldn't you summon?

You already have Elincia, who's better at player phase offense than Camilla. You've already invested in Palla or Caeda and don't need another sword flier. Camilla's 23 Res won't cut it when it comes to combat against mages. A Nohrian princess has no business being in a Hoshidan-themed banner, though I think we all know why she's here anyway.

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Honestly, I'd say this banner is worth summoning for Azura alone, but even if you ignore Azura, Camilla and Takumi are solid units in their own rights. The good news is that this banner will run for a full month, which is a lot of time to gather orbs to summon, and a certain other New Year unit may come as a free reward in an event in January, so you don't have to worry about him breaking your pity rate for Takumi.