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Analysis by ZeShado
Rutger - Lone Swordsman

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
168
HP 44
ATK 32
SPD 39
DEF 29
RES 24

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 19 7 8 6 4
Middle 20 8 9 7 5
High 21 9 10 8 6

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 41 29 36 25 21
Middle 44 32 39 29 24
High 47 35 43 32 28

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

102% Crit Rate (Dodge Tank)

Build by ZeShado
Recommended
Wanderer Blade (+Eff) A Distant Dart
Alternate: Distant Stance
Positional Assist B Null Follow-Up 3
Alternate: Spurn 3
Vital Astra
Alternate: Sol
C Time's Pulse 3
Alternate: Atk/Spd Oath 4
IVs

+ATK or +SPD / -RES

SMystic Boost 3
Alternate: Atk/Spd Solo 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Wanderer Blade (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Vital Astra / Sol / Noontime

A Passive: Distant Dart / Distant Stance / Distant Counter

B Passive: Null Follow-Up / Spurn / Null C-Disrupt

C Passive: Time’s Pulse / Atk/Spd Oath 4 / Joint Drive Atk / Joint Drive Spd

Sacred Seal: Mystic Boost / Atk/Spd Solo

  • Wanderer Blade is just the upgrade Rutger needed to compete in today’s climate. The PRF in question contains a Slaying effect, +10 Atk/Spd, Spd-based Dual Phase Breath, and Spd-Based Damage Reduction, making Rutger much more formidable than he was prior to his refine. In a similar vein to Yen’Fay, he can opt for a Dodge tank role as the innate Damage Reduction, combined with the Slaying effect and Dual Phase Breath effect, will allow him to not only maintain a fair amount of survivability but also allow to output a fair amount of damage, the latter Yen’Fay somewhat struggles with. As such, the first build that will be highlighted is for Dodge tank purposes.
     
  • Vital Astra on its own is rather potent as it scales damage based on the user’s Spd stat, so even without gaining the Damage Reduction properties, it’s still a solid Special all-around. That being said, Rutger would like to have some form of sustainability in his kit, and given that his PRF already has innate Damage Reduction, running Sol or Noontime isn’t a bad alternative, especially since he’ll guarantee it going off on his first hit, provided that the foe initiates combat and doesn’t have a Guard effect (Noontime will be charged regardless of Guard).
     
  • As a Dodge tank, it’s imperative that he is able to keep his sustainability high. As such, allowing Ranged units to attack him without having the ability to retaliate will wear him down over time as his mixed bulk is rather low and 40% Damage Reduction will only do so much by itself. So, running a Distant Counter skill will be the way to go. Distant Dart is great for bolstering his overall Spd and making him even harder to double with Distant Stance will provide additional Res for more general tanking. Avoid using Distant Counter skills with chip damage as he wants to keep his HP above 25%. Regular Distant Counter is a much better alternative.
     
  • Null Follow-Up will arguably be his most important B Passive as he will want to secure his ability to double and shut down as much incoming damage as possible. Of course, you could have fun and run Spurn to bolster his Damage Reduction even more but do keep in mind that it scales multiplicatively rather than additionally and isn’t that optimal comparatively to Null Follow-Up. You could also run Null C-Disrupt for some interesting tech options against units with a Firesweep effect and run Null Follow-Up support from the likes of either Fallen Lilith or Inf. Null Follow from Ascended Celica.
     
  • To get the full effects of Vital Astra on a consistent basis, Rutger will want to opt for Time’s Pulse as it’ll be fully charged at the start of every turn. That being said, if you only want it for its damaging properties or are running a different Special entirely, he can instead opt for skills that bolster his overall Atk and Spd such as Atk/Spd Oath 4 or Joint Drive Atk & Joint Drive Spd, the former granting +3 Atk/Spd as well as visible buffs to his Atk and Spd and the Joint Drives providing +4 to their respective stat.
     
