Nino

• Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK / -DEF

• Weapon: Gronnblade+

• Assist: Draw Back / Flexible

• Special: Glimmer / Moonbow

• Passive A: Fury / Life and Death / Swift Sparrow 

• Passive B: Desperation 

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

• Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Speed +3

Nino’s Blade tome set is both cheap to build and very effective in combat, making Nino an excellent offensive magic user.

The Gronnblade is an amazing tome that adds the total value of all Hone and Fortify buffs on her to her damage dealt, meaning deal will deal immense damage if she is buffed. You’ll want either a Speed or Attack boon with a Defense bane to maximize Nino’s offensive prowess with this tome. For assist, using her default Draw Back is perfectly acceptable, but it can be replaced with something such as Reposition if desired. Glimmer makes for a great special with the Blade tome due to the damage values Nino can reach if buffed. Moonbow is also a good option, particularly if Nino won’t always have easy access to buffs.

Fury is a great A slot skill with Nino, increasing all of her stats except HP by 3, giving her a good all-round boost. The passive 6 HP of non-lethal damage also helps to let Nino safely reach Desperation range. You can also use Life and Death to increase Nino’s offensive power at the cost of her defenses while Swift Sparrow also gives Nino a nice boost to Attack and Speed, though only on player phase. Desperation makes for the ideal B slot for this set, allowing Nino to perform any follow-up attack immediately after her first, helping her to fight DC units she can sometimes struggle with such as Hector and Dorcas. Odd Atk Wave allows Nino to boost herself and adjacent allies by six Attack at the start of odd numbered turns. As she boosts herself regardless of nearby allies, this is a fantastic C slot skill for the Blade tome. Outside of this, the C slot is open and almost any C slot can work. Her default Hone Atk works well and can be used to support her allies.

For seal, Distant Def makes a good choice for baiting mages. With it, she can safely bait Reinhardt, even should he be +Atk with Death Blow 3 and QP Moonbow, making her an effective counter to him. If baiting Reinhardt is not something you want Nino to do, using a simple Speed seal is also a good choice to increase Nino’s doubling potential.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -DEF

• Weapon: Keen Gronnwolf+ (+Eff)

• Assist: Draw Back / Flexible

• Special: Moonbow / Glimmer

• Passive A: Fury

• Passive B: Vantage / Desperation

• Passive C: Hone Atk / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Attack +3

Though it’s hard to consider ditching her Blade tome, Nino can run other sets, namely this set which allows her to serve as an effective cavalry counter.

The Keen Gronnwolf is a powerful tome which deals effective damage against cavalry units. In addition to this, forging it allows for hone and fortify boosts on cavalry to be ignore during combat, though it can also be forged for simple stat boosts if you would prefer that. An Attack boon with Defense bane is ideal to maximize Nino’s damage output, though a Speed boon is also acceptable. The assist skill is open to preference with Nino’s default Draw Back being a fine option, though it can be replaced if you so desire. Moonbow makes for a nice special thanks to its low cooldown. Glimmer makes for a good special too for the same reason.

Fury in the A slot will improve Nino across the board thanks to the +3 boosts to all stats except HP while the passive damage will allow Nino to reach Vantage range with relative ease. Vantage works nicely in the B slot for countering ranged horse units such as Brave Lyn and Reinhardt as it’ll allow Nino to attack first when these two attack her and attain a OHKO before they can even attack. Desperation also works fine, allowing her to safely attain a ORKO against Xander, even should he have Distant Def 6. The C slot is player preference with her default Hone Atk working well as an option, though this can be switched out as you see fit.

Distant Def against works fine as a sacred seal, helping her to safely bait Reinhardt and Mulagir Brave Lyn when Vantage is not active. A simple Attack seal also works fine, helping Nino to improve her damage output.