Roy

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF / -HP
• Weapon: Binding Blade (+Eff)
• Assist: Rally Def/Res / Rally Atk/Def
• Special: Ignis / Bonfire
• Passive A: Steady Breath / Warding Breath / Fury
• Passive B: Swordbreaker / Guard
• Passive C: Def Ploy / Atk Ploy
• Sacred Seal: Close Def

With the power of his new Binding Blade, Roy has great defensive potential. His well-rounded statline makes him difficult to KO without high-Speed attackers, and is a great anti-dragon unit. This set turns Roy into a generalist melee tank who boasts great Defense and Resistance.

This set attempts to stack as much Defense and Resistance as it can to make Roy extremely difficult to KO. Close Def in his Seal slot and Steady Breath combine with the Binding Blade’s effect to give Roy an effective 39 Defense and 38 Resistance. Such high Defense makes Ignis the strongest choice of Special for Roy. If a Breath skill cannot be obtained, Fury also works well. However, it means that Roy will need to run Bonfire instead.

Having the effects of Quick Riposte help to make up for his low Speed, but he can’t beat faster swords who can double him first. Swordbreaker works very well here and lets Roy beat faster Swords like Ayra, as well as many slower Swordbreakers. Guard is also viable but is generally outclassed by Swordbreaker.

Def Ploy is a great skill option for Roy, boosting his damage against foes with low Resistance. Roy won’t be able to Ploy as many units as others but it helps him with some important matchups, and brings some offensive team support to the table. His choice of Assist comes down to preference. Rally Def/Res is for allies with Distant Counter abilities, while Rally Atk/Def is better for other melee tanks.

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP
• Weapon: Binding Blade (+Eff)
• Assist: Reposition / Swap
• Special: Noontime / Moonbow / Glimmer
• Passive A: Warding Breath / Close Def / Fury
• Passive B: Cancel Affinity
• Passive C: Attack Smoke / Threaten Atk
• Sacred Seal: Close Def

This set is a specialist one designed to counter and KO dragons. It has worse matchups overall than the other sets, but is the only one capable of beating the Triangle Adept + Swordbreaker sets seen on dragons occasionally. This is a great set to use if you want Roy to be an Arena Assault sub, or otherwise in maps where dragons need to be KO’d.

Warding Breath and Close Def give Roy a significant boost in his Resistance, giving him a total of 38, and enough to survive two hits from even Swordbreaker Nowi. Warding Breath also lets Roy charge a Noontime or Moonbow instantly. Noontime is great for sustaining through multiple foes, especially against teams with numerous defensive threats. Moonbow or Glimmer is better if only one kill is desired. Close Def and Fury are serviceable alternatives to Warding Breath, but both miss out on the Special charge. In these cases, Roy should opt for Moonbow/Glimmer.

Cancel Affinity is an essential skill for negating the effects of Triangle Adept. It is vital in making Roy a counter to specialized dragons. Attack Smoke is the best choice of C slot skill, as it makes Roy significantly tankier. Threaten Atk is a good budget choice that achieves a similar effect. Ploy skills are not a good idea on this set, as Roy does not have enough Resistance to trigger their debuffs on most dragons.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF / -HP
• Weapon: Binding Blade (+Eff)
• Assist: Rally Def/Res / Rally Atk/Def
• Special: Moonbow / Glimmer
• Passive A: Distant Counter
• Passive B: Wrath
• Passive C: Def Ploy / Atk Ploy
• Sacred Seal:  Quickened Pulse

Roy’s good mixed defenses make him a good candidate for a Distant Counter set. The defensive benefits granted by his Binding Blade allow Roy to stack up a strong Defense and Resistance against ranged attackers. However, he will still struggle against blue mages who have the power to OHKO him.

Distant Counter is the key to this set, enabling Roy to counterattack at range. His goal is to OHKO attackers with a combination of Wrath and either Moonbow or Glimmer. Glimmer is stronger vs. mages, but Moonbow is better for handling high-Defense greens such as Hector. Quickened Pulse is required for Roy to charge his Special after one attack. Wrath helps after the first turn by providing a free charge, allowing Roy to consistently fire one-turn Specials throughout the match. The extra damage provided by Wrath is essential, patching up Roy’s otherwise low Attack.

Def Ploy is still the best choice for Roy, although he won’t be able to use it on many of the mages he attempts to beat. It does make him better at slaying green tanks however, a job he will still want to do as the red unit on his team. Roy’s Assist skill depends on the kind of allies he’ll be partnered with. Rally Def/Res is for partners who also run Distant Counter sets. Rally Atk/Def is better if Roy is placed alongside primarily physical or melee tanks.