Ethlyn

Weapon: Dazzling Pain / Dazzling Witchy Wand

• As a staff user, Ethlyn has a wide variety of potent weapons at her disposal, but of special note is the debilitating Pain, which inflicts 10 damage to the target and all foes within two spaces after combat. In combination with the Savage Blow C slot and seal, Ethlyn can devastate entire enemy teams in a single move while attacking safely with the powerful combination of Wrathful and Dazzling Staff.

• Witchy Wand is also an amazing choice, completely countering special reliant units by resetting their special cooldown in addition to applying Guard to them and foes within 2 spaces, allowing Ethlyn to completely neutralize units utilizing instant Specials, such as Ophelia. Its seasonal locked availability leaves it difficult to obtain, however.

Assist: Restore / Martyr

• Restore is Ethlyn’s best choice of assist, as it not only offers her potent healing capabilities, but removes all debuffs from the ally she heals.

• If one wishes to give Ethlyn sustain without the use of Live To Serve in the Sacred Seal slot, Martyr is a good alternative, healing 50% of her damage taken.

Special: Miracle / Windfire Balm+

• For combat purposes, Miracle is the only Special that healers can utilize that has a direct effect, allowing ethlyn to take an additional hit when active. Its long cooldown hampers its usage, but Ethlyn should avoid taking hits if possible regardless.

• Windfire Balm is a great alternative, giving Ethlyn the ability to grant her allies a massive boost to Attack and Speed on a short cooldown for one turn. It can be somewhat redundant if used with other visible buffs such as Hone Cavalry or Tactics, however.

Passive A: Atk/Spd Push 4 / Atk/Spd Solo

• Atk/Spd Push 4 is an amazing offensive skill for healers, offering an incredible +7 boost to both Attack and Speed during combat in exchange for taking 5 damage after combat and deactivating at 25% HP or lower. However, Ethlyn can easily circumvent Atk/Spd Push’s drawback by utilizing skills such as Live To Serve or Martyr, making this her ideal choice.

• Atk/Spd Solo offers a similar boost to Ethlyn’s offensive capabilities to Atk/Spd Push 4 while lacking its health threshold requirement, although its positioning requirement can be strict, especially if Ethlyn is faced with Trenches. 

Passive B: Wrathful Staff

• Wrathful or Dazzling Staff in the B slot is vital to Ethlyn’s offense, as it grants her full access to the powerful Wrathful Dazzling combination, essentially making Ethlyn a ranged Firesweep user. Wrathful or Dazzling in the B slot is largely a matter of availability, although both are somewhat difficult to obtain due to being 5* exclusive.

Passive C: Savage Blow / Preference

• Savage Blow is a fantastic C slot choice for Ethlyn, allowing her to inflict 7 damage after any combat she initiates to foes within 2 spaces. In combination with Dazzling Staff, this allows Ethlyn to safely weaken enemies for her teammates, which is especially devastating with Pain. Cavalry Buffs are also a solid option if Ethlyn is being used in a cavalry based team, allowing her strengthen fellow cavaliers.

Sacred Seal: Live To Serve / Savage Blow 

• Live To Serve is ideal so that Ethlyn can safely use Atk/Spd Push 4 without fear of dropping out of its health threshold. In addition, it helps sustain Ethlyn through prolonged rounds of combat, provided her allies are sufficiently damaged.

• A 2nd Savage Blow can also be used in the Sacred Seal slot to devastating effect. When combined with Pain and Savage Blow C slot, Ethlyn inflicts a massive 24 damage to all enemies within 2 spaces after combat, letting her deal large amounts of residual damage every time she initiates.

Weapon: Dazzling Pain / Dazzling Gravity

• Pain remains an excellent choice of staff for Ethlyn, as its splash damage alleviates her poor damage output on a support set, letting her set up KO’s for her allies without fear(aside from foes with Null C Disrupt). Gravity can also be used to reduce the movement range of enemies it hits, and in combination with an ally with Reposition can render her unreachable after her attack.

Assist: Restore / Recover

• Restore remains beneficial in removing often debilitating debuffs such as Panic Ploy from the units it heals.

• Recover is a good alternative if one wishes to maximize Ethlyn’s raw healing capabilities.

Special: Heavenly Light / Miracle

• Heavenly Light allows Ethlyn to heal all her allies by 10 when it activates, letting Ethlyn heal several injured allies at once. 

• Miracle remains a good option for long modes such as Tempest Trials to let Ethlyn survive an additional hit.

Passive A: Spd/Def Bond / Speed +3

• Ethlyn’s Innate Spd/Def Bond gives her a solid boost to survivability as long as she’s adjacent to an ally, raising her ability to avoid follow-ups as well as her physical bulk if she takes a hit.

• Speed +3 can also be used to grant a simple unconditional boost to Ethlyn’s Speed.

Passive B: Wings Of Mercy / Live To Serve

• Wings Of Mercy is a fantastic asset to Ethlyn’s support capabilities, allowing her to warp to any damaged allies that may be out of her reach.

• Ethlyn’s Innate Live To Serve can also be utilized to grant Ethlyn additional sustain through her healing.

Passive C: Drive Spd / Savage Blow / Preference

• Drive Spd increases the Speed of any allies within 2 spaces, adding to Ethlyn’s supportive utility. Nevertheless, Cavalry Buffs can also work well if she’s being used in a cavalry team, and she can also make great use of Savage Blow for additional passive damage.

Sacred Seal: Drive Spd / Drive Atk / Savage Blow

• Drives remain a great option for Ethlyn’s Sacred Seal slot to maximize the support she grants her allies.

• Savage Blow is also a great option in combination with Pain, allowing Ethlyn to deal high amounts of residual damage whenever she initiates.