- Default
- Attack
- Special
- Injured




Fallen Hardin - Dark Emperor |
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Hero Stats
Stat Variations
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 22 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 7 |
Middle | 23 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 8 |
High | 24 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 9 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 41 | 31 | 24 | 33 | 29 |
Middle | 45 | 34 | 28 | 36 | 32 |
High | 48 | 37 | 31 | 39 | 35 |
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. |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES |
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Virtually all of Hardin's stats are high enough to make use of. Even his lowest, Speed, reaches a reasonable level for denying enemy follow-ups as a boon. It is quite fair to say that Hardin can perform comfortably with nearly any boon or bane and is absolutely fine with a Neutral nature.
Boons
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+ATK: Retaliating harder is always an advantage, ensuring quicker and more reliable kills. This boon synergizes fantastically with Bold Fighter.
-
+DEF: More Defense greatly supports his ability to take on powerful red sword units like Ayra and Zelgius.
-
+RES: A boost to his fairly hefty Resistance helps Hardin act as a magical tank, especially paired with his Distant Counter weapon, Gradivus.
Banes
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-SPD: Hardin's Speed is not quite high enough to reliably prevent follow-ups unless a boon, so if one does not want to use a Speed boon then it can instead be dumped without significantly impacting his performace. Hardin will perform doubles regardless thanks to skills like Bold Fighter.
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-HP: If one does not to want to drop Hardin's Speed, HP may be the next best choice. Likely to engage in multiple magical and physical combats, he will lose less overall bulk from an HP bane then from one in either defensive stat.
-
-DEF / -RES: There is one good reason one might want to pick a Defense or Resistance bane: Hardin's Speed and HP banes are both 4-point "superbanes" and drop his BST from the 175-179 point scoring range to the 170-174 point scoring range. If scoring highly in Arena is important then taking a Defense or Resistance bane (which are both normal 3-point banes) will let him avoid those Speed and HP superbanes, and keep his BST at 175. At high score ranges, maintaining his Defense may be slightly more useful, with dangerous sword users like Zelgius more common than red tome users.
Skill Sets
Ire of the Maddened Coyote (Dual Phase)
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Gradivus | A | Warding Breath Alternate: Brazen Def/Res 3 |
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Pivot Alternate: Swap |
B | Bold Fighter 3 |
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Aether Alternate: Glimmer |
C | Armor March 3 Alternate: Ward Armor |
IVs | S | Quick Riposte 3 |
- Preferred IV: +ATK or +RES or +DEF / -SPD
- Weapon: Gradivus
- Assist: Pivot / Swap
- Special: Aether / Ignis / Bonfire / Glimmer
- Passive A: Warding Breath / Steady Breath / Brazen Def/Res
- Passive B: Bold Fighter
- Passive C: Armor March / Ward Armor / Hone Armor
- Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte
Thanks to Hardin's weapon Gradivus, the resistive power of Warding or Steady Breath, as well as the astounding power of Bold Fighter, Hardin has the ability to act as a fantastic fighter on both Player Phase and Enemy Phase.
For his assist, Hardin will usually prefer either Pivot or Swap, the most common options to aid slow armored units with their movement.
With all these Special-accelerating skills, the natural question becomes which Special to pick. Perhaps his strongest option, Hardin can proc Aether on every encounter when he is doubled and grants him welcome sustain. Ignis/Glacies activates for superior damage at similar intervals and lacks Aether's healing, but it will still activate when Hardin is not doubled. Bonfire/Iceberg is weaker, but will also activate on Player Phase so long as he is counterattacked. Glimmer grants Hardin an instant special retaliation and allows him to successfully secure one-hit-kills against Ayra or Bold Fighter Zelgius before they chunk Hardin hard with their own specials. Glimmer will also activate when Hardin initiates combat even against units that cannot counterattack, unlike Bonfire.
Hardin makes great use of a Breath passive giving him amazing potential on both Player and Enemy Phase. With one of the highest Resistance stats among units with a Distant Counter weapon, Hardin exhibits himself as one of the greatest users of Warding Breath and is great at combating the rising popularity of red magic users like Winter Tharja and Eirika (SM). Of course, he is just fine with boosting his beefy Defense with Steady Breath. If building Hardin on a budget and unable to give him a Breath passive, stick with Glimmer for his Special, to ensure he is still activating a special on every Enemy Phase.
