Spring Catria

Weapon: Huginn’s Egg (+Eff) 

Assist: No Assist / Rally Assist / Positional Assist 

Special: Ruptured Sky / Moonbow 

Passive A: AR-D Atk/Spd (3 or 4) / AR-D Spd/Def / AR-D Spd/Res

Passive B: Lull Spd/Res / S/R Far Trace / Guard

Passive C: Fatal Smoke / Panic Smoke 

Sacred Seal: Blade Session / Atk/Spd Solo / Swift Sparrow / Atk/Def Solo / Sturdy Blow 

• 3 Movement, 2 range, and Huginn’s Egg make Catria a strong Aether Raids Defense unit for space control, damage, and possibly Wings of Mercy beaconing.
  • Huginn’s Egg inflicts Chill Atk and Chill Spd simultaneously, that is, -7 Attack on the enemy with the highest Attack and -7 Speed on the enemy with the highest Speed. Given that most superunits and ranged tanks have at least one of high Attack and high Speed, players may be unable to avoid these debuffs unless they Attack-stack or Speed-stack a different unit.
  • More importantly, however, Catria gains +10 Atk/Spd and 30% damage reduction from the enemy’s first attack during combat if the enemy’s HP is ≥ 75% at the start of combat and either Catria initiates combat or she is within 2 spaces of an ally. Enemies without a guaranteed follow-up attack may struggle to perform one against Catria, and since she has 30% damage reduction against their first attack, she is likely to survive, allowing her to receive a refresh and/or trigger allies’ Wings of Mercy Skills (teleport adjacent to allies with ≤ 50% HP).
• 2-cooldown Specials such as Ruptured Sky and Moonbow are preferable, as Catria can activate them on her follow-up attack if the enemy counterattacks and no Guard effect is active.If neither Catria nor the enemy performs a follow-up and no Guard effect is active, Catria will have her Special ready to be activated next combat as well. Ruptured Sky’s bonus damage scales on 20% of the enemy’s Attack (which will almost always be stacked), while Moonbow scales on 30% of the enemy’s Resistance (which may not be stacked and is likely not as high as Attack even if it is).
• Maximizing offenses via A slots such as AR-D Atk/Spd, Swift Sparrow, and Atk/Spd Solo in tandem with Sacred Seals such as Blade Session, Atk/Spd Solo, and Swift Sparrow boosts Catria’s offenses to startlingly high levels. Note that AR-D Atk/Spd scales based on the number of remaining defensive structures, Swift Sparrow only activates on initiation, Atk/Spd Solo requires Catria to be non-adjacent to any allies (may be inconsistent with AI), and Blade Session scales based on the number of allies that have already moved.
  • If players are concerned about Catria’s bulk even after her 30% damage reduction, Skills that increase her defenses at the cost of some offensive potency are strong choices as well. AR-D Spd/Res, Mirror Strike, AR-D Spd/Def, Atk/Def Solo and Sturdy Blow are some examples, with the former 2 Skills improving Catria’s bulk against magical enemies and the latter 3 Skills bolstering her physical bulk. IVs that increase bulk such as +HP, +Def, and +Res can take priority over +Atk and +Spd as well.
• Lull Spd/Res and S/R Far Trace inflict -3 Spd/Res on the enemy during combat, with the former neutralizing the enemy’s visible Spd/Res buffs and the latter allowing Catria to use any remaining movement after combat (this can be both a help and a hindrance depending on how the AI positions Catria after combat). Alternatively, because many Aether Raids Offense units rely on Specials to score OHKOs on Enemy Phase sweeps, Catria can use Guard to slow their Specials, potentially preventing them from being activated at all.
• The ubiquity of healing effects and Specials makes Fatal Smoke a fantastic choice; this Skill prevents the enemy from healing during combat and, if Catria survives combat (which she can consistently do because of Huginn’s Egg’s 30% damage reduction), inflicts【Deep Wounds】on the target and enemies within 2 spaces after combat, which prevents them from healing. Alternatively, Panic Smoke can be used to reverse the visible buffs of the target and enemies within 2 spaces after combat if Catria survives; this is especially nice given that Peony and Plumeria, Light and Astra’s Mythic refreshers respectively, grant visible buffs.

Weapon: Huginn’s Egg (+Eff) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Moonbow / Glimmer

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot 

Passive B: Desperation / S/R Far Trace 

Passive C: Atk/Spd Menace / Res Smoke / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Solo / Blade Session 

• Thanks to Huginn’s Egg, 3 Movement, and 2 range, Catria is a natural choice for a Player Phase-oriented set focused on maximizing damage output.
  • Catria gains +10 Atk/Spd and 30% damage reduction from the enemy’s first attack during combat if the enemy’s HP is ≥ 75% at the start of combat and either Catria initiates combat or she is within 2 spaces of an ally. The stat bonuses significantly increase Catria’s raw damage and follow-up consistency, while 30% damage reduction helps circumvent her terrible base bulk and drop into Desperation range (≤ 75% HP) if it is used.
• Any Special works fine for an offensive set, but low-cooldown Specials such as Moonbow and Glimmer are strong choices, with the former ignoring 30% of the enemy’s Resistance and the latter increasing Catria’s damage by 50% on activation.
• Since this set is purely focused on damage output, the rest of Catria’s kit is dedicated to increasing her offenses and damage consistency as much as possible.
  • Atk/Spd Boosting A slots such as Atk/Spd Solo, Swift Sparrow, Atk/Spd Push 4, and Fury augment Catria’s damage and follow-up consistency, making them all strong choices with different conditions (non-adjacency to allies for Atk/Spd Solo, initiation for Swift Sparrow, and HP ≥ 25% for Atk/Spd Push 4) and/or caveats (5 recoil damage for Atk/Spd Push 4, 6/8 recoil damage for Fury 3/4). Note that if using Desperation, the A slots that inflict recoil may be best to drop Catria’s HP to ≤ 75%; however, she can typically drop to this range after receiving one counterattack anyway, and Atk/Spd Push 4 requires Catria’s HP to be ≥ 25%, forcing a “limit” on her as she continues to receive recoil damage and/or counterattacks.
  • The twice aforementioned Desperation allows Catria to perform her follow-up attack before the enemy can counterattack if her HP is ≥ 75%. The 30% damage reduction from Huginn’s Egg allows Catria to very frequently and safely achieve the HP condition, making it a great B slot choice even if Huginn’s Egg’s damage reduction is likely to be wasted on subsequent combats. Alternatively, she can use S/R Far Trace; ideal for hit-and-run strategies, this Skill inflicts -3 Spd/Res on the enemy during combat and grants Catria Canto (Rem.), meaning she can use any remaining movement after combat.
  • If Catria is within 4 spaces of an enemy at the start of her turn, Atk/Spd Menace inficts -6 Atk/Spd on the nearest enemies and grants Catria +6 Atk/Spd, effectively granting Catria +12 Speed and +6 Atk/Def/Res. More budget-friendly options include Res Smoke and Spd Smoke, both of which inflict -7 to a stat (Resistance for the former, Speed for the latter) on enemies within 2 spaces of the target after combat.
  • Atk/Spd Solo and Blade Session are the premier Sacred Seal choices for most offensive sets, and Catria’s is no exception. Blade Session grants Catria +X Atk/Spd during combat, with X = 3 + 2 * the number of allies that have already moved; while it grants 3 less Atk/Spd if Catria is the first to move, it grants 3 more Atk/Spd if she is fourth to move, meaning the Skill has a “snowball effect” that resets at the start of each turn.