Flame Mordecai

Weapon: Fiery Fang

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Glimmer / Ignis / Bonfire

Passive A: Distant Foil / Atk/Def Ideal / Atk/Def Solo / Atk/Res Finish / Other Distant Counter variations

Passive B: Atk/Def Bulwark / Special Spiral / Wrath

Passive C: Atk/Def Menace / Time's Pulse / Def Smoke

Sacred Seal: Steady Breath / Atk/Def Form / Other Atk/Def-boosting skills

• When transformed, Mordecai gains beast effects — specifically the null-Guard and additional +7 on Special triggers — that make a deadly retaliation build pretty effective, which works especially well given Mordecai's archetype is typically operates with one-shots over follow-ups. The strategy then, is simple: wait for combat in enemy phase and retaliate with a powerful single-shot. 
• The most significant part of the build, then, is Mordecai's choice of Special and the acceleration Passives that optimally pair with each. Several combinations are as follows:
  • Glimmer + Steady Breath: 
    • A simple no-setup combination that leverages Mordecai's generally high damage potential. Due to Glimmer's short cooldown, it becomes instantly charged by any incoming attack with a Breath effect active.
    • Glimmer is chosen over Moonbow as a short 2 CD Special as it usually has a higher damage ceiling, and Moonbow's additional damaged is usually watered down by the in-combat penalties from Fiert Fang.
  • Ignis + Steady Breath + Special Spiral (+ 2 Pulse effects):
    • Ignis grants the largest damage return of other Specials possible due to Mordecai's highly-invested Def; however, because it's at a rather long 4 CD, Mordecai will need to take specific passives to charge it down reasonably, including running Special Spiral to cut it down by -2 after every trigger, and a Breath effect to charge it fully afterwards.
    • Precharging methods helps immensely here as Ignis always starts out at 4 CD turn 1. A minimum of two counts of active Pulse effects (such as Time's Pulse and outsourced Pulse support such as Rafiel's Groom Wing or Infantry Pulse) gives Ignis the minimum to fully charge with Breath active.
  • Bonfire + Special Spiral (+ 1 Pulse effect):
    • Bonfire is a fair trade of Ignis's power in exchange for generally less stressed firing conditions. 
    • Special Spiral will be required still for charging it in a reasonable amount of time and leaving it at 1 CD. 
    • In this case, just 1 count of Pulse should be good enough for its first trigger and subsequent Special Spiral activation.
• The other parts of this build bear a fair bit of coverage:
  • For A-slots, you'll generally be seeking those of the Atk/Def-boosting persuasion to top off Mordecai's damage output as well as physical durability. Distant Foil, for instance, provides counterattacking coverage against bows and daggers, while Atk/Def Solo encourages transformation conditions. 
    • As a special mention, Atk/Res Finish directly benefits this build's Special-spamming nature by providing a sweet combination of extra Atk, a further +5 damage on Special triggers, and on-trigger healing to upkeep Fiery Fang's 25% HP conditionals. Undoubtedly, the Atk/Def version of this skill will be preferred as soon as it releases.
    • You can run other Distant Counter variations here to expand Mordecai's counterattacking to mages, though with his lower uninvested Res, he will generally be hesitant to take those on, and healers have Dazzling effects anyway. That being said, this is a preferred choice in Summoner Duels where punishing and killing anything on counterattack is absolutely paramount unless you can (preferably) provide Far Save support. 
  • For non-Special Spiral builds, Mordecai will generally be interested in Atk/Def Bulwark for further Atk/Def dominance and added healing (again, to stay above his weapon's 25% effect conditionals and to stay healthy in general) and Wrath (a generally accessible B-slot that boosts Special trigger damage but requires Mordecai to keep himself in a sweetspot between 75% and 25% HP).
  • Outside of Time's Pulse for more self-sufficient Special precharge — after which it's mostly a dead slot— you don't need to think particularly hard about the C-skill. Skills such as Atk/Def Menace, Def(/Res) Smoke, and Rouse Atk/Def all do well here in improving Mordecai's damage overall.
  • On builds that lack Steady Breath (whether that's being outsourced to an ally or not needed at all), the Sacred Seal is predictably open for a variety of additional damage and bulk-boosting passives such as Atk/Def Form.

Weapon: Fiery Fang

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Bonfire / Sol / Noontime

Passive A: Fort. Def/Res / Atk/Def Ideal / Sturdy Stance 3 / Atk/Def Unity / Atk/Def Form / Atk/Res Finish

Passive B: Atk/Def Bulwark / Quick Riposte / Lull Atk/Def

Passive C: Atk/Def Menace / Atk Smoke / Joint Drive Atk / Joint Drive Def

Sacred Seal: Mystic Boost / Steady Breath / Warding Breath / Atk/Def Form / Fort. Def/Res 2 / Quick Riposte

• This build prioritizes absolute tanking and survivability with a fair amount of offensive upkeep. As such, we focus on maxing out Mordecai's melee tanking capabilities by making use of Fiery Fang's combat boosts along with high-quality stat-boosting passives. 
• Given the number of high-pressure physical threats present in Heroes and the fact that Mordecai is able to weather a lot with his high Def, further boosting that is naturally suggestable. A number of options are on the table as far as A-slot and Sacred Seal:
  • Mordecai appreciates pretty much any of the conventional enemy phase Atk/Def-based A-slots, including Sturdy Stance, Unity, and Ideal 4. The former two in particular offer unique combat effects (Guard and penalty reversion, respectively) outside of stat boosts, among others.
  • You can take Mordecai's default Fort. Def/Res, upgrade it to its maximum version, and also take its Sacred Seal version for the highest Res yield possible thanks to the additional visible Def increases factoring in Fiery Fang's combat penalties on the enemy.
  • Atk/Res Finish is an understandably weird-sounding option for the fact that it doesn't improve Def or fit with Mordecai's Atk/Def-heavy stateline. The skill, however, is desirable for its healing effect upon Special trigger, and the extra Res definitely doesn't hurt in some of Mordecai's dragon matchups. Generally speaking it can be built around with other healing passives (like Mystic Boost) and/or specifically running a 2 CD Special + a Breath seal to consistently trigger the extra damage and healing. Obviously, the Atk/Def version of it will be preferable whenever that releases.
• Mordecai's choice of B slot generally falls in three choices. Atk/Def Bulwark will generally be the best option as it provides significant enemy control and self-sustainability through further enemy Atk/Def debuffs, preventing enemy advances from getting to backline allies, and a dollop of after-combat healing. Lull Atk/Def is a tad more accessible and similarly keeps the enemy in-check by cancelling their buffs. Finally, Quick Riposte is an option that doesn't break the bank and is pretty good as a kill confirmation option, as many threats require a follow-up attack to fully defeat. 
  • Quick Riposte is available as a Sacred Seal, so you may certainly combo it with the other two mentioned B-slots if killing power is of upmost concern. Notably, Bulwark's healing works perfectly in upkeeping Quick Riposte's >70% HP condition.  
• The C-slot option should also be dedicated to improving Mordecai's tanking capabilities. Atk/Def Menace applies penalties to a nearest enemy within 4 spaces while buffing himself, resulting in further stat dominance. Else, he's happy to take the standard Atk Smoke for an accessible way to bulk himself up versus mobs, or Joint Drives for a quick and easy way to buff himself and his allies.