Brave Ephraim

Default
Attack
Special
Injured

Green Axe

Analysis by raelet

Brave Ephraim - Sacred Twin Lord
5 Obtainable as a 5 only

Related Heroes

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40

174

HP 46

ATK 38

SPD 27

DEF 37

RES 26

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation

Weapon

5★

	HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Low	21 21 23 23	9 28 11 27	4 4 6 6	10 10 12 12	6 6 8 8
Middle	22 22 24 24	10 29 12 28	5 5 7 7	11 11 13 13	7 7 9 9
High	23 23 25 25	11 30 13 29	6 6 8 8	12 12 14 14	8 8 10 10

Level 40 Stat Variations

Weapon

5★

	HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Low	43 43 45 45	35 54 37 53	23 23 25 25	34 34 36 36	23 23 25 25
Middle	46 46 48 48	38 57 40 56	27 27 29 29	37 37 39 39	26 26 28 28
High	49 49 51 51	41 60 43 59	30 30 32 32	40 40 42 42	30 30 32 32

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
Average	Best	Worst	Best	Best

Skill Sets

Seek And Destroy (Generalist)

Build by raelet

Recommended

	Garm (+Eff)	A	Distant Counter Alternate: Death Blow (3 or 4)
	Pivot Alternate: Swap	B	Special Fighter 3
	Moonbow Alternate: Noontime	C	Pulse Smoke 3 Alternate: Atk Smoke 3
IVs	+ATK or +RES / -SPD	S	Mirror Stance 2 Alternate: Fierce Stance 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Garm (+EFF)

Assist: Pivot / Swap / Reposition

Special: Moonbow / Noontime

Passive A: Distant Counter / Death Blow

Passive B: Special Fighter

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Atk Smoke

Sacred Seal: Mirror Stance / Fierce Stance

With Garm's refine granting him healing on hit and +5 to all stats in combat, Ephraim becomes a powerhouse who is very difficult to kill outside of oneshots.
Special Fighter grants Ephraim a -2 cooldown when he is attacked, which allows him to retaliate with a charged Moonbow (for offensive power) or Noontime (for even greater sustain).
Distant Counter is a no-brainer, as Ephraim wants to be able to counterattack all of his foes in order to trigger his healing.
Pulse Smoke and Atk Smoke both can help prevent Ephraim from being one-shotted by other foes after he deals with the current enemy.
His seal slot is slightly more flexible. If using him predominately during the Enemy Phase, a Stance seal is preferred, as it helps him to stack on stats.
However, be mindful that this set alone cannot activate Garm - he needs ally support to do so. This can be in the form of a simple Hone or Fortify Buff, Armor March, or even a buff like Dominance or Naga's Dragon Effectiveness buff.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (Player Phase Galeforce)

Build by raelet

	Garm (+Eff)	A	Death Blow 4
	Pivot Alternate: Swap	B	Special Fighter 3
	Galeforce	C	Def Smoke 3 Alternate: Armor March 3
IVs	+ATK / -SPD	S	Armored Boots Alternate: Quickened Pulse

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD

Weapon: Garm (+EFF)

Assist: Pivot / Swap

Special: Galeforce

Passive A: Death Blow / Sturdy Impact

Passive B: Special Fighter

Passive C: Def Smoke / Armor March / Armored Stride

Sacred Seal: Armored Boots / Quickened Pulse

Due to Ephraim's guaranteed follow-up and partial Null Follow Up, he is suited to run Galeforce as his Special.
Special Fighter and his auto-followup grants him -4 cooldown charge. Since Galeforce is 5, Ephraim needs either Quickened Pulse in his seal slot, or for his opponent to retaliate against him in order to guarantee a Galeforce activation.
Armored Boots or Armored Stride can keep him with Garm permanently active, so long as he continues to be self-buffed by the skills. This also helps his maneuverability, in order to get himself into range of both opponents that he intends to KO.

