ATKFlametongue+ distant counter worth it?

IMO Lightning Breath. Don't waste DC fodder on a manakete that has a different route to DC. You can use Triangle Adept, Steady/Warding Breath, Fury, Maybe even something strange like Close/Distant Defense or Brazen Def/Res. A slot is somewhat flexible. But DC fodder for a manakete other than maybe Myrrh just doesn't seem worth it to me. You can always go for a lower cooldown special.

lightning breath is much better because of its secondary effect passing through the high res of most mages. As well as it allows you to run stead/warding breath as an A slot which is far superior and also allows you to run Aether for better sustain and burst. Bit of a tip, never run Astra on a dragon unit. I've only seen Astra really work on a heavy blade + firesweep combo which even then wasn't the best. if you don't want to run Aether than go for either Bonfire or Iceberg based on which stat is higher. If you don't have the right fodder to give a breath skill then I guess you can go distant counter but don't run Flametoungue, its the worst breath skill. Go for light breath if you want more tank or dark breath if you want debuffs. Or if your willing to burn a GHB unit for fodder give her water breath as it works very well with distant counter.

that's possibly the worst breath, the extra attack isn't worth losing out on the effects other ones have, lightning breath is by far the best choice if you can give her steady/warding breath, and even if you can't i wouldn't waste a hector for her when lightning breath is easily obtainable

If you want to build dc with her, definitely don't use flametongue. I build my Fae with Light breath and DC it came out really powerful. You might wanna try this build on Tiki (Although I dont recommend foddering Dc on a dragon unit. I could've gave my Fae Lightning breath and she would be just as strong, maybe even stronger)