Social "Time to Tip the Scales!" - Robin Social Thread

[ToothiestAura]

In general, for Robin, I think that the tomes being breakable means they will be powerful. Rather than building in inherit risks with Robin's Specials such as large end-lag, the risk is that Robin's moves can just altogether stop working for a while if you use them too much. It's similar to Little Mac's balance as he's powerful and fast, which is balanced by his poor air game. Sakurai seems to be balancing some of the new fighters a bit differently this time.

Just now noticed it, but is Nosferatu the first attack that will not force a character to turn around to face the attacker before the hitstun? Or did Zamus's Paralyzer Shot and Down Smash do that too?

Zamus was the first indeed.

 

[ToothiestAura]

Sakurai's subtle way of telling the FE creators "Have the Tactician class have dark magic in future installments you ****ers".

Am I the only one who assumed Sakurai was referring to Nosferatu's "back stab" mechanic as the thing to add to the next FE game?

 

[Hong]

Well, Robin for all intents and purposes is a "power" character. She is overrall slow with average speed on her attacks. I'm going to assume that the greater spells as well as Levin Sword are immensely powerful as a compensation for her less than impressive speed. Since she has more utility than the other power characters, the durability mechanic and a likely medium weight class keep her in-line.

Edit - The thread on Nosferatu has been merged into this one, since we're starting to experience an overlap in discussion.

 

[Skyblade12]

It doesn't seem to explain why the Tactician's canon name in FE7 is Mark. But if you like that interpretation, I won't argue with you on that.

It can't be Morgan. Lyn's recognition clearly states:
"Are you the enemy's tactician? ...Wait, what?! It can't be... Are you... No, that's impossible... I'm sorry, it's just...you remind me of someone very dear to me. A tactician, like you, who came to my aid time and again. This might seem like a silly question, but... Have you ever awoken in a strange place, unsure of how you got there?"

If you select "Yes", this is the follow up, and this is how we KNOW it isn't Morgan:

"I knew it! It happened three times to the man/woman I knew."

If you play male Robin, she says man. If you play female Robin, she says woman. This means that it cannot be Morgan, as Morgan's gender never matches Robin's. Since this also bases the gender of the tactician in Rekka no Ken on the gender of Robin, it implies pretty dang heavily that Robin is Marc either way.

 

[Skyblade12]

Am I the only one who assumed Sakurai was referring to Nosferatu's "back stab" mechanic as the thing to add to the next FE game?

Yep. While Final Fantasy Tactics games may include character facing, Fire Emblem games don't. There is no "back" to attack.

Sakurai was pretty clearly talking about a Tactician using Dark Tomes, I think.



Although I'm pretty sure that Grima Robin could use Dark Tomes without the class change.

 

[JaidynReiman]

It can't be Morgan. Lyn's recognition clearly states:
"Are you the enemy's tactician? ...Wait, what?! It can't be... Are you... No, that's impossible... I'm sorry, it's just...you remind me of someone very dear to me. A tactician, like you, who came to my aid time and again. This might seem like a silly question, but... Have you ever awoken in a strange place, unsure of how you got there?"

If you select "Yes", this is the follow up, and this is how we KNOW it isn't Morgan:

"I knew it! It happened three times to the man/woman I knew."

If you play male Robin, she says man. If you play female Robin, she says woman. This means that it cannot be Morgan, as Morgan's gender never matches Robin's. Since this also bases the gender of the tactician in Rekka no Ken on the gender of Robin, it implies pretty dang heavily that Robin is Marc either way.

Maybe Robin named Morgan after an alias he/she remembered.

 

[Skyblade12]

I am wondering how many uses the tomes will have, and how you'll know when they break/recharge. I mean, in Awakening, you can always just look at the counter to check durability. Managing four tomes and a sword all in your head will be difficult. I'm guessing we'll have some counter, or at least a sound/visual cue to know when they're back up.

