Gunter

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD or -RES

• Weapon: Slaying Hammer+ (+Atk)

• Assist: Reposition / Swap

• Special: Dragon Fang / Glimmer

• Passive A: Death Blow / Life and Death

• Passive B: Axebreaker

• Passive C: Hone Cavalry / Atk Tactic

• Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Attack +3

Gunter’s low overall stats make him a poor choice for general combat duties. But, when given a specialist role and a tiny bit of support, Gunter can singlehandedly win games for his team. This set allows Gunter safely beat all green and blue armor in the game. With his Special charged, he can even topple red armor. This build is designed to be deployed against all-armor teams, although he can be used to handle single threats if required.

The key element to this set is the Slaying Hammer, which grants Gunter bonus damage against armored units. By aiming to OHKO armor, he avoids skills such as Quick Riposte, Bold Fighter and Wary Fighter that they commonly run. Death Blow gives Gunter a nice boost to his Attack, although Life and Death is nearly just as good. With an Attack refine, Gunter hits a very respectable effective 58 when initiating on foes. Gunter wants to initiate combat as much as he can to avoid Bold Fighter.

Gunter does not have the power to cleanly KO all green armor however, which is where Axebreaker comes in. It lets him KO units such as Amelia and Winter Lissa who he can’t naturally double attack, and build valuable Special charge as a bonus. Dragon Fang gives Gunter incredible power, and the strength to KO nearly any unit in the game once charged. Glimmer is a faster-charging solution, but it won’t give him the KO on Draug and Arden, and does much worse against non-armor. Quickened Pulse helps to offset the long charge time of Dragon Fang. However with Glimmer, Attack +3 is also a viable option for Gunter’s Seal slot.

Gunter relies on Hone Cavalry to grant him many important KO’s, so Hone Cavalry is chosen to let him buff allies in a cavalry team. If using Gunter in a mixed team, he should run a Tactic skill instead. Gunter’s choice of Reposition or Swap is largely down to player preference, although Reposition is better for supporting ranged attackers.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF / -SPD

• Weapon: Slaying Axe+ (+Def)

• Assist: Reposition / Swap

• Special: Ignis / Bonfire

• Passive A: Atk/Def Bond / Fury

• Passive B: Guard / Quick Riposte

• Passive C: Atk Tactic / Hone Cavalry

• Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Close Def

Gunter can run a serviceable physical tank set with the right investment. However, it should be noted that there are many better units suited to this job than Gunter. This set sees Gunter stack his Defense as high as he can, allowing him to easily soak damage and fire back with extremely powerful Specials.

A Slaying Axe is chosen as it allows Gunter to accelerate his Special charge. With Quick Riposte, it allows him to charge and fire off Ignis provided he is double attacked. Atk/Def Bond gives Gunter a big stat boost, and has the added bonus of powering up his Ignis/Bonfire. He can also run Fury if the positional requirement of Atk/Def Bond is a nuisance. Ignis is the best choice of Special, but Bonfire is safer and does not assume Gunter will be double attacked. Bonfire is also a better Special if Gunter is being used on a Cavalry team.

Guard allows Gunter to tank and KO some red units such as Fir and Ayra who rely on Specials to score KO’s. He also has the option of running Quick Riposte in his B slot and Close Def for his Seal. This option makes Gunter better against Aether users and tends to be better outside the Arena.

Atk Tactic is great for Gunter and lets him provide support to mixed teams. He does not rely on cavalry buffs unlike his offensive set, but can perform well on cavalry teams nonetheless. Due to the increased Speed from Hone Cavalry, Gunter should run Bonfire, as it is less likely for foes to double attack him. Once again, the choice between Reposition and Swap is largely down to player preference, although Reposition is better for supporting ranged attackers. Swap is useful if you wish Gunter to play alongside other tanks, however.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF / -SPD

• Weapon: Silver Axe+ (+Def)

• Assist: Reposition / Swap

• Special: Moonbow / Bonfire

• Passive A: Fury

• Passive B: Axebreaker

• Passive C: Hone Cavalry

• Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte

For those not looking to invest heavily in the Inveterate Soldier, this set allows him to take the field as a part of a cavalry team and perform adequately. This set does not focus on any particular combat phase, instead being a catch all set to beat some common green and blue units. This is a great set if using a 4 star merged version of Gunter, although he will need a Silver Axe+ inherited onto him to use the refine.

With a Defense refine onto his naturally held Silver Axe combined with Fury, Gunter gains a great deal of defense and HP. With Quick Riposte, he can function as a decent enemy phase tank. Beware that Fury will cause his HP to drop quickly, and may limit him to a single KO defensively. Axebreaker gives Gunter a nice offensive boost and lets him initiate into enemy axe users and double. Axebreaker also helps Gunter activate Moonbow, a Special that charges quickly and helps him score KO’s on units with high Defense such as Amelia, Hector and Winter Chrom.

Gunter really relies on receiving buffs from Hone Cavalry on this set, so it’s recommended to keep Hone Cavalry on and use him on a cavalry team. The choice between Reposition and Swap comes largely down to user preference, but both skills work well on Gunter. Other options for this set include Bonfire, which is great if you primarily want to use Gunter defensively. He can also run an Attack +3 seal if you wish to make him focus on attacking.