Ferdinand

Weapon: Vanguard (+RES) / Guard Lance (+RES)

Assist: Reposition

Special: Bonfire / Ignis

Passive A: Distant Counter / Fort. Def/Res / Fury

Passive B: Lull Atk/Def / Quick Riposte

Passive C: Atk Smoke / Def Smoke

Sacred Seal: Brazen Atk/Def / Fierce Stance / Brazen Atk/Res

• This build capitalizes on Ferdinand's balanced stats as well as his superboon in Resistance, which allows him to play as more of a bulky defensive cavalier.
• With a Vanguard(+RES) and a Resistance boon, Ferdinand hits a bulk of 37 Defense and 32 Resistance. You can then either utilize him to counter enemies at range (Distant Counter), or you can further improve his defenses with Fort. Def/Res which further increases his bulk to 43/38.
• Lull Atk/Def is crucial as well, since it allows Ferdinand to further debuff his opponent's Attack, which directly improves his defenses. Running Atk Smoke in his seal slot can further debuff his opponent's Attack in a wide area, making him even harder to take out.
• With the Guard Lance, Ferdinand loses some of his defensive bulk but assures that his opponents cannot charge their Specials on him, which gives him a lot more viability in longer fights.
• The Sacred Seal option is more of a tossup: Ferdinand can run Fierce Stance which helps to make up for his lower Attack, or he can run a Brazen skill which will not be active until after he takes a little bit of damage.
• Due to not investing in his base 35 Speed, it's likely that Ferdinand may need some help to double in the form of Quick Riposte, which can be put in his B slot if you lack a Lull skill, or in his Seal slot.
• For the budget-focused Summoner, you can consider using Fury in his A slot to stack further on his decent stat spread. However, Fury can quickly knock Ferdinand below the HP threshold for Quick Riposte, so be careful if using those two skills together.

Weapon: Lofty Blossoms (+SPD) / Slaying Lance (+SPD)

Assist: Reposition

Special: Galeforce / Luna

Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Solo

Passive B: Lull Atk/Spd / Desperation

Passive C: Def Smoke / Atk Smoke

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Swift Sparrow

• This build emulates Ferdinand's Swift Strikes combat art by focusing on his Attack and Speed to either make a Galeforce build, or to hit as hard as possible with Swift Sparrow in multiple slots.
• With this build, Ferdinand initiates combat with 56 Attack without any merges or an Attack boon against an enemy whose attack he is debuffing by 3 and negating all buffs to Attack and Speed. Lull Atk/Spd is the lynchpin of this build, enabling both Heavy Blade and helping Ferdinand to reach the Speed threshold to double his opponent with his 52 Speed on initiation (with boon).
• Def Smoke will help him to KO his opponents after activating Galeforce, while Atk Smoke makes it more likely for him to activate Heavy Blade in his seal slot.
• However, this build relies on doubling his opponent as well as being retaliated upon for Ferdinand to activate Galeforce. Due to the unreliability of that chance, he can also run Slaying Lance instead with Luna in order to have a hard-hitting Special on a short cooldown.
• Note that Lofty Blossoms with Moonbow is still a better option than Slaying Lance/Luna if Ferdinand is typically initiating combat.