Laevatein

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -RES

• Weapon: Laevatein

• Assist: Reposition

• Special: Glimmer / Moonbow

• Passive A: Death Blow / Fierce Breath

• Passive B: Special Spiral

• Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Odd Spd Wave / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Quickened Pulse

Thanks to her personal weapon’s ability to scale damage with field buffs, Laevatein is very versatile in the way she can approach opponents. This set aims to find a medium between offensive and defensive combat in order to make Laevatein an effective combatant in both Player and Enemy Phase. As such, the additional damage from an Attack boon makes it the overall best choice of IVs. A boon in Speed is also acceptable and makes for a particularly strong option for Enemy Phase combat, as it allows Laevatein to avoid follow-up attacks from a wider range of opponents.

Laevatein has several options for her Special: Glimmer makes for an especially strong choice with Laevatein’s weapon thanks to its low cooldown and ability to scale with the additional damage received from field buffs. When combined with Special Spiral, Glimmer will be ready to go every single round of combat following its initial activation. Moonbow is identical in cooldown to Glimmer but makes for a stronger choice against particularly bulky units such as Nowi and Fallen Hardin.

Moving on, the choice of A skill is dependant on if one wants to focus more on combat in the Player or Enemy Phase. Death Blow makes for a very strong Player Phase option, especially with this OHKO playstyle by granting an additional +8 Attack on initiation. Meanwhile, Fierce Breath is a strong choice for combat in the Enemy Phase. Not only does it allow Laevatein to activate her Special more frequently, but it also gives her a boost to her raw damage when initiated on.

Both Odd Atk Wave and Odd Spd Wave makes for a fantastic choice of C skills, as they make Laevatein more self-sufficient by granting her a significant boost to her Attack/Speed on odd numbered turns. Otherwise, the C skill can be replaced as needed to suit the team.

For her Sacred Seal, Quick Riposte bolsters Laevatein’s Enemy Phase prowess by guaranteeing her follow-up attack when initiated on. This can make it a consistent answer to mid-high tier Speed units such as Lucina and Soleil. Finally, Quickened Pulse gives Laevatein a head start to activating Special Spiral by accelerating her Special cooldown on turn 1.  

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD or +DEF / -HP or -RES

• Weapon: Laevatein

• Assist: Reposition

• Special: Glimmer / Moonbow / Blue Flame

• Passive A: Fierce Breath

• Passive B: Quick Riposte / Guard / Wrath

• Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Odd Spd Wave / Atk Smoke / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Bond / Close Defense / Quick Riposte / Atk Smoke

This build specializes solely on combat in the Enemy Phase. In addition to Attack and Speed Speed, Defense also makes for a suitable choice of boon by boosting Laevatein’s physical bulk as well as adding additional damage to Defense-scaling Specials such as Ignis. 

Glimmer and Moonbow remain strong picks for Specials, as Laevatein will be able to activate them on every single counterattack when combined with a Breath skill. Specials with a cooldown of 3-4 can make for even stronger alternatives and will activate every round of combat assuming that Quick Riposte is active. Blue Flame makes for a particularly strong option thanks to its extraordinary damage potential and consistency with this Enemy Phase oriented playstyle. 

Quick Riposte is an essential skill as it guarantees Laevatein’s follow-up attack in the Enemy Phase. Alternatively, one can move Quick Riposte to the Sacred Seal slot in favor of running Guard as her B skill. Guard will greatly reduce damage taken from opponents that rely on activating their Special such as Ayra and Zelgius. This also applies to all armored units running Bold Fighter, as their follow-up attacks cannot be avoided if they initiate on Laevatein, along with granting them additional Special charge. Wrath also makes for a strong choice; once active, Laevatein will gain a boost in both the power and frequency of her Special activation. 

On top of Wave skills, Laevatein can also make effective use of Smoke skills. In particular, Attack Smoke makes her a better overall tank by reducing the damage output of opponents around her after combat. Moving on to Sacred Seals, Atk/Def Bond makes for a very strong option by boosting both Laevatein's physical bulk and damage when adjacent to an ally, suiting her Enemy Phase playstyle perfectly. Close Def is another good choice, as it will reduce damage taken from all melee opponents when initiated on.  If not already being used in the B slot, Quick Riposte seal is essential in allowing Laevatein to consistently perform follow-up attacks in the Enemy Phase. The same applies to Atk Smoke, which can also be run here if it is not already being used in the C slot.

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP or -RES

• Weapon: Laevatein

• Assist: Reposition

• Special: Glimmer

• Passive A: Distant Counter

• Passive B: Vantage

• Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Odd Spd Wave / Def Smoke / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade

Though reliant on field buffs, Laevatein’s weapon is very potent in OHKOs. This is especially true against ranged units due to their physical bulk being lower on average. By adopting the same playstyle as Ares and WT-Reinhardt, this set aims to make Laevatein an untouchable Enemy Phase ranged check by utilizing the skill Distant Counter. Since this build is extremely reliant on Laevatein being able to take out her opponent in only one hit, a boon in Attack is the most desirable nature that Laevatein can receive.

Glimmer is once again a choice Special thanks to its consistent activation rate and potency with the damage-scaling effect. When combined with the Heavy Blade Sacred Seal, Laevatein can potentially activate her Special every other round of combat.

The main function of this build is running Distant Counter with Vantage. Upon hitting the HP threshold for Vantage, any subsequent opponents that initiate on Laevatein are forced to take the at least one hit from her weapon before even having the chance to counterattack. With this combination, Laevatein can potentially take out multiple opponents in the Enemy Phase unscathed. However, the amount of support that Laevatein needs in order to take out her opponent in only one hit can vary greatly depending on who she is facing. Bulky ranged units such as Winter Tharja can prove to be much tougher nuts to crack.

In addition to Wave skills, Def Smoke also makes a great choice of C skill for Laevatein as a standalone unit. By reducing the physical bulk of opponents around her after combat, any affected targets that initiate on her afterward will be hit even harder during any turn. As stated previously, Heavy Blade makes for a very effective choice of Sacred Seal by allowing Laevatein to activate her Special more frequently. Additionally, its activation will be consistent thanks to her weapon’s damage scaling property.

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -RES or -DEF or -HP

• Weapon: Laevatein

• Assist: Reposition

• Special: Blazing Wind / Blazing Flame / Blazing Thunder

• Passive A: Death Blow

• Passive B: Special Spiral

• Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade

Through the combination of Special Spiral and the Heavy Blade Sacred Seal, Laevatein can also make extremely effective use of AOE Specials. Following their initial activation, these Specials will drop to a cooldown of only 2. Their activation before combat, as well as Laevatein’s attack with the Heavy Blade Sacred Seal during combat, allow for them to be readily activated every single time. This one-shot playstyle once again makes Attack the choice boon to have, as it increases Laevatein’s raw damage as well as the power behind her Special activation.

As for the Special itself, Blazing Wind is generally the most consistent among the AOE skills thanks to its wide range. This makes it easier to catch other enemies in its range and hit them with heavy non-lethal damage. However, both Blazing Flame and Blazing Thunder work as solid alternatives. In order to maximize Laevatein’s OHKO potential as well as the power behind her Special activation, Death Blow makes for the best option by granting a very strong Attack boost on initiation. Last but not least, Odd Atk Wave remains a fantastic self-sufficient option for Laevatein thanks to the significant Attack buff it provides during odd-numbered turns.