Fire Emblem Heroes Guide 2026: Tier List, Banners, Reroll, Summons, Events, and Beginner Tips
Starting Fire Emblem Heroes in 2026 is a very different experience from starting it during its first few years. The basic idea is still wonderfully simple: summon characters from across the Fire Emblem series, build four-unit teams, and fight tactical battles on compact maps. Underneath that simple setup, though, FEH has accumulated nearly a decade of systems, hero types, skill inheritance, competitive modes, blessings, Emblems, Duo skills, Attuned skills, Vista Heroes, and enough weapon descriptions to make some modern units feel like they brought an instruction manual into battle.
I still think FEH is surprisingly friendly to someone starting fresh, mainly because the game gives new players years of story Orbs, free summons, guaranteed characters, Heroic Grail units, and several excellent free or low-cost options. The biggest beginner mistake is not having a weak account; it is spending every Orb the moment a shiny banner appears.
This guide focuses on the current Fire Emblem Heroes environment as of October 21, 2026, including Version 10.10.0 and Book X. I will cover how I would start a new account, whether rerolling is worthwhile, which units currently stand out, how summoning actually works, what the different special Hero categories mean, and how I would approach modes such as Arena and Aether Raids without turning the game into a second job.
I. Fire Emblem Heroes Overview
A. What Fire Emblem Heroes Is and Who Publishes It
Fire Emblem Heroes, usually shortened to FEH, is Nintendo and Intelligent Systems' mobile tactical RPG based on the Fire Emblem franchise.
You play as the Summoner of the Order of Heroes and recruit characters from almost every major Fire Emblem title. That includes classic characters such as Marth, Roy, Ike, Lyn, and Hector, newer characters from Three Houses and Engage, original FEH characters such as Alfonse, Sharena, Gullveig, and Seiðr, and now heroes connected with newer Fire Emblem releases as well.
Battles take place on compact grid maps. Most teams contain four heroes, which means positioning matters constantly. One bad move can expose your mage to a cavalry nuke or leave your support unit standing exactly one square too close to an enemy.
FEH is technically free-to-start. You can clear story content and build a serious roster without paying, while premium spending mainly revolves around Orbs, FEH Pass, and optional packs.
B. Platforms: Android, iOS, APK, and Download
Fire Emblem Heroes officially supports Android and iOS.
On Android, I recommend installing it through Google Play whenever it is officially available in your country. On iPhone or iPad, use Apple's App Store.
There is no official standalone Nintendo APK that I would recommend downloading from random third-party websites. Even if you find a current APK mirror, sideloading introduces unnecessary risks involving outdated versions, modified packages, account security, and updates.
The game is still designed primarily for phones and tablets rather than as a native PC title.
One important account detail: FEH save data can be linked to a Nintendo Account and moved between devices, but Orb balances have platform restrictions when moving between iOS and other operating systems. I would therefore avoid constantly swapping platforms if you maintain a large Orb balance.
C. Latest News and Update Summary
The current game version is 10.10.0, with the story taking place during Book X, where Ragnarök and the larger conflict surrounding Alfaðör continue to shape the main story.
The October update gave new skills and weapon improvements to older premium units, including Legendary Alear and Emblem Ike, showing how FEH increasingly uses Remix updates to keep older special units relevant.
The current major New Heroes banner launched on October 16 and features:
Dimitri: Dual Idealists, paired with Claude.
Edelgard: Beyond Bounds, paired with Lysithea.
Gullveig: Seer Reborn, a Vista Hero.
The update also added Book X Chapter 12, A Prince Lost.
Another major 2026 addition is the Vista Hero system. Vista Heroes provide a collectible status scene and Vignette that can strengthen another hero while also changing the presentation of that hero's status screen.
FEH also introduced Divine Games, a mode where much of your normal build is stripped away and you instead select special temporary Divine Arts during a sequence of battles. I actually like the idea because it creates situations where owning the newest premium skill does not automatically solve the map.
II. Beginner Guide
A. New Player Tutorial and First Steps
My first goal on a new account is not Arena.
It is collecting resources.
Clear the opening tutorial, then start pushing the main story on Normal difficulty. Older Books are extremely easy compared with modern units, so a powerful recent five-star hero can bulldoze through huge sections of the early story.
Story maps give Orbs at a fast rate for a new player. Paralogue maps add even more.
I would also complete:
Hero's Path-style beginner objectives,
quests,
available free summons,
Forging Bonds when active,
Grand Hero Battles,
and any beginner-focused Hero Fest or guaranteed summon.
