Edelgard

Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP

• +ATK is Edelgard’s ideal Asset, and remains the best choice for this build. The bonus Attack will widen the range of enemies that Edelgard can KO and improves the effectiveness of Heavy Blade, though Defense can be a passable alternative. -HP is Edelgard’s preferred Flaw.

Weapon: Victorious Axe

• The Victorious Axe is crucial to this set: this axe allows Edelgard to make follow-up attacks with ease once she engages a group of enemies, synergising exceptionally well with refresher heroes and Galeforce. The Victorious Axe makes it more difficult to buff Edelgard, but this axe molds her into a fearsome offensive powerhouse.

Assist: Smite / Flexible

• Smite is a cheap Assist skill that can be used to keep allies away from Edelgard to ensure she benefits from Victorious Axe. However, other alternative skills may be more appealing so this should be determined by what may benefit Edelgard’s teammates.

Special: Galeforce

• With the Victorious Axe and with the Heavy Blade Sacred Seal, Edelgard is a fantastic user of Galeforce. This Special complements Edelgard’s playstyle perfectly, as it allows her to charge a group of enemies and secure multiple KOs.

Passive A: Atk/Def Solo / Sturdy Impact

• Atk/Def Solo offers an easy to acquire bonus to Edelgard’s Attack and Defense, greatly improving her combat results against other physical heroes. Atk/Def Solo grants Edelgard combat bonuses in both Player Phase and Enemy Phase, making it a versatile skill if Edelgard finds herself defending against enemy attackers.

• Sturdy Impact offers a great boost to Attack and Defense when initiating combat and protects Edelgard from enemy follow-up attacks. This improves her combat ability against fast opponents who would otherwise deal two attacks against her.

Passive B: Null Follow-up / Chill Def / Desperation / Wings of Mercy / Hit and Run

• Null Follow-up ensures that Edelgard can make her follow-up attack granted by the Victorious Axe, allowing her to overcome heroes that would otherwise counter this strategy. Without this skill, Edelgard may struggle to operate effectively if any enemy heroes can deny her follow-up.

• Chill Def is another choice to improve Edelgard’s damage output, compared to her other possible B slot skills that offer utility. Though the target of Chill Def cannot be specified, Galeforce improves the odds that Edelgard can engage the chilled enemy.

• Desperation is a budget skill that can improve Edelgard’s survivability and allow her to combat dragon heroes more capably. This skill is a great choice for PvE gamemodes such as Tempest Trials, but can be passable in more competitive modes as well.

• Wings of Mercy is a strong choice to improve Edelgard’s mobility, especially in Aether Raids on a Defense team, though it may conflict with Victorious Axe if there are few enemies around Edelgard’s destination.

• Hit and Run, as well as Drag Back, can be other budget skills that perform well in Aether Raids to improve Edelgard’s mobility without risking any conflict with the Victorious Axe.

Passive C: Atk/Def Rouse / Atk Smoke

• Atk/Def Rouse offers a powerful boost to Edelgard’s key stats, and the solo requirement should be easy for her to achieve after the first turn. Atk/Def Rouse is also accessible in her base kit.

• Atk Smoke can improve Edelgard’s survivability by debuffing enemy heroes nearby her foe, and offers an alternative that cannot be countered by Panic effects.

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Brazen Atk/Def

• Heavy Blade capitalizes on Edelgard’s immense Attack stat to charge Galeforce more quickly. This seal is essential to ensure that Edelgard can charge Galeforce within a single engagement.

• If repeated Galeforce triggers are not a priority and Edelgard’s teammates can charge her initial Special charge, Brazen Atk/Def is Edelgard’s best alternative.

Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP

• +ATK is Edelgard’s ideal Asset, and remains the best choice for this build. Conversely, -HP is Edelgard’s preferred Flaw.

Weapon: Victorious Axe

• The Victorious Axe circumvents Edelgard’s mediocre Speed stat, allowing her to deal follow-up attacks against heroes with superior Speed. This greatly improves Edelgard’s offensive power.

Assist: Smite / Flexible

• Smite is a cheap Assist skill that can be used to keep allies away from Edelgard to ensure she benefits from Victorious Axe. However, other alternative skills may be more appealing so this should be determined by what may benefit Edelgard’s teammates.

Special: Ignis / Bonfire / Moonbow

• Ignis is an incredibly powerful Special in Edelgard’s hands, capable of dealing well over 35 damage after accounting for Edelgard’s bonus Defense. Though the charge time is longer than other damage Specials, the bonus damage ensures that Edelgard can defeat even the strongest heroes that may otherwise pose a problem.

• Bonfire is an alternative to Ignis that offers less damage in exchange for a shorter cooldown. Bonfire may offer more mileage against less bulky heroes.

• Moonbow offers the least damage of these Specials, but will be fully charged after Special Spiral. This may be an appealing choice if Edelgard can KO a weak opponent and target another foe with a charged Special after being refreshed by an ally.

Passive A: Atk/Def Solo / Sturdy Impact

• Atk/Def Solo offers an easy to acquire bonus to Edelgard’s Attack and Defense, greatly improving her combat results against other physical heroes. Atk/Def Solo grants Edelgard combat bonuses in both Player Phase and Enemy Phase, making it a versatile skill if Edelgard finds herself defending against enemy attackers.

