Table of Contents
- Default
- Attack
- Special
- Injured




Ares - Black Knight |
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Hero Stats
Stat Variations
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 17 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
Middle | 18 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
High | 19 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 36 | 33 | 26 | 30 | 14 |
Middle | 40 | 36 | 30 | 33 | 18 |
High | 43 | 39 | 33 | 36 | 21 |
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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Boons
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+ATK: Attack is consistently the best boon that Ares can have regardless of the skill-set he is running, as it will increase his raw damage output in both Player and Enemy phase.
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+SPD: Although somewhat middling at a base value of 30, a boon in Speed allows Ares to avoid crucial follow-up attacks from mid-high tier Speed units, greatly reducing the amount of damage he takes.
Neutral
-
DEF: While raising it is not a priority, Ares prefers to keep his Defense neutral in order to keep his solid physical bulk of 73 intact.
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HP: Similarly, Ares would rather avoid his superbane in HP (-4 reduction rather than the standard -3), as it can be detrimental to his overall survivability.
Banes
-
-RES: Resistance is Ares’ weakest stat and the best bane that he can receive, as dropping it further will hardly affect his overall performance.
Skill Sets
The Dark Knight Rises (Distant Counter)
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Dark Mystletainn | A | Distant Counter |
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Reposition | B | Vantage 3 |
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Blue Flame Alternate: Draconic Aura |
C | Def Smoke 3 Alternate: Hone Cavalry |
SP | 1735 | S | Quickened Pulse |
- Preferred IV: +ATK / -RES or -HP
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Weapon: Dark Mystletainn
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Assist: Reposition / Flexible
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Special: Blue Flame / Draconic Aura
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Passive A: Distant Counter
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Passive B: Vantage
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Passive C: Def Smoke / Hone Cavalry / Flexible
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Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Quick Riposte / Distant Def / Attack +3
Taking a page out of WT-Reinhardt’s book, this set aims to make Ares an untouchable Enemy Phase ranged check by utilizing the skill Distant Counter. Since this build revolves around taking out the opponent in only one hit, a boon in Attack the most desirable nature that Ares can receive. This increase in raw damage output grants Ares a wider scope of opponents that he can OHKO. In particular, this can be the deciding factor in his match-ups against Ayra, Legendary Ike, and Sigurd.
Thanks to the nature of his weapon, Dark Mystletainn, Ares is able to activate powerful Specials at a constant rate. In addition to the passive -1 cooldown, Dark Missiletainn drops the charge of any Special by two after any combat in which it activates. Specials with a base cooldown of three such as Blue Flame and Draconic Aura fit this timing perfectly, as they will always be ready to go following after their initial activation. Blue Flame has an incredibly high damage ceiling under the condition that Ares is adjacent to an ally while Dragonic Aura has a lower maximum output, albeit more consistent damage overall upon activation.
The bread and butter of this set is running Distant Counter together with Vantage. After activating his Special for the first time, Ares will always have it ready to use. Upon hitting the HP threshold for Vantage, any subsequent opponents that initiate on Ares are forced to take the full impact of his Special activation before even having the chance to counterattack. With this combination, Ares can potentially take out multiple opponents in the Enemy Phase unscathed.
Def Smoke is a great choice of C skill for Ares as a standalone unit. By reducing the physical bulk of opponents around him after combat, any affected targets that initiate on him afterward will be hit even harder. A more team-synergistic option is Hone Cavalry, as it allows Ares to be a benefactor on a cavalry-centric team. Otherwise, the C slot can be replaced with whatever will accommodate his team.
Last but not least, Ares has several options for his Sacred Seal slot. Quickened Pulse starts Ares off on the fast track by reducing his initial Special cooldown to only 1. This allows him to activate his Special on his very first counterattack. Similarly, Quick Riposte guarantees that Ares activates his Special during his first round of combat as well as giving give longevity against opponents that survive his initial attack. Another solid choice that fits this playstyle is Distant Def, as it will reduce the damage he receives from all ranged opponents when initiated on. This grants Ares a better chance of surviving his opponent’s initial Attack, particularly when facing a tome user. Finally, Attack +3 is a good choice if one wishes to further improve Ares’ raw damage output.
