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Ninian - Oracle of Destiny

5 Legacy

Obtainable as a 5 during certain summoning events only.

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
149
HP 42
ATK 24
SPD 33
DEF 23
RES 27

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 15 4 6 5 4
Middle 16 5 7 6 5
High 17 6 8 7 6

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 39 21 30 20 23
Middle 42 24 33 23 27
High 45 28 36 26 30

IV Sets

Key stats worth increasing through nature if possible.
Complementary stats that matter, but not to the point of picking them over key stats for nature increase.
Relatively worthless stat that can safely be decreased through nature.
HPATKSPDDEFRES

Assets

  • +SPD: Like most other refreshers, Ninian benefits greatly from receiving a Speed Asset to reduce the frequency of enemy follow-up attacks and gain an appreciable to her overall survivability; coupled with a Speed-refined weapon and her surprisingly respectable amount of bulk (for a dancer), she can quickly accumulate high enough levels of survivability to keep from being easily ORKO’d. 

  • +ATK: Ninian’s base Attack stat is exceedingly low and renders her damage output to be quite lacking, though her ability to deal magical damage and target the lower defensive stat of ranged opponents does help somewhat. Increasing it with her four-point Attack Asset can accordingly make for a solid option to improve upon this weakness, but the trade-off in effective bulk compared to taking a Speed Asset makes it less desirable at lower levels of investment.  

Neutral

  • HP: Ninian’s HP stat is one of her most distinguishing traits as it allows her to make good use of skills like Infantry Pulse and Sudden Panic that scale off of it to strengthen her ability to support her allies; if aiming to make use of such skills, it’s recommended to keep her HP intact (or potentially heighten it even further with an Asset depending on her chosen build). Otherwise, it will typically make for her ideal choice of Flaw and can be mediated by refining her weapon. 

  • DEF RES: Although Ninian’s solid base Speed stat (with the proper investment) and good HP does allow her to possess a respectable amount of overall survivability, her defensive stats should be left untampered with as to not lower their already middling base values and preserve her bulk. However, if using skills that scale off of her HP, a Defense Flaw can make for a suitable choice of IVs. 

Skill Sets

re: (Full Support)

Build by
Recommended
Lightning Breath+ (+Spd)
Alternate: Dark Breath+ (+Spd)
A Fury (3 or 4)
Alternate: Triangle Adept 3
Dance B Chill Spd 3
Alternate: Sudden Panic 3
Moonbow
Alternate: Iceberg
C Infantry Pulse 3
Alternate: Fortify Dragons
IVsSChill Atk 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +SPD or +HP / -DEF

This build aims to capitalize on Ninian’s innately powerful supportive capabilities and unique traits as a refresher to make her a strong asset at one’s disposal, capable of quickly turning the tide of the battle in her team’s favor. Since this set places a primary focus on her performance as a support unit, the choice of IVs is largely inconsequential, though a +SPD IV remains a great option to supplement Ninian’s defensive Speed; if equipping her with skills such as Infantry Pulse and Sudden Panic, a +HP IV can be considered as well to maximize her ability to utilize them. 

Weapon: Lightning Breath (+SPD) / Dark Breath (+SPD) / Light Breath (+SPD)

  • Ninian’s choice of weapon will depend mostly on personal preference. Lightning Breath is a fantastic option that provides her with the ability to counterattack regardless of range, granting her a great deal of additional coverage that can prove quite useful should the need for her to fight arise. 

  • Dark Breath and her native Light Breath are excellent alternatives that help Ninian support her allies via their various boosts, but come with the drawback of requiring her to actively seek combat to actually be of any benefit. 

  • Nonetheless, regardless of her chosen weapon, it should be refined for additional Speed to build upon her good amount of overall survivability and allow her to deny her opponent’s follow-up attack with greater ease.

Assist: Dance 

Special: Moonbow / Iceberg / Luna 

  • Specials that scale off of her opponent’s defensive stats will generally be her best options to help improve upon her otherwise poor damage output and grant her a reasonable damage boost when fighting against bulky foes. 

