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Legendary Leif

Analysis by Chibi_Chu
Legendary Leif - Unifier of Thracia

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
156
HP 40
ATK 38
SPD 22
DEF 29
RES 27

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 17 7 2 6 7
Middle 18 8 3 7 8
High 19 9 4 8 9

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 36 35 19 25 24
Middle 40 38 22 29 27
High 43 42 26 32 31

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

Skill Sets

Turning Weakness into Strength (Vantage Sweeper)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Recommended
Meisterbogen A Close Foil
Alternate: Close Counter
Positional Assist B Vantage 3
Njörun's Zeal C Def Smoke 3
Alternate: Pulse Smoke 3
IVs

+ATK / -SPD

SFierce Stance 3
Alternate: Brazen Atk/Res 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Mesiterbogen 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Njörun’s Zeal

Passive A: Close Foil / Close Counter 

Passive B: Vantage 

Passive C: Def Smoke / Pulse Smoke 

Sacred Seal: Fierce Stance / Brazen Atk/Res 

  • Leif is capable of Vantage sweeping thanks to his fantastic 38 Attack and Meisterbogen, an excellent personal weapon that allows Leif to attack twice regardless of the phase. This set is heavily focused on bolstering Leif’s damage output so he can 2HKO as much as possible.
  • Despite being an Enemy Phase oriented set, Njörun’s Zeal is still an excellent Special for clean-up. In addition, thanks to Meisterbogen’s follow-up prevention on initiation, Leif can initiate against an enemy he falls short of KOing, take a counterattack, then activate Njörun’s Zeal.
  • As with any ranged Enemy Phase sweeper, the combination of Close Foil and Vantage is vital to ensure Leif can activate Vantage and have the opportunity to 2HKO both ranged and melee enemies. Close Foil is preferred despite preventing Leif from counterattacking against Dragons because they’re exceedingly uncommon on Aether Raids Defense, making Close Foil’s Atk/Def +5 well worth the cost. Fierce Stance and Brazen Atk/Res further boost Leif’s Attack, with the former always activating on Enemy Phase and the latter activating on both Player and Enemy Phase, but with an HP condition of ≤ 80% (which synergizes well with Vantage’s ≤ 75% HP condition).
  • Decreasing the Defense of enemies within 2 spaces of the target after combat by 7 with Def Smoke’s debuff increases the amount of damage Leif deals with 2 attacks by 14, which helps him secure several KOs. Alternatively, Pulse Smoke can be used to inflict +1 Special cooldown on the target and enemies within 2 spaces after combat, ensuring that units with their Specials ready cannot OHKO Leif before he’s in Vantage range. This is especially helpful given the ubiquity of Infantry Pulse-centric Aether Raids Defense teams.

Thracia’s Adept King (Offensive / Aether Raids Defense)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Recommended
Meisterbogen A Death Blow 4
Alternate: Heavy Blade 4
Positional Assist B Lull Atk/Def 3
Alternate: S Drink
Njörun's Zeal C Def Smoke 3
Alternate: Goad Cavalry
IVs

+ATK / -SPD

SHeavy Blade 3
Alternate: Death Blow 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Meisterbogen 

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Njörun’s Zeal

Passive A: Death Blow 4 / Heavy Blade 4 / Atk/Res Push 4 / Atk/Def Push 4

Passive B: Lull Atk/Def / S Drink

Passive C: Def Smoke / Goad Cavalry / Flexible 

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Death Blow / Quickened Pulse

  • This set focuses on securing as many 2HKOs on Player Phase with Meisterbogen as possible to take full advantage of Njörun’s Zeal’s Galeforce-like effect. 
  • Increasing Leif’s Attack as much as possible is key to ensure he 2HKOs consistently. As such, Death Blow in both his A and S slots are strong choices, as it increases Leif’s Attack on initiation. Atk/Res Push 4 and Atk/Def Push 4 are also strong options, but come with HP requirements that can be daunting to achieve on Aether Raids Defense with Bolt Tower on nearly every Offense team.
  • Lull Atk/Def, which nullifies the enemy’s visible Attack and Defense buffs and inflicts -3 Atk/Def during combat, allows Leif to shoot through enemies reliant on visible Defense buffs to tank physical attacks. Def Smoke’s -7 Defense debuff on enemies within 2 spaces of the target after combat increases Leif’s damage output by 14, a significant amount. For cavalry line Aether Raids Defenses, however, Goad and Ward Cavalry can be used to great effect.
  • Something to consider for this set is that ideally, Leif wants to activate Njörun’s Zeal every turn. Since its cooldown is 3, cooldown reduction of some sort is required to allow him to activate it after 2 attacks; S Drink and Quickened Pulse are solid choices, but only apply to turn 1, making them useless afterwards. As such, it might be worth considering Heavy Blade, which grants Leif +1 Special charge (-1 Special cooldown) per attack if his Attack is higher than the enemy’s.

Strengths

Great Attack

Leif boasts an excellent 38 Attack and an Attack Superasset that can increase it to 42 rather than 41. In combination with Meisterbogen and Njörun’s Zeal, Leif has fantastic damage output. 

Meisterbogen

The best character in Fire Emblem deserves nothing less than one of the best weapons in the game, and Meisterbogen definitely delivers. 

  • Getting the negatives out of the way first, it has only 9 Might and inflicts -5 Speed on Leif, although the latter is usually inconsequential given Leif’s terrible 22 Speed.
  • On the flip side, it allows Leif to attack twice in both Player and Enemy Phase. In addition, if the player is in control of Leif (as opposed to AI control in Aether Raids Defense or Rival Domains) and Leif initiates combat, the enemy cannot perform a follow-up attack.