Bloody Stream (Enemy Phase Bruiser)
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Dark Mystletainn | A | Steady Stance 4 Alternate: Sturdy Stance 2 |
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Reposition | B | Quick Riposte 3 |
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Aether Alternate: Blue Flame |
C | Atk Smoke 3 Alternate: Hone Cavalry |
SP | 2145 | S | Atk/Def Bond 3 |
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Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK or +DEF / -RES
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Weapon: Dark Mystletainn
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Assist: Reposition / Flexible
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Special: Aether / Bonfire / Ignis / Blue Flame
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Passive A: Steady Stance / Fierce Stance
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Passive B: Quick Riposte / Guard
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Passive C: Atk Smoke / Def Smoke / Hone Cavalry / Flexible
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Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Bond / Close Def / Quick Riposte / Atk Smoke / Heavy Blade
At the expense of being able to retaliate against ranged opponents, this build leans more towards Ares as a physical combatant. In addition to Attack, both Speed and Defense also make for suitable choices of boon. Additional Speed allows Ares to better avoid follow-up attacks, greatly reducing the amount of damage he receives while a boon in Defense grants him a stronger resilience to physical attacks as well as additional damage into Defense-scaling Specials such as Bonfire and Ignis. If available, Blue Flame also makes for an extremely strong option with this Enemy Phase playstyle.
In addition to being both powerful and allowing Ares to be a self-sustaining tank, Aether synergizes extremely well with Dark Missiletainn. After its first activation, Aether will drop to a cooldown of only 2. This allows Ares to potentially activate Aether every single round of combat assuming Quick Riposte is active. For a purely offensive approach, Blue Flame is the Special of choice thanks to its extraordinary damage potential and consistency with this Enemy Phase oriented playstyle.
Moving on to main skills, Steady Stance gives Ares an extremely strong boost to his Defense when initiated on as well as the effect of Guard. This fits the Enemy Phase playstyle perfectly, as it greatly increases Ares' survivability by massively boosting his physical bulk as preventing his opponents from activating their Specials. Though it doesn't give as big of a boost to his physical bulk, Sturdy Stance makes for a solid alternative by also boosting raw damage during the Enemy Phase.
Quick Riposte is key to this build, as Ares is reliant on it in order to consistently perform follow-up attacks in the Enemy Phase. Assuming Ares is not running Steady Stance in his A slot, one can choose to move Quick Riposte to the Sacred Seal slot in favor of running Guard as his B skill. Guard will greatly reduce damage taken from opponents that rely on activating their special such as Ayra, Karla, and Zelgius. This also applies to all armored units running Bold Fighter, as their follow-up attacks cannot be avoided if they initiate on Ares.
Once again, Ares makes great out of Smoke skills. Atk Smoke makes him a better overall tank by reducing the damage output of opponents around him after combat while Def Smoke will increase his own damage output against the affected targets. As for Sacred Seals, Atk/Def Bond makes for a very strong option by boosting both Ares' physical bulk and damage when adjacent to an ally, suiting his Enemy Phase playstyle perfectly. Close Def is another good choice, as it will reduce damage taken from all melee opponents when initiated on. If not already being used in the B slot, Quick Riposte seal is pivotal in allowing Ares to consistently perform follow-up attacks in the Enemy Phase. The same applies to Atk Smoke, which can also be run here if it is not already being used in the C slot.
Just Blaze (AOE Special Activation)
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Dark Mystletainn | A | Death Blow 4 Alternate: Death Blow 3 |
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Reposition | B | Chill Def 3 |
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Blazing Wind | C | Hone Cavalry |
SP | 1785 | S | Quickened Pulse |
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Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP or -RES
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Weapon: Dark Mystletainn
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Assist: Reposition / Flexible
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Special: Blazing Wind / Blazing Flame / Blazing Thunder
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Passive A: Death Blow
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Passive B: Chill Def
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Passive C: Hone Cavalry / Flexible
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Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Attack +3
This build takes somewhat of an unorthodox approach. Thanks to the effect of Dark Missiletainn, Ares can make extremely effective use of AOE Specials. After their first activation, they will drop to a cooldown of only 1. Their activation before combat, as well as the attack during combat, allow for them to be readily activated every single time. This one-shot playstyle once again makes Attack the choice boon for Ares to have. Not only does it increase Ares’ raw damage output, it also grants a boost to the power behind his Special activation.
