Brave Ephraim

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD
• Weapon: Garm
• Assist: Pivot / Swap / Reposition
• Special: Aether / Dragon Fang
• Passive A: Death Blow / Distant Counter
• Passive B: Special Fighter
• Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Armor March
• Sacred Seal: Armored Boots / Close Defense

When it really comes down to it, there really isn’t much to improve on in Ephraim’s base kit.  Special Fighter and Garm in tandem ensure that Ephraim has the effects of Bold Fighter, Vengeful Fighter, and Guard all at the same time so long as he’s affected by an ally buff or is equipped with the  Armored Boots seal. This makes him absolutely deadly in the player’s hands, as he can effectively control his opponent’s access to their Special while rapidly decreasing the cooldown of his own, no matter what Phase he’s fighting in.

This synergizes perfectly with Aether, which can keep him above the HP threshold needed for Special Fighter to activate. Ephraim’s native Draconic Aura can do a massive amount of damage with his large Attack stat, Death Blow, and Odd Atk Wave, but it lacks the staying power that Aether can accomplish for him.

Note that of course, this build is entirely self sustaining, but only if Ephraim is at 100% HP. If he loses his Armored Boots ability then he loses his ability to make guaranteed follow-up attacks on his opponent. At that point, he requires some kind of buff from an ally (Armor March, Hone, Rally, etc) to continue making follow-up attacks.  If you’re concerned about him losing HP after his first engagement or on even turns, then it may be beneficial to give up Odd Atk Wave in his C slot in order to keep his native Armor March, which he can use at any threshold of HP so long as he’s positioned next to an armored ally.

Death Blow can be run in Ephraim’s A slot to further increase his Player Phase viability, whereas Distant Counter helps him to counter bows, daggers, and blue tomes in his Enemy Phase- both are good, but the final option here depends on what you’d prefer him to do more.

Close Defense is an option for his seal slot, if you’re running Armor March in his C slot or have a reliable source of buffs for him. This furthers his defensive capabilities and enables him to tank through many different threats.

• Preferred IV: +RES or +DEF / -SPD
• Weapon: Garm
• Assist: Pivot / Swap
• Special: Aether / Ignis
• Passive A: Distant Counter / Close Defense
• Passive B: Special Fighter
• Passive C: Armor March / Defense Ploy / Ward Armor
• Sacred Seal: Close Defense / Distant Defense / Panic Ploy

Utilizing his weapon and B slot again, we see Ephraim with a predominately Enemy Phase oriented kit, where he swaps out his Close Defense A slot for Distant Counter. With a Resistance boon and Close Defense seal, Ephraim can hit 36 Resistance when attacked by a dragon, which puts him on far better footing when  taking the engagement. Close Defense is another option for his A slot, helped by the fact that it’s also his native skill. This allows Ephraim to stack up his defenses and hit not only 42 Resistance, but also 49 Defense when attacked from melee range.

When combined with Special Fighter and a skill like Ignis, Ephraim’s retaliation is explosive, with a 39 damage Ignis on top of his already monstrous 57 Attack.

He retains Armor March simply as a way to ensure doubles via Garm, and if you have other units in your party who can consistently buff him, then he’s free to run other C slot skills, like armor buffs or even Ploy skills. At 30 Resistance, his ability to land Ploys on his opponent is somewhat unreliable- particularly if going up against fellow armored units- however, when it does land, he’ll find himself able to do 10 more damage due to guaranteed follow-ups from Garm.

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD
• Weapon: Slaying Axe (+Atk) / Garm
• Assist: Pivot / Swap
• Special:  Galeforce / Aether
• Passive A: Death Blow
• Passive B: Bold Fighter / Special Fighter
• Passive C: Def Smoke / Armor March
• Sacred Seal: Armored Boots / Quickened Pulse / Atk + 3

When considering builds with both cooldown reduction and guaranteed follow-ups, Galeforce should never be far from one’s thoughts.  Ephraim’s ability to always double if buffed, plus his natural kit that reduces his Special cooldowns, allows him to run a potent Galeforce build, capable of eliminating multiple units during a single Player Phase.

With Garm and Special Fighter, Ephraim can activate Galeforce on the first turn of battle, provided his opponent counterattacks him. If they do not, he needs Quickened Pulse to work alongside Special Fighter in order to proc his Special. However, if you sacrifice Garm and Special Fighter and instead run him with a Slaying Axe and Bold Fighter, Ephraim loses the slight unreliability with a 5 turn cooldown and instead gets guaranteed procs of Galeforce enabled by Bold Fighter. This also eliminates his need for his Garm-related babysitting, as Bold Fighter will ensure a follow-up attack regardless of any ally buffs he may have.

This also frees up his seal slot to run seals that increase his Attack or movement. If you can run Armored Boots in his seal slot, then he’s free to run skills like Def Smoke or Threaten Def in his C slot, which enables him to do even more damage as long as he can access his opponents- which Armored Boots should help him to do.

This Ephraim is Player Phase only and will be vulnerable if he’s attacked during Enemy Phase (well, as vulnerable as you can be with 37 Defense). Therefore it is best to try and eliminate all opponents in his range during his Galeforce turn if possible.