Fallen Celica

Weapon: Beloved Zofia (+Eff) 

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Noontime

Passive A: Distant Counter 

Passive B: Close Call / Null Follow-Up / Null C-Disrupt

Passive C: Pulse Smoke 

Sacred Seal: Spd/Res Solo 

• As with any high-Speed Infantry Sword, Celica can take advantage of her Speed twofold by performing/avoiding follow-up attacks consistently and utilizing damage reduction via Close Call / Repel. While 35 Speed isn’t great, Beloved Zofia salvages this along with her other stats, granting +3 Defense, +4 to all stats during combat in exchange for 4 recoil damage, and an additional +4 to all stats during combat if her HP or the enemy’s HP is < 100%. With Beloved Zofia, Celica can have both an offensive and defensive presence on Enemy Phase.
• Close Call and Repel are both damage reduction skills. They reduce the amount of damage Celica takes by 4% for every point of Speed she has over the enemy (capping at 40%, so a gap of 10 Speed). This is an excellent skill for Celica, as due to her high Speed, she’ll consistently be able to take reduced damage. Spd/Res Solo is chosen as her Sacred Seal because of this, along with the fact that supertanks tend to be at least 2 spaces away from their allies (usually exactly 2 to receive the benefits from Brave Lucina’s Geirskögul).
• The combination of Beloved Zofia’s 7 HP of healing per attack, Noontime, and Close Call can make Celica incredibly obnoxious to take out. Distant Counter is vital for this set, as Celica wants to be able to attack ranged enemies for damage and healing via Beloved Zofia and Noontime. Pulse Smoke prevents Celica from being nuked by enemies with Specials ready, which is important given the prevalence of Infantry Pulse teams and Lysithea on Aether Raids Defense.
• Alternatively, if Close Call seems like overkill given Celica’s healing via Beloved Zofia and Noontime, she can instead use Null Follow-Up or Null C-Disrupt. Null Follow-Up ensures that Celica will follow-up if possible and prevents the enemy from using weapon/skill conditions to perform a guaranteed follow-up. Null C-Disrupt allows Celica to counterattack against all units in combination with Distant Counter, preventing her from being chipped away by Staff and Firesweep enemies.

Weapon: Beloved Zofia (+Eff) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Bonfire / Glimmer

Passive A: Atk/Spd Solo (3 or 4) / Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Atk/Spd Push 4

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Lull Atk/Def / Mystic Boost

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Def Smoke 

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade / Swift Sparrow

• Given Celica’s respectable offenses that become significantly augmented by Beloved Zofia, she can become a great Player Phase unit for general offense. 
• Without the +Eff refine, Beloved Zofia grants +3 Defense and +4 to all stats during combat, but 4 recoil damage after combat. With the +Eff refine, if Celica’s HP or the enemy’s HP is < 100%, she gains an additional +4 to all stats during combat and 7 HP of healing per attack. As such, her 35/35/27/26 statline at neutral can very easily become 43/43/38/34, which is not only fantastic offensively, but also very strong defensively, especially in combination with the healing. Since Celica can very easily reach at least 38 Defense with Beloved Zofia, Bonfire is an excellent choice for her Special, granting additional damage equal to 50% of her Defense when activated. 
• Skills that increase Celica’s Attack and Speed such as Atk/Spd Solo and Swift Sparrow are great choices, as they allow Celica to deal more damage and perform follow-up attacks more consistently. Flashing Blade is chosen since in combination with a 3-cooldown Special, Celica can activate her Special on her follow-up attack if no Guard effect is active and the enemy counterattacks. Alternatively, Celica can use a 2-cooldown Special such as Glimmer to do the same even if the enemy does not counterattack.
• Null Follow-Up ensures that Celica’s Speed doesn’t go to waste, as it nullifies skills that prevent Celica’s follow-up attack and guarantee the enemy’s follow-up attack. Lull Atk/Def is another strong option, inflicting -3 Atk/Def on the enemy during combat and nullifying their visible buffs in Attack and Defense. Joint Drive Atk and Def Smoke are both strong C slots, increasing Celica’s damage by increasing her Attack during combat and inflicting -7 Defense on enemies within 2 spaces of the target respectively.
• Under normal circumstances, Mystic Boost would be a poor choice for Celica, as its 6 HP of healing outweighs Beloved Zofia’s 4 HP of recoil damage. This means that Celica would be unable to receive the +4 to all stats and 7 HP of healing per attack from Beloved Zofia’s +Eff refine, as its condition is for Celica’s HP or the enemy’s HP to be < 100%. However, with Atk/Spd Push 4, the combined recoil damage becomes 9 instead of 4, ensuring that Mystic Boost’s 6 HP of healing does not bring Celica back to 100% HP.

Weapon: Beloved Zofia (+Eff) / Beloved Zofia (+SPD)

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Galeforce 

Passive A: Atk/Spd Solo (3 or 4) / Flashing Blade 4 / Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Atk/Spd Push 4 / Fury (3 or 4)

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Lull Atk/Def

Passive C: Time’s Pulse

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade / Swift Sparrow

• A Galeforce set is another great offensive set that Celica can use to make the most of her offenses. Beloved Zofia’s +4 to all stats during combat in exchange for 4 recoil damage and additional +4 to all stats during combat if Celica’s HP or the enemy’s HP is < 100% allows her to consistently KO and perform follow-up attacks, both of which are key for a Galeforcer.
• Atk/Spd Solo and Swift Sparrow are some of the premier Am slot choices for Celica given the offensive nature of this set. Null Follow-Up and Lull Atk/Def are strong B slots, granting her extra consistency, damage, and survivability. The former nullifies effects that prevent Celica’s follow-up attack and guarantee the enemy’s follow-up attack, while the latter inflicts -3 Atk/Def on the enemy during combat and nullifies their visible buffs in Attack and Defense.
• Because Beloved Zofia does not have a Slaying effect (-1 Special cooldown at base), Celica needs Time’s Pulse to decrease Galeforce’s cooldown from 5 to 4. This is vital, as it ensures that even if the enemy does not counterattack, Celica can activate Galeforce after 2 hits assuming Flashing Blade activates and there is no Guard effect active.
• Note that a +SPD refine is arguably stronger than a +Eff refine for Beloved Zofia for Aether Raids Offense purposes. This is because Galeforce strategies commonly involve Wings of Mercy, and since Celica heals 7 HP per attack with Beloved Zofia’s +Eff refine, it is unlikely that she will be at ≤ 50% HP after combat, even with 4 recoil damage and potentially more from Atk/Spd Push or Fury. As such, her allies will likely be unable to warp to a space adjacent to her. The +SPD refine for Beloved Zofia does not have this healing effect, making it easier for Celica to fall to ≤ 50% HP.