Gerome

• Weapon: Brave Axe
• Assist: Reposition / Ardent Sacrifice / Reciprocal Aid
• Special: Bonfire / Draconic Aura
• Passive A: Death Blow / Fury
• Passive B: Hit and Run / Desperation / Axebreaker
• Passive C: Threaten Def / Goad Fliers
• Sacred Seal: Atk + 3 / Brash Assault

With this back-breaking build, Gerome is able to smash his opponents into retirement with a massive 55 Attack on initiation applied twice before the enemy can retaliate. The crux of this build is simple: position Gerome into the enemy’s range, destroy them with a powerful Brave Axe blow, and retreat before he can be retaliated against.

Everything in this build subsequently goes to reinforce his raw damage: Death Blow offers Gerome +12 damage per initiation (6 per attack, applied twice) and the Attack Sacred Seal gives him another +6 damage.  Bonfire allows him to use his impressive Defense stat during his second combat to add 17 damage to his fourth hit, and Threaten Defense in his C slot will help him to decrease his opponents Defense in order to add another 10 damage across two hits.

As far as his specials are concerned, Gerome has two options: Bonfire and Draconic Aura. If using anything less than his full Attack-stacking build (such as removing the Attack seal or using Fury instead of Death Blow) then Bonfire will do more damage. However, if stacking his Attack as noted in the optimal build, then his damage is equal between the two skills- which means that if you have Hone or Goad Fliers to buff him with, Gerome with Draconic Aura deals more damage than Bonfire.

As an alternative way to run him, Gerome’s Defense and HP are high enough for him to bait out an enemy attack in order to somewhat safely enter Brash Assault range for a Desperation/Brash Assault combination, allowing Gerome to quad attack the rest of his opponents regardless of his Speed stat, applying his massive damage and guaranteeing his special proc with the ability to KO even meta reds.

This allows Gerome to become an extremely powerful, but you should use caution if you decide to use this build as several things can break its effectiveness altogether.

• Firstly, Gerome needs to get himself under the 50% HP threshold of Brash Assault, or he will not quad, meaning that he needs to take between 23 and 44 damage in any engagement to set of the chain of events. Ardent Sacrifice can help with this if he takes 13-22 damage and you need a safe way for him to nudge his HP down a little bit lower. Reciprocal Aid can also help if you have a faster tank or low HP unit with Fury on your team who might be able to enter combat more safely.  Finally, Fury is an option, albeit one that will need some further supplementary damage as it would take a total of 4 combats for Gerome to enter 50% HP range, at which point most battles are done anyway.
• Secondly, this ‘Brashperation’ build only works if Gerome attacks an opponent who can counter and who does not have a skill that negates his follow-up attack. This means that Firesweep users, archers and mages without Close Counter, units with Axebreaker, and units with Wary Fighter will all prevent Gerome from quadding them.

As a final option for the B slot, Gerome can run Axebreaker instead in order to trump units such as Brave Ike, Hector, Cherche, and Beruka. With this, Gerome can also KO Love Abounds Hector and Winter Chrom if they aren’t running Wary Fighter.

• Weapon: Slaying Axe (+Def)
• Assist: Reposition
• Special: Ignis / Aether
• Passive A: Sturdy Stance / Distant Counter / Close Defense
• Passive B: Quick Riposte
• Passive C:  Threaten Def / Panic Ploy / Goad Fliers
• Sacred Seal: Close Defense / Iote’s Shield / Heavy Blade

While Gerome’s stat spread looks nearly identical to Cherche’s, it does have an additional +2 Defense/+3 Resistance compared to his mother, and he can use this slight upgrade in stats to perform better than her when it comes to a Slaying Axe build.

A Defense forge on his Slaying Axe increases Gerome’s Defense to 38 and his HP to 50, allowing for some impressive tanking, particularly if you have a Fortify Fliers user on your team.  With Quick Riposte, his lower Speed becomes far less of an issue and he’s able to attack his opponent twice on Enemy Phase, allowing him to activate his Bonfire special for an extra 38 damage during combat, if unbuffed.

