GamePress
Analysis by ZeShado
Dorcas - Serene Warrior

5 Legacy

Obtainable as a 5 during certain summoning events only.

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
162
HP 45
ATK 35
SPD 23
DEF 35
RES 24

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 18 8 5 8 4
Middle 19 9 6 9 5
High 20 10 7 10 6

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 42 32 20 32 21
Middle 45 35 23 35 24
High 48 38 26 38 28

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

DC Tank Dorcas (General Use)

Build by ZeShado
Recommended
Stout Tomahawk (+Eff) A Bracing Stance (2 or 3)
Alternate: Mirror Stance (2 or 3)
Positional Assist B Quick Riposte 3
Alternate: Special Spiral 3
Bonfire
Alternate: Ignis
C Atk Smoke 3
Alternate: Def/Res Menace
IVs

+ATK, +DEF, or +RES / -SPD

SDistant Def 3
Alternate: Steady Breath

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Stout Tomahawk (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Bonfire / Ignis / Noontime

A Passive: Bracing Stance (2 or 3) / Mirror Stance (2 or 3) / Distant Def (3 or 4)

B Passive: Quick Riposte / Special Spiral

C Passive: Atk Smoke / Def/Res Menace

Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Steady Breath / Quick Riposte

  • For this set, we’ll actually be using his innate Distant Counter this time around. Dorcas can get rather bulky with Stout Tomahawk, mostly with his Def stat, as his weapon debuffs the foes’ Atk and Def stats by five points. And while his Res stat isn’t necessarily the best it can be, the free A Passive he has access to can be used to increase it further. Thus, when focusing as a Distant Counter tank, he’ll want to bolster his survivability in the form of his Def and Res stats.
     
  • Depending on the rest of the kit, Dorcas can either opt for damaging Specials such as Bonfire and Ignis or a healing Special such as Noontime. Some say that the best defense is a good offense, so relatively speaking, if Dorcas can take out his foe in one hit, then he won’t get doubled. Thus, increasing his longevity. However, if you want him to have a stable amount of HP, he can always run Noontime and Steady Breath as his seal since it’ll allow him to trigger it every counterattack.
     
  • Any A Passive that increases Dorcas’ Atk, Def, and/or Res are going to be the most desired options for him. Preferably, he’ll want to increase his Res stat alongside one other stat since he’ll be acting as a mixed tank. Two notable options include Bracing Stance and Mirror Stance. Both skills increase his Res stat and, depending on the variant, Def or Atk. Another solid option is Distant Def. It doesn’t cover melee foes’ attacks and, depending on the variant, can be redundant with Stout Tomahawk’s visible bonus neutralization, but it grants the most amount of Def and Res out of the other skills. Likewise, it is much cheaper than the other two skills, so it may be worth running just for budget purposes.
     
  • As a slow mixed tank, Dorcas doesn’t have a lot of options to work with for his B Passive. The only notable options are Quick Riposte, which helps with doubles but can be used as his Sacred Seal instead, or Special Spiral, which can pair well with Steady Breath, allowing him to trigger Ignis after the initial setup.
     
  • For mixed tanking, Atk Smoke is not only the most accessible option but also one of the best options for Dorcas as the debuff it inflicts on foes can raise his Def and Res by an additional seven points. Of course, the issue with this is that it requires foes to be nearby and it requires an initial combat. If you want to go with something more premium, Dorcas can instead run Def/Res Menace as it increases his ability to take on all types of foes and increases his damage output.
     
  • Depending on the rest of the kit, Dorcas can either opt for skills that increase his Def and Res or his ability to output damage. One such notable example is Distant Def, as the additional six points it grants to his Def and Res can allow him to survive plenty of hits. Meanwhile, he can run Steady Breath if he either wants to retaliate with Noontime every counterattack or, if paired with Special Spiral, Ignis on the first counterattack, provided that Special Spiral is already set up. Otherwise, Quick Riposte is fine for securing doubles.

Melee Specialist Dorcas (Aether Raids)

Build by ZeShado
Stout Tomahawk (+Eff) A Sturdy Stance (2 or 3)
Alternate: Atk/Def Unity
Positional Assist B Quick Riposte 3
Ignis C Joint Drive Atk
Alternate: Atk/Def Oath 3
IVs

+ATK or +DEF / -SPD

SSteady Breath

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Stout Tomahawk (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Ignis

A Passive: Sturdy Stance (2 or 3) / Atk/Def Unity / Close Def (3 or 4)

B Passive: Quick Riposte

C Passive: Joint Drive Atk / Atk/Def Oath / Def Smoke

Sacred Seal: Steady Breath

  • The idea for this set is to take advantage of Dorcas’ relatively decent minmaxed statline and turn him into a Melee Specialist, AKA a unit that focuses on one-ranged foes only. This will effectively make the Distant Counter in his weapon worthless since he won’t be targeting two-ranged foes, but the debuff the weapon grants, on top of the visible buff neutralization makes up for that fact, especially since most other inheritable axes can’t grant the same amount of benefits that Stout Tomahawk can without some catch, usually in the form of having to be solo, which affects how many supports he can run as a result. In any case, using Stout Tomahawk for a Melee Specialist role isn’t the worst idea since the additional effects can allow him to succeed in that role much more often.
     
