Drag Back

This skill lets a unit who has initiated an attack to retreat a single space afterward, dragging their target back the same distance. Drag Back can be used offensively and defensively. Offensively, it can be used to pull enemy units within range of your other attackers, allowing your team to gang up on single units. And since it also moves your own unit back a space, they can escape the range of enemies. This is a great skill for countering annoying arena AI that bunches many units up together. Drag Back can only be learned by melee units, which is really its only limitation. One useful facet of this skill is that even if the target of the attack is KO’d, the attacker will still retreat back a space. This makes the skill useful on physical glass cannons

Drag Back helps to facilitate a playstyle revolving around unit assassination. In order to wield the skill successfully, the user must be put in danger’s way. They must be able to survive the counterattack of the enemy they are attacking. Armored units have limited movement options and can find it hard to initiate attacks. Therefore, the best units for this skill are those with at least two movement and good defensive statlines. There are many skills that synergise well with Drag Back. Armored Blow and Fortress Defense can soak a lot of return damage from the initial attack. One other strategy is to have your unit flat out KO the opponent, using the skill instead to retreat to safety. It’s a great B slot skill for units running a Brave weapon + Death Blow build. A team-mate with Sing, Dance or Reposition can help the Drag Back user to get even further out of harm’s way after an attack.

While this is a powerful and versatile skill, it is not without flaws. Firstly, this skill requires you to initiate an attack with a melee unit. The prevalence of powerful ranged attackers in the arena can make this a difficult prospect without team support. Secondly, if you cannot quickly finish off the target who was dragged back, they may get a chance to attack one of your weaker backline units. They may also allow an enemy with Wings of Mercy to strike you unexpectedly. When using Drag Back, check if any of the foes have Wings of Mercy, and try to KO the unit you attack within the same turn. When facing a unit with this skill, try not to let them initiate on your team. Keeping your team close together can allow them to gang up on the user of the skill.