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Analysis by MackerelPye
Galzus - Dark Blade of Od

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
182
HP 40
ATK 43
SPD 41
DEF 36
RES 22

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 17 9 10 9 4
Middle 18 10 11 10 5
High 19 11 12 11 6

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 36 39 38 33 19
Middle 40 43 41 36 22
High 43 46 45 39 25

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.
HPATKSPDDEFRES

Skill Sets

Best Dad Ever (Surge Sparrow Nuke / Base Skills)

Build by MackerelPye
Recommended
Rein Sword+ (+Spd)
Alternate: Armorsmasher+ (+Spd)
A Surge Sparrow
Positional Assist B Null Follow-Up 3
Glimmer
Alternate: Luna
C Joint Drive Atk
Alternate: Drive Spd 2
IVs

+SPD or +ATK / -HP or -DEF or -RES

SHeavy Blade 3 / Flashing Blade 3
Alternate: Atk/Spd Solo 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Assets/Flaws: +SPD or +ATK

Weapon: Rein Sword+ (+Spd) / Armorsmasher+ (+Spd)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Bonfire / Luna / Glimmer 

Passive A: Surge Sparrow

Passive B: Null Follow-Up

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Drive Atk / Drive Spd / Time's Pulse / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade / Heavy Blade / Fury / Blade Session / Atk/Spd Solo / Swift Sparrow

  • It would be an honest disservice to recommend anything crazy or expensive other than pretty much everything Galzus comes with. Surge Sparrow, Null Follow-Up, and Rein Sword are, after all, extremely valuable skills that other units would (and definitely WILL) kill for while having nifty synergy together. The rest of the build simply fills out remaining slots and capitalizes on the nice offensive strengths the original kit offers.
  • Galzus has the honor of introducing Rein Sword to the game, and he's no slouch at using it effectively himself as it increases his offensive strengths by lowering the enemy's Spd and Def by a hefty -5. It can even be used to help other allies in their own combat, as the sword's Rein effect isn't limited to Galzus's own fighting and can be easily applied to opposing units as long as he parks himself within two spaces of them. 
    • As Save units become more commonplace, however, you can opt to run Armorsmasher as another low-investment option for armored riddance. Though inferior to Rein Sword against anything else, it's worth the consideration as it more frequently secures kills against some seriously dangerous threats (read: Fallen Edelgard), especially when combined with Null Follow-Up.
  • Surge Sparrow grants +7 Atk and Spd upon initiation, and if this wasn't enough of a clear keeper, it even heals based on whichever Special Galzus has. Though it only kicks in when initiating, the healing goes a long way as there are no other forms of sustain present on the build, and it's simply neat giving him some longevity in case of multiple battles.
  • Null Follow-Up is seriously a great counterplay skill all-around, especially considering the current climate of enemy units with follow-up manipulation effects. Replace at your own expense.
  • Though Luna is great at dispatching high Def threats and comes conveniently packaged in Galzus's kit, it's technically negatively impacted by Rein Sword's Def drop, so there's a couple of  alternatives. In short, Bonfire reliably scales well off of that nice base 36+ Def, and Glimmer is a good option for its shorter two cooldown and if you're confident about doing high damage
  • You have a few options in the Sacred Seal: 
    • One of the Blade skills, whether it be Flashing or Heavy, helps Galzus trigger his Special in a timely amount of actions, generally making him more threatening and allowing for Surge Sparrow's healing to kick in sooner.
    • Otherwise, you can simply opt to stack Galzus's offenses even higher with a variety of good choices here, including Fury, Atk/Spd Solo, and Blade Session.
  • Like any unit, Galzus of course appreciates a number of high-investment C slot options you're able to offer. A couple of notables include Time's Pulse for even better Special frequency and Joint Drive Atk to further stack on Rein Sword's mutual-supportive nature. If you're not down to put a few bucks here for any reason, you can run accessible support alternatives like Drive Atk or Spd.

POV: You Didn't Respect the Turn Limit At Munster (Galeforce)

Build by MackerelPye
Recommended
Ninja Katana+
Alternate: Rein Sword+ (+Spd)
A Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot
Alternate: Heavy Blade 4 / Flashing Blade 4
Positional Assist B Wings of Mercy 3
Alternate: Null Follow-Up 3
Galeforce C Time's Pulse 3
Alternate: Spd Smoke 3
IVs

+SPD or +ATK

SHeavy Blade 3 / Flashing Blade 3
Alternate: Blade Session 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Ninja Katana+ / Rein Sword+ (+Spd) 

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Galeforce

Passive A: Surge Sparrow / Flashing or Heavy Blade 

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / Null Follow-Up / Close Call / Frenzy / Desperation

Passive C: Time's Pulse / Joint Drive Spd / Savage Blow / Spd Smoke / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade / Heavy Blade / Blade Session / Swift Sparrow