  • Moonbow is preferred for its frequent activation, potentially activating in a single round of combat provided she performs a follow-up attack and is not equipped with Lightning Breath, though Luna can also be considered should one prefer higher damage. Alternatively, Iceberg may be taken for its greater consistency than either of the aforementioned Specials, scaling decently well with Ninian’s base Resistance stat. 

Passive A: Fury / Triangle Adept / HP/Spd 2 / HP +5

  • Fury (3 or 4) is a fantastic choice of A slot skill to grant Ninian an appreciable boost to all of her stats simultaneously. While relatively simple in nature, this skill can go a notably long way in improving her durability and offensive presence, helping ensure that she is able to safely engage in at least one or two rounds of combat if necessary. 

  • In contrast, Triangle Adept is a much more specialized option that can be taken to make Ninian a dedicated check to opposing red opponents and strengthen her match-ups against them considerably; it should be noted, however, that this skill is rather inflexible as it does nothing to aid her ability to take on fellow blue units and eliminates any chance of her surviving a round of combat against a green foe. 

  • If using any skill that scales off of her HP stat, A slots that increase it can prove immensely beneficial to bolster Ninian’s ability to leverage them. Of those available to her, HP/Spd 2 is a good choice to build upon her other key stat concurrently, but the standard HP +5 can work as well. 

    • Although a rather high investment option, B Duel Infantry may also make for a worthwhile consideration here for those who aim to utilize Ninian in the upper echelons of Arena and have already accumulated a substantial amount of merges. 

Passive B: Chill Spd / Chill Atk / Sudden Panic / Wings of Mercy

  • Chill skills are a fantastic way of adding onto Ninian’s overall utility, allowing her to provide invaluable debuffing and refreshing support to her allies simultaneously without suffering a loss in effectiveness. The choice of which Chill to utilize will depend mostly on which best complements her allies, with Chill Atk and Chill Spd being the most applicable of those available to her. 

  • Sudden Panic is a rather scarce (but equally powerful) choice for Ninian’s B slot that enables her to leverage her surprisingly ample HP stat to possibly cripple an entire enemy team composition through its debilitating effect. Given the prominence of visible buffs across most game modes, Sudden Panic can quickly give Ninian’s allies a significant advantage in combat when utilized properly; this skill can also make her a particularly strong pick for an Aether Raids Defense team. 

  • Wings of Mercy is a standard choice for refreshers, though for good reason. At the cost of her B slot, Ninian can subsequently gain an incredible amount of additional flexibility and maneuverability in the Player phase, providing her with the means to assist her teammates get out of a tough bind.

Passive C: Infantry Pulse / Panic Ploy / Infantry Rush / Infantry Breath / Flexible

  • Thanks to her good HP pool, Ninian can make fantastic use of Panic Ploy and Infantry Pulse, the latter of which can be utilized to instantly lower the Special cooldown of all infantry allies whose HP stats fall below hers; this pairs exceptionally well with strategies that revolve around the use of instant Special activations. Infantry Rush and Infantry Breath are particularly effective choices when using her alongside fellow infantry allies as well. 

Sacred Seal: Chill Atk / Chill Spd / Drive Atk / HP +5

  • The Chill Atk and Chill Spd seals are stellar options to supplement Ninian’s supportive capabilities by debilitating foes through their formidable debuffs; when paired with another Chill skill in her B slot, this allows her to easily hamper much of an opposing team’s offensive might single handedly. A buffing seal may also be used here to serve a similar purpose, most notable of which being Drive and Tactic skills. 

  • The HP +5 seal (or any of its variants) is a simple, yet effective choice should Ninian be equipped with skills like Infantry Pulse and Sudden Panic.

Setting the Tempo (Defensive Support)

Build by
Lightning Breath+ (+Spd) A Distant Def 4
Alternate: Steady Breath
Dance B Chill Spd 3
Moonbow
Alternate: Iceberg
C Atk Smoke 3
Alternate: Spd Smoke 3
IVsSQuick Riposte 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK / -HP

Ninian can also make fairly respectable use of a defensively oriented setup tailored towards maximizing her survivability in the Enemy Phase. A +SPD IV is ideal once again to decrease her likelihood of being doubled by incoming foes, though a +ATK IV may also prove to be a worthwhile investment here given this build’s more aggressive approach to Ninian’s intended playstyle. Furthermore, since Ninian will rely primarily on her actual defensive stats to tank damage, a -HP IV is preferred and can easily be patched up by refining her weapon. 