 

[ToothiestAura]

I am wondering how many uses the tomes will have, and how you'll know when they break/recharge. I mean, in Awakening, you can always just look at the counter to check durability. Managing four tomes and a sword all in your head will be difficult. I'm guessing we'll have some counter, or at least a sound/visual cue to know when they're back up.

Something on the HUD like Little Mac's meter is my guess. It may get cluttered with all that on there, though.

 

[Skyblade12]

Something on the HUD like Little Mac's meter is my guess. It may get cluttered with all that on there, though.

Maybe just a color icon for each tome? Put a Yellow, Red, Green, and Purple icon on the HUD. When a tome breaks, remove it to show that tome is unavailable? Easiest way I can think of, though that would leave you to managing the Levin Sword (which I still suspect is going to remain out until it breaks once summoned anyway).

 

[Saito]

Let's just say my friends are going to be seeing a lot of this one. ^-^

I'm expecting a legion of Robins on day 1 of wi-fi.

 

[Drakonis]

I'm expecting a legion of Robins on day 1 of wi-fi.

Inb4 Robin requires 100 online matches or 100 hours playtime to unlock

While Robin's playstyle looks pretty damn interesting by itself, I would not be surprised if a lot of people who'll get Smash don't know anything about our tactician aside from him/her being from Fire Emblem.

EDIT: BTW, does anybody know a place with a lot of Robin gifs floating around? Saw the imagethread here in the subforum, but I didn't quite find what I was looking for.

 

[.Shìkì]

Sakurai's subtle way of telling the FE creators "Have the Tactician class have dark magic in future installments you ****ers".

The thing is, Female Robin technically could have had Shadow Gift (which lets you use Dark Magic as a technician). So it isn't that far of since that kind of thing exists in FE (as a female only thing though).

 

[Hong]

I have merged @U.N.Owen's thread on the magazine scans into this thread since a lot of the same discussion is starting to overlap.

@ Skyblade12 . @ ToothiestAura
That's possible. At first, I felt Robin needed UI elements to function, but after some thought, in combination with recent news, I no longer feel it is necessary.

I don't think tomes have a numerical durability score. Rather, they have a gradual recovery rate, and they only break when overused. Similarly, I think the Levin Sword has a set amount of attacks, and if we only have to literally count four strikes, the experienced Robin will know about the state of their inventory by virtue of consistency.

That said, visual information is still something of value. For example, a Wario main knows how long it takes to build up enough gas for a Wario Waft, but he still has visual indication for when the move is ready. I am going to assume the bronze sword glows brightest when the Levin Sword is at perfect condition, and the varying levels of voltage seen on the Levin Sword itself conveys this as well.

If we can't get a UI element that displays tome status, I hope that Robin at least has a visual indicator for when the tome has returned to perfect condition. Robin players will of course still have an idea of how long it takes, but it's hard to keep track of seconds during intense combat.

 

[.Shìkì]

Inb4 Robin requires 100 online matches or 100 hours playtime to unlock

While Robin's playstyle looks pretty damn interesting by itself, I would not be surprised if a lot of people who'll get Smash don't know anything about our tactician aside from him/her being from Fire Emblem.

EDIT: BTW, does anybody know a place with a lot of Robin gifs floating around? Saw the imagethread here in the subforum, but I didn't quite find what I was looking for.

If he needs 100 hours played I'll be doing some oddjobs to pay the electric bill while i'll have the wii u online in the background idling in a 1 stock match with no timelimit for 4 and a half days straight...

 

[Fireemblemfreak]

Well, Morgan doesn't remember siblings until you tell him/her, but Morgan looks up to Robin a lot, and says "what would Mom/Dad do?" and things like that, which is a major part of his/her character. Mark from Fire emblem 7 never mentions parents, but that doesn't really mean much since Mark doesn't really get to talk much. Robin only really talks when spoken to, like Mark. I don't know, Robin theory seems to make a lot more sense. I think the whole Mark/Morgan thing is just a throwback to Fire Emblem 7.