  • Like all Atk/Spd-strong infantry melee, Galzus can specifically outfit himself for a dedicated Galeforce build to chain multiple actions in one turn. 
  • The usual recommendations for this sort of setup then universally apply no matter the build: 
    • You must run a Blade skill to optimally trigger Galeforce within a single combat. Generally speaking, it's easier to pick out slower foes using Flashing Blade. The easiest and cheapest way to fill this requirement is simply putting it in the Sacred Seal.
    • A high-grade offensive boost like Galzus's default Surge Sparrow should serve to supplement the Blade skill as well as his natural offensive might. Though Galeforce grossly ignores Surge's healing effect, that's really not needed on this build and you generally can't get better than its Atk/Spd +7 boost. 
    • Ninja Katana+ strikes with two weaker hits in a row and further increases Galzus's Spd by 4. Generally this means safer initiations — as long as Galzus gets the KO before the enemy can counterattack — in addition to easier Flashing Blade procs. Lacking this, Rein Sword is a great default to fall back on as it technically yields better Flashing Blade trigger potential as well as damage. In exchange, however, there's more risk involved as Galzus may accidentally one-shot kill (therefore not fulfilling the two hits required to get off Galeforce) and expose himself to possible lethal counterattacks. 
    • Time's Pulse (or other outsourced forms of Pulse support) is pretty much essential to lessen the otherwise long cooldown of Galeforce to a more manageable 4 CD. With one charge taken care of, it will only take two Blade-powered hits to trigger Galeforce, rather than requiring a counterattack. If you're able to outsource this or don't have it at the moment, you're free to run a variety of Smoke- or Joint Drive-type skills to stir matchups in your team's favor. 
  • Generally speaking, there's three flavors of this build depending on the B slot:
    • Wings of Mercy / Aether Raids Offense: This is meant to be used in conjunction with other allies built as Wings of Mercy beacons. As long as said allies have low-enough HP, Galzus can teleport next to them regardless of distance and continue a chain of attacks.
    • Close Call OR Hit-and-Run / Hit and Run build: Plays it safer than other builds as the one-space stepback from Close Call and Hit-and-Run may enable partial or a completely full escape after Galzus is finished with his combat. 
    • Null Follow-Up OR Frenzy OR Desperation / Generalist: Null Follow-Up comes by default on Galzus and may assist with otherwise difficult matchups due to the enemy running follow-up manipulation skills. Alternatively, Frenzy (or its budget variant Desperation) prioritizes Galzus's second strike once he's below a certain HP threshold, allowing him to make even safer KOs and fearing counterattacks significantly less.

Strengths

An Underdogged Low-Investment Wonder

Though cursed with the burdens of blood and battle, the fallen prince of Rivough avoids the unfortunate and memetic fate of Eyvel with significant distance. That is, despite his status as a generic swordsweilding unit, Galzus actually has a lot to offer as an individual unit once you pull him:

  • Fantastic Default Kit: Galzus impresses with a base kit worthy of his former title, coming in with Surge Sparrow, Null Follow-Up, and the newly-released and undoubtedly soon-to-be-standard Rein Sword. Generally, being able to boost his offenses so heavily while having a form of healing and offensive counterplay, Galzus is actually quite above and beyond servicable from the get-go. Alternatively, if that's not in your cards, you can simply teach another sword and/or infantry unit some high-value tricks of his trade through inheritance.
  • Competitive Statline: With 43 Atk and 41 Spd backed by the offensive swings of skills and weaponry like refined Rein Sword, Galzus shouldn't have any actual issue keeping up with even his PRF competitors while weilding great offensive strength against the rest of the unit pool. His bulk of 40 / 36 / 22 is also generally workable, owing to the fact that new generation infantry units tend to have lots of stat points to give out.

Infantry Goodies

Galzus's general stat flexibility and access to his default Null Follow-Up and other highly-beneficial skills such as Time's Pulse and the Dodge skill line is all thanks to his infantry status.

Weaknesses

Lacks Unique Skills

Though a great fighter that can keep up with other fast sword units on his own, Galzus is inherently held back by a lack of unique qualities to himself. Unfortunately, a lot of competitors in his class can stuff a lot of effects — including cooldown acceleration, spectrum stats, the ability to counterattack distantly, damage reductionNull Follow-Up, true damage, and even Vantage — into one blade, whereas Galzus ultimately has to deal with just running great but objectively humble inheritables (though refinery-added bulk and Speed does help mitigate the average comparison).

Only Sufficient Bulk

Without the help of damage reductive skills or well-timed Surge Sparrow heals, Galzus's only-workable defenses are generally pretty easy to chunk out. Like most others in his archetype, he isn't particularly taken to continuous magical assault due to lower Res. 

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Sword
Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
50 1 6
Steel Sword
Learns by default at 2 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
100 1 8
Rein Sword

Inflicts Spd/Def-5 on foes within 2 spaces during combat.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
200 1 10
Rein Sword+

Inflicts Spd/Def-5 on foes within 2 spaces during combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
300 1 14
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
New Moon

Treats foe's Def/Res as if reduced by 30% during combat.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 3
Luna

Treats foe's Def/Res as if reduced by 50% during combat.

Unlocks at 4 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Darting Blow 1

If unit initiates combat, grants Spd+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
50
A
Swift Sparrow 1

If unit initiates combat, unit granted Atk/Spd+2 during battle.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
120
A
Swift Sparrow 2

If unit initiates combat, unit granted Atk/Spd+4 during battle.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
A
Surge Sparrow

If unit initiates combat, grants Atk/Spd+7 to unit during combat, and also, if unit deals damage to foe using a Special, restores HP = X% of unit's max HP (X = unit's max Special cooldown count value × 20, + 10; max 100). (Triggers even if 0 damage is dealt.)

Restricted to melee units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
A
Null Follow-Up 1

At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 1 ★
60
B
Null Follow-Up 2

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 50%, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 2 ★
120
B
Null Follow-Up 3

Neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.

Infantry Units Only
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
B

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

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