Stahl

Tanking Nuke build. With merges and Summoner Support, Ignis turns into a very lethal proc. Only built blue armours will survive, and even then some will fall to Stahl's might. With heavy blade 3, Stahl can use his ability to tank to gain CD on Ignis. Renewal pads fury damage between turns.Fury ups damage, tankiness and speed to avoid certain doubles.

While Stahl may be seen as a poor man's Eldigan, his better availability and superior HP pool makes him a good user of this build. This is a build for arena assault and for when Stahl is a bonus unit. Fury gives Stahl extra stats so he becomes a better tank, and with the addition of the Quick riposte sacred seal he can run that with renewal or guard. Renewal gives Stahl better healing and guard blocks specials from Ayra and Mia, so they both have their uses. Ather is for better arena scoring and healing, but can be switch out for Ignis if you need. Panic Ploy works great with his high HP so he can stop blade tome mages like Nino and H!Henry in their tracts. Special mention goes to the fact that he can panic Zelgius and The Black Knight, which means in teams that run hone and fortify armor he can tank these two better. While this sets stats come from a five star version it can be ran on a 4 star+10 version very easily of you don't want to waste the feathers on promoting him.

i just really love him okay

(no boon/bane because with the summoner support i honestly could NOT tell you what it is.)

He's meant to have staying power and slaying power.

Sol for damage recovery, Wo Dao+ gives him an extra +5 HP of recovery when his special goes off. Naturally high HP gives him some great staying power.

+Spd for his seal AND his Wo Dao+ so he can avoid being doubled for the most part, as well as attacking twice in a lot of situations.

Vantage gives him a chance to not only counterattack first, but potentially set off his special before an enemy attack, letting him survive a lot of would-be lethal blows.

Breath of Life to help the longevity of his teammates as well, especially those with cavalry support.

This is an expensive build for Stahl, this build basically turns him into a budget Xander, having an edge over Xander for being summonable which let's him get merges beyond +1 and gives him access to IV tuning.

In the recent meta, Stahl has become all but irrelevant thanks to the introduction of powerful sword-wielding cavaliers like Siegbert, Brave Roy, and Sigurd. He never really had a niche in the first place, fighting Eldigan, Xander, and Eliwood for a solid place in a team.

This build seeks to alleviate that by creating a niche for Stahl as a bulky cavalier that smashes through armor teams (which is relevant, thanks to the Winter's Envoy units) and never loses when he initiates with the Deflect Melee 3 seal*.

Armorsmasher+ is taken for its refinement and to give Stahl an edge over a particular kind of unit, granting him the ability to become a stronger unit already. Zanbato+ is also a decent choice, as is Silver Sword+ if the summoner wishes to make him more of a generalist than a hard counter.

The Assist is largely up to the summoner- I chose to use Draw Back so as to give Stahl a good place in a Horse Emblem team. His native Swap works well, as does Reciprocal Aid to get him into Brash Assault range.

Bonfire is the obvious choice, though both Luna and Draconic Aura can be used to deal damage effectively. Other choices for specials include Estucheon to completely reduce damage taken in melee combat, or Aegis to protect him from ranged units.

Fury increases bulk, duh.

Brash Assault pairs well with Fury and Stahl's ability to tank physical hits- once active, enemies will be hard pressed to kill him on the counter-attack to avoid his second blow. 51 Atk unbuffed is a fearsome number to deal with, especially with a charged Bonfire backing it up. Sword or Axebreaker can also be taken, as can Vantage for even more tanking shenanigans.

C Slot is largely up to the summoner- Threaten Atk and Threaten Spd allow Stahl to tank more effectively in a mixed team, and Panic Ploy gives that 50 HP stat a reason to be feared. I chose Fortify Cavalry for additional Horse Emblem buffs. I know, I'm garbage.

Finally, Deflect Melee 3 enables the slow Stahl to tank any hits from faster melee units that could otherwise get the kill on him. *Assuming all enemies are neutral IVs, Stahl doesn't lose in combat, so long as he initiates.