 

[JaidynReiman]

It is honestly pretty hilarious the way everyone reacted to Robin.

The hype was so real...nah...surreal.

I wish I could agree with you on this, but I'm hopeful. There's potentially several things going against Chrom right now.


I agree on everything except Robin being the go-to FE character for DLC. I really don't think Awakening will get two playable reps. If anything, I think Roy would be the go-to DLC because there are a lot of people who've never played Fire Emblem, only played Melee and liked Roy's "cool fire effects" and want Roy back, even if he was just an inferior Ike. Roy sucked in his original game but people still flock to Roy because he was "cool." Ike gets a lot of hate because he "replaced" Roy.

Thanks for posting that page, I was just about to look for it. Seriously, this is hilarious. I was so down in the dumps JUST the night before, even though I knew Robin was the better pick and I knew Robin's chances were likely, "Mii Fighter" just kept ringing in my ears over and over and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Before E3, I was dead-set positive that Robin was the pick. Glad I was right the first time. :D

EDIT: Also hilarious how I was dead-set sure we wouldn't get two Awakening reps, and low and behold... we got two Awakening reps.

I told AlphaZealot to not have the servers so close to Arena Ferox, but he wouldn't listen!

Same, Smashboards was dead for HOURS. By the time I got back in the Robin subforum had already been created.

So I know I can't speak for most but when I saw that trailer and realized who was under that hood I know I couldn't contain my excitement for what Sakurai just did. Ever since SSB Melee when we were all introduced to FE characters I of course couldn't help but get into the series right then and there. After thoroughly playing most of the games up to Awakening it came to mind something that I thought could be really interesting, "What would a mage type FE character be like in SSB"? Then suddenly on that Monday it all came true in possibly the best way. This character was all my questions answered just like that and I am far too happy to see him/her make their debut. Having say is going to be a main for me might not give him/her enough justice. Let's just say my friends are going to be seeing a lot of this one. ^-^

Well, as soon as I saw the floating figure I knew it was Robin. Before that point I wasn't quite sure.

 

[Saito]

Well, as soon as I saw the floating figure I knew it was Robin. Before that point I wasn't quite sure.

I was already saying "Oh my god" when I saw the elwind.

Spoiler

>Watching Trailer
>Chrom on floor
>OH **** IS HE NOT IN?
>"Lucina wakes her blade!?"
>What's with the question mark?
>Captain falcon
>OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH****TTTTTTTTTT
>Lucina about to get wrecked
>See Wind blasts
>Oh. OH, OH
>See Floating Hooded figure with electric sword
>OHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDDDD
>"Takes of hood"
>"TIME TO TIP THE SCALES"
>MFW

 

[Hong]

@ Gingerbread Man , the founder of this thread, still hasn't returned from his journey. Can't wait to see what he has to say.

The dream is real: A week later, here we are. The mystic warrior has walked out from our dreams into reality, manifested into a playable fighter. Durability mechanic aside, she actually turned out to be basically the median of our ideas. We contested levin sword versus bronze sword; we got both. Sword and tome in hand just the same is what we had envisioned. Charge moves, projectiles, and her properties overall are also something you'd find in many of the movesets. We even got our titular tag-line as a quip, and the oft-requested gender variation.

Of course, I don't think I'm speaking just for myself when I say the trailer has gone above and beyond our expectations. We got Lucina, the Falcon, and of course our very own beloved tactician. In fact, Robin exceeded my expectations, as far as presentation is concerned. The character feels very loved, and it shows. What is more is we have been given two rather detailed Miiverse POTDs and two articles in Famitsu that has more or less flooded us with knowledge. If you compare that to Palutena or Pac-Man, Robin fans have been aptly sated.