Bold Fighter is clearly the skill of choice for Hardin's B slot, and is what grants Hardin his astonishing Player Phase. It grants Hardin the ability to always perform a follow-up attack regardless of his Speed stat and also causes these blows to increase his Special charge by an extra point, widening the pool of Specials he is able to use. Not only is it one of the strongest skills available to armored units, but thankfully, he already comes packaged with it.
Performing best with an armor-centric team, it goes without surprise that Hardin's best C skill will be one that synergizes with other armored units. Armor March is Hardin's favorite option, as it is integral to his ability to effectively reach his targets on Player Phase, and Hardin's reliance on the Quick Riposte Sacred Seal prevents him from using the Armored Boots. If an ally is already granting him Armor March, Ward Armor is a common choice to bulk up his team even further. Hone Armor is also a fantastic choice for Hardin, particularly when used alongside a fast armored mage that can run a blade tome, like Halloween Henry.
An Exceptional Judge of Character (Pure Enemy-Phase)
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Gradivus | A | Warding Breath Alternate: Brazen Def/Res 3 |
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Swap Alternate: Pivot |
B | Vengeful Fighter 3 Alternate: Quick Riposte 2 |
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Aether Alternate: Ignis |
C | Def Ploy 3 |
IVs | S | Distant Def 3 |
- Preferred IV: +ATK or +RES or +DEF / -SPD
- Weapon: Gradivus
- Assist: Swap / Pivot
- Special: Aether / Ignis / Glimmer
- Passive A: Warding Breath / Steady Breath / Fury / Brazen Def/Res
- Passive B: Vengeful Fighter / Quick Riposte / Guard
- Passive C: Def Ploy / Atk Ploy / Panic Ploy
- Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Close Def / Armored Boots / Quick Riposte
Incredible bulk on both ends of the spectrum allows Hardin to invest fully in his defenses on an Enemy Phase set.
Swap allows Hardin to slide himself into spaces occupied by allies and may be slightly preferred in a bait-centric set compared to Pivot.
Hardin's special choice is similar to the previous set. Aether continues to be used for self-healing, more easily allowing Hardin to fight in successive combats. Ignis remains the optimal nuke choice, easily reaching over 30 damage. In optimal situations, such as when paired with Def Ploy debuffs, it can even result in kills against green tanks such as Fallen Robin (M). Glimmer instead offers the instant retaliation to destroy threats such as Zelgius before activating Black Luna. Choose whichever best suits the threats Hardin is needed to cover.
Warding or Steady Breath is used for the much-needed cooldown acceleration, although skills that offer stat boosts in other situations such as Fury or his default Brazen Def/Res can be used on a budget.
Vengeful Fighter is the primary option for his B slot. While its cooldown acceleration property does not stack with Warding Breath, its larger HP threshold compared to Quick Riposte makes it the superior option, if the skill is available. If not, Quick Riposte will work all the same in the majority of cases. The secondary option here is Guard, which secures Hardin's matchups versus Special nukers like Reinhardt and Ayra. In such a case, Quick Riposte can easily be swapped to the Sacred Seal slot.
Hardin's fantastic Resistance also grants him the ability to use Def Ploy, a welcome source of extra damage. Paired with a Special, Hardin can easily breach the weapon triangle as his damage on activation can begin to breach the 70s or even 80s depending on which Special is used. Atk Ploy is another option that can help Hardin tank harder and keep his HP as close to full as he can manage. Panic Ploy is an interesting alternative that may also allow him to tank even green mages such as Nino without much fear when inflicted at the right time.
As an Enemy Phase defender, either Distant Def or Close Def are fantastic options for stacking even more armor on top of his already imposing bulk. Armored Boots can also work as a tool to allow Hardin to more easily get into a proper position at the start of a map. Of course, make sure to use Quick Riposte if neither it nor Vengeful Fighter is his B skill.
Darksphere's Frenzy (Wrath Nuker)
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Gradivus | A | Steady Breath |
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Swap Alternate: Pivot |
B | Wrath 3 |
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Ignis Alternate: Noontime |
C | Def Ploy 3 Alternate: Threaten Def 3 |
IVs | S | Quick Riposte 3 |
- Preferred IV: +ATK / -SPD
- Weapon: Gradivus
- Assist: Swap / Pivot
- Special: Ignis / Glimmer / Noontime
- Passive A: Steady Breath / Warding Breath
- Passive B: Wrath
- Passive C: Def Ploy / Threaten Def
- Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte
Such high Defense also allows Hardin to go all in on a set designed to nuke virtually every unit in the game out of existence. Explained quite simply, a Wrath-boosted Ignis from Hardin is able to blow up even the sturdiest of green foes without trouble, including Love Abounds Hector, Myrrh, and Fallen Robin (M).
