Brave Hector

Weapon: Maltet (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Rally Assist

Special: Sol / Aether / Bonfire

Passive A: Ostian Counter

Passive B: Special Fighter / Special Spiral

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Atk Smoke

Sacred Seal: Mirror Stance / Distant Def / Quick Riposte / Fierce Stance

• Hector's refined unique weapon, Maltet, is basically already a complete and formidable tank build in itself thanks to the sheer number of effects it has. Many of these effects are typically highly desired out of an Aether Raids omnitank; naturally, Hector is just your guy to do that. The game plan from there is simple: place Hector in a low- to mid-pressure enemy area (don't get too cocky on setups with Thrasir and other powerful green enemies) and let the sky light up.
• All in all, Maltet swings stat comparisons and follow-ups significantly in Hector's favor by:
  • Inflicting Atk/Def -6 against any enemy Hector comes by in combat, giving him great stat-based matchups throughout.
  • Nullifying Hector's penalties, making him more durable and less vulnerable to debuff punishers such as Thrasir and Bramimond.
  • Preventing enemy follow-ups easily in enemy phase (or if the foe is at 100% HP), making him significantly less likely to fold in multiple hits.
  • Allowing Hector to doubly counterattack at a reasonable health threshold, giving him great killing power and allowing him to overcome his otherwise paltry Speed.
  • Nullifying Hector's weakness to armor-effective weapons, giving him significantly more confident matchups against foes such as any variation of Micaiah.
• To complement all the aforementioned benefits of Maltet and aid in Hector's survivability, Special Fighter is chosen as the primary B slot option as it quickens the activation rate of Sol. As a result, Sol wiill activate and sustain Hector on most counterattacks immediately.
  • While Aether is also a seemingly good option as it also activates frequently and adds burst damage to the mix, Hector may deal far too much damage on his first hit to properly heal enough back on his second hit (aka the hit Aether typically procs on). To accommodate Aether's timing better, you may consider running Special Spiral with Brave Lucina's Geirskögul support to activate Aether on every counterattack, similar to Special Fighter + Sol.
  • Builds more oriented to short term fighting can run Bonfire, which deals damage instead at a similar cooldown to Sol. Its key use case is ending matchups more immediately instead of letting threats such as Thrasir linger longer while inviting enemy dancers.
• Hector doesn't need to ponder too hard on his C slot as it's mainly reserved for two types of Smoke skills:
  • Pulse Smoke brings down units and enemy teams reliant on precharging Specials—it especially aids in making matchups against AOE Special users much more comfortable.
  • Atk Smoke is a cheaper alternative that directly debuffs surrounding enemies' Attack, giving Hector much more breathing room for incoming fights.
• Finally, Hector's Sacred Seal also isn't too complicated: anything that helps him tank magical hits in particular or increase his damage will do well. Mirror Stance in particular is a good mix between these two objectives.
  • To ensure extra mileage and follow-up attacks against Impact skill users, you may also consider running Quick Riposte—it sees limited (not to mention redundant with Maltet) use outside of this scenario, though.

Weapon: Maltet (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Rally Assist

Special: Bonfire / Galeforce / Ignis

Passive A: Ostian Counter

Passive B: Bold Fighter

Passive C: Armor March / Armored Stride / Atk Smoke / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Death Blow / Armored Boots / Sturdy Blow 2 / Stance or Bond Equivalents

• Much of Hector's base skills already make up a quite potent and cohesive mixed or player phase-oriented phase build. While this build faces very little shortage in aggressive power, it highlights Hector's ability to defend himself against incoming attacks when necessary.
• Specifically, Maltet's built-in follow ups and enemy double prevention in enemy phase, combined with Bold Fighter's follow-ups in player phase, allow him to take on enemies flexibly in both phases. If the enemy is at 100% HP or initiates combat against Hector, Hector also enjoys Maltet's relatively consistent stat swing in Atk/Def -6, making him strong and resilient throughout both phases. Ostian Counter is non-negotiable to strengthen Hector's enemy phase performance and to counterattack ranged enemies. The rest of the build is pretty much fluff after this.
  • Keep in mind Hector's health, however, as Maltet's double counterattacks are timed by its 25% HP threshold.
• As a more aggressive build, Hector enjoys any method of increasing his otherwise limited movement. He can take on C slot or Sacred Seal solutions such as Armor March, Armored Stride, Armored Boots, or none at all depending on resources at your disposal. On a budget, you can just as easily just run Hector's default Wave skill or, better yet, Atk Smoke.
• A stat-boosting Sacred Seal depends on your preference in strengthening Hector's player phase (choose Blow-type Seals) or enemy phase (Stance-type Seals) or both (Bond-type Seals).
• Ignis and Bonfire are Hector's main choices for burst damage, keeping in mind that an enemy counterattack is required for Ignis to activate in one sitting. Galeforce is also a choice for another sort of aggressiveness; thanks to Maltet's -1 cooldown, Galeforce can activate in two Bold Fighter hits without an enemy counterattack. Activating Galeforce gives Hector the opportunity to make necessary extra actions after finishing combat with a previous opponent.