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Brave Marianne

Analysis by lordhelpme
Brave Marianne - Serene Adherent

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
171
HP 38
ATK 40
SPD 41
DEF 17
RES 35

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 15 9 10 3 8
Middle 16 10 11 4 9
High 17 11 12 5 10

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 34 37 38 13 32
Middle 38 40 41 17 35
High 41 44 45 20 38

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

Awakening (Offensive Focus / Utility Nuke)

Build by lordhelpme
Recommended
Phantasm Tome A Atk/Spd Unity
Alternate: Atk/Spd Push 4
Positional Assist B Null Follow-Up 3
Alternate: Wings of Mercy 3
Requiem Dance C Time's Pulse 3
Alternate: Joint Drive Spd
IVs

+SPD or +ATK / -DEF

SFlashing Blade 3
Alternate: Swift Sparrow 2

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Phantasm Tome

Assist: Positional Assist / Assistless / Flexible

Special: Requiem Dance

Passive A: Atk/Spd Unity / Atk/Spd Push 4 / Life and Death / Sturdy Impact / Fury

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Wings of Mercy 

Passive C: Time’s Pulse / Joint Drive Skills / Fatal Smoke / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade / Heavy Blade / Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Solo / Quickened Pulse

  • Brave Marianne is undoubtedly one of the more unorthodox units introduced thus far thanks to the unique utility of having a refresh (akin to Dance or Sing) tied to her Special rather than her Assist, possessing applications in virtually every game mode. However, since it’s the strategy that changes moreso than her actual build in these different modes, these variances will be touched upon under this set. Taking +SPD or +ATK is recommended regardless of where she is fielded, though.
  • For Aether Raids Offense:
    • For the purpose of AR-O runs, Brave Marianne may prove a particularly potent addition to Galeforce-centric compositions, contributing both immense damage potential and a free action to a nearby ally at the same time; this may be another ally equipped with Galeforce or a refresher depending on what is needed most.
    • The crucial aspect here is fully charging Requiem Dance in a single combat (and preferably in a single hit) to maximize the benefits of using her, though this is thankfully simple enough by simply using Time’s Pulse and the Flashing or Heavy Blade Sacred Seal. 
    • This does leave some wiggle room to being shut down by Guard effects, so further reducing Marianne’s base cooldown may be beneficial to err on the side of caution. 
    • If using her alongside allies equipped with Wings of Mercy (which most Galeforce teams employ), it may be prudent to purposely have Brave Marianne take damage beforehand (such as by stepping on a Bolt Trap) to act as an additional beacon to make it easier to work around the Gravity debuff she inflicts; skills like Fury may be worthwhile in such instances to supplement this with recoil. Otherwise, any standard offensive stat-booster may be used.
    • For her B skill, Wings of Mercy makes it easier to approach the enemy team without having to rely on outside support (such as Smite), but Null Follow-Up is also an option if focusing on her damage potential is preferred.
  • For Aether Raids Defense:
    • Her immunity to Isolation (at least where her ability to refresh allies is concerned) combined with the consistent damage she offers makes Brave Marianne a compelling Aether Raids Defense choice as well. 
    • The first consideration to make here is her Assist. Generally speaking, it's best to leave well enough alone  that is to say, simply don't use one. This helps avoid potential mishaps with the AI and employs a movement-based overload, but certain Defense maps may prefer a Rally or regular Assist for potential traps; use your discretion here. 
    • It’s critical here to to account for Requiem Dance’s Gravity debuff since it may impede the Defense team’s efficacy otherwise, though there are potential solutions depending on the resources available. 
      • For example, one may also include an ally (or allies) equipped with Wings of Mercy or an Orders skill to ensure that “normal” movement can be achieved regardless through warping; Bridal Catria is a particularly effective addition if aiming for the latter due to her PRF applying Orders at range and across all movement types.
      • Besides the typical Attack/Speed-boosting A skills, Sturdy Impact is a standout candidate to further mitigate her poor Defense and ensure she survives to apply Requiem Dance. The choice between Null Follow-Up and Wings of Mercy on her depends on whether you prefer directly improved offensive performance or the potential ability to catch foes off-guard.
  • For everywhere else:
    • Slap on an Assist of your choice and send her off to battle! 
    • Seriously, her base kit is extremely solid as it is. The main alterations here would be if another A skill is preferred for greater offensive boosts (like Swift Sparrow or Atk/Spd Solo), or swapping out Null Follow-Up for Wings of Mercy to expand her range. 
    • Just be careful with her positioning if her ability to refresh ever needs to be prioritized for any given reason, since carelessness could mean that Requiem Dance’s effect doesn’t trigger at all in certain circumstances.

Strengths

Requiem Dance

Brave Marianne’s key distinguishing feature is her Special, Requiem Dance. Although refreshers are nothing new to the game, having it attached to her Special — rather than a traditional Assist — comes with some advantages entirely unique to Marianne herself. 

  • First and foremost, unlike normal offensively-tuned refreshers who must choose between attacking a foe or sacrificing their turn to aid an ally, Brave Marianne has no such limitation. To the contrary, she may do both simultaneously and is actively encouraged to go on the offensive, as this helps her charge up her Special.
  • The two-space range for Requiem Dance’s effect combined with its ability to affect units equipped with Dance or Sing allows Marianne to quickly chain multiple actions in many different ways.
  • For instance, beyond supportive applications (such as in Galeforce compositions to sweep through enemy forces in a single turn with even more ease), she can use this selfishly to extend her own range when paired with an actual refresher. Since Marianne technically does not count as one herself, that ally can immediately grant her another action after being affected by Requiem Dance.
  • To that end, this technicality also assists Brave Marianne in remaining unaffected by Isolation debuffs (from Bridal Fjorm or Summer Hilda) and avoiding a heavy penalty to her BST — both of which would have limited her had she operated as a normal refresher.

