- Default
- Attack
- Special
- Injured




Arden - Strong and Tough |
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Hero Stats
Stat Variations
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 24 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 2 |
Middle | 25 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 3 |
High | 26 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 4 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 57 | 33 | 12 | 38 | 12 |
Middle | 60 | 36 | 16 | 41 | 16 |
High | 63 | 39 | 19 | 44 | 19 |
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. |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES |
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This unit requires use of the Trait Fruits to get access to IVs
Skill Sets
I'LL HUFF AND I'LL PUFF (Enemy Phase / Instant Ignis Retaliation)
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Arden's Blade (+Eff) | A | Steady Breath Alternate: Atk/Def Solo 4 |
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Positional Assist | B | Follow-Up Ring Alternate: Special Fighter 3 |
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Ignis | C | Atk Smoke 3 Alternate: Armor March 3 |
IVs | +ATK or +DEF / -SPD | S | Sturdy Stance 2 Alternate: Atk/Def Solo 3 |
Weapon: Arden's Blade
Assist: Positional Assist
Special: Ignis
Passive A: Fierce Breath / Sturdy Stance / Steady Breath / Distant Foil / Distant Counter / Warding Breath / Sturdy Stance
Passive B: Follow-Up Ring / Special Fighter
Passive C: Atk Smoke / Armor March / Def Smoke
Sacred Seal: Sturdy Stance / Atk/Def Bond / Atk/Def Solo
- Arden's signature dual-phase Brave weapon, when paired with a Breath effect, gives him the rare ability to activate Ignis immediately after tanking an attack in enemy phase. Assuming the correct skills and no Guard effects are in place, the timing is as follows:
- Arden's Ignis starts at its regularly too-long value of 4, which then gets reduced to 2 after taking an enemy hit. When it's Arden's turn to counterattack in the same round, his Blade's first hit charges it fully in time for its second hit to fire off a preposterously powerful Ignis burst.
- As said before, a Breath effect in some form is required to fire Ignis off on Arden's counterattack. Here are his options:
- A Breath skill in Arden's A-slot is the easiest and most self-sufficient way of doing so as he requires no ally support and Breath continues working regardless of Arden's HP. Any Breath version that isn't Darting is preferred for very obvious reasons.
- Special Fighter can be run in the B slot as it also grants a similar Breath effect on Arden's hits. It runs into a slight redundancy issue, though; its "inflicts Special cooldown charge -1" effect is entirely wasted as it is already provided by Arden's Blade when refined. Additionally, and equally alarming, the cooldown acceleration also stops working once Arden gets below 50% HP.
- An ally-provided support skill that grants Special cooldown +1, such as Geirskögul or Renewed Fang, allows Arden to free up his own skill slots for other options. This especially includes Distant Counter or Distant Foil to expand his counterattacking matchups, and Follow-Up Ring to allow for the possibility of activating Ignis TWICE and closing matchups more efficiently.
- Given this build's focus on ending it all in one Ignis-powered shot, Sacred Seals that help his damage output even more are obvious. Atk/Def Bond or Atk/Def Solo all help him out in this respect while furthering his physical bulk. While Sturdy Stance 3's redundancy with Arden's Blade's Guard effect may seem like an optimization issue, using it allows Arden to keep Guard active at all HP points.
- Atk Smoke is an easy-to-access C slot option that makes tanking incoming hits much easier. Alternatively, Def Smoke makes the likelihood of one-shots even better in subsequent battles, and Armor March is a good C slot for armors to improve their otherwise bad movement as always.