As some of you might have noticed, I have done a little housecleaning around here. I let the Robin forum party pretty hard for the first week of her announcement. Within minutes of the sub-forum being created, we had a flood of threads, and still more coming in daily. Now that we are moving more onto gameplay prospects and analysis, I'm going to attempt to keep things organized. I'll be fairly active in the Robin forums from now until release, and if she turns out well I'll still be around even after the game ships.

 

[JaidynReiman]

I was already saying "Oh my god" when I saw the elwind.

Spoiler

>Watching Trailer
>Chrom on floor
>OH **** IS HE NOT IN?
>"Lucina wakes her blade!?"
>What's with the question mark?
>Captain falcon
>OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH****TTTTTTTTTT
>Lucina about to get wrecked
>See Wind blasts
>Oh. OH, OH
>See Floating Hooded figure with electric sword
>OHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDDDD
>"Takes of hood"
>"TIME TO TIP THE SCALES"
>MFW
View attachment 18874

When I saw the wind attack I wasn't QUITE sure it was an FE wind attack, but Robin was the first one on my mind, I just didn't say it out loud, I was too nervous waiting to see who it actually was.

@ Gingerbread Man , the founder of this thread, still hasn't returned from his journey. Can't wait to see what he has to say.

The dream is real: A week later, here we are. The mystic warrior has walked out from our dreams into reality, manifested into a playable fighter. Durability mechanic aside, she actually turned out to be basically the median of our ideas. We contested levin sword versus bronze sword; we got both. Sword and tome in hand just the same is what we had envisioned. Charge moves, projectiles, and her properties overall are also something you'd find in many of the movesets. We even got our titular tag-line as a quip, and the oft-requested gender variation.

Of course, I don't think I'm speaking just for myself when I say the trailer has gone above and beyond our expectations. We got Lucina, the Falcon, and of course our very own beloved tactician. In fact, Robin exceeded my expectations, as far as presentation is concerned. The character feels very loved, and it shows. What is more is we have been given two rather detailed Miiverse POTDs and two articles in Famitsu that has more or less flooded us with knowledge. If you compare that to Palutena or Pac-Man, Robin fans have been aptly sated.

As some of you might have noticed, I have done a little housecleaning around here. I let the Robin forum party pretty hard for the first week of her announcement. Within minutes of the sub-forum being created, we had a flood of threads, and still more coming in daily. Now that we are moving more onto gameplay prospects and analysis, I'm going to attempt to keep things organized. I'll be fairly active in the Robin forums from now until release, and if she turns out well I'll still be around even after the game ships.

Yeah, Gingerbread Man is probably freaking out... or hasn't been able to keep up with Smash news and will freak out upon seeing the news. Either way, everyone has been freaking out over the announcement, and for good reason.


Frankly, if Robin caused Crashboards, I hate to see what happens when Ridley gets announced... That's when the Internet blows up.

 

[Reila]

It is honestly pretty hilarious the way everyone reacted to Robin.

The hype was so real...nah...surreal.

This was the best reaction:

IT'S HAPPENING. LUCINA. ROBIN M AND F. GEMATSU GETS REKT. CHROM WAS RIGHT AND ANYTHING CAN CHANGE.

 

[Folt]

The thing is, Female Robin technically could have had Shadow Gift (which lets you use Dark Magic as a technician). So it isn't that far of since that kind of thing exists in FE (as a female only thing though).

"Technically", yes. In practice however, Shadowgift only really comes up on one story character and two DLC characters, with one more potential character if you're playing as Male Robin.

 

[Hong]

Me in the Chrom thread:

My apologies for all the Chrom defaming you see in the Robin forums, SmashBoards, and much of the Internet at large. I wish you all the best in your endeavours. Good luck.

