GamePress
Analysis by Chibi_Chu
Arval - Cycle Keeper

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
177
HP 40
ATK 44
SPD 27
DEF 23
RES 43

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 17 10 4 3 12
Middle 18 11 5 4 13
High 19 12 6 5 14

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 36 40 23 20 40
Middle 40 44 27 23 43
High 43 47 30 27 47

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

finally, a good 7th slot Anima Mythic (Aether Raids Defense)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Recommended
Rite of Souls A Duality
Assistless
Alternate: Rally Assist
B Atk/Res Tempo 3
Alternate: Null Follow-Up 3
Iceberg C Atk/Res Oath 4
IVs

+Atk and/or +Res / -Spd or -Def

SPhantom Res 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Rite of Souls 

Assist: Assistless / Rally Assist / Positional Assist 

Special: Iceberg 

Passive A: Duality 

Passive B: Atk/Res Tempo / Null Follow-Up

Passive C: Atk/Res Oath 4

Sacred Seal: Phantom Res 

  • Arval combines the functions of enabling the 7th unit slot during Anima season, being a ranged nuke via strong raw damage and true damage = 20% of their Res, and supporting their allies via inflicting Guard on enemies within three columns centered on them at the start of the turn.
    • But wait! The Guard infliction is a start-of-turn effect, so it gets shut down by Elimine, who inflicts【False Start】, right? Staff of the Saint’s【False Start】infliction has two conditions: the enemy must be in a cardinal direction, and the enemy must have less visible Res than Elimine. Not only does Arval have higher base Res, but they also have Duality, which grants 2 more visible Res than Still Water for Elimine does. Investing into +Res and Phantom Res (adds +10 to Arval’s Res when comparing their Res to an enemy’s Res) is highly recommended to guarantee Arval overcomes Elimine’s Res check, especially for low-investment.
  • The AI generally prefers moving units without Assists first, so given Arval’s role as a ranged nuke, having them move first and potentially receive refreshes to move again is usually desirable. Alternatively, they can use a Rally Assist in combination with an Oath 4 C slot to warp to a space adjacent to an ally whose threat range reaches the enemy, then receive a refresh to attack that enemy immediately before/after their ally. Positional Assists can also be used for specific Defense Keeps in which they are helpful for getting allies on the right spaces by the end of the turn; for example, putting Reposition or Smite on a Savior unit so they can better cover their allies.
  • Arval’s native Atk/Res Tempo and Atk/Res Oath are strong choices that provide mobility, damage, magical bulk, and Special activation consistency. If Arval can perform a follow-up, they can activate Iceberg thanks to Rite of Souls' -1 Special cooldown and Atk/Res Tempo. Null Follow-Up can replace Atk/Res Tempo to neutralize the enemy’s guaranteed follow-ups and follow-up prevention effects, meaning the enemy would need Null Follow-Up effects to cancel Arval’s guaranteed follow-up and/or follow-up prevention in return.

Oops, all Atk/Res! (General Offense)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Recommended
Rite of Souls A Duality
Positional Assist B Atk/Res Tempo 3
Alternate: Desperation 3
Iceberg
Alternate: Glacies
C Atk/Res Oath 4
Alternate: Time's Pulse 3
IVs

+Atk and/or +Res / -Spd or -Def

SAtk/Res Solo 3
Alternate: Heavy Blade 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Rite of Souls 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Iceberg / Glacies 