As for the Special itself, Blazing Wind is generally the most consistent among the AOE skills thanks to its wide range. This makes it easier to catch other enemies in its range and hit them with heavy non-lethal damage. However, both Blazing Flame and Blazing Thunder work as solid alternatives. In order to maximize his OHKO potential as well as the power behind his Special activation, Death Blow makes for the best option by providing Ares with a very strong Attack boost on initiation.
Chill Def is a great choice for increasing both Ares’ damage output as well as the overall support he can provide to his team. While Chill Def can massively increase physical damage against the affected target, it is not always consistent. This is due to it targeting the unit with the highest Defense and not necessarily the unit with highest physical bulk. Once again, Quickened Pulse gives Ares a boost in getting the ball rolling by allowing him to activate his Special for the first time sooner. Otherwise, Attack +3 gives Ares a solid boost to his raw damage output.
Introduction
As another addition to the already oversaturated pool of sword-wielding cavalry, Ares manages to bring something that is both unique and powerful. Dark Mystletainn is a phenomenal personal weapon that allows Ares to activate powerful Specials at a constant rate. Depending on the skill-set, Ares can potentially activate Draconic Aura on every single counterattack in order to take out his opponents in only one hit or Aether every single round of combat for fantastic sustain.
Statwise, Ares sports an exceptional 36 Attack. When paired with an Attack-scaling Special such as Draconic Aura, Ares has the potential to take out his opponents in only one hit upon activation. In addition to this, his physical bulk stands firm at a base value of 73. Although his base Speed is somewhat middling, it can be brought up to a respectable amount through a boon and team support with Hone Cavalry. This can greatly reduce the amount of damage he takes by avoiding follow-up attacks from a wider range of opponents.
Ares’ greatest downfall is his terrible magical bulk. At a meager base value of 18, Ares is susceptible to getting taken out in only one hit by magical-damage dealing opponents. This can serve as a detriment when utilizing his Distant Counter set as Ares will need to tread carefully during his first round of combat.
Overall, Ares is an Enemy Phase powerhouse that both flexible in his builds and powerful in his combat ability. He is very effective in his role and performs well both on and off a cavalry-centric team.
Strengths
Dark Mystletainn
Dark Mystletainn is an outstanding weapon that allows Ares to activate powerful Specials at a constant rate. Not only does this grant him massive damage output, it also allows him to run a variety of different builds that fulfill different roles.
Fantastic Attack
At a base value of 36, Ares hits hard with his raw Attack alone. In addition to this, it adds to the potency of Attack-scaling Specials such as Draconic Aura and AOE Specials.
Good Physical Bulk
Ares has a solid physical bulk of 73, making him a suitable physical tank as well as an effective user of Defense-scaling Specials such as Bonfire and Ignis depending on the skill-set he is running.
Cavalry
In addition to his superior mobility, Ares has access to class-exclusive buffs such as Hone Cavalry.
Weaknesses
Terrible Magical Bulk
Ares’ low magical bulk of 58 causes him to get massively chunked, if not outright killed in one hit by magic opponents. This is particularly detrimental when utilizing a Distant Counter set.
Cavalry
Although being a cavalry unit has its advantages, it can also be a detriment. On top of forests and trenches making it harder to navigate maps, Ares has an innate weakness to cavalry effective weapons.
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Dark Mystletainn | A | Life and Death 3 |
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Reposition | B | Mystic Boost 3 |
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Miracle | C | Def Smoke 3 |
S | Heavy Blade 3 |
This is a fun little setup that I've been experimenting with the last few weeks. In a similar fashion to Karla, Ares has enough power to secure KOs without using an offensive Special and therefore can opt to increase his longevity with a defensive Special.
The core idea of this set is to abuse Dark Mystletainn's Special Precharge in conjunction with Mystic Boost's consistent healing to trigger Miracle indefinitely. Life and Death provides a substantial offensive boost while Def Smoke helps Ares finish off already weakened enemies after surviving combat thanks to Miracle. Tying everything together, Heavy Blade will allow Ares to charge Miracle for the first time, bypass Guard effects and still have his Special ready after combat provided that he doubled the opponent and Dark Mystletainn's effect triggered. Heavy Blade IS the most reliable option for the seal slot, but choosing it means that Ares cannot use Brazens to bolster his killing power even further. If you can accelerate the charging process with Ostian Pulse and do not care about Guard, Brazen Atk/Spd 3 is an exceptional choice for a seal.