This set is essentially a variation on the previous Enemy Phase set, but with all cards put into maximizing Hardin's damage as sky high as possible, ensuring nobody will survive. Virtually the only thing Hardin has to fear is ensuring he gets his nuke off. While Hardin is assuredly quite bulky, there is always the possibility of being knocked out in two hits from an incredibly powerful enemy, such as opposing Zelgius running Bold Fighter.
While Ignis is most likely to achieve total domination, there is still the opportunity of changing out his special for a different style of play. Glimmer is a strong option for a Hardin that wants to be able to take a hit from a mage and virtually always ensure an instantaneous death in return. As well, Hardin also has the opportunity to make use of the special Noontime. This will result in Hardin healing on every single counterattack he makes, and any time he falls below 75% health, Wrath will activate, resulting in a "miniature Aether" of sorts until his health recovers.
Introduction
Hardin, the twenty-fourth emperor of Archanea makes his way into Fire Emblem Heroes possessing what can only be described as some of the highest mixed bulk seen to date. That alone is not enough however as he also carries along with him one of the three regalia of House Archanea, the legendary lance Gradivus. This weapon allows our emperor to make fantastic use of his bulk, as it grants him the ability Distant Counter, and allows him to run the dreaded Distant Counter + Steady/Warding Breath combo. This is not even the end of it, as Hardin also comes packaged with the extraordinarily coveted skill Bold Fighter, which lets Hardin double his foes, boosted by accelerated Special cooldown, regardless of his Speed stat.
Adept at taking care of both physical threats as well as magical ones, Hardin is easily a force to be reckoned with during all phases of combat. Regardless of whether he opts to mix his power between both phases or throw all his ability into dominating just one, Hardin will easily be a dangerous threat that should never be taken lightly. Every single one of Hardin's stats is a powerful asset—a Hardin with a boon in Speed will have not even one of his stats reach below 30. Especially as the first blue armored unit in the game wielding a Distant Counter weapon, Hardin will likely be a mainstay on armored teams for a very long time to come.
Strengths
Extraordinary bulk
A mixed defensive combination of 36 Defense and 32 Resistance makes Hardin adept at combating threats both Physical and Magical. Such Resistance is also high enough to grant him access to powerful Ploy skills which can simply ruin the effectiveness of certain enemies.
Distant Counter weapon
Hardin's weapon Gradivus grants him the coveted Distant Counter ability without needing to take up his A slot. This allows Hardin to act as one of the few existing units who can combine the powerful Breath passives with Distant Counter, letting him rapidly fire off specials against all enemies.
Great Attack
Hardin's base 34 Attack combines with his 16 might legendary lance to allow him into the envied club of units that achieve at least 50 Attack before any boons or skills.
Default skill Bold Fighter
Included with every Hardin is a copy of what is often considered one of the strongest skills in the entirety of Fire Emblem Heroes, Bold Fighter. Formerly exclusive to the seasonal unit Winter Lissa, and sought after on virtually every armored unit with a respectable Attack, Hardin's skill boosts the rate that his Special charges on top of enabling him to always double his opponent regardless of Speed—certainly a welcome asset.
Weaknesses
Limited Mobility
The classic Achilles' heel of every armored unit, Hardin is naturally only able to move one space per turn. This essentially necessitates that he has allies that help him fix his movement with skills such as Guidance or Armor March unless he himself wants to use the Armored Boots Sacred Seal.
Unremarkable Speed
Hardin's one questionable stat among his spread is his Speed, which sits as a rather unremarkable 28. While it is high enough that Hardin is able to convincingly stop enemies from doubling him when it is boosted by a boon and paired with a skill like Spd Ploy or an allied Goad Armor, it is most likely his least useful stat in most other cases. While Hardin is normally fine with dropping his Speed and tanking multiple rounds of combat, it does open him up to a potential beating, especially to opposing Bold Fighter units that may run similar combinations against him.