Do not worry about perfectly building every unit.
Pick four strong heroes, level them to 40, learn their base skills, and let them carry you while you understand the systems.
B. Starter Heroes and Free Orbs
FEH gives new players much more than the original launch version did.
One of the strongest current beginner opportunities is the permanent Free Summon: Fortune's Weave, which lets players choose one five-star hero from the Fortune's Weave group.
That selection includes modern units such as Dietrich, Theodora, Cai, and Leda.
If I cared purely about immediate combat power, I would lean toward Dietrich. He is an extremely modern infantry sword unit with a loaded base kit and strong offensive pressure.
If I wanted broader account utility and inheritance flexibility, Theodora is also attractive as an Attuned Hero.
Beyond that, story chapters provide hundreds of Orb opportunities for a fresh account.
Do not rush through every Orb immediately.
A new player has the rare advantage of possessing a huge reserve of unclaimed permanent content. Treat those maps like your savings account.
C. F2P Tips and Orb Farming
My biggest F2P rule is:
Do not summon because you have five Orbs.
Save toward banners with a specific goal.
Reliable Orb sources include:
story chapters and Paralogues,
monthly quests,
Tempest Trials,
login bonuses,
Arena-related rewards,
Squad Assault,
Chain Challenges,
special maps,
and celebration campaigns.
I also take every free first summon, even on banners I have no intention of investing in. Occasionally that free circle hands you a premium unit or valuable inheritance fodder.
For long-term F2P progression, Heroic Grails are also extremely important. Grand Hero Battle and Tempest Trials units can often be merged to +10 without spending hundreds of Orbs.
They may not always be the strongest units in the entire game, but a fully merged modern free unit can be far more useful for Arena scoring than one premium five-star sitting at +0.
D. Linking a Nintendo Account and Clearing Data
I strongly recommend linking your account once you decide to keep it.
Go to:
Misc. → Account Management → Create/Link a Nintendo Account.
Linking lets you back up your FEH data and access the same save from compatible devices.
It also connects FEH with My Nintendo rewards.
If you are rerolling, I would avoid permanently linking an account until you know you are keeping that save.
If you have already linked and want to completely restart, FEH provides a Delete All Data option under Account Management. This permanently deletes your Orbs, heroes, items, and linked FEH save.
Do not press it casually.
Once that save data is removed, it is not something I would expect customer support to magically restore because you changed your mind an hour later.
III. Reroll Guide
A. How to Reroll Step by Step
Rerolling is possible, but I consider it much less necessary in modern FEH than it was at launch.
A typical reroll looks like this:
Install Fire Emblem Heroes.
Start without permanently attaching the save you intend to keep.
Complete the opening tutorial.
Collect available starting Orbs and free summons.
Use them on the current high-value banner.
Check your results.
If you dislike the account, delete the save/reinstall as appropriate and repeat.
Once satisfied, link the account to Nintendo.
FEH now gives enough strong guaranteed and free characters that spending hours rerolling for one specific hero is usually overkill.
I would rather begin playing than spend an entire weekend staring at summon animations.
B. Best Heroes to Reroll For
For the October 21 environment, the October 16 New Heroes banner is an obvious target because all three featured premium units are extremely modern.
Edelgard: Beyond Bounds
This Duo version of Edelgard is a powerful armored unit with excellent defensive and team-protection potential.
She is one of the best reroll outcomes if you want a unit capable of carrying PvE while remaining relevant in competitive modes.
Dimitri: Dual Idealists
Dimitri and Claude form another extremely strong Duo Hero.
This is the sort of modern unit that arrives with most of the tools it needs already included in its base kit.
Gullveig: Seer Reborn
Vista Gullveig is a colorless cavalry tome with tremendous offensive mobility.
Her access to powerful status effects, Canto-style movement, extra-action mechanics, and high offensive pressure makes her an excellent carry.
For a brand-new player, ranged cavalry movement also makes old PvE maps laughably easy.
C. Reroll Tier List and First Free Summon
My practical reroll priority would look like this:
SS: Vista Gullveig, Duo Edelgard, Duo Dimitri.
S: Dietrich, Theodora, other modern 2026 premium units, especially Emblem or powerful support heroes.
A: Strong 2025–2026 units that still provide good support or combat value.
Anything below that can still be perfectly playable, but I would not keep rerolling purely to obtain an older unit unless that character is a personal favorite.
The permanent Fortune's Weave free five-star choice also reduces reroll pressure.
