Legendary Ephraim

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD or -RES

• Weapon: Flame Siegmund

• Assist: Reposition / Player Preference

• Special: Galeforce

• Passive A: Atk/Def Solo / Death Blow / Sturdy Blow

• Passive B: Renewal / Guard / Hit and Run / Desperation

• Passive C: Atk Smoke / Cavalry Buff / Player Preference

• Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade

With his amazing Attack and cavalry movement, Legendary Ephraim works amazingly well with the Galeforce Special.

An Attack boon is ideal in order to give the highest activation chance to Heavy Blade as well as extra damage to Legendary Ephraim’s attacks. Both Speed and Resistance work well as banes. Given he will be away from his team, his Flame Siegmund makes for the ideal choice of weapon, granting him a guaranteed follow-up when there are more or equal enemies to the number of allies around Legendary Ephraim. For his Assist, anything can work given he’ll most likely be away from his team to the point where he probably wouldn't even be able to use it. Still though, Reposition is a nice safe choice for cavaliers.

The star of the show here is Galeforce, the Special of choice. This is a hefty five charge Special which allows Legendary Ephraim to perform another action once per turn. When combined with the Heavy Blade Sacred Seal, Legendary Ephraim can quite easily fully charge Galeforce in a single round of combat assuming that Heavy Blade activates and his opponent attacks him in return. This gives Legendary Ephraim great offensive potential as he can attack, activate Galeforce, then either retreat to safety or attack another opponent.

For the rest of this set, Atk/Def Solo is the perfect A slot skill, granting a large boost to Attack and Defense when there's no adjacent allies. Alternatively, Death Blow is another great A slot skill, granting Legendary Ephraim with a nice boost to his damage and in turn also increasing his chance of activating Heavy Blade. Death Blow 4, while superior to Death Blow 3, is not necessary. Sturdy Blow is another solid option which, when compared to Death Blow, trades some Attack for a nice boost to Defense. Given Galeforce activates outside of combat, Solar Brace will have no effect, so using another B slot is imperative. Renewal grants Legendary Ephraim some self-sustainability in the place of Solar Brace. Another solid option is Guard, preventing the opponent from charging their Special so long as Legendary Ephraim beings combat at above 80% .Hit and Run is another solid option, allowing Legendary Ephraim to move back one space after any combat, helping to keep himself out of danger after an attack. Desperation is another good option, allowing Legendary Ephraim to perform his follow-up immediately after his first should he be below 75% HP, though do note that this can sometimes result in Legendary Ephraim failing to activate Galeforce should he KO his target before they can retaliate. Atk Smoke is the ideal C slot which allows Legendary Ephraim to debuff the opponent’s attack which in turn helps him with his survivability on Enemy Phase. One can also opt for a Cavalry Buff if used in a cavalry team, though it can be tricky to utilize it given Legendary Ephraim’s tendency to be away from the team.

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD or -RES

• Weapon: Flame Siegmund

• Assist: Reposition / Player Preference

• Special: Aether / Luna / Moonbow / Sol

• Passive A: Atk/Def Solo / Death Blow / Fury

• Passive B: Solar Brace / Guard / Desperation / Hit and Run

• Passive C: Atk Smoke / Cavalry Buff / Player Preference

• Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Attack +3 / Atk Smoke

Legendary Ephraim’s Flame Siegmund plays incredibly well into a Player Phase oriented set. This is a similar set to what his infantry counterpart enjoys to run.

An Attack boon is optimal in order to give Legendary Ephraim more damage potential as well as a higher activation chance for Heavy Blade. A Speed or Resistance bane will work well with this set. The Flame Siegmund gives Legendary Ephraim amazing offensive potential thanks to the guaranteed follow-up attack when away from his allies and is the cornerstone of this set. His Assist will likely be rarely used, but Reposition is a nice safe choice for whenever Legendary Ephraim is close to his team. The Special used is very flexible. Aether makes for a great choice when paired with Heavy Blade as he can potentially charge it in a single round of combat should Heavy Blade activate and the opponent retaliate, leaving it ready for use on Legendary Ephraim’s next attack. He can also use Luna or Sol which can potentially activate every round with Heavy Blade, as well as Moonbow which can potentially activate every round of combat when used with Heavy Blade and Desperation.

For passives, Atk/Def Solo serves as the ideal A slot option, boosting Legendary Ephraim's two most important stats when he has no adjacent allies. Death Blow is another great option, giving Legendary Ephraim a nice boost to his damage potential. If one is using Death Blow, it is not necessary to use Death Blow 4 if the fodder is unavailable or one simply doesn't want to fodder it to him. Death Blow 3 works just fine. Fury could also be used to give a nice all-round boost, as well as the passive damage helping Legendary Ephraim to reach the HP threshold for Desperation. The B slot is quite flexible. His default Solar Brace works very well with pretty much any combat Special to grant some extra healing. Guard is another good choice, preventing the opponent from charging their special while active. Desperation also pairs very well with Legendary Ephraim as since his weapon guarantees a double attack when no allies are nearby, he can activate Desperation with amazing consistency. Hit and Run is also a nice option which helps Legendary Ephraim retreat from potential danger after an attack. Atk Smoke works great in the C slot, allowing Legendary Ephraim to debuff the opponent’s damage output which in turn helps him and his team greatly on Enemy Phase. If that is not available, his C slot remains flexible. A Cavalry Buff can work, but do note he will often struggle to provide it to his team.