Strengths

Optimized Stat Spread

Being an armored unit has its advantages, mainly that he has more stat points in general to work off of. Ephraim has very high Attack and Defense stats and his Resistance is workable.

Great Refine

Brave Ephraim's Garm refine helps to nullify enemy effects that would counter his follow-up attacks, as well as granting him a flat +5 bonus to all stats and healing per hit. This makes Ephraim very difficult to kill, while also proving to be lethal in either phase.

Weaknesses

Useless Speed

Ephraim comes with an unsalvageable 27 Speed. With Garm, Brave Ephraim has no need for his Speed stat at all, and the points allotted there could have easily gone to his Resistance stat instead to make him even tankier.

Limited Movement

The tradeoff for his increased stats is being locked to 1 movement. It’s possible to increase his movement to 2 through Armor March and Armored Boots, which is generally his preferred C or S slot, considering that movement buffs enable him to double attack.

Needs Some Babysitting

Ephraim needs some form of buff for Garm’s special effect to function, whether it’s through movement buffs or visible stat buffs like Hone or Rally. This weakens him considerably when the player is not controlling him, such as during autobattles or Arena Defense. He always needs a unit nearby him in order to unleash his lethal combination of skills, which makes utilizing him a bit trickier.

Weapon Skills

Weapons	SP	Rng.	Mt.
Iron Axe Inheritable by Axe users only.	50	1	6
Steel Axe Inheritable by Axe users only.	100	1	8
Silver Axe Inheritable by Axe users only.	200	1	11
GarmGrants Atk+3. If a bonus granted by a skill like Rally or Hone and/or extra movement granted by a skill like Armor March or Armored Boots is active, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack. Learns by default at 5 ★ Non-Inheritable skill.	400	1	16

Weapon Evolution

Weapon Upgrades

Weapons	SP	Rng.	Mt.
Garm (+Eff) Grants Atk+3. If [Bonus] is active on unit, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack and neutralizes effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks. [Bonus] All effects that last "for 1 turn" or "that turn only." Includes bonuses granted by a skill like Rally or Hone and positive status effects (extra movement or effects like Dominance). At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 during combat, and also, if unit deals damage to foe during combat, restores 7 HP to unit. (Triggers even if 0 damage is dealt.)	400	1	16

Special Skills

Special Skills	SP	Turns
Dragon GazeBoosts Atk by 30%. Learns by default at 5 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.	100	4
Draconic AuraBoosts Atk by 30%. Unlocks at 5 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.	200	3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills	SP	Slot
Close Def 1If unit is attacked by foe using sword, axe, lance, dragonstone, or beast damage, unit receives Def/Res+2 during combat. Inheritable by all units.	60	A
Close Def 2If unit is attacked by foe using sword, axe, lance, dragonstone, or beast damage, unit receives Def/Res+4 during combat. Inheritable by all units.	120	A
Close Def 3If unit is attacked by foe using sword, axe, lance, dragonstone, or beast damage, unit receives Def/Res+6 during combat. Inheritable by all units. Unlocks at 5 ★	240	A
Special Fighter 1At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 90%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.) Only inheritable by armor units.	60	B
Special Fighter 2At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 70%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.) Only inheritable by armor units.	120	B
Special Fighter 3At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 50%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.) Only inheritable by armor units. Unlocks at 5 ★	240	B
Armor March 1If unit has 100% HP and an adjacent armored ally at start of turn, unit and any such allies can move 1 extra space. (That turn only; does not stack.) Only inheritable by armor units.	60	C
Armor March 2If unit has ≥ 50% HP and an adjacent armored ally at start of turn, unit and any such allies can move 1 extra space. (That turn only; does not stack.) Only inheritable by armor units.	120	C
Armor March 3If unit has an adjacent armored ally at the start of turn, unit and any such allies can move 1 extra space. (That turn only, does not stack.) Only inheritable by armor units. Unlocks at 5 ★	240	C