Raven

The ultimate in late game builds without delving into defensive skills like shield pulse or pavise, this set lets you take on a favorable enemy right off the bat, then turn an unfavorable matchup around the next turn with an easy 1-shot (Aether/Wrath). Given the fact that I've +10'd Raven though, he may work out for me solely because of that, but I believe he can work prior to that.

Merge: +4 (current +10 merge project)
Seal: Speed +3
Blessing: Water

Player Phase Offensive Raven

Basilikos (Eff)(Weapon)
This is no ordinary Slaying Axe. It is an axe that puts one's life to the test. And it has Life & Death. With Raven's impressive offensive statline, he is truly fearsome.

Reposition (Assist)
Must I explain this?

Glimmer / Moonbow (Special)
Raven has insanely high Attack, even if Attack is not his current boon. Glimmer is an ideal choice since he'll have no trouble dishing out a lot of damage. For consistency, Moonbow may be better to run.

This does not mean that he'll win against some Red units, however.

Fury 3 (A-Slot)
An ideal skill for Raven. this patches up 3/5 of his bulk lost due to Basiliko's Life & Death effect. Despite this, his physical bulk is still above decent. He's got his Speed to back him up to prevent being doubled.

Desperation 3 (B-Slot)
For a Green Speed Demon, Raven will gladly make full use of this to make powerful, yet, instantaneous follow-ups. Once he hits below 75% HP threshold, that is. But his Fury skill will definitely help lowering his HP safely.

Threaten Def 3 (C-Slot)
An excellent budget skill for Raven. Since he naturally comes with it, it's not a bad idea to run it on him. But if you wanna go even crazy, something like Odd Atk Wave or Even Spd Wave can make Raven outright dangerous.

Speed +3 (Sacred Seal)
Self-explanatory. Doesn't hurt to have THIS much Speed.

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Pros:
+ Before Basilikos, Raven is also a pretty good user of Brave Axe and can also opt to run it as his alternate build, if one wishes to do so
+ With Basilikos, Raven becomes an incredible unit of his own right and he is fairly customizable every way possible
+ Has excellent offensive statline, even more so with a refined Basilikos and Fury, Life & Death or Brazen Atk/Spd as he can hit incredibly hard and become super fast
+ Can effectively make use of Heavy Blade and Flashing Blade skills for Sacred Seal

Cons:
- Overall bulk is below average, but his incredible Speed makes up for it
- Has non-existent Res and he'll get destroyed outright by powerful Red Breath users as well as Red Mages
- Said low Res makes him vulnerable to Ploy skills as well
- Brave weapon users can make short work out of him, especially if their names are Elincia and Reinhardt (WT)

[The optimal IVs for this build are either +Atk/-HP or +Spd/-HP, with the former being the better of the two. The description assumes you are using a +Atk/-HP Raven.]

This build makes Raven into a rampaging Player Phase monster, boasting a whopping base 63 Attack and 45 Speed.

Weapon: Basilikos (+Eff) includes a Life and Death 3 effect, which contributes to Raven’s sky-high Atk and Def that will come out as a result. The Special cooldown reduction also plays a big role in Raven triggering Galeforce.

Assist: Ardent Sacrifice is important to instantly put Raven in Desperation range, as he would have exactly 40 maximum HP with a -HP bane and a Basilikos refine.

Special: Galeforce lets Raven wreak havoc once again after decimating his first target (or retreat, depending on the situation). The cooldown reduction from Basilikos, along with the Heavy Blade seal, lets Raven trigger it almost every time (provided he outspeeds his opponent and the opponent has enough bulk to survive his first hit).

A Skill: Life and Death 3 puts Raven into his groundbreaking Atk and Spd, stacked with the effect of his Basilikos. Those who want to play it more safely can choose to run Fury 3 or Swift Sparrow 2 instead (Fury 3 may actually be a better option if one doesn’t feel the need for 2 extra Atk and Spd).

B Skill: Desperation 3 causes Raven to strike twice almost every time without being hit back, which would be bad since Raven had sacrificed his defensive stats for his offensive stats twice. Two strikes from him would be enough to defeat the majority of his foes.