Weapon: Lightning Breath (+SPD)

  • Lightning Breath is a strong choice of weapon to bolster Ninian’s versatility and enable her to handle a wider breadth of foes than normally possible through the coveted ability to counterattack against ranged opponents. 

  • While certainly useful, it should be noted that Lightning Breath does come at the cost of slowing down the rate at which Ninian’s Special activates; this can result in decreased overall damage output as her Special activations will often be her main source of power if not properly accounted for (though her damage output isn’t particularly impressive either way). 

Assist: Dance 

Special: Moonbow / Luna / Iceberg / Aether

  • Ninian’s ideal choice of Special will depend entirely on her chosen A slot skill. If not making use of a Breath skill, Moonbow is preferred since even with the +1 Special cooldown from Lightning Breath, she will still be able to make use of it somewhat frequently thanks to Moonbow’s inherently quick activation rate. 

  • However, should Ninian be equipped with a Breath skill, those with a three-turn cooldown will then be her best options; when paired with Lightning Breath and Quick Riposte, such Specials will actívate on her second hit with no wasted potential. Luna is a good choice to help Ninian deal with particularly bulky foes with greater ease, whereas Iceberg offers a more consistent increase to her damage output. 

  • Aether can also be considered if using a Breath skill to grant Ninian some much-needed sustain on top of a reasonable damage boost upon activation and will be fully charged after a single round of combat. 

Passive A: Distant Def / Breath Skill / Fury

  • Distant Def 4 is an extremely powerful skill that lends itself perfectly to this build’s intended playstyle. In addition to offering her an exceptional boost to both of her defensive stats upon being attacked by a ranged opponent, it also boasts the ability to negate enemy bonuses; this combination of effects can translate to a massive boost to Ninian’s durability, especially given the increasing prominence of field buffs in enemy team compositions. 

    • Should it be unavailable, Distant Def 3 can make for a suitable substitute, but much of Ninian’s effectiveness will subsequently be lowered significantly due to the loss of built-in Dull Ranged. 

  • Ninian can also make respectable use of a Breath skill to augment her combat prowess significantly through their effect of accelerated Special cooldown in the Enemy Phase. Since this build aims to improve her overall survivability as much as possible, Warding Breath or Steady Breath are ideal due to their complementary accompanying in-combat boosts.

  • On a budget, Fury is a decent option, though one should take care when selecting her match-ups as its chip damage can quickly cause her to go below Quick Riposte’s HP threshold.

Passive B: Chill Spd / Chill Atk / Quick Riposte

  • For her B slot, Chill Spd is a wonderful candidate that allows Ninian to support in the form of a considerable -7 Speed debuff to the fastest unit on the opposing team. Not only does this allow her allies to deal with speedsters who could otherwise pose a threat, it also enhances her own bulk as opponents who have enough Speed to double her naturally are likely to be the ones targeted by Chill Spd's debuff. Alternatively, Chill Atk can be taken to reduce the amount of damage she and her allies take from incoming threats. 

  • Although she generally prefers to use Quick Riposte as her seal to keep her B slot for other options, it can still be used as her chosen B slot skill if necessary to ensure her follow-up attack in the Enemy Phase. 

Passive C: Atk Smoke / Spd Smoke / Fortify Dragons / Flexible

  • Smoke skills are standout options for Ninian’s C slot to strengthen her performance in the Enemy Phase considerably. In particular, Atk Smoke and Spd Smoke are excellent choice to let her better withstand sustained offensive pressure through their respective AoE debuffs. 

  • Class-exclusive buffs like her native Fortify Dragons are solid C slot skills as well if using her alongside fellow dragonstone users. Otherwise, feel free to use anything that most greatly benefits her team.

Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Distant Def / Close Def / Darting Stance 

  • The Quick Riposte seal is a necessary component of this build to guarantee her ability to double her opponent in the Enemy Phase as her Speed will often just enough prevent follow-up attacks — not perform them. 

  • If using Quick Riposte in her B slot, the Close Def, Distant Def, and Darting Stance seals can be used instead to improve her tanking capabilities. 

