Effie

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF / -SPD
• Weapon: Slaying Lance+ (+Atk) or (+Def) / Reprisal Lance (+Def) or (+Res)
• Assist: Swap
• Special: Ignis / Bonfire / Aether
• Passive A: Distant Counter
• Passive B: Special Fighter
• Passive C: Ward Armor / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Quick Riposte

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. Effie’s excellent base Attack allows her to be extremely proficient at KO’ing her opponents in a single attack with a Special activation. Her lower mixed defenses compared to another armor like Gwendolyn make her a worse choice for a tank setup, but she can still run the set fairly well.

Pairing the Quickened Pulse Seal with a Slaying Lance and Ignis allows Effie to instantly fire off a huge nuke on her first counterattack thanks to Special Fighter’s accelerated Special charge rate. Alternatively, swapping out the Quickened Pulse Seal for the Quick Riposte Seal and running Bonfire allows Effie to potentially activate multiple Specials per combat; this also makes her a bit more consistent since she can do this repeatedly instead of just once (as is the case with Quickened Pulse). If looking for a tankier setup, then swapping out Slaying Lance for something like Reprisal Lance and running Aether with the Quick Riposte Seal allows Effie to mimic the Steady Breath/Distant Counter/Aether sets that used to be exclusive to dragons and units with built-in Distant Counter. Reprisal Lance isn’t particularly necessary for this setup; it can easily be replaced to suit player preference, as Effie can make good use of pretty much any lance.

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

As an armor unit, Effie has access to the powerful Bold Fighter/Quick Riposte combo and all the mixed phase capabilities it brings. Her high Attack makes her hits particularly devastating, but she does need to be a bit cautious as her bulk can occasionally lead to trouble if she’s not careful. A +Atk refine will work better at lower tiers of Arena, as Effie has significantly more one hit KO potential. At upper tiers, where merges are significantly more prevalent, a +Def refine will be more useful as she will need to hit twice to secure a KO regardless (and the extra bulk will be very handy).

The biggest consideration for this build is choosing between Distant Counter and Steady Breath/Warding Breath. Distant Counter allows Effie to handle ranged threats, but this can be a fairly dangerous prospect if running Quick Riposte as she will need to take two hits before she can activate her Special to secure a KO - this leaves her vulnerable to enemies who can survive a single hit from her (this includes many green mages, particularly if they have merges). Steady Breath/Warding Breath allow Effie to specialize in handling melee threats, which are significantly more common in the upper tiers of Arena. These pair well with the Quick Riposte seal if running Bonfire, as Effie can then activate her Special on every counterattack. Steady Breath is generally better than Warding Breath due to the significantly larger number of physical melee threats compared to magical melee (dragons only), but either will work for the purpose of an accelerated Special charge.

The choice of Special is dependent on Effie’s A skill, Sacred Seal, and player preference. Ignis is the highest damage option, but requires the Quick Riposte seal to activate on Enemy Phase and has poor efficiency with Steady Breath/Warding Breath. Bonfire is the Special of choice if running Steady Breath/Warding Breath, or even if running Distant Counter as it can be paired with the Quickened Pulse seal for an instant Special activation.

Bold Fighter is the key component of this build, as it allows Effie to always double on Player Phase. This is what allows Effie (and all other armors) to run mixed phase builds, as she can combine Bold Fighter with the Quick Riposte seal to double on either phase. The increased Special charge allows her to consistently activate Specials on her turns as well.

Due to armor units’ poor mobility, Armor March is important to allow Effie to get to where she needs to engage enemies. However, it is not strictly necessary, and can be replaced as needed to suit the team.

• Preferred IV: +DEF or +RES / -SPD
• Weapon: Slaying Lance+ (+Def/Res) / Berkut’s Lance+ (+Def/Res)
• Assist: Swap
• Special: Aether / Glacies / Ignis / Bonfire
• Passive A: Distant Counter / Steady Breath / Warding Breath
• Passive B: Vengeful Fighter / Wary Fighter
• Passive C: Panic Ploy / Ward Armor / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Close Def / Quickened Pulse

Aside from running a mixed phase setup, Effie can also run an entirely Enemy Phase oriented set. This works particularly well with armor teams that lack access to Armor March, as it can be difficult to effectively close distance without it.