Take a strong free unit first, then build your account around what your Orb summons give you.
IV. Tier List and Best Units
A. Current FEH Tier List: SS to Lower Tiers
FEH now has so many heroes that a complete one-table ranking is almost meaningless. Different units dominate Arena, Aether Raids, Summoner Duels, or PvE for completely different reasons.
My October 2026 overall snapshot looks like this:
SS Tier – Meta-Defining
Vista Gullveig
Duo Edelgard
Duo Dimitri
Dietrich
Emblem Roy
Harmonized Brave Ike
Emblem Lyn
Attuned Micaiah
Aided Dagr
Harmonized Brave Lyn
Mythic Loki
Ninja Gullveig
Jehanna Ike
These units combine several modern advantages: mobility, status support, multiple actions, damage reduction interaction, huge stat swings, powerful Specials, team support, or unique mechanics that are difficult to replace.
S Tier – Excellent
Theodora
Cai
Leda
Emblem Ike
Emblem Celica
Emblem Sigurd
Brave Alfonse
Brave Bernadetta
Valentine's Lyon
Legendary Elincia
Legendary Hinoka
Bridal Peony
Ninja Sanaki
Winter Edelgard
Legendary Camilla
Many of these can feel SS in their ideal team.
A Tier – Strong but More Replaceable
This is where a huge number of older Legendary, Brave, Rearmed, Attuned, Duo, and seasonal units sit.
They can still clear nearly every PvE map but may struggle against the most extreme modern Arena, Aether Raids, or Summoner Duels defenses.
B Tier and Below
Older heroes without modern weapons, updated refines, strong personal skills, or access to enough premium inheritance fall here.
That does not mean they are useless.
One of the fun parts of FEH is taking an ancient favorite, giving them a ridiculous 2026 skill kit, and making them functional again.
It is just expensive.
B. Best Heroes by Color
Red
My current red shortlist includes:
Dietrich
Emblem Roy
Aided Dagr
Harmonized Brave Alm
Young Felix
Red is extremely crowded with powerful swords, so a new sword infantry unit needs something exceptional to stand out.
Dietrich does.
Blue
Current blue standouts include:
Duo Dimitri
Emblem Celica
Emblem Sigurd
Jehanna Ike
Harmonized Brave Hector
Attuned Timerra
Blue is especially strong because it contains both aggressive nukes and durable frontliners.
Green
Current green standouts include:
Duo Edelgard
Emblem Lyn
Harmonized Brave Ike
Attuned Micaiah
Valentine's Lyon
Young Edelgard
Green has some of the nastiest support and tank-busting tools in the current game.
Colorless
Colorless is ridiculous in 2026.
My top choices include:
Vista Gullveig
Mythic Loki
Ninja Gullveig
Harmonized Brave Lyn
Bridal Embla
Læraðr
Colorless units benefit from avoiding most normal weapon-triangle disadvantages, although specialized effectiveness and modern debuffs can still destroy them.
C. Best Heroes by Movement Type
Infantry
Top infantry units include heroes such as:
Dietrich
Emblem Roy
Harmonized Brave Ike
Jehanna Ike
Modern infantry have incredible skill access, which makes them some of the easiest units to customize.
Cavalry
Vista Gullveig is currently one of my favorite cavalry choices.
Other premium cavalry such as Emblem Sigurd and various modern ranged cavalry remain extremely threatening because movement is one of FEH's strongest resources.
Three spaces of movement plus Canto can completely change how a map is played.
Fliers
Legendary Elincia, Legendary Hinoka, Bridal Peony, and other modern flying supports remain highly useful.
Fliers are especially good on maps where terrain would slow infantry and cavalry.
Armor
Duo Edelgard is the obvious current premium example.
Modern armors have moved far beyond the old idea of “slow unit with high Def.” Savior effects, warping, additional actions, damage reduction, and movement support can make an armor unit the centerpiece of an entire team.
D. Arena Score Tier List and F2P Tier List
Arena scoring is not the same as combat strength.
Score depends heavily on:
merges,
base-stat scoring,
SP cost of equipped skills,
blessings,
Legendary effects,
and the current bonus-unit system.
That means a +10 modern Grail unit can sometimes be a more sensible Arena investment than a +0 SS-tier five-star exclusive.
For F2P Arena, I prioritize:
recent high-BST Grail units,
accessible demotes,
units with modern personal weapons,
and projects I can realistically reach +10.
