Leon

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF / -RES

• Weapon: Slaying Bow+ (+Def) / Slaying Bow+

• Assist: Reciprocal Aid / Swap

• Special: Ignis

• Passive A: Close Counter / Atk/Def Bond / Atk + 3

• Passive B: Guard

• Passive C: Threaten Def / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte

The principle of this build is simple: Put Leon in range of a physical enemy, tank while not letting them charge their Special, then unleash an Ignis/Bonfire on Player Phase.

It is worth noting that +ATK IV with a +Def refine works better than +DEF IV with any refine in this build (especially when a +Atk refine on a ranged weapon gives less than a +ATK IV). Due to the low number of Dagger and Bow units in arena, this build goes down in value if you aren’t using Close Counter. It still allows Leon to survive an unbuffed Brave Bow Brave Lyn when Def-boosted.

Leon’s native B passive, Guard, is a very important component of the build due to the abundance of low-CD Specials, Cooldown-accelerating skills, and fast Brave Bow users. Since Guard is taken as B slot, Quick Riposte is taken as Sacred Seal.

With the Slaying Bow’s Cooldown reduction, Ignis will trigger at the end of the battle if the enemy doubles Leon, guaranteeing heavy damage on whoever tries to touch him. If the enemy isn’t fast enough to double, Ignis will be ready for the following Player Phase.

The recommended Assist is Reciprocal Aid, so Leon can stay in Quick Riposte range. The recommended C passive is Threaten Def as it enables an extra push against very bulky opponents who would have survived two rounds of combat.

• Preferred IV: +SPD / -RES

• Weapon: Slaying Bow+ (+Spd) / Slaying Bow+

• Assist: Reciprocal Aid / Swap / Flexible

• Special: Bonfire / Ignis

• Passive A: Fury

• Passive B: Quick Riposte

• Passive C: Threaten Def / Threaten Atk / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Threaten Atk / Threaten Spd

Speed is an excellent defensive stat: No matter how low your Def/Res is, if you don’t get doubled, you will only take half as much damage. This build is geared for short battles as you will take significant damage on your first bait and won’t be able to do much afterwards. Unless you use Reciprocal Aid to switch your current HP with an ally’s who uses skills like Desperation or have a healer partner. Speed-boosting allies are recommended when using this build.

For the A slot, Fury is taken over Life and Death to raise Leon’s offense as well as his defense since the latter skill would seriously dent his overall bulk . Despite the Speed-raising build choices, Leon’s base Speed is average, meaning he won’t double faster enemies without the help of Quick Riposte.

Distant Def is an amazing Sacred Seal that will add to Leon’s bulk, but if it is taken by another unit you can turn Leon into a debuffer with another Threaten skill as Sacred Seal. Any flat stat booster is good as Sacred Seal too.

The choice between Ignis and Bonfire depends on whether Leon has enough firepower for most of his matchups. Bonfire‘s cooldown goes down to 2 with the Slaying Bow, which means it will fire on Leon’s follow-up attack and tip the scales in his favor. If one doesn’t have the fodder for Bonfire or finds that the 15 extra damage is superfluous because Leon already KOs his targets with his follow-up attack, Ignis will be ready for a possible OHKO on the following Player Phase.

Author’s note: A Guard Bow + double Distant Def set was considered, but it yielded similar results to this set for a much bigger investment. Said skill set would perform particularly better against very fast units or those who have a guaranteed double like with the Bold Fighter skill.

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -RES

• Weapon: Brave Bow+

• Assist: Draw Back / Reposition

• Special: Bonfire / Ignis / Moonbow

• Passive A: Death Blow / Attack +3

• Passive B: Chill Def / Swordbreaker / Guard / Flexible

• Passive C: Threaten Def / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Attack +3 / Quickened Pulse

A straightforward Brave Bow set with maximized Attack. Since Brave weapons make one hit twice on Player Phase, each Attack point the unit gains is used twice, and each Defense point the enemy loses is counted twice. Leon’s okay Speed coupled with the weapon’s Speed penalty means he won’t double naturally and risks getting doubled, so every other stat is secondary. If one does not have Death Blow fodder, a simple Atk + 3 will do.

B passives have always been varied for the slower Brave weapon users until the release of Chill Def . Chill Def lowers the Defense of the foe(s) that have the highest Defense stat among the enemy team. Since Brave weapons have lowered Might compared to standard weapons, they are particularly ineffective against high-Defense foes, making Chill Def an excellent fit for them.

Swordbreaker is also a good option due to the high number of sword users with innate Distant Counter. It can be replaced by the skill of your choice, like the excellent Guard Leon comes with. After all, Brave weapons also charge the enemy’s Special faster, so one of your units getting hit with a Special when Leon is unable to finish off his foe can potentially make the battle go awry .

Since Brave weapon users want to keep their battles to the Player Phase, their choice of Special skill is particular. In the case of units who won’t double (like Leon), that will be two shots fired on the first encounter (Cooldown charge +2). If a 2-CD Special is taken, it would be ready then. But whether Leon is attacked (charge +1 or +2) or is attacking in a new fight ( Charge +2), there would be a wasted charge. This is why Brave weapon users typically take an odd-numbered cooldown Special.

If one wants a higher burst damage on the second battle, Ignis + Quickened Pulse is preferred. If a higher damage output at every match is the goal instead, Moonbow + Quickened Pulse is the way to go.