BY MY CHINNY CHIN CHIN (Player or Mixed Phase / Aggressive)
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Arden's Blade (+Eff) | A | Atk/Def Solo 4 Alternate: Death Blow (3 or 4) |
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Positional Assist | B | Follow-Up Ring Alternate: Bold Fighter 3 |
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Ignis Alternate: Moonbow |
C | Armored Stride 3 Alternate: Armor March 3 |
IVs | +ATK / -SPD | S | Atk/Def Solo 3 Alternate: Death Blow 3 |
Weapon: Arden's Blade
Assist: Positional Assist
Special: Ignis / Moonbow / Aether
Passive A: Atk/Def Solo / Death Blow
Passive B: Follow-Up Ring / Bold Fighter
Passive C: Armored Stride / Armor March
Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Solo / Death Blow / Armor March
- See that speck on the horizon? That's Arden coming at you with 99 Speed! …well, that's not quite right, but this build is the closest he can come to the idea. Thanks to the guaranteed follow-up attack granted by your choice of Follow-Up Ring or Bold Fighter as well as the utter blitz damage coming from Arden's Blade alone, an aggressive player-phase build is definitely on the table. The strategy thus is as simple as Arden: initiate combat and watch (a reasonable amount of) things explode.
- In both Arden's A slot and Sacred Seal, his best choices basically boil down to Death Blow or Atk/Def Solo. Keeping in mind that Arden's Blade and Follow-Up Ring works in both phases, Atk/Def Solo is definitely preferred for enhanced attacking and physical defending in both phases.
- The choice between Follow-Up Ring and Bold Fighter basically boils down to each skills' individual effects.
- Follow-Up Ring comes natively on Arden and generally does the job fine enough as it provides follow-up attacks in both phases, making it the preferred B slot for mixed phase attacking. It should be noted that it only works when Arden is above 50% HP, meaning ally-supported healing or Aether is required for consistent performance.
- Bold Fighter keeps Arden's routine effectively locked to player phase only, but in exchange, it provides faster Special charging (Moonbow in particular activates immediately on Arden's Blade's second hit, while Ignis can activate on the third) and suffers from no HP condition like Follow-Up Ring.
- Given this build's focus on player phase aggressiveness, methods of improving Arden's mobility are appreciated. Arden can provide this for himself through his C slot through Armor March and Armored Stride—Armored Stride in particular synergizes particularly well with Atk/Def Solo.
AND I'LL BLOW YOUR HOUSE IN (Vantage Sweeper)
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Arden's Blade (+Eff) | A | Distant Counter Alternate: Distant Foil |
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Positional Assist | B | Vantage 3 |
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Moonbow Alternate: Ruptured Sky |
C | Def Smoke 3 Alternate: Joint Drive Atk |
IVs | +ATK / -SPD | S | Fierce Stance 3 Alternate: Atk/Def Solo 3 |
Weapon: Arden's Blade
Assist: Positional Assist
Special: Moonbow / Ruptured Sky / Glimmer / Ignis
Passive A: Distant Counter / Distant Foil
Passive B: Vantage
Passive C: Def Smoke / Joint Drive Atk
Sacred Seal: Fierce Stance / Atk/Def Solo / Brazen Atk/Def
- He's strong and he's tough, and he can run Distant Counter + Vantage! …which is pretty much a completely expected and standard combination on all enemy-phase Brave weapon users at this point.
- Whereas Vantage allows Arden to counterattack immediately before enemies can hit him at lower health, Distant Counter (or Foil if you prefer simply going against physical enemies only) expands the number of enemies he can Vantage sweep against. So as long as you don't push it against healthy blue or physically bulky enemies, as well as Dazzling staff users or tomes with Sweep or Hardy Bearing effects, Arden can get the job done well.
- Besides its famed Brave effect in both phases, Arden's Blade provides a number of benefits if Arden's HP is above 50%. Notably, on a build as focused on pure damage as this, the Atk +4 provides appreciable power to both hits. There's a couple of contentions with this, however: Arden's HP must be in a sweetspot between 75% and 50% to make use of both Vantage and the refined effects of Arden's Blade. Though Arden's damage output can be good enough without the in-combat Atk boost, it's recommended to be careful of initial matchups so that Arden can soak enough damage to achieve the sweetspot.
