So, Firebird is one of the newer classes, and it's been out for quite some time at this point so I think it's fair to say the class has been explored inside and out. There are some issues I believe that plague this class and hold it back significantly compared to the other two duelist promos.
Firebird can easily be compared to Kensei. It is hyper focused on one specific weapon type, the spear, possessing skills that can only be used with it and unlike Ghost, has no active defenses. Kensei is hyper focused on the katana, and has no active defenses, having skills solely for use with swords (katanas preferably) and having various tools to gain stats like evade, crit, and hit if using katanas. Firebird has a supportive aspect to it, but this is one of the issues plaguing it.
Those supportive aspects just are not viable. It feels like 25-30% of the class just has no place anywhere because of how trash these skills are.
Lighten the load... all it does is increase battle weight. Yes, it persists through multiple battles, but... really? Most people who have BW issues just take talents, or they simply don't care about the penalties if they're significantly high above their BW limit. Pretty much any setup sporting a lot of BW will have the strength and talent combo required to get under the limit, even if only by a smidgeon.
Let's look at Nest Flight next. This is a small line dash (which uses up magical feathers due to you moving) for 3M. If you end up in a plant tile specifically, you get a 45 evade bonus for a single attack. Otherwise it puts you airborne. What actually is this skill? The range is pitiful, and you're expending Magical Feathers no matter what if you use it. Relying on a plant tile is an absolute joke, and even then, the payoff is a single +45 evade for 1 attack. For 3M, feathers, and having to land in a plant tile in a class with no way to manually create those. Otherwise you go airborne. For 3M and feathers. Firebird already has Riser which for 1M and 2 Feathers can lift you or another unit airborne at will. Disengage exists in base Duelist and gives the exact same evade bonus while also healing you for a fixed HP value of the same evade and even distances you backwards about the same range this skill dashes you.
Valley Gale now. This skill uses all of your momentum with a minimum of 3 in order to give you Guard LV X, where X is 9 per momentum spent at the skill's max rank. It also has a condition that if your spear is worth less than 25% of your total battle weight, you can deflect a single bow or gun attack. Further still, if you are airborne you can avoid 1 instance of guard break. The skill has a 2 round cooldown. Where do I even begin here... there is never a situation where you want to burn every single point of your momentum on this skill. Even if you use it for 3M, it's not worth. One can argue that you're allowed to get Guard LV 27 while still being able to use a two handed spear, and potentially deflect an attack from a ranged weapon. This is, however, a very passive skill and one that can be abused. You're essentially spending 3M doing nothing but shedding 27% damage off their next attack. In the end, you're still getting damaged without doing anything in return. You could have spent that 3M getting damage of your own, using a buff, etc. Being able to deflect an attack also really doesn't matter, as, again, this took 3M to use. At best you just break even in wasting your 3M for them wasting their 3M on whatever attack you deflect. In the case of multi hit guns, then the deflection actually doesn't mean anything at all anyway.
Feather Veil is actually not bad at all. It has a decent duration for the buff, 25 Evade is significant, and 25 status resist is really nice to have also. The only real issue is 10 Feathers is kind of a steep cost, especially since generating feathers is not that easy to do unless you have a set up that can easily fulfill boon of apus' requirement.
Roaring Falcon is a mixed bag. I don't think this skill sucks per se. It's mediocre, but not awful. I've even used it myself sometimes. The only real downside of this skill is that the ally buff aspect of it can easily end up doing nothing if your allies don't use basic attacks, and with the current landscape of the game that's more likely to be the case than not. Given that the sound attack bonus damage is a one time per round add on and is based on the attacker's sound ATK, I think it could easily apply to whatever skill the ally uses first, and keep the firebird skill stipulation for the user. Still, with a duration of 5 rounds, and only 3M required, it's not a bad buff to your overall damage output. I think a case could be made for this applying to ALL basic attacks and not just the first one every round, but overall I think applying to ally skills is the only necessary change this skill needs.
Burn Away is back to the trend of garbage support skills. Not only do you burn the fuck out of your own ally, the reward is reducing the longest duration debuff on them by 3 rounds. MANY things in this game count as debuffs. This skill can easily end up nullifying a useless, longer duration debuff versus something more debilitating that has a shorter duration. Given it costs feathers and deals damage to your ally, I think either it should get a longer cooldown, 3-5 turns, and function like a weaker cleanse pot, or it should target from a specific list of status effects. Something like... interference, poison, charm, hesitation, etc. Things that you generally really want to get rid of if possible. Also, it should be able to target the user.
