Hinoka (WF)

• Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK / -HP
• Weapon: Firesweep Bow
• Assist: Reposition
• Special: Moonbow / Luna
• Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Life and Death / Atk/Spd Bond
• Passive B: Chill Spd / Chill Def / Cancel Affinity
• Passive C: Def Ploy / Fortify Fliers / Flier Guidance / Spd Ploy
• Sacred Seal: Speed +3 / Quickened Pulse

With the Firesweep Bow, Hinoka turns into a ruthless killer on the battlefield. Because she does not fear retaliation, she’s perfectly fine to dump all of her defensive stats in order to maximize her offensive potential and turn her into a fantastic Player Phase sweeper unit.

If not running Def Ploy in her C slot, then Life and Death should be taken over Atk/Spd Bond in her A slot to allow Hinoka more flexibility in the battlefield- since she isn’t taking any damage in combat when she initiates, she can afford to dump her Defense and Resistance, which will give her a constant +5/+5 to her Attack and Speed, regardless of her positioning near an ally. This frees her up to be able to dart across the battlefield for a quick kill on an enemy unit, regardless of where her team is.

If you can make the sacrifice of Def Ploy, then you want to keep her Resistance as high as possible to ensure that she can debuff her opponent as necessary. This allows her to reduce her opponent’s Speed and Defense through her B and C slot skills while keeping her own Speed and Attack high via Swift Sparrow in her A slot. This combination makes her extremely self sufficient on the battlefield and through this, you can maximize her full potential.

When it comes to B slot skills, Chill Spd is the obvious candidate, ensuring that Hinoka can double her opponent by debuffing the enemy on the map with the highest Speed. Chill Def may also be taken if you’re utilizing her C slot for Spd Ploy or a team buff, and Cancel Affinity allows her to be fully effective, even against mages built to bait and counter her.

For her C Slot, her 29 Resistance is on the borderline of what might be considered acceptable for Ploy skills, and so if taken they should be viewed as a bonus and not necessarily relied on, particularly against dragons and armor units with high mixed defenses. Alternatively, team buffs can be considered, particularly in the form of defensive team buffs (since Hinoka has no need for defensive buffs) or her native Flier Guidance to offer alternative movement.

Increasing her Speed is likely your best option with her Sacred Seal as well, in order to ensure maximum doubling ability- however, Quickened Pulse can be taken, particularly if you have Hone Fliers buff to give her, so that she can proc Moonbow on her first initiation.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -HP
• Weapon: Warrior Princess
• Assist: Reposition / Draw Back
• Special: Luna / Iceberg
• Passive A: Atk/Spd Bond / Fury / Swift Sparrow
• Passive B: Flier Formation / Chill Def / Chill Spd / Desperation
• Passive C: Goad Fliers / Ward Fliers / Drive Spd / Drive Atk
• Sacred Seal: Drive Atk

When given the Warrior Princess bow and ability to buff her allies from two spaces away, Hinoka becomes capable of stacking Drive Spurs to offer her teammate a meaty +9 Attack to any ally. If she has a flying ally, this becomes +10 Attack and +4 Speed by equipping a Goad Fliers in her C slot instead of Drive Atk. This can be coupled with another unit with Hone Fliers to give a third flying unit +16 Attack and +10 Speed, which can turn the tides of a lot of battles, particularly on units that utilize Brave or Firesweep weapons.

Other than that, Hinoka can be utilized with a lot of her base kit. Flier Formation is a useful tool that increases her mobility if you can’t invest a more expensive B skill onto her, however Chill Def and Chill Spd both offer her team more support via crippling enemy debuffs.

Drive Atk and Goad Fliers (or Drive Atk or Drive Spd in her C slot) synergize very well with Warrior Princess and allows Hinoka to stack Spur buffs from 2 spaces away, without needing to begin her turn next to another unit. This gives her the opportunity to be an incredible support to Player Phase units in general, particularly units wielding Brave weapons, who can do an extra 18 damage per initiation (20 if using fliers) thanks to her buffs.

When it comes to her own combat capabilities, Hinoka is no slouch with her personal weapon, and she can easily utilize her native kit to be highly effective at combat in her own right. With a Speed IV, Hinoka hits 41 Speed with Warrior Princess equipped, which becomes 46 Speed when next to an ally- something that her Flier Formation skill can help her with. Her Attack rises to 51 under the same conditions, though she can utilize Swift Sparrow or Fury to be more self sufficient at the cost of a couple points from her offensive stats.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -HP
• Weapon: Brave Bow
• Assist: Reposition / Ardent Sacrifice
• Special: Luna / Moonbow
• Passive A: Life and Death / Death Blow
• Passive B: Chill Spd / Chill Def / Flier Formation / Desperation
• Passive C: Flier Guidance / Fortify Fliers
• Sacred Seal: Speed +3 / Attack +3

As with any unit with good offensive stats and access to a Brave weapon, one must take stock of whether they want to augment Attack or Speed in order to reach their fullest damage potential. Hinoka is no different with a natural offensive spread of 32/35, though her higher Speed generally lends itself better to quad attacks.

Through Speed stacking with the recommended build, Hinoka can reach a cap of 41 Speed with a Brave Bow equipped. Add in flier buffs if you like to increase her Speed even further, which enhances her ability to quad attack with a Luna proc on her fourth and final strike.

Despite her breathtaking Speed potential with this build, Hinoka only hits an Attack of 44. This means that against opponents with very high Defense, she may not do enough damage outside of her Luna proc. If you’re concerned about that, then there’s always the option of running her with a +ATK IV, Death Blow, Chill Def, and an Attack +3 seal (or any variation thereof) for an unbuffed Attack of 51 and a Speed of 35.

Flier Guidance is an intriguing option for a C slot that can help the mobility of your team, or she can buff your flier’s mixed defenses with Fortify Fliers, as she has little use for that buff on her own.

It’s very possible that Hinoka can be retaliated against if she can’t secure a KO in her first two hits. With that in mind, Desperation may be a better option for her this so that she can ensure that all four of her hits will land before her opponent has the option to counterattack. If this is taken over her native Flier Formation or the expensive Chill skills, then care has to be taken to allow her to enter the HP threshold range in the first place- likely by attacking a mage unit who will counterattack against her higher Resistance. Fury in her A slot can also assist with this, but it reduces her potential for Attack and Speed, which are too pivotal to her Brave Bow build to really be the best option for her.