C Skill: Def Smoke 3 works great with Raven, since it would debuff nearby foes after he strikes down his first target, letting him tear through his second target more easily as Galeforce triggers.

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade 3 is vital for Raven to trigger his Galeforce every turn. Very few units will be able to match his 63 Atk, making this a reliable way for Raven to charge his Special.

"I'm not angry! This is just my face! >:C"

Raven has an underrated Atk/Spd, and this build allows him to unleash all his natural anger and to use his weapon's full potential.

+Atk is a need in order to increase his damage and get some more through Glimmer. While -HP could also be an option, -Res allows him to keep his HP in order to overcome a few units that may survive his first powerful Glimmer strike and then get his revenge with a follow-up.

The special upgrade for Basilikos gives Raven the upper hand in Atk/Spd, and while we could use Life and Death 3 for his A slot, Fury 3 will give him a little more extra to defend himself if his ohko Glimmer doesn't do the trick. Also, Fury 3 helps Raven get to Wrath range, and so you could try another support skill if needed. Wrath 3 is a very important skill for Raven, for he has a huge Atk, Basilikos will give his special skill a -1 cooldown, and Glimmer will not only be ready at the start of every turn for his attack phase, but also will increase his damage output by +10, allowing him to ensure a single killing blow for most of his foes. As for the C and S slots, we try to increase even more Raven's damage output by giving his Atk a constant +3 and a +6 during odd turns.

With over 65 Atk and Glimmer dealing +10 damage and being ready for every turn, your angriest Raven will be the king of player phase. The issue for this build is that you need to keep your distance during enemy phase, as expected of what happens with Life and Death.

And remember: that's just his face, he's totally not angry.

Note: stats include +10 and summoner support, with his stats ending at 53/64/46/23/23.

This Raven build I have created compares him to Mia and Ayra, but rather as an axe user who can still tackle many reds with his charged specials.

Using Basilikos (+Eff) is a clear choice, as granting a slaying effect along with a powerful LaD3 effect will greatly benefit Raven and I believe it also helps with arena scoring.

Rally Atk/Spd is a choice that will boost him forward in arena scoring, but reposition would be the strongest alternative.

Moonbow is powerful here, as combined with wrath can make Ravens special extremely deadly and make a charged raven something extremely unwanted, with the potential to destroy a massive variety of units, with the exception of red units such as Arden, with his 101 physical bulk and triangle advantage. It may not be as powerful as regnal Astra, but paired with Raven's attack, it can pierce a massive amount of defenses. Since it is on a 1 cooldown, it can be used over and over effectively.

Distant counter would be a powerful choice since raven has decent magical bulk in this case (23) and with distant defense taking it to 29. His def and res are the same at 29 from a distance, so bow users such as bridelia or brave lyn with a brave bow or firesweep bow can demolish him. However, his massive speed stat ensures he cannot be doubled naturally. His HP will allow him to tank quite a lot, having 76 bulk on both sides.

Wrath is such a powerful choice regarding his 1 cooldown moonbow, and an extra +10 damage will be appreciated against units with absolutely insane defense. As soon as he drops below that 75% threshold, he will get his special at the start of the turn and will be able to nuke everything.

Infantry Pulse works, as his 53 HP is still pretty good. He can use alternatives such as attack smoke, speed smoke or even atk tactic, but Infantry pulse works.

His seal slot should definitely be distant def, until vantage seal is released. This increases his survivability from mages, but he is also still pretty weak from close range, so both can work.

He functions similarly to an ayra or a mia, but with slightly less speed and res (unless a speed boon is taken), a much weaker def stat but with a much higher attack, allowing him to effectively act as a speedy axe unit.

He is extremely powerful because of the small presence of red mages, but hard-hitting swords with damage boosting specials will obliterate him. Lilina will absolutely obliterate him, and some red-sword specials (especially glimmer/regnal astra) can take him down quite easily due to his low defense.

I see him as a green ayra or mia, with a better prf weapon for a distant counter/vantage setup and an extreme attack.