- Moonbow, Ruptured Sky, and Glimmer are preferred Specials on this build due to its constant one-round KO nature; thanks to their short cooldown and Arden's Blade's double hitting effect, these Specials can activate very frequently. If paired with Geirskögul (or some similar Breath equivalent) support, they can even activate on the Blade's second hit on every Vantage counterattack. Given such support, Ignis is also a huge damage option that activates every other turn.
- To further supplement Arden's one-shot potential, appropriate C slot and Sacred Seals should be considered.
- In the C slot, Def Smoke drastically deteriorates the Defense of surrounding enemies through a debuff of -7 and is typically pretty affordable. Joint Drive Atk has a few advantages in that Arden can support other allies with an Attack boost himself, while being able to benefit from increased damage without needing Smoke applied first.
- Fierce Stance and Atk/Def Solo are solid Sacred Seal choices which both provide a meaty amount of Atk in Arden's enemy phase. Atk/Def Solo also provides some dual phase utility by providing more bulk and some initiation power if Arden must duke it out there. If those Seals are taken elsewhere, Brazen Atk/Def technically provides slightly better stat boosts but requires the same damage setup as Vantage.
Strengths
HE'S STRONG AND HE'S TOUGH
Arden stills boasts a quite memeable but deceptively useful base 60 HP, accompanied by great stat values in Attack and Defense. Put together, this makes him a very tough physical tank, especially when further strengthened with the right stat skills like Atk/Def Solo.
HIS BLADE IS TOP-GRADE
As previous similar heroes like both versions of Altina have attested, dual phase double-hitting is nothing to sneeze at as Arden boasts great blitz damage plus faster Special charging per hit whether defending or attacking. Furthermore, it gains a few neat perks when refined; if he manages to stay above 50% HP, Arden gains even more firepower per hit through Atk +4, as well as better defensive presence through +6 Def and Guard applied against enemies.
HE'S FREE AND HE'S CHEAP
If you've played Heroes since year 1 and attained all three free copies of him, maximum investment in him would be slightly cheaper than most other Tempest Trials units due to less Heroic Grails needed. Needless to say, no orbs are necessary to have him.
Weaknesses
HE'S SLOW AND HE'S DULL
With Speed and Resistance values totally polarized from the rest of the statline at 16 each, not much else needs to be said of Arden's most glaring weakness other than "outrageously allergic to magic units with a literal Speed stat". Just, don't go near even a meter from a magic book. Especially the anti-armor kind. Okay? Okay. Here's Idunn's and Dheginsea's business cards for all your magic tanking needs. Laslow also exists with the looming competitive argument of being much easier to merge with similar gameplay while suffering absolutely none of the nonsense associated with armors.
WHEW THIS IS SOME HEAVY ARMOR
And of course Arden's inability to escape his issues with a paltry movement of one space is never not an issue. To overcome it, he'll need some real movement support in the form of Smite, Guidance, Ground Orders, Armor March, etc.
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Barrier Blade+ (+Res) | A | Warding Breath |
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Swap | B | Follow-Up Ring |
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Ignis | C | Odd Res Wave 3 |
S | Deflect Magic 3 |
This is a build focused on making Arden viable against mages and dragons while being viable against melee units. Due to items being focused on resistance, Arden gains the bonus from his weapon, warding breath, and either res wave c skills. Crazily enough, with all the buffs with summoner support of 'S', Arden has survived a hit from a +6 blue Micaiah with an attack boon. For dragons, as they are melee-based, use Deflect Melee, to reduce the damage taken, but Deflect Magic still can be used if you are fine with Arden with 20-30 hp. Even without buffs for his bulk, Arden can go against some enemies with armorsmashers/slayers with little problems.
