Eliwood

Weapon: Blazing Durandal (+Eff) 

Assist: Reposition / Flexible

Special: Galeforce

Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Push / Atk/Spd Solo / Atk/Spd Catch

Passive B: S/D Near Trace / Flow Skills / Wings of Mercy

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Smoke Skills / Savage Blow / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Solo

• Eliwood shines with a Galeforce setup by merit of his phenomenal mobility and (more importantly) his access to refined Blazing Durandal, with its built-in cooldown acceleration potentially enabling instantaneous access to the Special against foes who can counterattack when equipped with Quickened Pulse. This is particularly coveted in the context of Aether Raids Offense where proper and quick accumulation of Special charges is crucial to one’s success. 
• Beyond his choice of Special, another significant aspect of this build lies in Eliwood’s B skill selection, as he has a few options — each with their respective benefits.
  • S/D Near Trace lends itself well to traditional Galeforce strategies by allotting more flexibility in Eliwood’s positioning post-activation, in addition to opening up the possibility of a hit-and-run approach when necessary.
    • For instance, Eliwood can initiate and activate Galeforce against an opponent, move back up to three spaces, and then destroy a structure or use an Assist to trigger S/D Near Trace’s 【Canto】effect to retreat even further. 
  • Alternatively, Flow skills may be considered for their partial Null Follow-Up effect to push through enemy follow-up denial, solidifying his offensive pressure. Of those available at the time of writing, Flow Force and Flow Refresh are ideal; Flow Guard isn’t bad by any means, but simply redundant due to Blazing Durandal already having Guard. 
  • Wings of Mercy is a standard choice for AR-O specific Galeforce builds, and for good reason as many such compositions often include a low HP beacon to enable quick proximity to the enemy team without needing further assistance.
• Essentially any A skill that enhances both Eliwood’s Atk and Spd can work to bolster his combat prowess; some of his best options include Atk/Spd Push, Atk/Spd Solo, Atk/Spd Catch, and Swift Sparrow. The Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal is pretty non-negotiable within Aether Raids Offense — but outside of that, any that follows the same trend as his A skill works well.
• Joint Drive and Smoke skills both help strengthen the quality of Eliwood’s overall matchups while also offering some benefits to his team. Savage Blow is an interesting C skill candidate that operates similarly to Smoke skills, though it may not be worthwhile in AR-O during Light / Dark Season depending on how often you encounter Medeus. 

Weapon: Blazing Durandal (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Dragon Fang / Glacies / Moonbow / Glimmer / Ruptured Sky

Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Surge Sparrow / Atk/Spd Push / Atk/Spd Solo

Passive B: Flow Skills / S/D Near Trace / Lull Spd/Def / Lull Atk/Spd 

Passive C: Joint Drive Spd / Fatal Smoke / Panic Smoke / Cavalry Skills / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow / Sturdy Blow / Death Blow / Atk/Spd Solo

• This set takes a more straightforward approach to Eliwood’s performance in the Player Phase compared and focuses strictly on maximizing his damage output, relative to the first build’s more mobility-centered capabilities. That being said, both +ATK and +SPD IVs remain ideal as to elevate Eliwood’s offensive baseline. 

• Dragon Fang and Glacies become extremely potent Special choices here for their high ceilings, becoming surprisingly accessible thanks to the beauty that is Blazing Durandal’s refine: despite their four-turn cooldowns, if his foe can counterattack and he can double, they can quickly activate in one round. Glimmer, Moonbow, and Ruptured Sky are weaker in terms of pure burst, but their trigger rates are much higher and consistent across enemy types. 

• A substantial portion of Eliwood’s offensive potency does come from how rapidfire his Specials become with the influence of Blazing Durandal, making Flow skills undoubtedly his best B skill choice to ensure his follow-up attacks for more cooldown charges; they also make him a much more punishing threats on Aether Raids Defense compositions. If unavailable, S/D Near Trace remains fantastic as well for bonus mobility (though it is much, much better used in player hands rather than AI), and Lulls are always solid to deny enemy bonuses.

• Both his C skill and Sacred Seal should help further develop his damage, with Smokes, Joint Drives, and standard offense-enhancing options like Atk/Spd Solo and Swift Sparrow once again remaining helpful in this respect. For his C skill, Special consideration should be given to Fatal Smoke (and to a lesser extent, Panic Smoke) for Aether Raids Defense to punish common offensive strategies.