Askr

Weapon: Illuminating Horn

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Ignis / Bonfire 

Passive A: Atk/Def Unity / Atk/Def Ideal

Passive B: Atk/Def Bulwark 

Passive C: Opened Domain

Sacred Seal: Steady Breath / Atk/Def Form / Atk/Def Bond

• Just a glance at Askr’s innate skill set reveals an incredible faculty for defensive tanking, boasting (probably too) many tools for both mitigating and dealing damage to an extent that places him among some of the best of his class. Leaning entirely into this specialization through a complimentary build is naturally a very good option for the God of Openness, with both +DEF and +ATK IVs being advised here.
• Truthfully, his default kit is phenomenal and doesn’t require too much changing given how wonderfully they synergize with each other. Atk/Def Bulwark and Opened Domain are particularly non-negotiable aspects here; the former offers way too much control over enemy pressure and reach, allowing for easy bundling of support units to beef up Askr’s performance, and the latter is simply much better than most other C skills. 
• His native Atk/Def Ideal, on the other hand, does impart a large helping of stats (up to a maximum of +9 Atk/Def under optimal conditions) and remains readily enabled by Opened Domain, but it may be worth swapping out for Atk/Def Unity. 
  • Stat penalties continue to be readily applicable in enemy Defense compositions, and Atk/Def Unity would allow Askr to completely bypass their influence and conversely get stronger because of it. This skill is especially impactful due to how much Askr relies on maintaining high Def for the most alluring component of Illuminating Horn, though it’s still pretty expensive so this is ultimately up to preference.
• For his Special, due to how staggering his effective bulk can be with his other skills, it may be worth adopting a pure damage-dealing option to ensure kills with more reliability. Ignis is surprisingly potent thanks to the combination of Illuminating Horn’s Slaying and the Time’s Pulse effect of Opened Domain, which drop the Special’s cooldown to two for immediate activation with Breath support. To act independently of such accelerated cooldown, Bonfire can be considered instead. 
• The Steady Breath Sacred Seal is one of Askr’s best options to obtain greater in-combat Def and faster Special triggers, though it can easily be swapped out for standard stat boosters like Atk/Def Form if he is receiving this accelerated cooldown from an outside source (e.g. Brave Lucina, Summer Hilda, etc.) or if it’s deemed unnecessary.
• As a final note, please keep in mind that for optimal performance, it’s ideal to have Askr paired with a Far Save ally to cover his ranged matchups, as he has no means of countering them (and even with Distant Counter, he’s still not great against such foes). 

Weapon: Illuminating Horn

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Galeforce

Passive A: Heavy Blade / Atk/Def Ideal 

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / Atk/Def Bulwark 

Passive C: Opened Domain

Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Heavy Blade

• For an alternative approach, Askr also fits like a glove within the context of Offense Galeforce compositions not only due to his Mythic status, but also because of Opened Domain’s ability to grant Time’s Pulse to nearby allies (lessening the heavy demands of actually accessing Galeforce) and his own ease in triggering Specials, to begin with. A +ATK IV is preferred over anything else to maximize Heavy Blade triggers.
• Wings of Mercy is a standard B skill for these strategies to grant quick access to the enemy team without sacrificing momentum, provided there’s someone to act as a low HP beacon like Ninja Lyn or another Galeforcer with multiple chip damage skills (which are already pretty standard fare). However, as Askr can potentially be run directly alongside Ash who carries innate teleportation via Opening Retainer, it may be possible to refrain from using Wings of Mercy for something like Atk/Def Bulwark for more combat functionality; however, this is largely dependent on what teammates he has.
• The crux of Galeforce strategies lies within exploiting the Special’s self-refreshing quality to enable multiple initiations (among both Askr himself and other allies equipped with the Special) in quick succession to sweep the enemy team. Naturally, this first means getting past the initially hefty five-turn cooldown — but as far as Askr is concerned, this actually isn’t too much of an issue.
  • Illuminating Horn provides a flat -1 reduction to Askr’s Special cooldown (a la Slaying), immediately lowering Galeforce to four charges. Paired with Heavy Blade and the weapon’s guaranteed follow-up, he can activate Galeforce in one round of combat as long as he lands both attacks and triggers Heavy Blade — something that is relatively simple to fulfill.
  • This is backed further by the bonuses Askr can achieve through his beast transformation: this lets him bypass Guard effects entirely, meaning he just needs to pass the Heavy Blade check without concern for random elements.
  • However, there still lies the concern of relying on Askr’s automatic double, which can easily be shut down by opposing Impact effects and potentially even himself if he one-shots his foe.
  • For this reason, it may be worthwhile to specifically use the Heavy Blade A skill + Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal, as this paired with Opened Domain’s Time Pulse effect lets him trigger Galeforce immediately in one strike — again, on the condition that Heavy Blade triggers, but this isn’t too difficult for him specifically.