• Sturdy Impact offers a great boost to Attack and Defense when initiating combat and protects Edelgard from enemy follow-up attacks. This improves her combat ability against fast opponents who would otherwise deal two attacks against her. In addition, the bonus Defense will improve the damage output of Edelgard’s Specials if she opts for Ignis or Bonfire.

Passive B: Special Spiral / Null C-Disrupt / Null Follow-up / Desperation

• Special Spiral allows Edelgard to charge her Special after every engagement, allowing her to use powerful Specials more often. Special Spiral vastly improves the effectiveness of skills like Ignis.

• Null C-Disrupt ensures that Edelgard can retaliate against heroes who would otherwise disable her attack, including heroes with Firesweep weapons or Windsweep.

• Null Follow-up ensures that enemy heroes cannot prevent Edelgard’s follow-up granted by Victorious Axe. Without this skill, Edelgard may struggle to operate effectively if any enemy heroes can deny her follow-up.

• If none of the other options are available, Desperation makes a fine choice to ensure that Edelgard can attack safely. This is especially significant against dragon heroes who pose a great threat to Edelgard.

Passive C: Atk/Def Rouse / Atk Smoke

• Atk/Def Rouse offers a powerful boost to Edelgard’s key stats, and the solo requirement should be easy for her to achieve after the first turn. Atk/Def Rouse is also accessible in her base kit.

• Atk Smoke can improve Edelgard’s survivability by debuffing enemy heroes nearby her foe, and offers an alternative that cannot be countered by Panic effects.

Sacred Seal: Brazen Atk/Def / Heavy Blade

• Brazen Atk/Def offers a massive boost to Edelgard’s Attack and Defense, greatly improving her attack power and the damage output of her Special skills. 

• Heavy Blade is also a powerful option, but offers little advantage if Edelgard is running Special Spiral. If she opts for one of the other skills, Heavy Blade is a fantastic choice.

Preferred IV: +ATK, +DEF or +RES / -HP

• +ATK is Edelgard’s ideal Asset, and remains the best choice for this build. With that said, +DEF or +RES can be fair replacements to maximise her defensive stats.

Weapon: Victorious Axe

• The Victorious Axe circumvents Edelgard’s mediocre Speed stat, allowing her to deal follow-up attacks against heroes with superior Speed. Though the positioning requirement lends this effect to Player Phase moreso than Enemy Phase, Edelgard can still receive all of its benefits when defending.

Assist: Smite / Flexible

• Smite is a cheap Assist skill that can be used to keep allies away from Edelgard to ensure she benefits from Victorious Axe. However, other alternative skills may be more appealing so this should be determined by what may benefit Edelgard’s teammates.

Special: Aether / Noontime

• Aether offers both bonus damage and healing to ensure that increase Edelgard’s longevity over multiple engagements. Though this skill has a long cooldown, this is somewhat mitigated by the -1 from Victorious Axe.

• Alternatively, Noontime offers a lesser amount of healing in exchange for a vastly reduced cooldown: after accounting for the -1 from Victorious Axe, Noontime has a cooldown of 1 compared to Aether’s 4. This skill is a great pickup if Edelgard wants to prioritize healing.

Passive A: Distant Counter

• Distant Counter ensures that Edelgard can retaliate against ranged opponents. Though her poor Resistance will still leave her vulnerable to mages, Distant Counter allows Edelgard to defeat enemy archers while defending.

Passive B: Null C-Disrupt / Vantage

• Null C-Disrupt ensures that Edelgard can retaliate against heroes who would otherwise disable her attack, including heroes with Firesweep weapons or Windsweep. This is more significant with Distant Counter, as archers who frequently wield Firesweep Bow lose their biggest advantage.

• If Null C-Disrupt is unavailable, Vantage is a fair alternative to counter mages equipped with Area of Effect Specials such as Ophelia. With this skill, Edelgard can deal additional damage against enemy attackers and potentially secure KOs against weaker opponents.

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Atk Smoke / Atk/Def Rouse

• Pulse Smoke weakens the Special charge of enemy heroes nearby Edelgard’s target, improving her survivability on Enemy Phase when defending against afflicted heroes.

• Alternatively, Atk Smoke covers a similar function to Pulse Smoke by improving Edelgard’s survivability on Enemy Phase, and offers an alternative to Atk/Def Rouse that cannot be countered by Panic effects.

• As Edelgard will likely be away from her allies to trigger the Victorious Axe, Atk/Def Rouse is another viable skill. The bonus Attack and Defense greatly improve her physical combat prowess.

Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Close Defense / Atk Smoke

• Distant Def improves Edelgard’s bulk against ranged attackers, particularly mages who could threaten a KO. Combined with Noontime, Distant Def can create more windows for Edelgard to heal with Noontime and make her a more durable defender. 

• Alternatively, Close Defense is another good choice that improves her bulk against melee attackers instead. Though Edelgard’s Defense keeps her pretty safe against the majority of melee opponents, this skill can be helpful in improving Edelgard’s dragon matchup.

• If Atk Smoke isn’t taken in the C slot, this is another opportunity to equip this skill. Combined with Pulse Smoke or Atk/Def Rouse in the C slot, these skills can cripple enemy heroes and vastly improve Edelgard’s survivability.