Olwen (WT)

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

• Weapon: Thunderhead

• Assist: Ardent Sacrifice / Reposition

• Special: Glimmer / Moonbow

• Passive A: Swift Sparrow 2 / Life and Death 3 / Fury 3

• Passive B: Desperation 3

• Passive C: Res Ploy 3 / Hone Cavalry / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade 3 / Speed +3 / Attack +3

This set aims to maximize the continuous damage output of Olwen’s personal weapon, Thunderhead. Due to this purely offensive playstyle, Olwen appreciates boons in Speed and Attack in order to secure additional kills on initiation. Additional Speed allows her to secure more follow-up attacks which is extremely important in maximizing the damage output of a Blade Tome user. Meanwhile, a boon in Attack grants her more raw damage and is more effective against slow bulky targets. In particular, this can be the deciding factor in her matchup against Winter Tharja.

For her Assist, Ardent Sacrifice has fantastic synergy with Desperation. Olwen’s physical bulk of 53 makes her susceptible to getting killed in only one hit; by dropping her HP without the need to engage in combat, Olwen can safely get into Desperation’s 75% HP threshold. Otherwise, any choice of movement skill such as Reposition will make for a suitable Assist.

Glimmer is a great choice of Special on any Blade Tome user, as it scales with the additional damage from her weapon’s effect. In addition to this, Thunderhead doesn’t have the Special cooldown penalty of a standard Blade Tome. This allows her to activate 2 cooldown Special such as Glimmer during her first round of combat. Alternatively, Moonbow can be used as a more effective option against units with extraordinarily high Resistance such as Julia and Deirdre.

Olwen’s native Swift Sparrow is the premium choice of A skill, as it provides a strong boost to her offensive stats on initiation without the need to forego anything else. A higher risk higher reward option is Life and Death, as it boosts her offensive stats even higher at the cost of severely damaging her overall bulk. This makes her even more susceptible to getting OHKO’d by both physical and magic damage alike. Finally, Fury makes for another solid choice by making it easier to get into Desperation range by increasing her overall bulk at the cost of a marginally weaker offense. In addition to this, the boost in Resistance improves her ability to effectively utilize Ploy skills.

Desperation is the cornerstone of any glass cannon mage; once in the HP range, Olwen will be able to safely perform follow-up attacks without the risk of getting killed on the counterattack. As for C skills, Olwen can potentially make effective use of Res Ploy depending on her Resistance. This increases the magic damage output of both her and her allies against the affected target. A more team-synergetic option is Hone Cavalry, as it allows Olwen to be a benefactor on a cavalry-centric team which she is most effective on. Otherwise, the C slot can be replaced with whatever will accommodate her team.

Last but not least, Heavy Blade makes for a fantastic option for her Sacred Seal. Thanks to Thunderhead’s damage scaling property, Heavy Blade’s consistent activation allows Olwen to activate her Specials within a shorter time-frame. This pairs particularly well when combined with Desperation and 2 charge Specials such as Glimmer and Moonbow, as Olwen will be able to activate them every single round of combat. Alternatively, both Speed +3 and Attack +3 make for good picks in order to give Olwen a solid offensive stat boost.

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

• Weapon: Thunderhead

• Assist: Reposition

• Special: Draconic Aura / Glimmer

• Passive A: Fury 3 / Swift Sparrow 3

• Passive B: Chill Res 3

• Passive C: Spd Ploy 3 / Atk Ploy /  Hone Cavalry / Flexible

• Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Atk Ploy / Res Ploy 3

This build looks to give Olwen an additional role as a strong support unit in exchange for continuous combat. In addition to Attack and Speed, Resistance also makes for a suitable boon in order to have Olwen better utilize Ploy skills. Draconic Aura is a great choice of Special in order to maximize damage output, particularly when used together with Heavy Blade in order to activate it in Olwen’s first round of combat. Glimmer can be used as a more consistent albeit, less powerful alternative.

Fury is a fantastic option for this set, as the boost it provides increases her damage output, overall bulk, and ability to effectively utilize Ploy skills. Olwen’s native Swift Sparrow also makes for a suitable option, as it provides a solid boost to her offensive stats on initiation. As for B skills, Chill Res is a great choice for increasing both Olwen’s damage output as well as the overall support she can provide to her team. While Chill Res can massively increase magic damage against the affected target, it is not always consistent. This is due to it targeting the unit with the highest Resistance and not necessarily the unit with highest magic bulk.

At a base value of 30 with Fury, Olwen’s  Resistance is high enough to make effective use of Ploy skills. When successfully landed, Spd Ploy makes it easier for both Olwen and her teammates to perform follow-up attack against the affected target while landing Atk Ploy will reduce their damage output.  If not already being utilized in the C slot, Atk Ploy can also be moved to the Sacred Seal slot. Although Res Ploy may seem redundant when used together with Chill Res, the difference comes from the units they target. Res Ploy will often hit opponents with low Resistance while Chill Res aims straight for the unit with the highest Resistance.