Frozen Fractal (Type Check / Budget)

Build by
Lightning Breath+ (+Spd)
Alternate: Light Breath+ (+Spd)
A Triangle Adept 3
Dance B Swordbreaker 3
Alternate: Escape Route 3
Luna
Alternate: Moonbow
C Hone Atk 3
Alternate: Fortify Dragons
IVsSClose Def 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: Any

A relatively budget friendly build that allows Ninian to take the mantle of both a support unit and a dedicated check against red foes. Since she will be entirely reliant on Triangle Adept for much of her functionality, any IVs can realistically work here; this is noteworthy because if Ninian is obtained for free via the Heroes’ Path, one will not have control over IVs as she will be neutral.

Weapon: Lightning Breath (+SPD) / Light Breath+ (+SPD)

  • Lightning Breath is a great choice and grants her the ability to deal with the occasional red mage. However, if one wishes to not invest too heavily, then her native Light Breath is also a decent weapon on Ninian; the buff it provides to her and her teammates may prove to be useful in certain scenarios

Assist: Dance 

Special: Luna / Moonbow / Iceberg

  • For her Special, Ninian has several different options here. Luna is a particularly powerful option and helps mitigate Ninian’s rather low Attack stat. Moonbow can also be considered should one desire more frequent, albeit weaker, Special activations. For more consistent damage output increase, Iceberg scales decently with Ninian’s Resistance stat and grants +13 damage on every activation if assuming neutral Resistance

Passive A: Triangle Adept

  • Triangle Adept is a readily available A slot skill that allows Ninian to easily specialize as a niche counter to red units, the likes of whom may otherwise prove to be a formidable threat to her teammates. 

Passive B: Swordbreaker / Wings of Mercy / Escape Route

  • Using Swordbreaker in conjunction with Triangle Adept allows Ninian to easily shut down opposing sword wielders, though one should keep remain cautious should they be equipped with Null Follow-Up. 

    • This skill also has the additional benefit of counteracting the effects of skills like Bold Fighter and Wary Fighter; keep in mind that Swordbreaker turns such instances into a regular Speed contest, making a +SPD refine much more impactful. 

  • For more overall utility, Wings of Mercy is again a fantastic option to increase her maneuverability in the Player Phase — or if wanting to invest as little as possible, her native Escape Route is an option as well. 

Passive C: Hone Attack / Fortify Dragons / Flexible

  • Ninian’s C slot is relatively flexible and can be filled by any skill of one’s choice. Hone Atk and her native Fortify Dragons are decent options that can work in a pinch. 

Sacred Seal: Close Def  / Distant Def

  • Either the Close Def or Distant Def seal should be taken to increase her durability in the Enemy Phase. 

Introduction

A performer of mysterious origins, Ninian: Oracle of Destiny makes her way to center stage as a blue infantry refresher. Although she lacks any exclusive skills to call her own, Ninian manages to distinguish herself from her peers thanks to a variety of unique strengths, most notable of which being her status the only refresher in the game capable of wielding dragonstones at the time of writing; this grants her an immense amount of flexibility in regards to the way that she can be built thanks to her access to a myriad of powerful inheritable weapons and class-exclusive buffs. Furthermore, her status as such makes her one of the few refreshers who can provide her assistance to beast allies without impeding upon their ability to transform. 

Statwise, Ninian’s most notable features are her decent base Speed stat of 33, providing her with a good foundation for preventing enemy follow-up attacks, and her surprisingly ample HP pool of 42, one of the highest amongst all refreshers. This means that in addition to granting her a respectable amount of overall bulk when taking her defensive stats into consideration, Ninian can make great use of HP-based skills like Infantry Pulse and Sudden Panic to further support her allies, further adding on to her inherently formidable supportive capabilities; such skills can prove crucial to the success of certain strategies when utilized properly. 