Do not start a premium Arena merge project unless you understand how many Orbs that +10 can require.
V. Summons and Banners
A. Current and Upcoming Banners
As of October 21, the main banners worth watching include the October New Heroes event featuring Duo Dimitri, Duo Edelgard, and Vista Gullveig.
The Halloween Trick OR Treat seasonal banner is also running, featuring newer Halloween characters including Goldmary, Janaff, Shea, and Kurt.
October is also packed with older Halloween revivals.
On October 21, a new Hall of Forms banner begins.
A Double Special Heroes banner follows on October 22.
Another New Heroes-related return banner arrives later in the month.
The next major Legendary/Mythic/Emblem Hero summoning event is scheduled for around October 30.
If you are F2P, this is exactly why you should not spend Orbs simply because you see a red notification on the Summon menu. There is almost always another banner coming.
B. Summon Rates, Pity Rate, and Summon Simulator
A normal FEH banner commonly starts with:
3% five-star Focus rate
and:
3% regular five-star rate.
If you summon five heroes in a row without receiving a five-star hero, the combined five-star rates increase for the next summoning screen.
FEH also has Focus Charge on supported banners. Each time you pull a non-focus five-star, one charge can activate. After three charges, your next five-star on the appropriate banner is guaranteed to be a focus hero.
New Heroes banners normally provide one of the game's most important safety nets:
after 40 summons, you can choose a focus five-star hero for free.
Summoning tickets from Forging Bonds count toward this total, making those events extremely valuable.
Special Hero, Legendary, Mythic, and several other banner types may require FEH Pass for their 40-summon guaranteed selection unless the specific campaign says otherwise.
Summon simulators are useful if you want to remind yourself how cruel probability can be without spending actual Orbs.
C. Banner Focus and Whether You Should Summon
I ask three questions before pulling.
Does this unit solve a problem my barracks currently has?
Can I reach the spark if the banner supports one?
Is something I want more coming within the next two weeks?
If the answer to the last question is yes, I usually save.
Modern FEH units are extremely powerful, but power creep means today's unstoppable hero can become merely “very good” several months later.
Favorites last longer than meta anxiety.
VI. Hero Types Explained
A. Legendary and Mythic Heroes
Legendary Heroes are designed around Arena seasons and Legendary blessings.
They can improve scoring and provide stat effects to appropriately blessed allies.
Mythic Heroes fill a similar role in Aether Raids.
Offensive Mythics increase scoring potential and stats during their season, while defensive Mythics help reduce Lift loss and improve defense setups.
You do not need every Legendary or Mythic.
Build around the seasons and modes you actually care about.
B. Duo, Harmonized, and Emblem Heroes
Duo Heroes combine two characters and have a Duo Skill that can produce powerful map effects.
Harmonized Heroes usually pair characters from different Fire Emblem titles. Their Harmonized Skills support units from the relevant games, and they also matter for Resonant Battles scoring.
Emblem Heroes are based on the Emblems from Fire Emblem Engage.
Their defining mechanic is the ability to Engage with another hero and grant that unit an Emblem effect.
This is one of the most valuable account-wide mechanics FEH has introduced because one Emblem copy can improve many different units over time.
C. Brave, Attuned, and Ascended Heroes
Brave Heroes are the winners of Choose Your Legends. “Brave” describes the special version rather than a unique universal gameplay mechanic.
They are often excellent long-term investments and usually release with extremely strong kits.
Attuned Heroes carry inheritable X skills. Like Rearmed Heroes, they can pass eligible skills through inheritance without disappearing immediately in the normal way a regular unit would.
This makes them valuable even if you never intend to use them as your main fighter.
Ascended Heroes provide access to Ascendant Florets, which allow a unit to gain a second Asset without adding another Flaw.
FEH also contains Rearmed, Aided, Entwined, and now Vista Heroes.
Vista Heroes are the newest category in 2026 and can provide Vignettes that grant additional stats and unique status-screen scenery to other units.
D. Legendary Remix
Legendary/Mythic/Emblem Remixes are basically FEH's way of pulling an older premium unit back toward the modern game.
A Remix may provide:
an upgraded personal skill,
a weapon refine,
or both.
Version 10.10.0 updated Legendary Alear and Emblem Ike in this way.
I never completely write off an old Legendary unit before checking whether a Remix is scheduled. Some upgrades are modest; others transform the character.
VII. Event Calendar
A. Current Events and Schedule
The October calendar is packed.
The October 16 New Heroes banner and Book X Chapter 12 are active into early November.