Now, Wind Flourish isn't a support skill, but I'll just list the rest of the utility skills here since there is just one more after this. This skill is really just not worth using either. The idea is okay, but for a 1 turn CD skill with such a small range I think it could use less restrictions. Spending 3M to pull or push an enemy 2 tiles is not worth just attacking them with a skill that moves you and attacks at the same time for 3M, which Firebird has multiple of. This skill does generate up to 8 feathers, which is actually pretty nice, but ultimately, you would still much rather just use a firebird offensive skill. There are plenty of them that both move you and/or the enemy and deal damage at the same time and none of them require feathers. If this skill was 1M similar to riser while keeping the CD I think it would be much better.
And then lastly, a skill mentioned a few times before--Riser. This one is fine, doesn't need to be touched. It does what it does well--provide set up for airborne requiring firebird skill. It acts as a skyburn, gain air, etc. in class so you don't have to have these externally for the same momentum cost those things usually cost and a very small feather cost. It's good.
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On to the next point of contention when it comes to Firebird... the damage. Now, in my opinion this is a tricky subject to tackle. Ignite Power holds a very large part of Firebird's power budget due to the potential to get upwards of 30 SWA simply from standing in a field effect that you inevitably spam anyway from cyclone spear. At worst you have to cyclone spear yourself, but I think anyone would use a skill that read 3M: At the start of the next round gain 30-37 SWA.
The problem is, even with this I don't think Firebird has the level of damage it needs for what it is. Going back to the Kensei comparison, the class is normally a glass cannon. It has some utility skills of its own (which are widely considered bad, other than the silence, and even then...) but it also has elemental impacts for its autohits which are what makes that lack of an active defense worth, specifically lightning impact. The amount of damage lightning Kensei has is well known, and it pretty much single handedly carries the class. Many people will tell you that for Kensei, it's lightning Kensei or bust. One can argue this is an issue with Kensei itself in that it effectively only functions if you're using an element--and one specific element at that--and they would be right. That's an entirely different discussion though.
The point is that, at least that crutch exists for Kensei. I don't think Ignite Power is enough of a crutch for Firebird to stand up by itself. Before Falcon Strike's nerf, the most popular build for Firebird was using it mostly as an augment for Ghost as a destiny Duelist, using ignite power and a Red Argus so you can use the increased SWA on a more relevant class while also abusing Falcon Strike. This further supports that ignite power really isn't enough to carry Firebird as a class of its own, and rather that it's more useful as a buff for some other class. At least with lightning Kensei, it can still be the focal point of your build and it doesn't seem like it's there simply as an augment to your 'real' class.
I think Ignite Power could stand to be made stronger in some form, but be made -exclusive- to spears and/or firebird skills similar to how claret call only works with basic attacks and ghost skills. If Firebird had a way to get more oomph on its own it would solve two issues: people using this class almost solely as a buff for some other class and this class not being that great on its own or if you're trying to focus on it.
As far as the actual Firebird offensive skills go, there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with them. Falcon Strike is still very strong after its nerf, even. I think that what happens is in reality, these autohits, while spear support, are not good enough that someone using a spear wouldn't still want to just go BK or DH to make use of autohits from those classes while also just having a generally better class. There are also some Firebird basic attack skills, however these feel a little redundant. Pierce Linker reminds me of Coulair, however with much more restricted range. It gets reduced damage if it hits through multiple enemies in exchange for an immobilize, but this will almost never come up. Dive Down is also similar to Coulair in that it gives bonus hit for the basic attack. Dive Down has the added benefit of being able to KD, and being able to do it with a relatively easy to fill condition. It can also inflict Aerial Razor which is a pretty nice damage boost. Unfortunately, this only lasts until your next turn, so it ends up falling flat. Either way, while all of the Firebird offensive skills are by no means bad, I think all of them really don't need to be changed fundamentally, they aren't enough that you would want to go firebird in particular even if using spears. I myself have more success simply going ghost and BK or DH even while using things like Fellgrant Drinker or Hundred Reflection.
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Just to briefly give my thoughts on the remaining passives...
Mentioned frequently in the previous passage, Ignite Power is very good--just ironically not that good for Firebird alone. It also suffers from being practical as only ice or fire. Lightning can KIND of work but it's a little janky. It could definitely use some QoL in regard to what kind of tiles boost your SWA based on your element. Either that, or Firebird could use a passive that converts cinders you would generate to your corresponding required special tile, idk.
Magical Feathers is okay... it could really benefit from having a toggle of some kind so you don't waste them.
Preening is fine. Does what it does well enough.
Plume Echo is okay.
Light Fall doesn't really do anything, especially without a toggle for Magical Feathers. That flight move will quickly disappear due to how easy it is to lose your feathers from doing pretty much anything.
Boon of Apus is nice when you have a set up that can make use of it efficiently. I don't think it really needs to be changed from what it currently is either way.
Roc's Rise is actually pretty good.
Kagero... is too specific in what it triggers off of in my opinion. I think its trigger could be extended to hitting into parries like Stalemate or Eviter as well.
