Draug

• Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK or +DEF / -RES or -HP
• Weapon: Slaying Edge+ (+Def) or (+Spd) / Wo Dao (+Spd) or (+Def)
• Assist: Swap
• Special: Bonfire / Ignis
• Passive A: Distant Counter
• Passive B: Special Fighter
• Passive C: Armor March / Ward Armor / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Quickened Pulse

One of the biggest consequences of the Special Fighter skill is that now any armor can mimic one of the greatest strengths of the Steady Breath/Distant Counter combo, which is to be able to maintain a 1-2 range for counterattacks combined with an accelerated Special charge rate. This is huge for Draug, as previously one of his biggest weaknesses in terms of utilizing Distant Counter was his inability to effectively deal enough damage on his initial counterattack, resulting in him losing a lot of matchups against mages. However, with Special Fighter Draug can now instantly activate Bonfire or Ignis, resulting in more than enough damage output to easily KO the vast majority of ranged threats, allowing him to now effectively utilize Distant Counter.

For IVs, +SPD can be quite potent due to Draug having enough Speed to potentially double enemies naturally as well as preventing follow-up attacks. However, this capability can be a bit pointless when dealing with enemies who can either prevent follow-up attacks (such as armors with Wary Fighter) or those who have skills that guarantee doubles (such as Ephraim with refined Siegmund or an armor with Bold Fighter). If these types of units are a concern, then the typical +ATK or +DEF boon with a -RES or -HP bane should be taken.

Choice of weapon and Special for Draug is highly dependent on his typical opponent and player preference. A Slaying Edge pairs well with Bonfire since it allows him to instantly activate it on his first counterattack; if using the Quickened Pulse Seal, then Draug can activate Ignis instead. Alternatively, Draug can use a Wo Dao if instant Special activations are a lower priority than maximizing raw damage output. Wo Dao is best paired with Ignis since it has the same charge time as Bonfire due to Special Fighter. It’s possible to pair Wo Dao with the Quickened Pulse Seal and Bonfire, but this is generally worse than pairing a Slaying Edge with Ignis and the Quickened Pulse Seal due to Draug’s high Defense favoring the superior damage scaling from Ignis. Wo Dao works better with a Speed stacking setup than Slaying Edge, but either weapon can be made functional in any setup.

Due to Draug’s potentially high Speed, Armor March is a good choice to help him close the distant to his opponents. However, if focusing on an Enemy Phase and/or not stacking Speed, then this isn’t strictly necessary; Draug’s base Ward Armor works great in armor teams, but otherwise his C skill can be replaced as needed to suit the team.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF / -RES or -SPD
• Weapon: Slaying Edge+ (+Def)
• Assist: Swap
• Special: Ignis
• Passive A: Steady Breath / Warding Breath / Distant Counter
• Passive B: Bold Fighter
• Passive C: Armor March / Ward Armor / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Quickened Pulse

This is a standard mixed phase setup for armored units. The combination of Bold Fighter and Quick Riposte ensures that Draug will be able to double his opponent regardless of phase. One thing to note about Draug is that the combination of his low Resistance and decent Speed make Steady Breath or Warding Breath somewhat better choices than Distant Counter. Not only is he not particularly good at handling mages, but he has enough Speed that he can avoid a good number of doubles. Running Steady/Warding Breath ensures that even if Draug doesn’t get doubled, he can still activate his Special on Enemy Phase. Steady/Warding Breath also opens up the possibility of running the Quickened Pulse Seal to allow Draug to instantly activate his Special on his first counterattack, though this will cost him the ability to guarantee doubles on Enemy Phase afterward due to lacking the Quick Riposte Seal.

The combination of Slaying Edge and Ignis is the highest damage option for Draug, as Ignis allows him to leverage his massive Defense into a huge nuke. Having a 3 cooldown Special will allow Draug to always activate his Special on Player Phase (assuming the enemy can counterattack) thanks to Bold Fighter. Steady/Warding Breath allows Draug to always activate his Special on Enemy Phase with Quick Riposte even if he doesn’t get doubled; without either, Draug needs to get doubled in order to activate his Special. If Steady/Warding Breath are unavailable or one wants to use another A skill such as Distant Counter, then a -SPD bane may be worth consideration.

Armor March is a very useful buff to have when utilizing a mixed phase setup, as the increased movement makes it much easier for Draug to close the distance to engage an enemy on Player Phase. If unavailable or a teammate already has it, then a buff like Draug’s base Ward Armor is always a good choice; however, Draug’s C skill isn’t super important, and can be replaced as needed to suit the team.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF or +SPD / -RES or -SPD
• Weapon: Wo Dao+ (+Def/Spd) / Slaying Edge+ (+Def/Spd)
• Assist: Swap
• Special: Ignis / Aether / Bonfire
• Passive A: Steady Breath / Warding Breath / Distant Counter
• Passive B: Vengeful Fighter / Guard / Quick Riposte
• Passive C: Ward Armor / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Close Def / Quick Riposte / Distant Def / Flexible

Keeping with Draug’s namesake, this build is oriented purely toward Enemy Phase prowess. There are several factors that can drastically change how the build plays out, though the basic premise generally stays the same. The first choice to be made is preferred choice of Special: Ignis will offer by far the best damage output, but Aether offers far superior scoring in Arena and a bit of sustain. Bonfire is only recommended as a Special if paired with Steady Breath or Warding Breath and a Slaying Edge to allow Draug to activate his Special on every counterattack.

Steady/Warding Breath are recommended over Distant Counter due to Draug’s poor Resistance making him a poor fit for handling mages; however, he is capable of doing so if needed, particularly with buff support from his team. Draug has enough Speed that stacking Speed with a +SPD IV and a +Spd refined weapon can allow him to avoid a large number of doubles; this allows him to be efficient with a combo of Wo Dao and Ignis or Slaying Edge and Aether if running Steady/Warding Breath. However, keep in mind that there are a good number of enemies with skills that can completely circumvent Speed to double anyway (including enemies with Bold Fighter), so dumping Draug’s Speed entirely and focusing on his Defense tends to be a safer bet in this regard.

Pairing Steady Breath or Warding Breath with Vengeful Fighter is somewhat inefficient due to the increased Special charge gain not stacking, but it is still worthwhile since Vengeful Fighter will not give extra Special charges on enemy attacks as well as having a larger HP threshold than Quick Riposte. If Vengeful Fighter is unavailable, then Guard is a great option for protecting Draug from enemy Specials, greatly enhancing his survivability. If running Guard then pairing it with the Quick Riposte seal is a must to ensure that Draug can still double. Otherwise, running Quick Riposte as a B skill is acceptable despite being strictly inferior to Vengeful Fighter.

If not running the Quick Riposte seal (due to running Vengeful Fighter or Quick Riposte as a B skill), then Close Def and Distant Def are both good choices for simply increasing Draug’s tankiness. Neither are particularly necessary, however, and can be swapped as needed.