Ascended Mareeta

Weapon: Ascending Blade 

Assist: Positional Assist / Ardent Sacrifice / Reciprocal Aid

Special: Vital Astra 

Passive A: Distant Countering A Slot 

Passive B: Vantage 

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Joint Drive Spd 

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Solo 

• The original superunit herself has received new life with her ascended alt, and she’s back with a role that can only be replicated by Brave Marth: a Vantage superunit.
  • Both Marth and Mareeta have two of three key components of this role in their weapon; both have Null Follow-Up, but the former has Vantage, while the latter has Special acceleration after combat. Whereas Brave Marth needs Special Spiral in his B Slot to have his Special ready after every combat, Mareeta needs Vantage to counterattack before enemies can attack.
  • Vantage sweeping is a relatively common strategy, but unlike other Vantage sweepers, Marth and Mareeta do not have to choose between essential B Slots; they only need the one they use, as they can access damage reduction with Vital Astra. Since the former uses Special Spiral and the latter has Ascending Blade’s cooldown reductions, Vital Astra will always be ready after combat, meaning they will always have Spd-based damage reduction and additional damage ready. This “failsafe” is what sets Marth and Mareeta apart from their peers, in addition to their statlines being stronger given their Gen 6 Melee Infantry status.
• A Distant Countering A Slot (such as Distant Stance and Distant Counter) allows Mareeta to counterattack against ranged enemies, enabling her to activate Vantage and KO them before they can land an attack. 
• Mareeta’s C and S Slots are dedicated to maximizing her damage output. For her C Slot, she can choose between Joint Drive Atk and Joint Drive Spd for +4 damage or extra follow-up, damage reduction, and additional damage security respectively. Atk/Spd Solo maximizes her damage while ensuring she gets the Spd-based damage reduction from Vital Astra, as it grants +6 Atk/Spd during combat if she is not adjacent to an ally.
• Note that while Mareeta should have little trouble falling to ≤ 75% HP without being outright KO’d thanks to her workable bulk and damage reduction from Vital Astra, she can be paired with Winter Bernadetta to give her HP to allies 10 HP at a time with Ardent Sacrifice. Alternatively, she can take damage from Bolt Traps, though this is dependent on positioning.

Weapon: Ascending Blade 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Vital Astra 

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot / Atk/Def Boosting A Slot 

Passive B: Spurn / Null C-Disrupt 

Passive C: Joint Drive Skills / Flexible 

Sacred Seal: Mystic Boost / Form Skills 

• This set focuses on maximizing Mareeta’s damage output and survivability against Melee enemies. Ascending Blade allows Mareeta to have Vital Astra ready every combat, thus activating its Spd-based damage reduction which grants her significant survivability. +5 to all stats and Null Follow-Up during combat also boost her damage and bulk, with the latter in particular halving damage taken and/or doubling damage dealt (on paper) against enemies with guaranteed follow-ups and/or follow-up prevention respectively.
• Ideally, Mareeta should be paired with a Far Save ally that can tank and counterattack against ranged enemies, as she does not use a Distant Countering A Slot for this set. Rather, she uses Atk/Spd and Atk/Def Boosting A Slots; additional Atk increases damage output, while additional Spd increases follow-up consistency and Vital Astra’s effects and additional Def increases physical bulk. Most notably, Unity grants +5 to two stats and reverses visible debuffs and panicked buffs in those stats during combat if Mareeta is within two spaces of an ally, which she should be so her Far Save ally can protect her from ranged attacks.
• The combination of Vital Astra and Spurn grants Mareeta 58% damage reduction should her Spd be ≥ 10 more than the enemy’s, making the latter a strong B Slot. Alternatively, Mareeta can use Null C-Disrupt to neutralize counterattack-prevention effects from common threats such as Brave Alm and Ingrid.
• Joint Drive C Slots are ideal, as they benefit both Mareeta and her Far Save ally. Whichever stat/effect is chosen depends on availability and what Mareeta and her team needs most.
• For her Sacred Seal, Mareeta can use either Mystic Boost or a Form skill. The former heals Mareeta for 6 HP after every combat; the combination of sustainability and damage reduction from Vital Astra and/or Spurn further cements her survivability. Meanwhile, the latter grants Mareeta in-combat boosts to two stats depending on the number of allies within two spaces (+1 for zero, +3 for one, +5 for two, and +7 for three); given that she should be within two spaces of her Far Save ally and support allies, she will typically get +7 to two stats, making Form skills solid choices.

Weapon: Ascending Blade 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Galeforce

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot / Fury 4

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / Windsweep

Passive C: Time’s Pulse / Even Tempest / Joint Drive Atk

Sacred Seal: Blade Session / Fury

• Galeforce strategies in Aether Raids Offense depend on Wings of Mercy, a B Slot that allows the user to warp to spaces adjacent to allies with ≤ 50% HP. A Wings of Mercy enabler infiltrates the enemy lines and takes enough damage for Wings of Mercy users to warp adjacent to them, allowing an entire team to sweep most, if not all of the enemies in one Player Phase. Mareeta can play both of these roles incredibly well thanks to Ascendant Blade’s Slaying effect, -1 Special cooldown on turn one, and -1 Special cooldown after combat.
• Wings of Mercy User:
  • Atk/Spd Boosting A Slots such as Atk/Spd Unity and Atk/Spd Bond 4 are Mareeta’s strongest choices, as they maximize her damage output. The former also reverses visible Atk/Spd debuffs and panicked Atk/Spd buffs, while the latter simply neutralizes them; however, the former also only grants +5 Atk/Spd, while the latter grants +7.
  • Time’s Pulse reduces Galeforce’s cooldown to two. After Mareeta initiates, she will activate Galeforce as long as no Guard effect is active thanks to Ascending Blade granting an additional -1 Special cooldown after every combat. Alternatively, if she is receiving cooldown reduction from allies, she can use Joint Drive Atk to grant +4 Atk to both herself and allies within two spaces.
  • Blade Session grants Atk/Spd during combat depending on the number of allies that have already moved: +3 if zero, +6 if one, and +9 if two. Given that her team has to set up a unit to be at ≤ 50% HP and get them to the frontlines before the Galeforce chain can start, Mareeta will almost always gain at least +6 Atk/Spd during combat, making Blade Session an excellent S Slot for boosting her damage.
• Wings of Mercy Enabler:
  • Thanks to Ascending Blade’s Null Follow-Up effect, Mareeta can use Windsweep, which prevents physical enemies from counterattacking, without any consequence. This safety net is extremely valuable, as enemies may deal too much damage and KO Mareeta rather than simply dropping her to Wings of Mercy range. However, this safety net also makes Mareeta reliant on herself, allies, or Bolt Traps/Towers to drop to this range; as such, Fury in both her A and S Slots is ideal, as it inflicts recoil damage after combat in exchange for additional stats.
    • With Fury 4 in her A Slot and Fury 3 in her S Slot, she takes 14 recoil damage after every combat. In order to drop to Wings of Mercy range, her max HP must be ≤ 56.
  • Time’s Pulse reduces Galeforce’s cooldown to two. After Mareeta initiates, she will activate Galeforce as long as no Guard effect is active thanks to Ascending Blade granting an additional -1 Special cooldown after every combat. Alternatively, if she is receiving cooldown reduction from allies, she can use her native Even Tempest to gain +1 movement on even-numbered turns, making it much easier for her to reach the enemy.