Ninian isn’t entirely without faults, however. Most glaringly, her base Attack stat of 24 is simply atrocious and although she should not be seeing much combat regardless, this renders her damage output lacking (even for a refresher) and makes her quite poor at offensive play. In addition, while her ability to wield dragonstones is a rather significant boon in her favor, it comes at the cost of being exceptionally weak to any source of dragon-effective damage, the likes of which has increasingly become more and more common as the game has progressed. As a dancer, Ninian also suffers from innately having low BST; combined with her lack of exclusive skills, this means that utilizing her in Colosseum modes like Arena can lead to rather disappointing results without the proper investment. 

Overall, although Ninian may not necessarily be the strongest fighter in the game, she remains an incredible support unit who can easily fit in a vast number of different team compositions. Dance alone is a powerful tool and when taking her decent survivability and versatility into consideration as well, Ninian: Oracle of Destiny can prove to be an invaluable tool at one’s disposal — and what’s more, everyone can get one copy of her for free! 

Strengths

Dance

Regardless of her own stats, Dance on its own is an incredibly powerful and useful skill that can allow one to escape even the closest of calls. With proper use, Ninian can easily shift the tide of the battle in her team’s favor. 

Decent Speed

While nothing extraordinary, Ninian’s solid base Speed stat of 33 allows her to deny her opponent’s follow-up attack relatively frequently, especially when capitalized on with an accompanying weapon refine and the proper skill set. 

Good HP Pool

Ninian’s HP stat stands tall amongst most refreshers and enables her to utilize HP-based skills such as Panic Ploy, Sudden Panic, and Infantry Pulse to great effect, all of which can help improve her team’s overall performance greatly. Furthermore, combined with her decent defensive stat spread of 23/27 and Speed, this provides her a respectable amount of overall survivability as she will often require several engagements to go down. 

Dragon

As a dragon, Ninian is allowed access to class-exclusive buffs and a wide variety of weapons, most of which she can use rather effectively such as Lightning Breath, Dark Breath, and her native Light Breath. This also makes her one of the few refreshers who is able to maintain close proximity to beast units without preventing them from transforming. 

Versatile

As a result of the aforementioned strengths, Ninian’s role in any given team is quite flexible as she can be built to fulfill a variety of needs simultaneously, granting her immense versatility. 

Weaknesses

Low Attack

Ninian’s low base Attack of 24 means that outside of relying on skills such as Triangle Adept or Special activations to do damage, her damage output will be pretty low; this makes her quite poorly suited for an offensive role without sufficient investment. 

Effective Damage

Due to her ability to wield dragonstones, Ninian suffers from a debilitating weakness to any kind of dragon-effective damage, making it imperative that she be kept out of reach from sources of such damage. 

Low BST

In exchange for access to the powerful Dance skill, Ninian’s BST is somewhat low and makes her a rather poor choice of unit for Colosseum modes like Arena without the prerequisite amount of investment, as she will subsequently lower one’s scoring potential considerably.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Fire Breath
Only inheritable by Dragon units.
50 1 6
Fire Breath+
Only inheritable by Dragon units.
100 1 8
Light Breath

Grants adjacent allies Def/Res+4 through their next actions after any combat this unit initiates.

Only inheritable by Dragon units.
300 1 9
Light Breath+

Grants adjacent allies Def/Res+4 through their next actions after any combat this unit initiates.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Only inheritable by Dragon units.
300 1 13
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Support Skills

Support Skills Rng. SP
Dance

Grants another action to target ally. (Cannot target an ally with Sing or Dance.)

Learns by default at 5 ★
1 150

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Escape Route 1

If unit's HP ≤ 30%, unit can move to a space adjacent to any ally.

Inheritable by all units.
60
B
Escape Route 2

If unit's HP ≤ 40%, unit can move to a space adjacent to any ally.

Inheritable by all units.
120
B
Escape Route 3

If unit's HP ≤ 50%, unit can move to a space adjacent to any ally.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
B
Fortify Def 1

Grants adjacent allies Def+2 through their next actions at the start of each turn.

Inheritable by all units.
50
C
Fortify Def 2

Grants adjacent allies Def+3 through their next actions at the start of each turn.

Inheritable by all units.
100
C
Fortify Dragons

Grants adjacent dragon allies Def/Res +6 through their next actions at the start of each turn.

  • Requires Fortify Def 2 or Fortify Res 2.
Only inheritable by Dragon units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

Banners Featured In

Official Hero Artwork