Meanwhile, days earlier in the Robin thread.:

I saw Lucina in battle and was like

Then magic came down and I KNEW who it was

Spoiler

And for the HERETIC GEMATSU CULT

For anyone who told me how wrong I was because they will take anything Sal Romano brings to you as gospel and are looking for an excuse:

Spoiler

Reading over the positive responses:

Spoiler

As for Chrom:

My sympathy

Spoiler

Yes. I'm just brimming with sympathy.

 

[Folt]

Eh, I like Robin being male by default since it contrasts nicely with Lucina, among other reasons.

 

[Reila]

I don't see male and female as opposite things, so I don't see how male Robin contrasts with Lucina. Robin being female by default would actually make things even. Marth and Ike/Robin and Lucina. Either way, I am hoping both Robins are featured in their slot, like in the fake CSS.

 

[Hong]

Ah, yes. I'm sure a cataclysm will come rolling in on the horizon if there are more active female characters on screen than male.

 

[Folt]

I don't see male and female as opposite things, so I don't see how male Robin contrasts with Lucina. Robin being female by default would actually make things even. Marth and Ike/Robin and Lucina. Either way, I am hoping both Robins are featured in their slot, like in the fake CSS.

It has to do with having a male spellcaster to a female swordfighter when it's often the other way around, genderwise.

 

[.Shìkì]

"Technically", yes. In practice however, Shadowgift only really comes up on one story character and two DLC characters, with one more potential character if you're playing as Male Robin.

I know, I'm just saying such a thing exists in the FEverse so it isn't as farfetched as some ideas for Lucina and Chrome were when they debated on "how the wouldn't have to be just another swordwielder" and concerning Ness' PK-Moves of which he doesn'T even really learn half of in his actual games.

 

[Drakonis]

That weird sweetspot where you are legitimately sorry for them but still find all the pictures hilarious.

 

[Folt]

I know, I'm just saying such a thing exists in the FEverse so it isn't as farfetched as some ideas for Lucina and Chrome were when they debated on "how the wouldn't have to be just another swordwielder" and concerning Ness' PK-Moves of which he doesn'T even really learn half of in his actual games.

I think Robin using Nosferatu has less to do with Shadowgift and more to do with bending the rules in favor of what works. Sure, Shadowgift is a skill that is in the game but only one unit in the game proper actually has it, discounting DLC and inheritance.

Besides, if Sakurai was influenced by something when he gave Robin Nosferatu, I'd think it'd be more because

Spoiler

Robin is the vessel for Grima, a being who does have dark powers, rather than because of a skill in the game who they do not even have access to.

 

[Hong]

That weird sweetspot where you are legitimately sorry for them but still find all the pictures hilarious.

It's partially a result of the Gematsu leak being defied, but mostly because of how he was treated in the trailer. Even Waluigi's being revealed as an Assist Trophy was more delicately-put, and he was a character few would expect. If Chrom was just shown as a POTD and not featured in the trailer like that, I don't think it would have been anywhere near as brutal. I mean gosh, he was defeated by the Falcon himself, the Smash community's idol.

 

[Hong]

Robin wielding a dark tome as a Tactician bothers me less than Ness using PK Fire and PK Thunder.

 

[CatRaccoonBL]

I honestly can't tell whether or not both Robins will appear on the CSS. On one hand, Robin is the only one to have both genders on Robin's banner.

On the other hand, all characters that are able to swap gender have only showed up as one on the CSS. Plus, it's kinda impractical if we talking in a Sheik and Zelda situation. If they both offer the same stuff, then there is really no point. Switching the gender on the CSS via the color changer buttons should be good enough.

 

[JaidynReiman]

It's partially a result of the Gematsu leak being defied, but mostly because of how he was treated in the trailer. Even Waluigi's being revealed as an Assist Trophy was more delicately-put, and he was a character few would expect. If Chrom was just shown as a POTD and not featured in the trailer like that, I don't think it would have been anywhere near as brutal. I mean gosh, he was defeated by the Falcon himself, the Smash community's idol.