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That's about it. These are just my thoughts and opinions, however, obviously.
Firebird can easily be compared to Kensei. It is hyper focused on one specific weapon type, the spear, possessing skills that can only be used with it and unlike Ghost, has no active defenses. Kensei is hyper focused on the katana, and has no active defenses, having skills solely for use with swords (katanas preferably) and having various tools to gain stats like evade, crit, and hit if using katanas. Firebird has a supportive aspect to it, but this is one of the issues plaguing it.
Those supportive aspects just are not viable. It feels like 25-30% of the class just has no place anywhere because of how trash these skills are.
Lighten the load... all it does is increase battle weight. Yes, it persists through multiple battles, but... really? Most people who have BW issues just take talents, or they simply don't care about the penalties if they're significantly high above their BW limit. Pretty much any setup sporting a lot of BW will have the strength and talent combo required to get under the limit, even if only by a smidgeon.
Let's look at Nest Flight next. This is a small line dash (which uses up magical feathers due to you moving) for 3M. If you end up in a plant tile specifically, you get a 45 evade bonus for a single attack. Otherwise it puts you airborne. What actually is this skill? The range is pitiful, and you're expending Magical Feathers no matter what if you use it. Relying on a plant tile is an absolute joke, and even then, the payoff is a single +45 evade for 1 attack. For 3M, feathers, and having to land in a plant tile in a class with no way to manually create those. Otherwise you go airborne. For 3M and feathers. Firebird already has Riser which for 1M and 2 Feathers can lift you or another unit airborne at will. Disengage exists in base Duelist and gives the exact same evade bonus while also healing you for a fixed HP value of the same evade and even distances you backwards about the same range this skill dashes you.
Valley Gale now. This skill uses all of your momentum with a minimum of 3 in order to give you Guard LV X, where X is 9 per momentum spent at the skill's max rank. It also has a condition that if your spear is worth less than 25% of your total battle weight, you can deflect a single bow or gun attack. Further still, if you are airborne you can avoid 1 instance of guard break. The skill has a 2 round cooldown. Where do I even begin here... there is never a situation where you want to burn every single point of your momentum on this skill. Even if you use it for 3M, it's not worth. One can argue that you're allowed to get Guard LV 27 while still being able to use a two handed spear, and potentially deflect an attack from a ranged weapon. This is, however, a very passive skill and one that can be abused. You're essentially spending 3M doing nothing but shedding 27% damage off their next attack. In the end, you're still getting damaged without doing anything in return. You could have spent that 3M getting damage of your own, using a buff, etc. Being able to deflect an attack also really doesn't matter, as, again, this took 3M to use. At best you just break even in wasting your 3M for them wasting their 3M on whatever attack you deflect. In the case of multi hit guns, then the deflection actually doesn't mean anything at all anyway.
Feather Veil is actually not bad at all. It has a decent duration for the buff, 25 Evade is significant, and 25 status resist is really nice to have also. The only real issue is 10 Feathers is kind of a steep cost, especially since generating feathers is not that easy to do unless you have a set up that can easily fulfill boon of apus' requirement.
Roaring Falcon is a mixed bag. I don't think this skill sucks per se. It's mediocre, but not awful. I've even used it myself sometimes. The only real downside of this skill is that the ally buff aspect of it can easily end up doing nothing if your allies don't use basic attacks, and with the current landscape of the game that's more likely to be the case than not. Given that the sound attack bonus damage is a one time per round add on and is based on the attacker's sound ATK, I think it could easily apply to whatever skill the ally uses first, and keep the firebird skill stipulation for the user. Still, with a duration of 5 rounds, and only 3M required, it's not a bad buff to your overall damage output. I think a case could be made for this applying to ALL basic attacks and not just the first one every round, but overall I think applying to ally skills is the only necessary change this skill needs.
Burn Away is back to the trend of garbage support skills. Not only do you burn the fuck out of your own ally, the reward is reducing the longest duration debuff on them by 3 rounds. MANY things in this game count as debuffs. This skill can easily end up nullifying a useless, longer duration debuff versus something more debilitating that has a shorter duration. Given it costs feathers and deals damage to your ally, I think either it should get a longer cooldown, 3-5 turns, and function like a weaker cleanse pot, or it should target from a specific list of status effects. Something like... interference, poison, charm, hesitation, etc. Things that you generally really want to get rid of if possible. Also, it should be able to target the user.
Now, Wind Flourish isn't a support skill, but I'll just list the rest of the utility skills here since there is just one more after this. This skill is really just not worth using either. The idea is okay, but for a 1 turn CD skill with such a small range I think it could use less restrictions. Spending 3M to pull or push an enemy 2 tiles is not worth just attacking them with a skill that moves you and attacks at the same time for 3M, which Firebird has multiple of. This skill does generate up to 8 feathers, which is actually pretty nice, but ultimately, you would still much rather just use a firebird offensive skill. There are plenty of them that both move you and/or the enemy and deal damage at the same time and none of them require feathers. If this skill was 1M similar to riser while keeping the CD I think it would be much better.
