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Analysis by Chibi_Chu
Cynthia - Hero Chaser

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
163
HP 38
ATK 32
SPD 37
DEF 27
RES 29

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
4★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 15 7 10 4 6
Middle 16 8 11 5 7
High 17 9 12 6 8

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 34 29 34 23 25
Middle 38 32 37 27 29
High 41 35 40 30 32

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

This unit requires use of Trait Fruits to get access to IVs.

Skill Sets

One more for all the fans out there! (General Offense)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Recommended
Lance of Heroics (+Eff) A Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot
Positional Assist B S/D Near Trace 3
Alternate: Flow Guard 3
Galeforce
Alternate: Moonbow
C Spd/Def Hold (or Rein)
IVs

+Atk and/or +Spd

SHeavy Blade 3
Alternate: Blade Session 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Lance of Heroics (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Galeforce / Luna / Moonbow

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot

Passive B: S/D Near Trace / Flow Skills

Passive C: Spd/Def Rein (or Hold) 

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Blade Session / Quickened Pulse

  • Lance of Heroics has breathed new life into Cynthia’s offensive capabilities, granting massive stat boosts and visible stat debuff reversal during combat to catch her up with modern standards. This set focuses on maximizing her Player Phase capabilities by going all-in with her offenses.
  • For Aether Raids Offense purposes, Galeforce is Cynthia’s only Player Phase niche, which she does with unique proficiency given Lance of Heroics’ super Wings of Mercy effect. However, as Galeforce is a 5-cooldown Special and Lance of Heroics has no Special acceleration or additional Special charge, she may need to rely on any combination of these factors:
    • Heavy Blade Sacred Seal for +1 Special charge per Cynthia’s attack if her in-combat Atk exceeds the enemy’s.
    • Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal for -1 Special cooldown at the start of the battle.
    • Effects that grant additional Special charge if not using Heavy Blade, such as Fallen Ninian’s Call to Flame and Thorr’s Worldbreaker.
    • Effects that grant additional Special cooldown acceleration at the start of the battle, such as Velouria’s Wolfpup Fang and Groom Rafiel’s Groom’s Wing.
  • If using Cynthia outside of Aether Raids, she can use Luna, a 3-cooldown Special that pierces 50% of the enemy’s Def, or Moonbow, a 2-cooldown Special that pierces 30%. In order to activate Luna on her follow-up attack, Cynthia needs additional Special Charge via any of the aforementioned effects.
  • Atk/Spd Boosting A slots increase Cynthia’s raw damage and follow-up consistency, improving her Player Phase capabilities. Surge Sparrow is worth special mention for Moonbow and Luna sets, as it heals a significant portion of Cynthia’s HP on Special activation, granting her some sustainability/longevity.
  • Unfortunately, Lance of Heroics lacks both a Canto effect (movement after Cynthia’s first action of Player Phase) and an offensive Null Follow-Up effect (neutralization of effects that prevent Cynthia’s follow-up), meaning she must choose between B slots that only grant one or the other.
    • S/D Near Trace grants the former in addition to inflicting -3 Spd/Def during combat. This is generally preferred for Aether Raids purposes, as Canto is valuable for positioning and trapping in Galeforce strategies and players can play around follow-up prevention by leaving enemies without follow-up prevention for Cynthia to pick off.
    • Flow skills grant the latter in addition to an extra effect, which ranges from 10 HP healing after combat (Flow Refresh) to a Guard effect during combat to slow enemy defensive Specials (Flow Guard). Flow Force is the worst option by default, as there is no benefit in neutralizing visible Atk/Spd debuffs when Lance of Heroics already reverses them.
  • Spd/Def Rein inflicts -4 Spd/Def on enemies within two spaces during combat, further boosting Cynthia’s damage. Hold simply increases the range from two to three, so it is not necessary by any means. 
  • If using neither Heavy Blade nor Quickened Pulse for Special activation consistency, Blade Session is a go-to choice, granting +3/+6/+9 Atk/Spd on initiation if 0/1/2 ally/allies has/have already moved.

Pega-Pony Princess Power! (Melee Specialist)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Lance of Heroics (+Eff) A Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot
Positional Assist B Mystic Boost 4
Alternate: Seal Def 4
Bonfire
Alternate: Noontime
C Atk/Spd Rein 3
Alternate: Spd/Def Hold (or Rein)
IVs

+Atk and/or +Spd

SAtk/Def Catch 3
Alternate: Mystic Boost 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Lance of Heroics (+Eff) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Bonfire / Noontime / Iceberg

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot

Passive B: Mystic Boost 4 / Seal Def 4

Passive C: Rein Skills

Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Catch / Mystic Boost / Quick Riposte