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Gradivus | A | Warding Breath |
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Pivot | B | Bold Fighter 3 |
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Aether | C | Ward Armor |
S | Quick Riposte 3 |
This set aims to capitalize on his great mixed bulk and his powerful distant counter weapon. The IVs also keep his 175 BST intact, allowing him to score very highly in the Arena.
The warding Breath skill patches up the resistance that the bane produces during the enemy phase as well as give the extra cooldown charge. WIth this setup, he'll get 2 special cooldown on both player and Enemy Phase thanks to the Warding Breath and Bold Fighter. This allows him to use Aether a lot more often, which gives him a source of healing to help keep the HP requirement for Quick Riposte 3.
The C skill should be a skill to give combat buffs. Ward Armor if you are putting Hardin on an Armor Emblem team. Another Drive skill if he is on a Mixed Team. The Seal is Quick Riposte 3 to allow for doubles on both Player and enemy Phase.
The Assist is somewhat flexible, but I like giving Pivot in order to patch up his low movement. Swap is fine too as it allows him some extra movement as well as to guard a teammate who is not a bulky. If Armor March is present, the Assist skill is even more flexible, but I would stick with a movement Assist skill.
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Slaying Spear+ (+Def) | A | Distant Counter |
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Rally Atk/Def | B | Bold Fighter 3 |
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Aether | C | Armor March 3 |
S | Panic Ploy 3 |
754 Arena Assault score build. Designed specifically to counter AA Rank 1 whale teams.
+Atk -Res: Atk boon for max damage against other armor units. Res is a dump stat because the only magic damage heroes at 754 are the 2 Grimas.
• Slaying spear (+def) is for one-shotting Zelgius on counterattack, to prevent Black Luna proc.
• Dual Rally for scoring. Gradivus is optionally a score boost if the rest of the team lacks points.
• Aether for sustain, but mainly for scoring.
• Distant counter never gets used, it’s there for scoring.
• Bold Fighter guarantees doubles. Hardin’s 32 speed is alright for preventing doubles, so Wary is unecessary. Windsweep Legendary Robin makes Vengeful Fighter useless.
• Armor March gives mobility to the other armors on the team, especially because there are never positioning Assist Skills at this range.
• Panic Ploy almost always works because of the +5 HP from the weapon refine.
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Gradivus | A | Warding Breath |
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Swap | B | Bold Fighter 3 |
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Ignis | C | Ward Armor |
S | Quick Riposte 3 |
+Atk is his best boon, while his bane should be either defense or resistance, due to hp and speed being superbanes that knock him out of the 175-179 bin. Which defense bane to choose is up to you, but if running Warding Breath pick -res since the effect remedies the loss of resistance, same applies to Steady Breath.
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Gradivus | A | Brazen Def/Res 3 |
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Reposition | B | Bold Fighter 3 |
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Vengeance | C | Hone Armor |
Tank Build. Even though Bold Fighter and Gradivus work against one another, both can be used to suit offensive and defensive roles when demanded. Hone Armor primarily supports fellow armored allies, and Reposition puts a physical wall between allies and enemy units.
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Gradivus | A | Brazen Def/Res 3 |
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Pivot | B | Bold Fighter 2 |
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Glimmer | C | Ward Armor |
S | Distant Def 3 |
alors la vie est nulle car en fait sa force est d'être un tank hybride et là du coup il a - res alors que les armures en temps normal manque de res donc c'est un peu son rôle niche. Du coup la vie est fichu.
Alors il veut profiter d'un boost vitesse et d'un booste de tanking donc il doit être entre Zelgius. Ce ne sont pas des noms de villes.
LOW BUDGET
Weapon Skills
Weapons | SP | Rng. | Mt. |
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![]() Lance Users Only
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100 | 1 | 8 |
![]() Lance Users Only
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200 | 1 | 11 |
![]() Learns by default at 5 ★ Non-Inheritable skill.
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400 | 1 | 16 |
Special Skills
Special Skills | SP | Turns |
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![]() Learns by default at 5 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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100 | 3 |
![]() Unlocks at 5 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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200 | 3 |
Passive Skills
Passive Skills | SP | Slot |
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![]() Inheritable by all units.
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60 | A |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
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120 | A |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★ |
240 | A |
![]() Only inheritable by armor units.
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60 | B |
![]() Only inheritable by armor units.
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120 | B |
![]() Only inheritable by armor units.
Unlocks at 5 ★ |
240 | B |
Other Info
Origin |
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
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