Michalis

• Weapon: Hauteclere (+Eff)
• Support: Reposition / Draw Back / Swap
• Specials: Bonfire
• A slot: Steady Stance / Close Defense / Heavy Blade
• B slot: Quick Riposte / Vantage
• C slot: Threaten Defense / Threaten Attack / Team Dependent
• Sacred Seals: Quickened Pulse / Close Defense 

With +10 damage at special activation, Michalis' Hauteclere forge has allowed him to deal faster, more consistent damage in the form of his Specials. Now, instead of waiting for the long Ignis or Aether procs, it's more advantageous in most fights to have Bonfire up and have it up often for a base addition of +27 damage at every proc on a shortened 2 tick cooldown.

When starting out the battle with his Quickened Pulse seal, Michalis is able to bait out any unit for a single blow, and then retaliate with a Bonfire intense enough to wipe most enemy units off the map.  If the opponent somehow survives to attack him again, Michalis retaliates with his base 50 damage and primes Bonfire to be fired off for the next player phase. Utilizing this kind of build, Michalis can kill even meta reds such as Mia, Ryoma, and Ayra on turn one of combat, though the latter two require a small Attack buff to be able to seal the deal.

Steady Stance and Close Defense are rather interchangeable; it mostly depends on what you have and what you'd be willing to sacrifice. Steady Stance will protect him somewhat from archers and dagger users, while Close Def will help mitigate some damage against dragons.

If you'd like to play him more defensively with even harder Specials at the expense of additional cooldown time, you can instead run him with Ignis and a Close Defense seal, which further protects him from enemy attacks and gives him stronger Special procs on the Enemy Phase. However, you'll do less consistent damage this way and you would need to rely on the enemy units doubling you in order to get all four ticks of combat from Quick Riposte.

If you like the idea of an 'all damage all the time' type of build, you can also consider running Heavy Blade to further mitigate Bonfire cooldowns, as Michalis certainly has the attack to sustain it.

His C slot is more up to your team - Michalis is a good member to carry Hone Fliers, as he does not benefit from the Speed boost in the way that other fliers would, though he can also use Goad Fliers to buff his team. If functioning as a standalone unit, Threaten Defense will help him do more damage, while Threaten Attack will help him tank for long periods of time.

• Weapon: Hauteclere (+Def)
• Support: Reposition / Draw Back / Swap
• Specials: Ignis / Aether
• A slot: Close Def / Steady Stance / Fury / Iote's Shield
• B slot: Quick Riposte / Lancebreaker / Axebreaker
• C slot: Threaten Def / Team Dependent
• Sacred Seals: Close Defense / Defense + 3

While the added effect of +10 damage per Special activation seems like a no-brainer, Michalis actually benefits immensely from upgrading his Hauteclere to improve his defenses as well. The +4 increase in Defense brings it up to 39, which also increases his Ignis damage by 3. Ultimately, if you're running Ignis, then the tradeoff is -7 damage every Special proc in exchange for +4 Defense in every round of combat (which saves Michalis 8 HP in each QR exchange). This beefs up his previous standard build into being nigh unkillable, and with this, he closes the distance on Beruka's niche as the flier with the highest defense.

Ignis is the recommended Special for this build due to its incredible damage potential and synergy with QR. However, for longer battles (such as for usage in the Tempest Trials, or if he's used extensively in the Arena), Michalis can work very well with Aether which can heal him back up to continue tanking.  Aether's damage procs off of the enemy's Defense, however, and the damage it does will be almost certainly less potent than Ignis.

This build can also be run on a budget; with Ignis, Fury, Quick Riposte 2, and his native Threaten Def, Michalis can still be incredibly lethal, though you should take care to pair him with a healer as Fury's chip damage can push him under Quick Riposte's HP threshold.

The last skill again depends on team composition. He can run Hone/Goad fliers, but as a standalone unit, he can be just fine with his natural Threaten Def.  As far as the sacred seals go, he wants to increase his defenses by any means necessary, which means that he works best with a Close Defense or Defense +3 seal.

• Weapon: Hauteclere (+Def)
• Support: Reposition / Draw Back / Swap 
• Specials: Aether / Ignis
• A slot: Distant Counter
• B slot: Quick Riposte
• C slot: Panic Ploy / Goad Fliers / Varies on team
• Sacred Seals: Deflect Missile / Distant Defense

This set works best with flier team support and can help mitigate the downsides of running a flier team: namely, facing off against archers and Reinhardt.

Although he has a low Resistance stat, with a Fortify Fliers buff, Michalis can survive a +10 QP/MB Reinhardt and kill him on the counterattack; if the Reinhardt is unmerged then Michalis can survive him as-is. Both of these put him at rather low health, so he'll want to top off with an Aether proc or another teammate's healing skill.

The main draw of this set, however, is his ability to counter archers. With his Deflect Missile seal and impressive Defense, Michalis can survive many Brave Bow archers, such as Life and Death Bridal Cordelia or Klein and kill them on the counterattack. This is, unfortunately, going to be stopped by Brave Lyn's default skill which negates DC, but even then, the ability to withstand arrows is vital to manipulating the AI in Arena. 

Distant Defense seal will further Michalis' ability to tank and retaliate from range, but doesn't mitigate Brave Bow damage quite as much. This build relies heavily on Sacred Seals to help him with survival and counterattacks, so be sure to upgrade whichever you choose all the way to the third level for maximum potential.