Laegjarn

• Preferred IV: +SPD / -RES
• Weapon: Slaying Edge (+Spd) or Slaying Edge (+Def)
• Assist: Reposition / Swap
• Special: Bonfire / Aether / Ignis
• Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Atk/Def Bond / Fury
• Passive B: Atk/Def Link / Guard / Desperation
• Passive C: Even Spd Wave / Even Def Wave / Goad Fliers
• Sacred Seal: Close Def / Spd + 3

While Laegjarn’s prf is fantastic when she’s facing down opponents with buffs, it is highly situational and doesn’t help her much against opponents with in-combat buffs or no buffs at all. For this reason, a Slaying Edge makes her more consistent and reliable in combat, as she trades 2 mt for -1 cooldown on her Special and 5 HP.

Her Special should not be underestimated either, as her incredibly high Defense gives her an unbuffed Bonfire proc of 18 flat damage applied on top of her attack. With a Speed-focused build, she will be able to double attack her opponent in Player Phase, triggering a Bonfire activation and taking little damage in return thanks to her high Defense.

Laegjarn’s fantastic Speed means that she doesn’t need to run Quick Riposte in her B or Seal slots, leaving them open to further her dueling capabilities. She can take Atk/Def Link in her B slot (inheriting it from her sister, coincidentally) to increase her best stats through Reposition, while Even Spd Wave makes her even more likely to double her opponent, regardless of what Phase it is.

Swift Sparrow helps her to secure doubles and increase her mediocre Attack during Player Phase, while Close Def in her seal slot solidifies her physical tankiness during Enemy Phase. Through both of these skills and her flier mobility, she has the ability to decide where to engage her opponent, and in which phase.

Though the SP cost is lower than some other B skills, Guard is an option for upper-tier Arena and is ideal at shutting down builds with Fighter skills, Steady Breath, Heavy Blade, or Flashing Blade. This allows Laegjarn further freedom in choosing when it would be most advantageous to engage her opponent. Take note however, that Guard adds +1 to her opponent’s Special cooldown; it does not negate it entirely.

If Laegjarn has allies who can buff her- such as with Hone or Fortify fliers- then she would benefit from picking up Guard or Desperation as her B slot, and whichever buff she may need in her C slot.

• Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK/ -RES
• Weapon: Níu
• Assist: Reposition / Swap
• Special: Bonfire / Aether
• Passive A: Fury / Death Blow 4 / Atk/Def Bond
• Passive B: Atk/Def Link / Chill Spd / Desperation
• Passive C: Even Spd Wave / Odd Atk Wave / Goad Fliers
• Sacred Seal: Speed +3 / Heavy Blade / Close Def

This set’s purpose is to utilize her prf effect to stack as many of Laegjarn’s stats as possible in order to combine with her stat gains from opponent buffs and make her indestructible. Fury is a flat increase of +3 to all of her stats, while Atk/Def Link and Even Spd Wave grants her an additional +6 to those 3 stats when the conditional buffs apply.

When facing an opponent who has a simple Hone Attack, Níu grants Laegjarn an additional +2 to all stats- against a dual Rally, she gains +3 to all stats, and with Hone Cavalry, she gains+6. The scaling on this is highly dependant on her opponent’s buffs of course, but ultimately it makes her terrifying against emblem teams, Blade tomes, and opponents who utilize Light Breath, Veronica, or Sothe. Furthermore, this can help Laegjarn counter the myriad of units who now have Wave skills in their C slot, as she can turn their advantage against them, even on their preferred turns.

In an optimal scenario, with all of her self buffs active and against a unit with only a Wave C slot skill active, a neutral IV Laegjarn has a stat spread of 41/60/54/48/23. Hone Cavalry (or Hone Fliers or Hone Armor) gives her a stat spread of 41/63/57/51/26, and against a Hone + Fortify enemy, she has 41/69/63/57/32.

Of course, the most optimal scenario here isn’t likely to happen anytime soon, but the numbers are good to reference just how powerful she can become and how the scaling of her prf can work together with Fury and other stat-enhancing skills to improve her already-impressive stat spread to ridiculous levels.

With the degree that her Attack can scale, Heavy Blade could be considered despite her 32 Attack. With Heavy Blade active, Laegjarn will proc Bonfire in her first engagement, provided she doubles. This allows her to further throw her impressive Defense against her opponent for even more damage.

• Preferred IV: +DEF or +ATK / -HP or -RES
• Weapon: Safeguard (+Def) / Safeguard (+Spd)
• Assist: Reposition / Swap
• Special: Bonfire / Ignis
• Passive A: Sturdy Stance / Close Def
• Passive B: Guard / Chill Atk / Swordbreaker
• Passive C: Even Def Wave / Goad Fliers
• Sacred Seal: Close Def / Quick Riposte

Laegjarn is by far the sturdiest red flier in the game and this set aims to make her sturdiness her specialty, by stacking her Defense so high that not even lance units could hope to puncture it.  Safeguard offers her an additional 7 Defense during Enemy Phase and forging it for Defense increases her damage reduction by an additional 4. Furthermore, Sturdy Stance and Close Def together increase her Defense by 10, while increasing her Attack by 4 and her Resistance by 6.

With Even Def Wave active in the Enemy Phase, Laegjarn has 66 Defense. This means that a lance unit with less than 54 Attack would do 0 damage to her. In addition, Guard helps further increase her defenses by denying her opponents’ Special activation, further mitigating any damage she may receive.

Of course, this bulletproof Defense doesn’t come without its drawbacks. In order to achieve this formidable Defense, Laegjarn must shirk almost all of her other stats- however, her neutral stat spread is so good that it isn’t the end of the world- with 36 Speed, she can still avoid many doubles, though she will fail to double her faster opponents without Quick Riposte. Additionally, her Attack of 46 (50 in Enemy Phase) is still on the low side, however it is augmented by a 33 damage Bonfire or 53 damage Ignis whenever her Specials activate.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -HP or -RES
• Weapon: Níu
• Assist: Reposition
• Special: Bonfire / Ignis
• Passive A: Fury / Brazen Atk/Def
• Passive B: Chill Atk / Desperation / Swordbreaker
• Passive C: Threaten Spd / Threaten Def / Goad Fliers
• Sacred Seal: Close Def

This is a set that is aimed to make Laegjarn quite formidable on a budget, using her natural skills or skills that can be inherited from 4 star or below units.  Fury is a natural choice for her A slot, as it works in both phases and increases all of her fantastic stats. Brazen Atk/Def is also an excellent choice for her, as it further increases her key stats, though at the cost of needing her HP to be lowered.

Chill Atk is her default B slot and is quite good on her, as it allows her to mitigate the threat of the enemy team’s most powerful attacker and further increases her ability to defend herself against melee threats. Desperation is another good option, particularly if your Laegjarn is +SPD. If not, or if you’re still concerned about running into the likes of Mia, Karla, or Ayra, then Laegjarn can counter them specifically via Swordbreaker- which also helps to decrease the threat of a Bold Fighter Zelgius.

Finally, her C slot has Threaten Spd, which can help her double speedier units with her natural 42 Speed (45 with a boon).  Threaten Def is also a good option, as it helps her to make up for her slightly-lower Attack.