Xander

• Weapon: Siegfried
• Assist: Reposition / Swap
• Special: Ignis / Bonfire
• Passive A: Close Def / Distant Def / Fury / Armored Blow / Attack +3
• Passive B: Quick Riposte / Vantage / Renewal / Guard
• Passive C: Threaten Def / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Close Def / Distant Def / Attack +3 / Quick Riposte 

This skillset aims to maximize Xander's physical bulk, in order to guarantee favorable matchups against melee or ranged units: depending on his role within the team.

The build is centered around two skills: Close and Distant Def. The availability of these two skills as an A-slot skill and as a Sacred Seal allows Xander to push his defensive stats incredibly high. While defending, Xander boasts an effective 49 physical Defense and a decent 29 Resistance in either melee or range, or a respectable 43/23 total def/res if he chooses to run Close Def and Distant Def together. If they are too expensive for you, Fury can be run to improve his initial combat with its fantastic buff to his stats across the board. Attack+3 and Armored Blow should only be considered if there are absolutely no other options.

Quick Riposte in the B slot improves Xander's ability to deal damage while tanking since he cannot consistently double without it. If serious tanking is needed, Guard 3 can be run to prevent enemy Specials from activating, but that costs him Close Def or Distant Def as a Seal since QR is almost mandatory for him. Renewal can be chosen if Xander is expected to fight for long periods of time against low offense opponents. Vantage may prove to be useful if Xander gets low on health but can one-shot multiple enemy mages.

Bonfire or Ignis are boosted by the defensive bonuses granted by Close/Distant Def, making them the obvious choice for Special skills. Since Xander will likely be doubled, Ignis should be taken if you want to save his Special for the next combat. Bonfire is chosen if he needs the immediate damage to win his current matchup. However, against units like the green mages he counters, Ignis usually proves to be a better long-term investment for a battle.

His C slot should be tailored to fit his team. A Threaten skill is shown above, but he should be running Cavalry buffs in a cavalry team and whatever other support skills are useful for other teams.

Ideally, his Seal slot will give him additional bulkiness. Attack +3 is acceptable if the others aren't available. QR3 should be taken if another B skill was used in his B slot.

• Weapon: Siegfried
• Assist: Reposition / Swap
• Special: Bonfire / Ignis
• Passive A: Fury / Armored Blow / Attack+ 3
• Passive B: Vantage
• Passive C: Drive Def / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Distant Def / Attack +3

Just like Ryoma and Ike, Xander can make great use of Vantage thanks to his weapon's ability to retaliate against ranged attacks.

Fury 3 is more useful here than the Defense skills, as it provides a more reliable means of dropping below the 75% threshold while giving him resilience to being ORKO'd. He really wants to run Fury, but Armored Blow 3 and Attack+3 can be taken as last resorts if no other SI is available.

Vantage gives Xander a safety net against green mages, as he can OHKO them with Siegfried before they have a chance to double him. Notably, Xander will also be able to take out some mages that use Desperation builds. For example, if Linde has lost 10 HP from Ardent Sacrifice to reach the threshold for Desperation, Fury will give Xander just enough Attack to KO her unless she happens to be +Def.

Bonfire or Ignis are recommended for his Special. Bonfire is ideal if you want Xander to try for the ORKO on his first round of combat. Ignis can be taken if you are confident that he will ORKO without Bonfire and you want to save Ignis for the Vantage nuke.

As usual, his C Slot is flexible. It's recommended to run supporting skills since he needs to go to the backline if up against threats that don't fear his Vantage.

Quick Riposte serves as the ideal Seal for him; it lets Xander attack twice on his first combat, potentially ORKO'ing and enemy. Ideally, he will also be in Vantage range after the combat and potentially have Ignis charged for his Vantage attack.

• Weapon: Siegfried
• Assist: Reposition / Swap
• Special: Moonbow / Bonfire
• Passive A: Fury / Close Def / Armored Blow / Attack +3
• Passive B: Swordbreaker
• Passive C: Drive Def / Spur Def 
• Sacred Seal: Attack +3 / Quickened Pulse

Swordbreaker 3 is self-explanatory: it allows Xander to win any matchup against a sword-wielder at the cost of flexibility. The skill makes up for Xander's low Speed, but won't help any of his other matchups.

Fury is chosen since Xander shouldn't be seeing too much combat after eliminating an enemy Red Sword. Caution should be taken, however; if he fights something else before engaging an enemy sword, Fury may knock his health lower than the 50% needed to keep Swordbreaker active. Armored Blow 3 and Attack+3 are extreme budget options for him. Close Defense gives Xander much more staying power in his matchups against Swords as well as axes.

Moonbow is recommended for his build since it aims to quickly ORKO an enemy red sword; against units like Ayra or Zelgius, Xander will struggle to eliminate them without the power of a quickly charging Special. Bonfire can be taken instead if you don't need that quick kill and want to nuke something else after that first combat.

His C slot, as in his vantage build, serves to make Xander useful even after he is done fighting.

Attack+3 is self-explanatory; that 6 Attack can make or break his matchups against red swords. Alternatively, Quickened Pulse used in conjunction with Bonfire gives him a hefty burst of damage for his first Special trigger, but serves no purpose after the first trigger of his Special.