How you want to run a defensive Gerome depends on your preferences- Sturdy Stance is ideal for him, as it offers him +4 Attack/+4 Defense upon being attacked, which furthers his tankiness as well as his retaliating strike.  Atk/Def Bond can be considered an alternative to this, though it’s less flexible and requires Gerome to be next to an ally to receive his buffs. Close Defense is another option that works with the similar playstyle, but does not give him an Attack boost.

Close Defense seal fits perfectly onto this build, increasing his Defense and allowing him to function as more of a tank.  With this build, Gerome can essentially play the perfect in-between of the defensive Beruka and the offensive Cherche, allowing him some flexibility for your team.

Distant Counter is an option that would radically change this build, turning Gerome into an effective anti-ranged unit.  With an Iote’s Shield seal, Gerome is able to act as an anti-bow unit with his hefty Defense, countering units such as Bridal Cordelia and Klein if met on even ground.  Without any defensive buffs, Gerome can even counter an +ATK/Death Blow/Quickened Pulse/Moonbow Reinhardt and kill him- however, if Reinhardt is significantly merged, then he may eke out the win. To prevent this, Gerome can be buffed with a Fortify Fliers, or even just a Fortify Defense buff, and he’ll easily mop the floor with everyone’s favorite villain.

Finally, Heavy Blade seal is another natural fit on Gerome, as his natural Attack with Slaying Axe is 52- 56 on the Enemy Phase.  This will allow him to proc skills like Aether in a single combat, furthering his sustain and damage output. However, it does lessen his survivability a bit, so keep that in mind when deciding his seal slot.

• Weapon: Poleaxe (+Eff) / Poleaxe (+Res)
• Assist: Reposition
• Special: Bonfire / Ignis
• Passive A: Distant Counter / Fury
• Passive B: Quick Riposte / Vantage
• Passive C:  Threaten Def / Goad Fliers
• Sacred Seal: Distant Defense / Heavy Blade / Close Defense

With this set, Gerome functions as a green anti-cavalry unit, capable of taking on units such as Legendary Ephraim, Reinhardt, and even Cecilia with ease. Buffs don’t matter to the Poleaxe’s Effect refine, rendering the dreaded cavalry blade tomes obsolete.  Gerome can also handle Leo with ease, unless Leo is running Triangle Adept alongside Axebreaker (highly unlikely). For this reason, Distant Counter is preferred due to allowing Gerome to Enemy Phase most cavalry units in the game. Of course, he can’t retaliate against Brave Lyn, so he’ll need to attack her in Player Phase, but with his Attack he’s more than capable of oneshotting her.

With this, Gerome is an effective cavalry counter for any situation, though of course it’s an expensive build. For something a bit cheaper, Fury can be considered for a stat boost against melee cavalry, though it lessens his effectiveness vs. ranged cavalry, which tends to be the more lethal of the cavalry types.

Quick Riposte is still going to be your best option here, as there is no other skill in the game that really benefits Enemy Phase units quite as much, though Gerome could try to go with Vantage if he does wind up equipping Fury, in an attempt to oneshot cavalry units who initiate onto him after his first combat- something he’s surprisingly good at, considering his already-high Attack is multiplied by 1.5 due to  Poleaxe’s effective damage.

Threaten Defense in the C slot helps Gerome to further burst down his opponents, by baiting just outside of their range and then initiating on them in the next Player Phase if he can oneshot. Otherwise, Goad Fliers or another C slot buffing skill can help his teammates for any other threat on the opposing side.

Distant Defense protects him further from cavalry mages, ensuring his survival against everything but an +Atk/Death Blow/Atk Seal on Sacred Memories Eirika, and of course, the aforementioned Triangle Adept/Axebreaker Leo.  Against a standard Eirika or Leo, however, Gerome survives their initial attack and kills them on retaliation. If not running him with Distant Counter, then Heavy Blade or Close Defense should be considered viable seal alternatives due to his high Attack and Defense stats.

While this set doesn’t quite have the power to puncture through high-defense red cavalry (such as Eldigan, Sigurd, or Branded Chrom), it’s remarkably effective against just about every other cavalry unit in the game.