Altogether, this variety of potential perks opens up immense flexibility in both Marianne’s playstyle and that of her respective team across all facets of the game. 

Phantasm Tome

Despite being the female first place winner of the Choose Your Legends event, Brave Marianne’s unique Phantasm Tome is surprisingly straightforward, though it still remains terribly effective at cementing her offensive presence. The enhanced Lull Spd/Res effect and base Speed +3 (albeit admittedly a bit boring) are welcome for consistent damage, but the real draw to Phantasm Tome is the staggering 70% damage reduction it applies against the first hit she would take in each combat during the Player Phase. This ensures that she can freely engage in combat and unleash powerful hits without fear of being KO’d by a stray counterattack. 

Fantastic Offensive Statline

Brave Marianne’s combat prowess is further backed by the impressive values she features in both Attack and Speed; a base offensive statline of 40/41 on top of access to four-point Assets in both stats already provides an incredible starting point for dealing damage. 

Colorless Infantry Benefits

The Serene Adherent gains much from her infantry status, namely in the skill inheritance department as she can wield powerful assets like her native Null Follow-Up that are inaccessible to her mounted counterparts. Alongside the flexibility brought by her colorless typing (guaranteeing neutral match-ups across the board with the exception of units with Raven effects), Brave Marianne’s consistency is nothing less than commendable.

Weaknesses

Special May Be Somewhat Difficult to Fully Leverage

The biggest caveat to Requiem Dance’s effect is the Gravity debuff it applies on the teammate Marianne refreshes, restricting their movement to one similar to Legendary Leif’s Njolrun's Zeal. While this itself can be mitigated by having allies equipped with skills that allow for “normal” movement regardless (such as Wings of Mercy or Ground Orders), this prevents Brave Marianne from being a simple plug-and-play unit; she requires careful attention to ensure her potential can actually reap benefits for her team. 

Additionally, since her refreshing capacity is tied to her Special activation, Brave Marianne’s inability to bypass Guard effects (as seen on the second place winner) and lack of a Slaying effect in her weapon does mean that she faces a higher risk of being effectively hard-stopped as gathering the requisite charges quickly enough isn't always guaranteed. 

Abysmal Physical Bulk

Brave Marianne’s base Defense value of 17 is simply horrible and would normally make handling physical threats quite difficult due to her equally unimpressive HP pool, but the whopping 70% damage reduction she may receive via Phantasm Tome helps massively in mitigating this. 

However, this is only applicable upon initiation and while this itself is mostly fine actually given how Requiem Dance and her heavy offense investment encourage an overly aggressive playstyle, it does limit Brave Marianne’s overall functionality considerably; during the Enemy Phase, the majority of her strengths are disabled and her Defense becomes exploitable by opposing foes, leaving her a much greater liability if left in enemy range. Foes with the means to bypass damage reduction and/or attack twice (looking at you, Winter Altina) prove especially troublesome even during her preferred phase.

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 3 ★
Unlocks at 4 ★
Colorless Tome Only
200 2 9
Phantasm Tome

Grants Spd+3. At start of combat, if foe's HP ≥ 50%, inflicts Spd/Res-6 and neutralizes foe's bonuses to Spd/Res (from skills like Fortify, Rally, etc.) during combat, and also, if unit initiates combat, reduces damage from foe's first attack by 70%.

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
Requiem Dance

If unit initiates combat, after combat, grants another action to ally with the highest HP within 2 spaces (excluding unit) that has already acted. (Once per turn.) (Allies with Sing or Dance can be granted this effect as well. If multiple units meet the conditions, effect will not trigger.) If an ally is granted an additional action this way, inflicts "restricts movement to 1 space" on that ally (and their Pair Up cohort).

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
500 3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Atk/Spd Bond 1

If unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Atk/Spd+3 during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
60
A
Atk/Spd Bond 2

If unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Atk/Spd+4 during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
120
A
Atk/Spd Bond 3

If unit is adjacent to an ally, grants Atk/Spd+5 during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
A
Atk/Spd Unity

If unit is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Spd+5 to unit during combat, and also, if unit is inflicted with any Atk/Spd penalty, grants bonus to unit's Atk/Spd during combat=current penalty on each of those stats × 2. (Example: if unit has -7 penalty to Atk, grants Atk+14, for a net bonus of Atk+12.) Calculates each stat bonus independently.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
A
Null Follow-Up 1

At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 1 ★
60
B
Null Follow-Up 2

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 50%, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 2 ★
120
B
Null Follow-Up 3

Neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
B
Time's Pulse 1

At the start of every third turn, if Special cooldown count is at its maximum value, grants Special cooldown count-1.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 3 ★
60
C
Time's Pulse 2

At the start of every second turn, if Special cooldown count is at its maximum value, grants Special cooldown count-1.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 4 ★
120
C
Time's Pulse 3

At start of turn, if Special cooldown count is at its maximum value, grants Special cooldown count-1.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Three Houses

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