  • The only worthwhile Special for this set is Ignis since it can always trigger every combat with the Steady Breath Sacred Seal, assuming he not only doubles but also if Guard isn’t present. The goal is to have him take out melee foes every combat, so he’ll want the strongest, most effective Special imaginable.
     
  • As a Melee Specialist, Dorcas will want to have skills that primarily increase his Atk and Def. As such, skills such as Sturdy Stance and Atk/Def Unity are going to be his most preferred skills. Sturdy Stance is rather nice since it grants a fair amount of Atk and Def and depending on the variant, can grant Guard as well, allowing for Dorcas to tank more. Meanwhile, Atk/Def Unity can reverse and debuff Dorcas gets to his Atk and Def, allowing him to not only output more damage, but also take on more melee foes overall. For budget purposes, he can run Close Def instead. Close Def 4 is redundant with Stout Tomahawk since both neutralize the foe’s visible bonuses, but the additional Def and Res it grants can allow him to take on the likes of Dragons.
     
  • In order to maximize Dorcas’ ability to take out his foes, he’ll want to have the ability to double. As such, Quick Riposte is arguably his only option for his B Passive, especially since he’ll want to use a different Sacred Seal for this set. Thankfully, he comes with Quick Riposte in his base kit, so there won’t be a need to fodder other units.
     
  • Anything that increases Dorcas’ ability to output more damage will be the most desirable choice. One notable skill would be Joint Drive Atk as it’ll increase his damage ceiling by eight potential points. Likewise, he can run Atk/Def Oath as he’ll more than likely be near allies for most combats. Of course, both of these options are rather expensive, so the alternative can be Def Smoke, which while not as consistent as Joint Drive Atk, can still provide additional damage if set up.
     
  • Steady Breath is going to be the most competitive Sacred Seal for Dorcas as it can reliably allow him to trigger Ignis every combat and output even more damage with Ignis since it grants additional Def. There really isn’t much else that he would want for this role.

Strengths

Stout Tomahawk

    Stout Tomahawk having innate Distant Counter allows Dorcas to run more competitive A Passives that many units wouldn’t be able to run otherwise. On top of Distant Counter, Stout Tomahawk now inflicts an additional -5 Atk/Def on the foe and neutralizes the foe’s visible bonuses, allowing Dorcas to not only hit harder overall but also tank with much more ease.

Good Attack and Defense

    Starting out with a base Atk stat of 35 and a base Def stat of… also 35, Dorcas is able to act as a relatively decent Melee Specialist, AKA a unit that focuses on one-ranged units only. Likewise, as previously mentioned, the -5 Atk/Def infliction on the foe from Stout Tomahawk will also bolster his ability to take on melee foes.

Weaknesses

Low Speed

    Due to Dorcas’ lack of Spd, he is essentially dependent on Quick Riposte to secure doubles. This can be an issue for enemy phase strategies if going up against foes that have Null Follow-Up or some form of Impact skill as that can easily negate the follow-up he would’ve gained from Quick Riposte.

Middling Resistance

    Starting out with a base Res stat of 24, Dorcas has a lot to make up for if he is to take on units that target his Res stat. Thankfully, Stout Tomahawk’s refine essentially grants Dorcas an additional five Res since it debuffs the foe’s Atk for five points, and since Dorcas doesn’t need Distant Counter for his A Passive, he can always stack his Res stat that way.

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
Stout Tomahawk

Unit can counterattack regardless of foe's range.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 1 16
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Dragon Gaze

Boosts damage by 30% of unit's Atk.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 4
Draconic Aura

Boosts damage by 30% of unit's Atk.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Fierce Stance 1

If foe initiates combat, grants Atk+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
50
A
Fierce Stance 2

If foe initiates combat, grants Atk+4 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100
A
Fierce Stance 3

If foe initiates combat, grants Atk+6 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
A
Quick Riposte 1

Unit automatically makes a follow-up attack if attacked at HP ≥ 90%.

Inheritable by all units.
60
B
Quick Riposte 2

Unit automatically makes a follow-up attack if attacked at HP ≥ 80%.

Inheritable by all units.
120
B
Quick Riposte 3

Unit automatically makes a follow-up attack if attacked at HP ≥ 70%.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
B
Infantry Pulse 1

At the start of turn 1, grants Special cooldown count-1 to all infantry allies on team with HP ≤ unit’s HP-5. (Stacks with similar skills.)

Infantry Units Only
60
C
Infantry Pulse 2

At the start of turn 1, grants Special cooldown count-1 to all infantry allies on team with HP ≤ unit’s HP-3. (Stacks with similar skills.)

Infantry Units Only
120
C
Infantry Pulse 3

At the start of turn 1, grants Special cooldown count-1 to all infantry allies on team with HP < unit’s HP. (Stacks with similar skills.)

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

Banners Featured In

Official Hero Artwork