I ended up getting VA!Roy for the 2nd free summon banner today. Man, I was really hoping it'd be my sixth Summer Takumi. The VA!Roy i got isn't much: he's +Res -HP. Probably going to fodder him for Death Blow 3.
So, I thought of a little dynamic to get this thread a little more active. Now that the merge changes have been implemented, why don't we show some of the units that had a horrible bane and now you can use better?
I'll begin
-First Shiro, he pity broke me 3 times and he always was either -Atk or +HP. But I had one that was -Atk +Spd, and taking out that attack bane he ends up with a pretty nice IV, due to avoiding potential doubles with some speed support. Good because I don't really have many infantry lance units.
-Next F!Grima. I've had three copies of her ever since her debut banner, but all had horrible IV's (-Atk +HP, -Def +HP and -Spd +Ark). Thanks to the update I can use a +Atk one, and it feels great since I ended up using the -Def +HP due to not hurting neither attack or speed. Now I can make her an all around tank due to being colourless, I'm looking forward to using her more on my flier team.
-I got flying Nino on her debut banner on my free summon, but she was -Speed... I still used her a lot despite the -Spd, but sometimes it hurt that she couldn't outspeed some units... On the legendary banner she appeared in, I got another copy (+Def -HP), and I was really happy because I knew I could get rid of that stupid bane. And hey, +HP is a superboon, so maybe she can tank some hits she wouldn't otherwise lol.
-Last, my favourite girl. Man, I remember that banner with such hate... I had more than 400 orbs to try get Lyn, but ended up with a Nephenee, a Shiro and a L'Arachel... Every orb I got was YOLOED to try get a copy of her, and thankfully she came, but with +Atk -Spd... It was the first time I decided to roll for IV's, and I've never done that thing again, because I ended up getting another one before the banner ended, and she was +HP -Atk... Oof. I built the first one and let the second on my barracks to remind me to never do that **** again. Well, guess what, it ended up paying off now! Now I have an armour nuke with the blade tome, and she isn't -Speed! I guess I should give her Bold Fighter down the line, but I'm happy she got a little better.
Honestly, not many units really benefited this change for me, but I'm still happy nonetheless. I want to see more units that can be saved thanks to it!
As someone who frequently uses Shiro, I can definitely say that he is worth the investment! With his default weapon and default base skill, he becomes a really good enemy phase tank that can wall almost any physical hit! I ended up giving him Steady Stance 4 from Surtr so that he can tank even better and have built in Guard so that he can access Quick Riposte as a B-skill and make use of a Defense +3 skill to boost his defenses further, and he rarely fails me. I always pair Shiro with an anti-mage unit, seeing how Shiro's biggest weakness is dealing with mages, and things work out well for him!
As for the units I have that benefitted from the merge update, the Ephraim I pulled from yesterday's BHB rerun banner was initially +Atk -Def, but I eventually pulled another one within the same banner, allowing me to remove the Defense flaw. It'll take quite some time to build Ephraim though. I don't have enough Divine Dew, and there are a few skills I need to give him before then, not to mention I'm still deciding whether to go for a more offense-oriented/semi-support set or a more support-oriented/semi-offense set.
The two Lokis I recently pulled from the last Legendary Hero banner are also another case where it'll take some time for me to build. I had one with a +Atk -Spd nature while the other was neutral. However, I accidentally merged the Speed flaw one with the neutral one, so here stat boost isn't as high as I wanted it to be (especially her Attack). I still plan on using Loki though, but I need to pull someone with Dazzling Staff first.
Now for the units I recently finished/modifed with the new merge update:
I've had this Tailtiu for a long while now. She was the first Geneaology unit I pulled from the Sigurd banner way back then, but she had a hit-or-miss nature of +Atk -Spd. Thus, I gave her Life and Death to improve her Speed. I've been holding on to several more Tailtius after she was demoted use for future merges, and with the recent weapon refine update she got, I was convinced in using her again. The merge update only made her even better, as it finally removed that pesky Speed flaw she had. Now, my Tailtiu is more optimized for battle! Let me tell you: she becomes a REAL potent blue mage with Tome of Thoron, especially when you give the effect refine that gives her a built in Darting Blow. Thus, I definitely plan on going for her weapon refine in the future to make use of that (as well as exchange Life and Death for Death Blow as it also provides a higher stat boost than the former skill). For now, this build is still really good. The combination of Life and Death 3 and Brazen Atk/Res allows her to deliver some brutal damage, with Ardent Sacrifice putting her in automatic range for Desperation to activate.
One of the many 5-stars I got in the Legendary Azura banner was Helbindi. I pulled two of him: the first was +Atk -Def, the other was +HP -Def. When I heard about the new merge update, I knew he'd be the perfect character to benefit from it. The Attack asset is a huge help to him, and thanks to the merges, he no longer has to worry about the lowered Defense. He is my next unit that I plan on giving Distant Counter too seeing how his Defense and resistance are both solid overall, but because I don't have any DC fodder at the moment, I gave him Steady Breath as an alternative for now, turning him into a solid physical tank. He is another effective physical infantry tank who also benefits infantry teams with his high HP and Infantry Pulse.
My favorite lord and one of my favorite units his Heroes has gone though a nice evolution in the last couple of months. On the final day of the Christmas 2017 banner rerun, I managed to pull another Winter Chrom as my very last summon from it! The initial Winter Chrom I pulled was +Atk -Res: a fantastic asset that already improves his skyrocketing-high Attack, but his Resistance flaw did hurt his Defensive potential a bit seeing how his Defenses and Resistance stats are close to each other. Thanks to the new Winter Chrom I pulled, I was able to remove the Resistance flaw from the initial one, turning him into an even better ranged tank than he already was! This is especially helpful for my Aether Raids defensive team where Winter Chrom serves as my "last defensive stand" of sorts that Surtr would normally fulfill (I don't have Surtr at the moment), and his improved Resistance will surely help with that! Bold Fighter 3 was a recent addition to him after pulling a bad nature'd Winter Ephraim who provided Chrom with that skill, and it helped Chrom's offensive potential a lot! He still uses Wary Fighter though, but it's only for Aether Raids. Otherwise, I stick with Bold Fighter whenever I use him.
What if I told I've been using a Brave Bow build on a +Def -Atk Halloween Jakob for almost as long as I started using my Armor Emblem team? How would you react? Shocked, yes? Indeed! I did use a rather lackluster Halloween Jakob, but I did all I could to circumvent the issue: give him Hone Armor buffs, equip an Attack +3 Seal on him, give him Death Blow 3, and give him Def Ploy 3 for his C-skill. All these adjustments helped Halloween Jakob do fine, but obviously, things would've been betteer if he didn't have an Attack flaw. Enter 2019 when the first guaranteed 5-star banner showed up: I pulled a +Atk -HP Halloween Jakob from it! I thus, ended up merging the old Jakob with this new one, and it improved Halloween Jakob's performance significantly! With all the skills, seals, and Armor buffs combined with his new and awesome Attack flaw, Halloween Jakob finally demonstrated why he is the best archer in Fire Emblem Heroes! With the merge update allowing me to merge thee two Jakobs and remove the flaws, the new Halloween Jakob is able to retain his decently high HP to improve his tanking potential too!