And then lastly, a skill mentioned a few times before--Riser. This one is fine, doesn't need to be touched. It does what it does well--provide set up for airborne requiring firebird skill. It acts as a skyburn, gain air, etc. in class so you don't have to have these externally for the same momentum cost those things usually cost and a very small feather cost. It's good.
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On to the next point of contention when it comes to Firebird... the damage. Now, in my opinion this is a tricky subject to tackle. Ignite Power holds a very large part of Firebird's power budget due to the potential to get upwards of 30 SWA simply from standing in a field effect that you inevitably spam anyway from cyclone spear. At worst you have to cyclone spear yourself, but I think anyone would use a skill that read 3M: At the start of the next round gain 30-37 SWA.
The problem is, even with this I don't think Firebird has the level of damage it needs for what it is. Going back to the Kensei comparison, the class is normally a glass cannon. It has some utility skills of its own (which are widely considered bad, other than the silence, and even then...) but it also has elemental impacts for its autohits which are what makes that lack of an active defense worth, specifically lightning impact. The amount of damage lightning Kensei has is well known, and it pretty much single handedly carries the class. Many people will tell you that for Kensei, it's lightning Kensei or bust. One can argue this is an issue with Kensei itself in that it effectively only functions if you're using an element--and one specific element at that--and they would be right. That's an entirely different discussion though.
The point is that, at least that crutch exists for Kensei. I don't think Ignite Power is enough of a crutch for Firebird to stand up by itself. Before Falcon Strike's nerf, the most popular build for Firebird was using it mostly as an augment for Ghost as a destiny Duelist, using ignite power and a Red Argus so you can use the increased SWA on a more relevant class while also abusing Falcon Strike. This further supports that ignite power really isn't enough to carry Firebird as a class of its own, and rather that it's more useful as a buff for some other class. At least with lightning Kensei, it can still be the focal point of your build and it doesn't seem like it's there simply as an augment to your 'real' class.
I think Ignite Power could stand to be made stronger in some form, but be made -exclusive- to spears and/or firebird skills similar to how claret call only works with basic attacks and ghost skills. If Firebird had a way to get more oomph on its own it would solve two issues: people using this class almost solely as a buff for some other class and this class not being that great on its own or if you're trying to focus on it.
As far as the actual Firebird offensive skills go, there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with them. Falcon Strike is still very strong after its nerf, even. I think that what happens is in reality, these autohits, while spear support, are not good enough that someone using a spear wouldn't still want to just go BK or DH to make use of autohits from those classes while also just having a generally better class. There are also some Firebird basic attack skills, however these feel a little redundant. Pierce Linker reminds me of Coulair, however with much more restricted range. It gets reduced damage if it hits through multiple enemies in exchange for an immobilize, but this will almost never come up. Dive Down is also similar to Coulair in that it gives bonus hit for the basic attack. Dive Down has the added benefit of being able to KD, and being able to do it with a relatively easy to fill condition. It can also inflict Aerial Razor which is a pretty nice damage boost. Unfortunately, this only lasts until your next turn, so it ends up falling flat. Either way, while all of the Firebird offensive skills are by no means bad, I think all of them really don't need to be changed fundamentally, they aren't enough that you would want to go firebird in particular even if using spears. I myself have more success simply going ghost and BK or DH even while using things like Fellgrant Drinker or Hundred Reflection.
=========
Just to briefly give my thoughts on the remaining passives...
Mentioned frequently in the previous passage, Ignite Power is very good--just ironically not that good for Firebird alone. It also suffers from being practical as only ice or fire. Lightning can KIND of work but it's a little janky. It could definitely use some QoL in regard to what kind of tiles boost your SWA based on your element. Either that, or Firebird could use a passive that converts cinders you would generate to your corresponding required special tile, idk.
Magical Feathers is okay... it could really benefit from having a toggle of some kind so you don't waste them.
Preening is fine. Does what it does well enough.
Plume Echo is okay.
Light Fall doesn't really do anything, especially without a toggle for Magical Feathers. That flight move will quickly disappear due to how easy it is to lose your feathers from doing pretty much anything.
Boon of Apus is nice when you have a set up that can make use of it efficiently. I don't think it really needs to be changed from what it currently is either way.
Roc's Rise is actually pretty good.
Kagero... is too specific in what it triggers off of in my opinion. I think its trigger could be extended to hitting into parries like Stalemate or Eviter as well.
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That's about it. These are just my thoughts and opinions, however, obviously.
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