Having a dual-phase Brave Bow+ with 2 more Might is extremely powerful, as Leif can specialize in 2HKOing regardless of which phase he’s built for.

Njörun’s Zeal

Further augmenting Leif’s Player Phase potential, Njörun’s Zeal is a 3-cooldown Special similar to Galeforce; when Leif activates it, he gets to move again. However, given that a low-cooldown Galeforce on a 3-movement unit with 2 range would be borderline broken, Njörun’s Zeal restricts Leif to 1 movement after it is activated. Despite the movement restriction, being granted another action allows Leif lots of flexibility, as he can potentially KO 2 enemies on Player Phase or retreat after initiating. Restore+ from a healer like Nanna and the combination of Atk/Res Push 4’s 5 recoil damage and Escape Route allowing Leif to warp adjacent to an ally if his HP is ≤ 50% are ways to circumvent the movement decrease, too.

S Drink

Just like his base version, Legendary Leif has S Drink as his personal B slot, which heals him for 99 HP and decreases his Special cooldown by 1. While the former isn’t particularly helpful unless for Tempest Trials+ and Chain Challenges, the latter decreases Njörun’s Zeal’s cooldown to 2; since Leif can attack twice with Meisterbogen, if he 2HKOs on Player Phase, he can activate Njörun’s Zeal.

Decent survivability

Surprisingly, Leif possesses solid mixed bulk with 68 physical bulk and 66 magical bulk. While this is hampered by his awful Speed, Meisterbogen mostly makes up for it; on initiation, it prevents enemies from performing follow-up attacks, while on Enemy Phase, Leif can 2HKO to avoid receiving a follow-up attack. 

Legendary Hero benefits

Due to his status as a Legendary Hero, Leif is able to grant HP +3 to Water-blessed allies. He’s also able to score as if he has 175 BST in Arena during Water season, allowing him to reach higher Arena score ceilings and keep pace with his allies. Pair Up increases Leif’s already impressive flexibility (when it’s available) by helping him escape sticky situations via switching positions with his paired up ally.

Cavalry strengths

As a cavalry unit, Leif has 3 movement and can receive cavalry buffs such as Hone Cavalry and Goad Cavalry. This helps Leif snipe distant enemies, deal higher damage, and take less damage.

Flexible and versatile

Leif is righteously blessed with extraordinary flexibility and versatility thanks to his statline and personal skills. He can utilize a purely offensive set, a Vantage-centric set, hit-and-run, and more depending on how he’s built.

Weaknesses

Pitiful Speed

While not especially detrimental due to Meisterbogen’s follow-up negation and Brave weapon effect, 22 Speed compromises Leif’s chances of quadrupling and usually forces him to take 2 hits on Enemy Phase if he fails to 2HKO after the enemy’s initial attack.

Legendary Hero restrictions

Unfortunately, if the season isn’t Water, Leif grants no extra score or lift loss reduction in Aether Raids. Although this isn’t particularly detrimental for a well-built Defense, it is on Offense, so many players choose to only use Leif on Water season.

Cavalry weaknesses

Although having 3 movement and being able to receive Cavalry-specific buffs are great assets, they come with some drawbacks.

  • Leif’s 3 movement can easily be mitigated by trenches and forests, which cavalry units have trouble maneuvering through/around. 
  • Cavalry-effective weapons can also mark Leif’s untimely demise, especially considering Dawn Suzu, Dusk Uchiwa+, and Caltrop Dagger+ (3 of the most common cavalry-effective weapons on Aether Raids Defense) innately have Hardy Bearing, which nullifies Vantage.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Bow

Effective against flying units.

Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Only Inheritable by Bow users.
50 2 4
Steel Bow

Effective against flying units.

Learns by default at 3 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Only Inheritable by Bow users.
100 2 6
Silver Bow

Effective against flying units.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Only Inheritable by Bow users.
200 2 9
Meisterbogen

Effective against flying foes.

Inflicts Spd-5.

Unit attacks twice (even if foe initiates combat).

When under player's control, unit gains: "If unit initiates combat, foe cannot make a follow-up attack."

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 2 9
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Night Sky

Boosts damage dealt by 50%.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 3
Astra

Boosts damage dealt by 150%.

Unlocks at 4 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 4
Njörun's Zeal

If unit initiates combat, grants another action to unit after combat. (Once per turn.)

When Special triggers, inflicts "restricts movement to 1 space" on unit and Pair Up cohort through their next action.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
500 3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Atk/Res Push 1

At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, grants Atk/Res+3, but if unit attacked, deals 1 damage to unit after combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
60
A
Atk/Res Push 2

At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, grants Atk/Res+4, but if unit attacked, deals 1 damage to unit after combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
120
A
Atk/Res Push 3

At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, grants Atk/Res+5, but if unit attacked, deals 1 damage to unit after combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
A
Atk/Res Push 4

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants Atk/Res+7, but after combat, if unit attacked, deals 5 damage to unit.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
A
S Drink

At the start of turn 1, restores 99 HP and grants Special cooldown count -1.

Non-Inheritable skill.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
B
Def Smoke 1

Inflicts Def-3 on foes within 2 spaces of target through their next actions after combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 1 ★
60
C
Def Smoke 2

Inflicts Def-5 on foes within 2 spaces of target through their next actions after combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
120
C
Def Smoke 3

Inflicts Def-7 on foes within 2 spaces of target through their next actions after combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

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