The general idea behind it is that Chrom was taking a test to get into Smash Bros., but Captain Falcon beat the living daylights out of him, and had to be defended by his daughter, and she WOULD'VE gotten the living daylights beaten out of her if Robin didn't step in.

Although, it kinda makes sense... Robin is completely OP in Awakening and ALL the child characters blow the parents away in the dust, including Lucina, so Chrom just didn't have the strength to catch up...

 

[Frostwraith]

I did some research on the weapons used by Robin. All of them are actually recurring in the series, so even people who haven't played Awakening but have played other games in the series might recognize some of his spells and weapons:

Tomes:
Thunder - All Fire Emblem games
Elthunder - Genealogy of the Holy War, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Arcthunder - Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Thoron - Shadow Dragon (original), Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Shadow Dragon (remake), New Mystery, Awakening
Arcfire - Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Elwind - Genealogy of the Holy War, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Nosferatu - All Fire Emblem games except Shadow Dragon, both original and remake.
Appears as Dark magic in Gaiden, Binding Blade, Blazing Sword, Sacred Stones, and Awakening. Appears as Light magic in Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, and New Mystery.

Swords:
Bronze Sword - Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Levin Sword - Shadow Dragon (original), Gaiden, Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, Shadow Dragon (remake), New Mystery, Awakening

 

[JaidynReiman]

I did some research on the weapons used by Robin. All of them are actually recurring in the series, so even people who haven't played Awakening but have played other games in the series might recognize some of his spells and weapons:

Tomes:
Thunder - All Fire Emblem games
Elthunder - Genealogy of the Holy War, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Arcthunder - Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Thoron - Shadow Dragon (original), Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Shadow Dragon (remake), New Mystery, Awakening
Arcfire - Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Elwind - Genealogy of the Holy War, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Nosferatu - All Fire Emblem games except Shadow Dragon, both original and remake.
Appears as Dark magic in Gaiden, Binding Blade, Blazing Sword, Sacred Stones, and Awakening. Appears as Light magic in Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, and New Mystery.

Swords:
Bronze Sword - Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Levin Sword - Shadow Dragon (original), Gaiden, Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, Shadow Dragon (remake), New Mystery, Awakening

Yeah, I am kinda hoping they won't use Awakening-only magic for custom movesets, but I was aware that all the magics here were based on other games, and especially the fact that Robin's Arcfire animation is clearly based on the GBA games, its just too awesome.

My guess, though, is Sakurai wants to use items from throughout the series and not just Awakening ones, so that people who aren't familiar with Awakening will still recognize everything. The Bronze Sword and Arc spells are the only ones that might not be known to many people, but that said, diehard FE fans have probably played Radiant Dawn at least.

 

[Frostwraith]

Yeah, I am kinda hoping they won't use Awakening-only magic for custom movesets, but I was aware that all the magics here were based on other games, and especially the fact that Robin's Arcfire animation is clearly based on the GBA games, its just too awesome.

My guess, though, is Sakurai wants to use items from throughout the series and not just Awakening ones, so that people who aren't familiar with Awakening will still recognize everything. The Bronze Sword and Arc spells are the only ones that might not be known to many people, but that said, diehard FE fans have probably played Radiant Dawn at least.

I've only played Radiant Dawn and Awakening, so I obviously recognized all of the spells and weapons.

Non-Awakening stuff in the game is Marth and Ike as playable characters and Lyn as an Assist Trophy. Of course, those characters also appeared in Awakening as DLC, but, official artwork aside, they didn't really look like them in-game due to their models actually being Avatars. The only exception was Marth.

And yeah, there are a lot of items from the Fire Emblem series that could appear in this game. They wouldn't have to be necessarily from Awakening, but most stuff that appears in Awakening also appears in other games.

It would be interesting to have some swords and axes as battering items like Beam Swords. Or maybe Hand Axes as throwing items.