Hall of Forms begins October 21.
Double Special Heroes arrives October 22.
Halloween banner revivals continue throughout late October.
A new Legendary/Mythic/Emblem banner is scheduled near October 30.
Regular rotating content such as Arena, Aether Raids, Summoner Duels, and other recurring modes continues alongside those events.
FEH updates its official calendar roughly once per month, and I always check it before planning a large Orb spend.
B. Daily Rewards and Login Bonuses
Log in every day, even if you only have five minutes.
FEH frequently distributes:
Orbs,
Stamina Potions,
summoning tickets,
Arena resources,
Dragonflowers,
Divine Codes,
and event currencies
through login bonuses.
During anniversaries, Golden Week, Book launches, and major Fire Emblem release celebrations, those bonuses become much better.
A F2P account grows through consistency more than marathon grinding.
C. Grand Hero Battles, Limited Hero Battles, and Forging Bonds
Grand Hero Battles provide free units. Many later enter the Heroic Grail pool, making them excellent merge-project candidates.
Limited Hero Battles restrict which games your team can come from. They are useful for exposing gaps in your barracks; suddenly that neglected Binding Blade roster matters.
Forging Bonds is one of the most important events for anyone summoning on a New Heroes banner.
It gives accessories, resources, story interactions, and—most importantly—First Summon Tickets.
Use those tickets before spending large amounts of Orbs because they still contribute toward the 40-summon target on the associated banner.
VIII. Game Modes
A. Arena and Arena Assault
Arena uses four-unit teams and revolves around both winning consistently and maximizing score.
Scoring favors merges, expensive skills, appropriate blessings, modern stat totals, and bonus heroes.
This means your strongest combat unit is not automatically your best Arena unit.
Arena Assault asks you to fight multiple consecutive battles while managing your roster across rounds.
A deep barracks matters more here than one perfect team.
B. Aether Raids and Tempest Trials
Aether Raids is FEH's most complicated competitive mode.
You build offensive teams around Mythic seasons while also constructing a defense map designed to steal Lift from attackers.
Movement manipulation, traps, Savior units, Canto, warping, start-of-turn effects, and support skills all matter enormously.
I would not worry about optimizing top-tier Aether Raids during your first week.
Build a decent roster first.
Tempest Trials is much more relaxed. You clear several maps in sequence to earn score-based rewards, including Orbs, Sacred Seals, and a free seasonal hero.
It is one of the best recurring F2P events in the game.
C. Hall of Forms, Squad Assault, and Resonant Battles
Hall of Forms lets you build temporary Forma units by earning random skills during a series of maps.
At the end, eligible Forma can be recruited using Forma Souls.
This is particularly valuable for older favorite units because Hall of Forms can let you collect premium skills without individually summoning every source unit.
Squad Assault consists of consecutive challenge maps and provides permanent Orb rewards.
Resonant Battles rewards building around heroes from selected Fire Emblem titles and interacts directly with Harmonized Heroes.
You do not need to dominate every mode.
Choose the content you enjoy and build around it.
IX. Mechanics and Builds
A. Skills, Inheritance, and Merge Guide
Skill inheritance is where FEH becomes complicated.
A unit has:
a weapon,
Assist,
Special,
A skill,
B skill,
C skill,
Sacred Seal,
and potentially an X skill.
Never inherit a rare skill before checking whether the unit actually benefits from it.
Modern heroes usually arrive with extremely good base kits. If you summon a brand-new 2026 premium unit, I generally leave most of their skills alone until I understand what the developer intended the unit to do.
Older heroes need much more investment.
Merging duplicates increases stats and removes the normal penalty associated with a Flaw on the first merge.
A +10 favorite can still be surprisingly strong, but do not assume ten merges automatically compensate for six years of weapon power creep.
B. Stats, Builds, and the Weapon Triangle
The traditional weapon triangle remains:
Red beats Green.
Green beats Blue.
Blue beats Red.
Colorless is generally neutral.
Modern skill effects can overwhelm that triangle, but I still respect it when two similarly powerful units fight.
The main stats are:
HP – health.
Atk – damage base.
Spd – affects follow-up attacks and many modern skills.
Def – physical bulk.
Res – magical bulk.
Modern builds increasingly scale entire skill effects from one stat.
A speed-based unit may gain damage, damage reduction, follow-up manipulation, and Special effects from Spd simultaneously.
That is why reading the full weapon description matters far more than simply comparing visible stat totals.
