Cynthia

Weapon: Lance of Heroics (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Galeforce / Luna / Moonbow

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot

Passive B: S/D Near Trace / Flow Skills

Passive C: Spd/Def Rein (or Hold) 

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Blade Session / Quickened Pulse

• Lance of Heroics has breathed new life into Cynthia’s offensive capabilities, granting massive stat boosts and visible stat debuff reversal during combat to catch her up with modern standards. This set focuses on maximizing her Player Phase capabilities by going all-in with her offenses.
• For Aether Raids Offense purposes, Galeforce is Cynthia’s only Player Phase niche, which she does with unique proficiency given Lance of Heroics’ super Wings of Mercy effect. However, as Galeforce is a 5-cooldown Special and Lance of Heroics has no Special acceleration or additional Special charge, she may need to rely on any combination of these factors:
  • Heavy Blade Sacred Seal for +1 Special charge per Cynthia’s attack if her in-combat Atk exceeds the enemy’s.
  • Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal for -1 Special cooldown at the start of the battle.
  • Effects that grant additional Special charge if not using Heavy Blade, such as Fallen Ninian’s Call to Flame and Thorr’s Worldbreaker.
  • Effects that grant additional Special cooldown acceleration at the start of the battle, such as Velouria’s Wolfpup Fang and Groom Rafiel’s Groom’s Wing.
• If using Cynthia outside of Aether Raids, she can use Luna, a 3-cooldown Special that pierces 50% of the enemy’s Def, or Moonbow, a 2-cooldown Special that pierces 30%. In order to activate Luna on her follow-up attack, Cynthia needs additional Special Charge via any of the aforementioned effects.
• Atk/Spd Boosting A slots increase Cynthia’s raw damage and follow-up consistency, improving her Player Phase capabilities. Surge Sparrow is worth special mention for Moonbow and Luna sets, as it heals a significant portion of Cynthia’s HP on Special activation, granting her some sustainability/longevity.
• Unfortunately, Lance of Heroics lacks both a Canto effect (movement after Cynthia’s first action of Player Phase) and an offensive Null Follow-Up effect (neutralization of effects that prevent Cynthia’s follow-up), meaning she must choose between B slots that only grant one or the other.
  • S/D Near Trace grants the former in addition to inflicting -3 Spd/Def during combat. This is generally preferred for Aether Raids purposes, as Canto is valuable for positioning and trapping in Galeforce strategies and players can play around follow-up prevention by leaving enemies without follow-up prevention for Cynthia to pick off.
  • Flow skills grant the latter in addition to an extra effect, which ranges from 10 HP healing after combat (Flow Refresh) to a Guard effect during combat to slow enemy defensive Specials (Flow Guard). Flow Force is the worst option by default, as there is no benefit in neutralizing visible Atk/Spd debuffs when Lance of Heroics already reverses them.
• Spd/Def Rein inflicts -4 Spd/Def on enemies within two spaces during combat, further boosting Cynthia’s damage. Hold simply increases the range from two to three, so it is not necessary by any means. 
• If using neither Heavy Blade nor Quickened Pulse for Special activation consistency, Blade Session is a go-to choice, granting +3/+6/+9 Atk/Spd on initiation if 0/1/2 ally/allies has/have already moved.

Weapon: Lance of Heroics (+Eff) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Bonfire / Noontime / Iceberg

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot

Passive B: Mystic Boost 4 / Seal Def 4

Passive C: Rein Skills

Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Catch / Mystic Boost / Quick Riposte

• While an Enemy Phase set fails to take advantage of Lance of Heroics’ super Wings of Mercy effect, it takes great advantage of its stat increases to make Cynthia a remarkably strong and bulky Enemy Phase unit. Losing a stat-boosting A slot for a Distant Countering A slot significantly decreases Cynthia’s efficacy for this role, so she instead relies on a Far Save ally that can protect her from ranged attacks by entering combat against ranged enemies in Cynthia’s stead.
• Bonfire and Iceberg are strong Special choices that increase Cynthia’s damage on activation by 50% of her Def or Res respectively; choose between the two based on whether Cynthia has more Def or Res. While Cynthia has a higher base Res, melee specialists typically have their supports stack Def-increasing skills, and Cynthia’s skill choices may result in her Def exceeding her Res even before ally support is considered. Alternatively, Noontime provides healing on 2 cooldown, which can be activated on each of Cynthia’s counterattacks if no Guard effect is active and she has a source of additional Special charge.
• While it may seem more intuitive to choose an Atk/Def Boosting A slot since most melee enemies are physical, choosing an Atk/Spd Boosting A slot allows Cynthia to outpace the many speedy melee threats on Aether Raids Defense, most notably Brave Seliph.
• Cynthia has two main B slots to choose from:
  • Mystic Boost 4’s notable effects include inflicting -5 Atk on the enemy during combat and healing 10 HP after combat.
  • Seal Def 4 inflicts -4 Def on the enemy during combat and inflicts an additional Def penalty if the enemy does not have an effect that neutralizes visible Def debuffs; this penalty is 7 - their current visible Def debuff, so Cynthia’s team can simply use no visible Def debuffs to inflict -11 Def on enemies during Cynthia’s combats.
• Rein skills inflict in-combat -4 stat debuffs on enemies within two spaces, with Atk/Spd and Spd/Def being the most beneficial for Cynthia’s damage and/or bulk. The upgraded Hold versions simply increase the range from two to three spaces, so they are not necessary by any means.
• Atk/Def Catch grants Cynthia +5 Atk/Def if the enemy’s HP = 100% or they have a Penalty, which may as well be free. Alternatively, Mystic Boost can be chosen for further healing, or Quick Riposte can be chosen for a guaranteed follow-up counterattack if her HP is ≥ 70%, as Cynthia has no other self-reliant way of breaking through follow-up prevention during Enemy Phase.