For his Sacred Seal, Heavy Blade works fantastically, granting him extra Special cooldown on his attack should Legendary Ephraim have more attack than his opponent. Given his high Attack, Legendary Ephraim can activate Heavy Blade extremely well. A simple Attack +3 Sacred Seal is also a nice option for some extra damage.

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

• Weapon: Slaying Lance (+Def) / Flame Siegmund

• Assist: Reposition / Player Preference

• Special: Moonbow / Glimmer / Noontime

• Passive A: Steady Stance 4 / Atk/Def Bond / Sturdy Stance

• Passive B: Solar Brace / Quick Riposte

• Passive C: Cavalry Buff / Fortify Def / Player Preference

• Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Close Defense

With his high Defense, Legendary Ephraim can serve as a strong physical wall.

An Attack or Defense boon is recommended, Attack for the extra damage or Defense for the extra physical bulk. Reducing either Speed or Resistance for the bane is also recommended. Though it seems blasphemous to ditch the Flame Siegmund, the Slaying Lance serves as a better option, granting a decreased cooldown on all Specials as well as being able to be refined for increased stats. A defensive refinement works very well for the Slaying Lance, granting Legendary Ephraim with a great boost to physical bulk. If necessary, the Flame Siegmund can be used, but it will activate less consistently as Legendary Ephraim wants to be close to his team for this set. Any Assist such as a movement skill or a Rally skill can work well here. Reposition remains a good general option to help with his team’s mobility. For his Special, any of the two cooldown specials such as Moonbow, Glimmer, or Noontime work fantastically, being able to activate consistently, potentially on every attack that Legendary Ephraim makes.

For the A slot, Steady Stance 4 is a fantastic choice, granting a huge Defense increase and extra protection from Special attacks when Legendary Ephraim is attacked. Steady Stance 3 can be used, but it is recommended to just use Sturdy Stance over Steady Stance 3 instead, especially since Legendary Ephraim comes with it. Another strong option is Atk/Def Bond, granting a large Attack and Defense boost whenever Legendary Ephraim is adjacent to another ally. Solar Brace works very well with this set, adding a healing effect to any in-combat Special. When paired with a two cooldown Special and a Slaying Lance, Legendary Ephraim can gain a lot of healing from his Special combined with Solar Brace. Quick Riposte also serves as a great option, allowing Legendary Ephraim to perform a double attack whenever attacked at above 70% HP. However, it is advised to run Quick Riposte as the Sacred Seal instead. The C slot is flexible. A Cavalry Buff such as Fortify Cavalry works very well in a Cavalry team while his default Fortify Def is a nice budget option in a mixed team composition.

For his Sacred Seal, Quick Riposte serves as the ideal option, granting a guaranteed follow-up attack whenever he is attacked above 70% HP. This pairs well with the Slaying Lance, a two turn Special and Solar Brace as Legendary Ephraim will be able to constantly activate his Special and Solar Brace which in turn helps to keep him above the 70% HP threshold. If one is using Quick Riposte as the B slot skill, Close Defense is also a great option in order to give Legendary Ephraim some extra up-close bulkiness.

• Preferred IV: +DEF or +ATK / -SPD

• Weapon: Berkut’s Lance+ (+Res or +Def) / Flame Siegmund

• Assist: Reposition / Player Preference

• Special: Moonbow / Glimmer / Noontime

• Passive A: Distant Counter

• Passive B: Quick Riposte / Solar Brace

• Passive C: Cavalry Buff / Fortify Def / Player Preference

• Sacred Seal: Distant Defense / Quick Riposte

It seems strange to put Distant Counter on a unit with such low Resistance, but thanks to a little weapon known as Berkut’s Lance, Legendary Ephraim can actually reach quite high Resistance and while he's not the greatest at using it, he can still make good use of Distant Counter.

A boon in Attack or Defense is preferred. Attack is great for helping with Legendary Ephraim’s damage output while Defense will help Legendary Ephraim with his physical bulk to make him an effective mixed wall. Speed is the best bane as his Resistance should be maintained if possible for this set. Berkut’s Lance grants a four point boost to Resistance when attacked which in itself is nothing special. However, when forged, it instead grants a noticeable seven point boost to Resistance and can also be given a Resistance refine for a huge 11 point boost to Resistance, taking Legendary Ephraim to a more respectable, but not fantastic, 29. However, this can be combined with boosts and other skills, allowing Legendary Ephraim to potentially even reach over 40 resistance with Distant Defense and a Fortify Cavalry boost. The Assist slot is flexible for your own choice. Reposition works well with cavaliers, but almost anything is viable. For Special, a low cooldown special such as Moonbow or Glimmer works nice for increased damage, as well as Noontime for some self healing.

Distant Counter is the star of the show here, given it’s what the entire set revolves around. This allows Legendary Ephraim to counterattack units from a distance, allowing him to fight back against archers and mages on Enemy Phase. With his high Defense, he can resist archers very well and with all the Resistance boosts, he can also resist mages well too. Quick Riposte in the B slot guarantees a follow-up attack for Legendary Ephraim whenever he is attacked while above 70% HP. His default Solar Brace also works well to give him some extra healing whenever his Special activates. The C slot is open to whatever your team needs. A class buff such as Fortify Cavalry works well in a Cavalry team whereas his default Fortify Def is a nice budget option.

For his Sacred Seal, Distant Defense makes for a great choice, further boosting Legendary Ephraim’s defenses when attacked from a distance. The Quick Riposte Sacred Seal also works great if one is not already using it in the B slot.