Passive A: Duality

Passive B: Atk/Res Tempo / Desperation

Passive C: Atk/Res Oath 4 / Time’s Pulse

Sacred Seal: Atk/Res Solo / Heavy Blade / Null Follow-Up

  • Arval’s statline and reliance on both a guaranteed follow-up from Duality and follow-up prevention from Rite of Souls heavily encourages players to simply stack as much Atk/Res on them as possible. This maximizes Arval’s damage, magical bulk, true damage = 20% of their Res from Rite of Souls, and damage boost from Res-scaling Specials.
  • Iceberg and Glacies boost Arval’s damage on activation by 50% or 80% of their Res respectively, with the former having 3 cooldown and the latter having 4 cooldown. Between these two Specials, Arval has some synergistic skill combinations (thanks to the -1 Special cooldown from Rite of Souls) that will activate their Special on their follow-up attack:
    • Iceberg + Atk/Res Tempo or Null Follow-Up (B slot)
    • Glacies + Atk/Res Tempo or Null Follow-Up (B) + Time’s Pulse (C) or Heavy Blade (S) 
    • Iceberg + Desperation (B) + Time’s Pulse (C) or Heavy Blade (S)
    • Iceberg + Desperation (B) + Time’s Pulse (C) + Null Follow-Up (S)
    • Glacies + Desperation (B) + Time’s Pulse (C) + Heavy Blade (S)
    • Arval’s native Atk/Res Tempo guarantees Special activations in addition to inflicting -3 Atk/Res on the enemy during combat.
    • Desperation allows Arval to perform a follow-up attack before the enemy can counterattack if their HP is ≤ 75%.
    • Null Follow-Up neutralizes follow-up prevention and guaranteed follow-ups on the enemy, improving his damage and survival consistency.
    • Time’s Pulse grants Arval -1 Special cooldown at the start of any turn in which their Special cooldown is at its maximum. Skill combinations involving Time’s Pulse will thus only work once per turn.
    • If Arval’s in-combat Atk is higher than the enemy’s, Heavy Blade grants Arval +1 Special charge per their attack during combat.
  • If not using Time’s Pulse, Arval’s native Atk/Res Oath 4 is an excellent choice, granting them mobility via warping to spaces adjacent to allies within two spaces, +6 visible Atk/Res, and +3 Atk/Res during combat.
  • Similarly, if not using Heavy Blade, Atk/Res Solo simply grants Arval +6 Atk/Res during combat if they are not adjacent to any ally, boosting their damage and magical bulk.

Strengths

Fantastic Atk and Res

Boasting top-of-the-line Atk and Res values at 44 and 43 respectively, Arval deals great raw damage and can take magical attacks remarkably well.

Their Res stat is particularly significant given that their Anima Mythic status matches them against Astra Mythics. Elimine, an oppressive Astra Mythic whose Staff of the Saint inflicts【False Start】on enemies in cardinal directions who have lower visible Res than her at the start of the turn, has 2 less base visible Res than Arval, making them less vulnerable to having their start-of-turn effects stymied.

Rite of Souls

Rite of Souls, Arval’s personal weapon, grants them a litany of strong effects, including:

  • -1 Special cooldown,
  • Inflicting【Guard】on enemies within three columns or rows centered on Arval,
  • If Arval initiates combat or is within two spaces of an ally:
    • +5 to all stats,
    • True damage = 20% of Arval’s Res, and
    • Follow-up prevention.

Packing strong combative effects and a unique supportive effect, Rite of Souls allows Arval to make their mark as a valuable hybrid asset.

Duality

Arval also has a personal A slot in Duality, which increases their damage and bulk in various ways:

  • Granting +9 visible Atk/Res, Arval can widen the gap between their and Elimine’s Res stats.
  • Normally, Colorless units have no weapon-triangle advantage or disadvantage against any color. Because Arval is a cheater, they get weapon-triangle advantage against red, blue, and green enemies; to limit this effect, however, Triangle Adept effects are neutralized.
  • If Arval’s HP is ≥ 25% at the start of combat, they make a guaranteed follow-up.

Infantry Advantages

Access to Infantry-exclusive skills such as their native Atk/Res Tempo and Atk/Res Oath 4 boost Arval’s overall consistency and combat performance.