The choice of weapon is mostly up to preference, and will dictate Effie’s preferred method of tanking. A Slaying Lance will allow Effie to easily activate Aether whenever she gets doubled thanks to the increased Special charge from Vengeful Fighter, and the choice of +Def or +Res refine along with choice of boon will dictate what she is most effective at fighting. A refined Berkut’s Lance will grant a massive boost to Effie’s Resistance when she is initiated on, turning her into a highly effective magic tank. However, the lack of Special cooldown reduction means that she can’t activate Aether every combat, and she should instead run Glacies or Ignis, depending on which of her two defenses are higher after boon and refine. Finally, Bonfire is an option if running a Slaying Lance and the Quickened Pulse Seal without Steady Breath/Warding Breath, as it will allow Effie to instantly activate her Special on a counterattack.

Distant Counter is the ideal choice to maximize Effie’s ability to handle a variety of threats, particularly if she is using Berkut’s Lance. Steady Breath/Warding Breath are alternative options if wanting to turn Effie into a melee specialist, which is particularly viable at upper tiers of Arena.

Vengeful Fighter is a strictly better version of Quick Riposte, exclusive to armors, that allows Effie to maintain her ability to double for longer periods of time. It can be replaced by Wary Fighter for budget purposes or to maximize survivability. However, keep in mind that skills that grant enemies doubles (such as Bold Fighter or Lancebreaker) will allow them to bypass Wary Fighter, which can potentially place Effie in a dangerous spot.

Both Distant Def and Close Def work great as Seals, depending on which type of threat Effie needs to handle. Quickened Pulse will allow Effie to instantly activate her Special on a counterattack if she is running a Slaying Lance with Bonfire, or a Slaying Lance with Bonfire and either Steady Breath or Warding Breath.

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD
• Weapon: Brave Lance+ / Firesweep Lance+
• Assist: Swap
• Special: Glimmer / Ignis / Bonfire
• Passive A: Death Blow / Sturdy Blow
• Passive B: Bold Fighter / Wary Fighter
• Passive C: Armor March / Threaten Def / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Attack +3 / Armored Boots / Quickened Pulse

One way to take advantage of Effie’s monstrous Attack is to run a purely offensive build like this one. Both Brave Lance+ and Firesweep Lance+ maximize Effie’s Attack stat in different ways, particularly when combined with Bold Fighter. A Brave Lance will allow Effie to guarantee quad strikes on enemies, which few enemies can actually withstand. Firesweep Lance will only allow Effie to strike twice, but each hit will deal more damage thanks to the increased Mt, as well as preventing Effie from having to deal with enemy counterattacks (this is particularly relevant when dealing with meta threats like Zelgius).

For Specials, Glimmer is guaranteed to activate on enemies not running Guard and can potentially activate twice if running a Brave Lance. This consistency makes it an ideal Special to run, though Ignis can be substituted for it if wanting a bigger damage nuke.

Death Blow grants Effie the largest boost to her Attack stat while attacking, but Sturdy Blow is an acceptable option if running a Brave Lance due to Effie potentially having to handle a counterattack. Sturdy Blow also works well if running Ignis, as well as granting more score for arena purposes due to being a 240 SP skill.

Bold Fighter is important due to its ability to guarantee Effie’s doubles, but Wary Fighter can work with a Brave Lance on a budget. If running Wary Fighter, then either run the Quickened Pulse Seal with Glimmer for an instant Special or just Bonfire to avoid wasting Special charges.

Armor March is important to ensure that Effie can reach her targets, as her poor mobility can otherwise make this difficult. If an ally has access to it, then Effie can run Threaten Def or any other C skill that suits the team.