C. Unit Builder and Team Builder Tools
Community unit builders are extremely useful because skill inheritance has become too large to memorize.
I use builders to test:
whether a skill can actually be inherited,
how much a build changes visible stats,
different Sacred Seals,
weapon refines,
and theoretical +10 projects.
For team building, think in roles rather than simply choosing the four highest-ranked heroes.
A balanced FEH team might include:
one primary nuke,
one durable frontline or Savior,
one support or dancer,
and one flexible unit providing mobility, debuffs, or another damage type.
Four SS-tier nukes can still lose badly if none of them can safely take an enemy-phase hit.
X. Hero List and FAQ
A. Full Hero List
FEH now contains well over a thousand individual hero versions when alternate costumes and forms are counted separately.
The most useful way to browse the roster is not alphabetically.
Filter by:
weapon color,
weapon type,
movement type,
origin game,
Hero type,
and skill.
For example, searching for “green flying support” is much more useful when team building than scrolling through hundreds of names.
Also remember that alternate versions are completely separate units.
Brave Edelgard, Valentine's Edelgard, Duo Edelgard, Legendary Edelgard, and base Edelgard do not share stats or skill kits simply because they depict the same character.
B. Is FEH Free to Play?
Yes.
Fire Emblem Heroes is free-to-start, and you can complete the story, events, and most PvE content without spending money.
High-end Arena, Summoner Duels, or Aether Raids competition becomes harder because merges and premium skills matter, but you do not need a whale-level account to enjoy the game.
FEH gives F2P players a large number of Orbs through permanent story content and recurring events.
The key is controlling how you spend them.
C. Is There a Redeem Code System?
FEH does not operate a normal public gift-code system where players type codes into a redemption box for free Orbs.
Free rewards instead come through:
login bonuses,
quests,
Present List gifts,
My Nintendo rewards,
summoning tickets,
special campaigns,
and event distributions.
Be suspicious of websites claiming to have “Fire Emblem Heroes redeem codes for 5,000 free Orbs.”
That is not how FEH normally distributes currency.
D. FEH Compared with Fire Emblem Engage
Fire Emblem Heroes and Fire Emblem Engage share characters and the Emblem concept, but they are very different games.
FEH is a continuing mobile gacha strategy game built around short grid battles, character collection, live-service updates, and team optimization.
Fire Emblem Engage is a full console tactical RPG with a traditional campaign, larger maps, class progression, weapon management, and a fixed story.
FEH adapted Engage's Emblems into Emblem Heroes, allowing characters such as Emblem Ike, Celica, Sigurd, Lyn, and Roy to grant special Engage effects to another hero.
So if you enjoyed Engage, FEH can be fun because you get to combine those characters with heroes from the entire series.
But do not expect FEH to play like a miniature copy of Engage. Its combat has evolved into its own extremely system-heavy game.
Conclusion
Fire Emblem Heroes is surprisingly easy to start in 2026 and surprisingly difficult to master.
A fresh player gets access to years of story Orbs, free summons, modern guaranteed heroes, Grand Hero Battle units, Heroic Grail projects, and enough free resources to put together a strong team without spending money. The real challenge is deciding what not to spend.
If I were beginning today, I would clear story maps for Orbs, take advantage of the permanent Fortune's Weave free five-star choice, and use the October New Heroes banner as my main reroll target if I wanted an especially strong opening account. Vista Gullveig, Duo Edelgard, and Duo Dimitri are all excellent modern carries.
After that, I would stop rerolling and actually play.
For summoning, learn the difference between normal 3% focus banners, higher-rate Hero Fests, 8% Legendary/Mythic/Emblem banners, and Double Special Heroes. Use Forging Bonds tickets whenever they are available, and plan around the 40-summon guaranteed focus on New Heroes events instead of gambling without a stopping point.
For competitive play, remember that one universal tier list cannot tell the entire story. A Mythic Hero may be invaluable in Aether Raids but mediocre for your Arena score. A high-BST +10 Grail unit may contribute more to an F2P Arena core than a stronger +0 premium hero. A dancer or support unit can improve three teammates without personally defeating anyone.
And if you mainly want to collect characters you love, that is completely valid too.
FEH's power creep is real. The latest hero will eventually meet an even newer hero with an even longer weapon description. Chasing every meta shift is exhausting.
Build a few current units to handle difficult content, save Orbs intelligently, and then invest in favorites.
That is the approach that has kept Fire Emblem Heroes enjoyable for me far longer than trying to treat every new banner like an emergency.