  • Provided that Vital Astra is his Special of choice, he won’t have any means of keeping himself healthy which may not be too bad depending on the composition he’s in but if there are no external means of providing HP to Rutger, then he’ll want to run Mystic Boost as his Sacred Seal so that he can continually Dodge tank as well as maintain his 25% HP condition. However, if he is running Sol or Noontime, he can instead opt for a Sacred Seal that bolsters his Atk and Spd such as Atk/Spd Solo.

okay I pull up (Galeforce)

Build by ZeShado
Wanderer Blade (+Eff) A Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot
Alternate: Fury (3 or 4)
Positional Assist B Null Follow-Up 3
Alternate: Close Call 3
Galeforce C Time's Pulse 3
Alternate: Odd Tempest 3
IVs

+ATK or +SPD / -HP or -RES

SQuickened Pulse
Alternate: Blade Session 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Wanderer Blade (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Galeforce

A Passive: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot / Fury

B Passive: Null Follow-Up / Close Call / Wings of Mercy / Hit and Run

C Passive: Time’s Pulse / Odd Tempest / Even Tempest / Savage Blow

Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Blade Session / Savage Blow / Fury

  • Wanderer’s Blade is quite flexible in what it can accomplish thanks to the accelerated cooldown it grants per attack, provided that he meets the Spd check which shouldn’t be difficult to accomplish. What also helps is the innate Slaying as that can allow for easier Special triggers. As such, one of the better kits you can run on Rutger is a Galeforce set as even with Guard effects present, he can still get the Special off as long as he is running Time’s Pulse or can get his Galeforce to three-cooldown before combat with external support. He will also need the foe can counter back and charge his Special if they have a Guard effect present, which is perfectly safe to do in most instances as he has Damage Reduction built into his weapon as well.
     
  • Since the goal is to double and meet his weapon’s conditions, he will realistically want to stack as much Atk and Spd as possible. He doesn’t have to worry about running Heavy Blade / Flashing Blade as the accelerated cooldown is built into his weapon, so inherit to your heart’s content. If there is one skill worth mentioning, it’s Fury as that can allow him to act as a Wings of Mercy beacon, but you will have to keep in mind that by chipping away at his health, he will eventually lose the ability to gain Damage Reduction from his weapon but this won’t matter too much for Aether Raids purposes as once he’s in the Wings of Mercy range, the rest of the team will take care of what’s left.
     
  • Null Follow-Up will be the go-to B Passive for almost any situation as Rutger will want the ability to not only secure his own doubles but shut down any form of guaranteed follow-up from foes as that’ll cut down on his survivability. That being said, it’s not the only option at his disposal. If you want to run a Hit and Run set, he can instead opt for Close Call or Hit and Run, the former providing additional survivability but either work as the main draw is the movement after combat. Beyond that, he can run Wings of Mercy in a Galeforce composition if you already have a dedicated Wings of Mercy beacon.
     
  • For securing Galeforce triggers without the need for a Tempo effect, he’ll want to run Time’s Pulse, and potentially the Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal, as that will make Galeforce into a three-cooldown Special, and as previously mentioned, if the foe can retaliate and Rutgegr attacks twice, he will guarantee a Galeforce proc. However, it’s not the only option at his disposal as Time’s Pulse can be interchanged with external support such as Velouria or Groom Rafiel. For Hit and Run strategies, he’ll much prefer a Tempest skill as that will allow him to retreat with three movement, not including the potential movement he gains with Hit and Run or Close Call. Otherwise, Savage Blow is fairly standard for widdling down foes and helping incoming allies but do keep in mind that if the foe he goes up against has less than 75% of their HP present, he will lose the Breath effect.
     
  • As far as his Sacred Seal of choice is concerned, it’ll mainly depend on what you want to accomplish with him. Quickened Pulse can allow Rutger to almost guarantee a Galeforce trigger as he’ll have the benefit of being able to go up against foes that can’t counter back. Meanwhile, Blade Session is good for providing additional Atk and Spd, Savage Blow pairs well with the Savage Blow C Passive for chipping away at adjacent foes, and Fury is good for the Wings of Mercy beacon role.