  • While an Enemy Phase set fails to take advantage of Lance of Heroics’ super Wings of Mercy effect, it takes great advantage of its stat increases to make Cynthia a remarkably strong and bulky Enemy Phase unit. Losing a stat-boosting A slot for a Distant Countering A slot significantly decreases Cynthia’s efficacy for this role, so she instead relies on a Far Save ally that can protect her from ranged attacks by entering combat against ranged enemies in Cynthia’s stead.
  • Bonfire and Iceberg are strong Special choices that increase Cynthia’s damage on activation by 50% of her Def or Res respectively; choose between the two based on whether Cynthia has more Def or Res. While Cynthia has a higher base Res, melee specialists typically have their supports stack Def-increasing skills, and Cynthia’s skill choices may result in her Def exceeding her Res even before ally support is considered. Alternatively, Noontime provides healing on 2 cooldown, which can be activated on each of Cynthia’s counterattacks if no Guard effect is active and she has a source of additional Special charge.
  • While it may seem more intuitive to choose an Atk/Def Boosting A slot since most melee enemies are physical, choosing an Atk/Spd Boosting A slot allows Cynthia to outpace the many speedy melee threats on Aether Raids Defense, most notably Brave Seliph.
  • Cynthia has two main B slots to choose from:
    • Mystic Boost 4’s notable effects include inflicting -5 Atk on the enemy during combat and healing 10 HP after combat.
    • Seal Def 4 inflicts -4 Def on the enemy during combat and inflicts an additional Def penalty if the enemy does not have an effect that neutralizes visible Def debuffs; this penalty is 7 - their current visible Def debuff, so Cynthia’s team can simply use no visible Def debuffs to inflict -11 Def on enemies during Cynthia’s combats.
  • Rein skills inflict in-combat -4 stat debuffs on enemies within two spaces, with Atk/Spd and Spd/Def being the most beneficial for Cynthia’s damage and/or bulk. The upgraded Hold versions simply increase the range from two to three spaces, so they are not necessary by any means.
  • Atk/Def Catch grants Cynthia +5 Atk/Def if the enemy’s HP = 100% or they have a Penalty, which may as well be free. Alternatively, Mystic Boost can be chosen for further healing, or Quick Riposte can be chosen for a guaranteed follow-up counterattack if her HP is ≥ 70%, as Cynthia has no other self-reliant way of breaking through follow-up prevention during Enemy Phase.

Strengths

Decent Overall Statline

Cynthia has an impressively balanced statline, with none of her stats being outright poor. In tandem with Lance of Heroics, Cynthia can proficiently perform both Player Phase and Enemy Phase roles.

Lance of Heroics

To the rescue! Cynthia swoops in and catches bad guys off-guard with her personal weapon, bestowed upon her in update 6.11.

  • Fitting for Cynthia’s character, she effectively has a super Wings of Mercy, allowing her to warp to spaces adjacent to allies with ≤ 80% HP.
  • If Cynthia’s HP is ≥ 25% at the start of combat, she gains an Atk/Spd/Def/Res bonus during combat = 4 + X, with X = (2 * the number of spaces away Cynthia or the enemy initiated combat from). Note that warp movement is counted normally, not as 0, so this effect synergizes well with the aforementioned Wings of Mercy effect.
  • If Cynthia is within three spaces of an ally, she gains +4 Atk/Spd/Def/Res and a Unity effect during combat, reversing and doubling her visible debuffs.

Granting excellent mobility and a large bundle of stats, Lance of Heroics shoots Cynthia’s combat performance up significantly.

Flier Advantages

Access to strong skills such as Atk/Spd Catch 4, Trace skills, Flow skills, and Spd/Def Rein improve Cynthia’s consistency and/or mobility.

Weaknesses

Has to Pick Between Essential B Slots

As Lance of Heroics lacks both a Canto effect and neutralization of follow-up prevention effects, Cynthia must choose between them for her B slot (Trace skills for the former and Flow skills for the latter). This makes her somewhat inconsistent and inflexible.

Competition

While Cynthia is a solid unit (and F2P, no less), she faces stiff competition from her peers in the bloated Lance Flier pool. In particular, Thea is a similarly potent and accessible statstick, while Sumia’s Flower Lance shares Lance of Heroic’s super Wings of Mercy effect and trades some stats for Canto, which is typically a favorable exchange for Sumia.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Lance
Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Lance Users Only
50 1 6
Steel Lance
Learns by default at 3 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Lance Users Only
100 1 8
Firesweep Lance

Unit and enemies cannot use counterattacks.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Lance Users Only
200 1 11
Firesweep Lance+

Unit and enemies cannot use counterattacks.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Lance Users Only
300 1 15
Lance of Heroics

If an ally's HP ≤ 80%, unit can move to a space adjacent to that ally. At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants bonus to unit's Atk/Spd/Def/Res during combat = 4 + X (X = number of spaces from start position to end position of whoever initiated combat × 2; max 8).

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 1 16
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Support Skills

Support Skills Rng. SP
Shove

Push adjacent ally 1 space farther away.

Learns by default at 4 ★
1 150

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Spd/Def Link 1

If a movement Assist skill (like Reposition Shove, Pivot, etc.) is used by unit or targets unit, grants Spd/Def+2 to unit and target ally or unit and targeting ally for 1 turn.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
60
B
Spd/Def Link 2

If a movement Assist skill (like Reposition Shove, Pivot, etc.) is used by unit or targets unit, grants Spd/Def+4 to unit and target ally or unit and targeting ally for 1 turn.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
120
B
Spd/Def Link 3

If a movement Assist skill (like Reposition Shove, Pivot, etc.) is used by unit or targets unit, grants Spd/Def+6 to unit and target ally or unit and targeting ally for 1 turn.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
B
Spur Atk 1

Grants Atk+2 to adjacent allies during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
50
C
Drive Atk 1

Grants Atk+2 to allies within 2 spaces during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
120
C
Drive Atk 2

Grants Atk+3 to allies within 2 spaces during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Awakening

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