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Barrier Blade+ (+Res) | A | Water Boost 3 |
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Swap | B | Vengeful Fighter 3 |
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Ignis | C | Atk Smoke 3 |
S | Water Boost 3 |
This build is an enemy phase Arden that maximizes his mixed bulk, leaving him at 41 defense and 38 Resistance unmerged. Barrier blade adds 7 resistance in the enemy phase and with a res refine, gives a total of 10 res. Water boost takes advantage of his massive HP to add 6 more resistance in the A slot and Seal Slot bumping his in combat resistance up by 12 more. Alternatively, you could use the more budget option and use Warding Stance or go with the premium Warding Breath, but you will forgo the player phase buff with Water boost if Arden must attack a close counter mage or a dragon in the player phase. Arden’s B slot could be vengeful fighter for a stronger enemy phase, follow up ring for mixed phase doubling, wary fighter to prevent doubles, or renewal for constant healing. Finally, his C slot with attack smoke could rebuff all enemies’ attack or be a support skill.
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Safeguard+ (+Def) | A | Steady Stance 4 |
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Pivot | B | Follow-Up Ring |
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Ignis | C | Odd Def Wave 3 |
S | Even Def Wave 3 |
A high-Defense build I made, with Ignis. Safeguard, Steady Stance, Odd Def Wave and Even Def Wave helps boost the power of Ignis. The Follow-Up Ring is just so Arden counterattack, with his incredibly low Speed. Odd and Even Def Wave are so Arden's Defense goes up EVERY turn, instead of odds or evens. Pivot is an ideal Support Skill, but you can use Swap as an alternative. When the foe initiates combat, Arden's Defense goes up to a VERY high 59, on odd and even turns. That's not all you can do to raise his Defense, though! You can use dragonflowers, merges, etc to raise his base Defense! You can also give him support from the rest of the team (Close/Distant Guard, Fortify Armor, Ally/Summoner Support, etc) to raise his Defense up to an EXTREMELY high amount!
"I'm strong and you're toast!"
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Safeguard+ (+Def) | A | Steady Stance 4 |
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Reposition | B | Vengeful Fighter 3 |
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Ignis | C | Even Def Wave 3 |
S | Close Def 3 |
Build Name: Ardenator {Lv.40+10}
Introducing the ultimate physical-weapon-killer! No sword, axe, bow or lance can kill this boy! Shiver in fear, for he gets 71 points of defense upon fighting a melee unit, and they try to approach him! As an extra bonus, his skills allow him to negate any cool down charge the enemy had, and gives him +2 for every attack. Translation: +56 Special dmg every time an enemy tries to strike him! Well, if they attack twice, that is. Which is easy since all they need is 25 spd or more.
Granted, he still dies from magic. Like, easily.
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Slaying Edge+ (+Atk) | A | Steady Breath |
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Ardent Sacrifice | B | Wings of Mercy 3 |
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Aether | C | Breath of Life 3 |
S | Breath of Life 3 |
There's a reason why Ardent Sacrifice has Arden in its name!
Slaying Edge and Steady Breath are used in order to pull off Aether faster, though Steady Breath can be replaced by Heavy Blade. Though refining Slaying Edge and increasing its attack helps in dealing more damage, you could alternatively refine it to increase Arden's defense or HP.
Ardent Sacrifice is key to this build, but can be swapped out for Reciprocal Aid.
Aether is used to restore Arden's own HP whilst dealing damage, and can be replaced with Sol or Noontime.
Wings of Mercy allows Arden to quickly travel to an ally in need of healing and either use Ardent Sacrifice/Reciprocal Aid to heal them, or take on nearby enemies and rely on Breath of Life to do the healing for him.
This build overall makes Arden a mixed phase armoured healer. He's still the strong and tough knight we know and love him as, and his speed... well... that armour doesn't exactly help with it.
Weapon Skills
Weapons | SP | Rng. | Mt. |
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![]() Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
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50 | 1 | 6 |
![]() Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
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100 | 1 | 8 |
![]() Learns by default at 4 ★ Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
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200 | 1 | 5 |
![]() Learns by default at 5 ★ Unlocks at 5 ★ Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
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300 | 1 | 8 |
Special Skills
Passive Skills
Passive Skills | SP | Slot |
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![]() Non-Inheritable skill.
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300 | B |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
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50 | C |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
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120 | C |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
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240 | C |
Other Info
Origin |
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
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Banners Featured In
None