Strengths

Wanderer Blade

    Continuing the trend of solid Grail unit refines, we have Rutger’s Wanderer Blade. This weapon comes with quite a few effects in tow including:

  • Slaying (Accelerated Cooldown -1)
  • 10 Atk/Spd
  • Spd-Based Dual Phase Breath
  • And Spd-Based Damage Reduction

    The additional Atk and Spd allow Rutger to not only remedy his somewhat lower-ended Atk stat to a respectable amount but also provide him with the ability to catch up to even some of the fastest units in the game. Meanwhile, the Spd-Based Dual Phase Breath effect frees up Rutger’s Passive slots, whether that’d be the A Slot or Sacred Seal, for Flashing Blade and can instead continue to stack Atk and Spd with respective skills. Moreover, the innate Slaying effect means that Rutger will rarely struggle to get a Special going, whether that’d be a low cooldown Special such as Vital Astra or Galeforce, the latter being quite easy to accomplish for him with Time’s Pulse as any Guard effect will effectively be neutered thanks to Galeforce being a three-cooldown Special as well as the Breath effect. And to top it all off, he also has Spd-based Damage Reduction which will help with his overall survivability. Suffice to say, this is quite a solid weapon, especially for F2P standards.

Infantry

    Infantry units have quite a lot of skills to work with but in Rutger’s case, a fair amount of the notable Infantry effects are already built into his weapon, meaning that he’s a bit more limited in scope with his Passive options. However, that isn’t a bad thing whatsoever as it means he can perform much more adequately comparatively to his peers since he can, in turn, run more effects and skills such as Null Follow-Up and the like.

Weaknesses

Competition

    One of the many benefits to having a weapon with Spd-based accelerated cooldown is that he’ll be able to Galeforce consistently even with Guard effects present. However, in terms of Player Phase roles, he will have to compete with the likes of Soleil and Eliwood, the former having a fairly similar PRF that trades Damage Reduction for Firesweep, effectively making it safer to use, and the latter having more movement and access to Near Trace, allowing for easier Hit and Run strategies.

DR-Piercing Specials & Units

    Rutger will be heavily relying on Damage Reduction for any semblance of bulk and survivability as his mixed defenses are pitifully low, even with max investment in mind, and while meeting Spd-based Damage Reduction checks will be quite easy for him, he will have to watch out for Specials and foes that can ignore part or all of his Damage Reduction including, but not limited to, Deadeye, Lethality, Young Innes, Young Soren, and Flavia.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Sword
Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
50 1 6
Steel Sword
Learns by default at 3 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
100 1 8
Slaying Edge

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1).

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 4 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
200 1 10
Slaying Edge+

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count -1).

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
300 1 14
Wanderer Blade

 Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). At start of combat, if foe's HP ≥ 75%, grants Atk/Spd+5 to unit during combat, and also, if unit's Spd > foe's Spd, grants Special cooldown charge +1 per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

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

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Retribution

Boosts damage dealt to foe by 30% of damage dealt to unit.

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

Boosts damage dealt to foe by 50% of damage dealt to unit.

Unlocks at 4 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Atk/Def Bond 1

Grants Atk/Def+3 to this unit during combat if unit is adjacent to an ally.

Inheritable by all units.
60
A
Atk/Def Bond 2

Grants Atk/Def+4 to this unit during combat if unit is adjacent to an ally.

Inheritable by all units.
120
A
Atk/Def Bond 3

Grants Atk/Def+5 to this unit during combat if unit is adjacent to an ally.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
A
Vantage 1

Unit counterattacks first when attacked at HP ≤ 25%

Inheritable by all units.
50
B
Vantage 2

Unit counterattacks first when attacked at HP ≤ 50%

Inheritable by all units.
100
B
Vantage 3

Unit counterattacks first when attacked at HP ≤ 75%

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
B

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

Banners Featured In

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