Weaknesses

Awkward Spd

Whereas most units have either a terrible or a great Spd stat to easily mix-max builds, Arval’s 27 Spd lands in-between. While this theoretically encourages them to invest into their Spd to break through follow-up prevention and Null Follow-Up effects, the amount of Spd they can actually invest is rather limited given Duality does not grant them any Spd. As such, their Spd may fall behind compared to even slower Enemy Phase units such as Brave Hector and Ascended Idunn with support and Mythic Blessing stat bonuses taken into account. Even against some of the slowest Spd-supported Enemy Phase units against whom investing Spd would be useful, Arval usually folds because those units usually have Brave effects, allowing them to safely secure 2HKOs before Arval performs a follow-up anyway.

Limited Guard Infliction Range

As aforementioned, the【Guard】infliction range of Rite of Souls is within three rows and three columns centered on Arval, meaning the row/column they are currently in and the rows/columns directly adjacent to them.

For the purposes of Aether Raids Defense, the row range is mostly irrelevant since Arval will always start in the top two rows of the map, which the enemy will almost never start their turn in or adjacent to. Three columns centered on Arval covers half of the six columns units can be in. While this can effectively shut down Galeforce strategies, the same cannot be said for Savior strategies, as the 2-ranged activation of Near Save and Far Save can allow Savior units to easily dodge Arval’s Guard infliction while protecting allies that are in the Guard infliction’s range.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Stone
Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Colorless Tome Only
50 2 4
Elstone
Learns by default at 2 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Colorless Tome Only
100 2 6
Atlas (Weapon)
Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Colorless Tome Only
200 2 9
Rite of Souls

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). At start of turn, inflicts【Guard】on foes within 3 rows or 3 columns centered on unit with Res < unit's Res. If unit initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 to unit during combat, deals damage = 20% of unit's Res (including when dealing damage with a Special triggered before combat), and foe cannot make a follow-up attack.

【Guard】 Inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on target per attack during combat through its next action. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 2 14
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Chilling Wind

Boosts damage dealt by 50% of unit's Res.

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

Boosts damage dealt by 80% of unit's Res.

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

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Duality

Grants Atk/Res+9.

Grants weapon-triangle advantage against and inflicts weapon-triangle disadvantage on red, blue, and green foes during combat. Neutralizes effects that boost values along with weapon-triangle advantage or reduce values along with weapon-triangle disadvantage (Triangle Adept) on unit and foe.

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack during combat.

Non-Inheritable skill.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
A
Atk/Res Tempo 1

Inflicts Atk/Res-1 on foe and neutralizes effects that grant "Special cooldown charge +X" to foe or inflict "Special cooldown charge -X" on unit during combat.

Excludes Armor, Cavalry, and Flying
Unlocks at 1 ★
60
B
Atk/Res Tempo 2

Inflicts Atk/Res-2 on foe and neutralizes effects that grant "Special cooldown charge +X" to foe or inflict "Special cooldown charge -X" on unit during combat.

Excludes Armor, Cavalry, and Flying
Unlocks at 2 ★
120
B
Atk/Res Tempo 3

Inflicts Atk/Res-3 on foe and neutralizes effects that grant "Special cooldown charge +X" to foe or inflict "Special cooldown charge -X" on unit during combat.

Excludes Armor, Cavalry, and Flying
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
B
Atk/Res Oath 1

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Atk/Res+3 to unit for 1 turn.

Infantry & Flying Units Only
Unlocks at 2 ★
60
C
Atk/Res Oath 2

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Atk/Res+4 to unit for 1 turn.

Infantry & Flying Units Only
Unlocks at 3 ★
120
C
Atk/Res Oath 3

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Atk/Res+5 to unit for 1 turn.

Infantry & Flying Units Only
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
C
Atk/Res Oath 4

At start of turn, if unit is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Res+6 and the following status to unit for 1 turn: "Unit can move to a space adjacent to any ally within 2 spaces." If unit is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Res+3 to unit during combat.

Infantry & Flying Units Only
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Banners Featured In