Certain staffs could work as unique items like the Sleep staff which would be a battering item which would cause the opponent to sleep like Jigglypuff's Sing. Another interesting item would be the Wind Edge from Radiant Dawn that would work like the Star Rod and the Ore Club by firing wind projectiles with each swing.

 

[Raykushi]

Let me quote myself : "I'M NOT SAYING HE COULDN'T BE TOP TIER." All i was saying that, if any of those things i mentioned WOULD happen, and i'm fairly sure some WILL to balance it out, having a method of recovering HP + Damage + Hitstun isn't a guaranteed spot on the top of the tierlists, like you worded it. As for being able to throw out of that move... I can't remember any "similar" command grabs being able to throw the guy away, when i was seeing it i was thinking along the lines of Diddys Monkey Flip. As far as i remember you only have the option to pummel or let go with that one. Same for Warios Bite. Can't remember another move that would let you keep attacking and then throw away, but i think if you could they'd have shown it off like they did with the standard backthrow. So eh...maybe another "unique" mechanic for Robin that'd give him 5 pummel+throw moves, or you can only release it... And gosh if that's so please don't be like Brawl Ness' Grab Release... *shudder*

Bowser in melee could command grab with his side B. If he grabbed you, he could take several bites out of you before tossing you behind him like yesterdays newspaper.

 

[Skyblade12]

I have merged @U.N.Owen's thread on the magazine scans into this thread since a lot of the same discussion is starting to overlap.

@ Skyblade12 . @ ToothiestAura
That's possible. At first, I felt Robin needed UI elements to function, but after some thought, in combination with recent news, I no longer feel it is necessary.

I don't think tomes have a numerical durability score. Rather, they have a gradual recovery rate, and they only break when overused. Similarly, I think the Levin Sword has a set amount of attacks, and if we only have to literally count four strikes, the experienced Robin will know about the state of their inventory by virtue of consistency.

I honestly disagree with you on the tome mechanics. Sakurai was building the character off of Fire Emblem mechanics, and regenerating tomes does not represent that.

Regeneration almost eliminates the entire idea of the mechanic, anyway. It would prevent you from just spamming a single move, but wouldn't come into play otherwise. It would turn it from "monitor and manage when your tomes break" to "make sure your tomes never break", which isn't in keeping with Fire Emblem, nor do I think it is as engaging of a mechanic. It would just put an artificial time delay on how often you can use moves. "Don't use Elwind more than once per 30 seconds of play" is not nearly as interesting.

That said, visual information is still something of value. For example, a Wario main knows how long it takes to build up enough gas for a Wario Waft, but he still has visual indication for when the move is ready. I am going to assume the bronze sword glows brightest when the Levin Sword is at perfect condition, and the varying levels of voltage seen on the Levin Sword itself conveys this as well.

That makes a lot of sense. I was wondering what the sword glow was.

If we can't get a UI element that displays tome status, I hope that Robin at least has a visual indicator for when the tome has returned to perfect condition. Robin players will of course still have an idea of how long it takes, but it's hard to keep track of seconds during intense combat.

Yeah, I hope we get a visual indicator, because not knowing when your recovery is ready could be dangerous.

 

[WakerofWinds]

Well, it's certainly possible that instead of "Robin broke his tome and then got a new one! Anna/Chrom is sneaky!" Sakurai prefers "Robin's hiding a Hammerne staff under those robes... unless you let the tome break. Now he has to go to the convoy."

 

[Skyblade12]

Well, it's certainly possible that instead of "Robin broke his tome and then got a new one! Anna/Chrom is sneaky!" Sakurai prefers "Robin's hiding a Hammerne staff under those robes... unless you let the tome break. Now he has to go to the convoy."

Sakurai on Nosferatu: This is the first time we've had a character use an ability they can't in their game." Robin can't use staves as a Tactician.

Why have the trailer state "I can only use them so many times" if this is the case as well? I'm pretty sure it's a "X uses then breaks" mechanic.