The IVs are really flexible, but naturally you want to preserve and/or invest in Ares' offensive statline while disregarding his bulk as Miracle will allow him to survive indefinitely.
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Dark Mystletainn | A | Distant Counter |
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Reposition | B | Vantage 3 |
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Bonfire | C | Def Smoke 3 |
S | Brazen Atk/Def 3 |
[Merged +10, Dragonflowers +2]
This boy is a beast on the battlefield and can easily solo difficult maps once he's taken at least 12 points of damage. He solo'd the Ishtar & Reinhardt Infernal BHB when he was only +3.
Just stay away from Hardy Bearing/Firesweep users and you're golden.
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Dark Mystletainn | A | Brazen Atk/Def 3 |
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Reposition | B | Vantage 3 |
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Bonfire | C | Hone Cavalry |
S | Brazen Atk/Def 3 |
LV. 40+1 merged with a +Def IV. C slot is flexible if you're not running a cavalry team.
Somewhat of a gimmicky build that can't deal with ranged attackers due to the lack of Distant Counter, but still a fun Ares build nonetheless.
The "slaying" effect with Dark Mystletainn lowers his Bonfire cooldown count from 3 to 2. Once Ares triggers Bonfire during combat, he will always have it charged and ready to go after every combat thanks to the Special Spiral effect with Dark Mystletainn.
In order for this build to work well, Ares will need to be equal to or less than 75% HP for Vantage 3 to take effect. He also has double Brazen Atk/Def 3, which will both increase his Atk and Def by 14 during combat once equal to or below 80% HP. Bonfire will hit for 25 additional damage, only taking the Brazen buffs into account. Once these conditions are met, Ares will always counterattack first and with a fully charged Bonfire. Just watch out for ranged attackers which he can't counterattack against and bulky blue units that can take his attacks.
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Dark Mystletainn | A | Life and Death 3 |
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Reposition | B | Mystic Boost 3 |
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Miracle | C | Threaten Def 3 |
S | Heavy Blade 3 |
This build is crazy. You will have infinite miracle thanks to Ares's incredible weapon, heavy blade and Eir's new skill. The idea is that you use dark mystletainn to lower the cooldown of miracle and help reducing the cooldown if the special if Ares couldn't get it ready into battle. By the way reposition is just there, you can change it to whatever you prefer. Miracle is the key of the build. Life and death grants more speed to ares to avoid doubles and increase his attack to make heavy blade proc more safely. Mystic boost will ensure that, after battle, ares always has more than 1 hp to make miracle work. In the end, threaten defense is just there as well to help him do more damage, but I don't think it is crucial to the build.
Explanation over, but here are a few interesting notes:
I haven't tested this build yet. In fact I saw it at a Japanese channel and, although I can't speak japanese or anything, some friends and I discovered the build and the guy (who made the video) showed it in action. So you can trust it :D
One more thing. I particularly invested a lot in an Ares that I have (he is +7 now with distant counter and everything from the first build you will find in this page). I also gave him summoner support and, in the end, his offensive stats were better than the Ares of the video, so I will try running this build with distant counter instead. If it works, I will notify you people by editing this post.
One last thing (I swear). The video was posted on YouTube on 15th of December of 2018. I could find it by simply searching "Ares FEH" and videos from the past week.
The thumbnail is Ares and a big DEF and RES with a yellow symbol of the infinite. Anyway, the video won't be hard to find I guess.
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Dark Mystletainn | A | Distant Counter |
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Reposition | B | Vantage 3 |
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Draconic Aura | C | Atk Smoke 3 |
S | Brazen Atk/Res 3 |
He's +2 and Summoner supported
Gonna make him +10 once I get more copies of him!
I like to switch between different specials such as bonfire/noontime/growing wind/blazing wind
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 | 10 |
![]() Learns by default at 5 ★ Unlocks at 5 ★ Non-Inheritable skill.
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400 | 1 | 16 |
Special Skills
Special Skills | SP | Turns |
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![]() Learns by default at 4 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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100 | 4 |
![]() Unlocks at 4 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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200 | 3 |
Passive Skills
Passive Skills | SP | Slot |
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![]() Inheritable by all units.
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60 | A |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
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120 | A |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★ |
240 | A |
![]() Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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40 | B |
![]() Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★ |
100 | B |
![]() Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★ |
200 | B |
Other Info
Origin |
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
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