- Default
- Attack
- Special
- Injured




Gharnef - Dark Pontifex |
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Hero Stats
Stat Variations
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 15 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 5 |
Middle | 16 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 6 |
High | 17 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 7 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 34 | 26 | 31 | 23 | 20 |
Middle | 38 | 30 | 34 | 27 | 23 |
High | 41 | 33 | 37 | 30 | 26 |
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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This unit requires use of Trait Fruits to get access to IVs
Skill Sets
Imhullu! (Support)
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Imhullu | A | Fort. Def/Res 3 Alternate: Fury 3 |
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Reposition | B | Chill Atk 3 |
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Bonfire Alternate: Iceberg |
C | Spd Ploy 3 |
IVs | +ATK or +SPD / -RES | S | Quick Riposte 3 |
- Weapon: Imhullu
- Assist: Reposition
- Special: Bonfire / Iceberg / Moonbow
- Passive A: Fort Def/Res /Fury / Mirror Stance
- Passive B: Chill Atk
- Passive C: Spd Ploy / Flexible
- Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Res Ploy / Distant Def
Gharnef’s unique tome, Imhullu, has an interesting effect in that it doesn’t really do much outside of a specific turn (turn 3). As a result, Gharnef is best delegated to a support role while wielding it as his combat performance isn’t particularly impressive otherwise.
Gharnef’s choice of Special is dependent on player choice. Bonfire and Iceberg will do nearly the same amount of damage due to Gharnef’s defenses being nearly identical while wielding Imhullu. They are best utilized if using the Quick Riposte Seal in order to ensure that Gharnef will be able to double. However, if Gharnef is able to avoid getting doubled then Bonfire/Iceberg will not activate. This is more likely to happen if Gharnef is able to land Spd Ploy and/or receives buff support from his team; in this case, Moonbow is the best choice.
Fort Def/Res is a high-investment choice that capitalizes on Gharnef’s decent bulk while also boosting his Resistance high enough that he can be a suitable candidate to use Ploys. If Fort Def/Res is unavailable, then Fury is a good budget option since it also increases his Resistance for Ploys. Otherwise, Gharnef’s base Mirror Stance is acceptable, though it makes him a poor user of Ploys; it’s best to use a different C skill (and possibly Seal) in this case.
Chill Atk and Spd Ploy are both fantastic debuffs that can both increase Gharnef’s own combat capabilities as well as offer team support. Spd Ploy can easily be swapped out for any other C skill to suit the team, however. For Seals, Quick Riposte is excellent for ensuring that Gharnef can double if he ever gets into combat; otherwise, a Ploy like Res Ploy is a good option. If Ploys are not being used, then Distant Def is a good choice to make Gharnef even more tanky against ranged threats.
Blades of Darkness (Offensive Nuke)
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Rauðrblade+ | A | Atk/Spd Solo 3 Alternate: Fury 3 |
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Reposition Alternate: Ardent Sacrifice |
B | Desperation 3 Alternate: Chill Atk 3 |
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Glimmer Alternate: Draconic Aura |
C | Odd Spd Wave 3 |
IVs | +ATK or +SPD / -RES | S | Speed +3 |
- Weapon: Rauðrblade+
- Assist: Reposition / Ardent Sacrifice
- Special: Glimmer / Draconic Aura
- Passive A: Atk/Spd Solo / Fury / Swift Sparrow / Life and Death / Brazen Atk/Spd
- Passive B: Desperation / Swordbreaker / Chill Atk
- Passive C: Odd Spd Wave / Flexible
- Sacred Seal: Speed +3 / Heavy Blade / Flashing Blade
Statwise, Gharnef is fairly similar to Tharja; he has slightly less Attack and no access to IVs, but does have slightly higher bulk. This means that he can run a standard Blade tome set for maximum damage output. Any Assist skill will work, but Ardent Sacrifice may be worth considering to more safely drop Gharnef’s HP to reach thresholds for skills like Brazen Atk/Spd or Desperation.
Glimmer is an excellent Special for Blade tome users due to its damage scaling off the bonus damage gained from buffs. Alternatively, Draconic Aura is a bit more reliable at the cost of having a higher cooldown; it’s best paired with either the Heavy Blade or Flashing Blade Seals to help mitigate this.
Gharnef’s A skill is very important source of stats for a Blade tome build. Atk/Spd Solo is generally the best option for offensive units due to offering a strong +6/+6 boost to Attack and Speed with little downside - the lack of adjacency requirement is easy to meet for an offensive unit. Fury is a good budget option that also works well with Gharnef’s decent bulk by bolstering it further. Swift Sparrow is a decent option if available since Gharnef doesn’t really need the extra bulk from Fury to survive a single hit from most non-blue enemies. Life and Death or Brazen Atk/Spd are both aggressive options that are best combined with Ardent Sacrifice in order to safely circumvent their downsides, both of which make it significantly more dangerous for Gharnef during his first combat.
Desperation is the standard B skill for Blade tome sets to maximize offensive power. Alternative options include Swordbreaker to help ensure doubles against speedy sword units (watch out for units with instant Specials like Ayra or Zelgius as they can easily KO Gharnef in one hit) or Gharnef’s base Chill Atk for a bit more utility.
Gharnef’s C skill is entirely up to preference, but the Wave skills such as Odd Spd Wave are fantastic for ensuring that he has access to buffs to fuel his Blade tome.
For Seals, Speed +3 is always a good choice as most of Gharnef’s damage output depends on him being able to double his opponents. Heavy Blade or Flashing Blade are both decent options if wanting to run a higher cooldown Special like Draconic Aura.
Strengths
Imhullu
Gharnef’s main distinguishing trait is his unique tome, Imhullu. It’s a bit gimmicky, but when properly utilized can allow a player to quickly and easily wipe out an enemy team in a single turn due to how devastating an inability to counterattack can be.
Decent Bulk
Aside from his tome, the only thing Gharnef really has going for him is his decent bulk. This makes him surprisingly survivable, though it takes some work to get his Resistance high enough that he can be a decent Ploy user.
Weaknesses
Gimmicky
While Imhullu’s effect can be devastating for the turn it activates, it basically does nothing for every other turn. This means that if the player doesn’t make the most of turn 3 while using Gharnef, then he’s reduced to a mage with unimpressive stats who is using a slightly stronger Bolganone+ tome.
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Imhullu | A | Close Counter |
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Reciprocal Aid | B | Special Spiral 3 |
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Growing Wind | C | Savage Blow 3 |
S | Darting Blow 3 |
"Castles broken, entire armies torn asunder, such is the power of the Dark Pontifex. Every knee shall bend, every tongue be still, for no shield can be raised against the mighty Imhullu. No land shall be spared from the wrath of Gharnef"
A more aggressive take on the support role with team-wide damage potential worthy of the Dark Pontifex himself. Special Spiral 3 makes Growing Wind (or any aoe special of your choice, though I do recommend either Growing Wind or Growing Light to synergize better with Imhullu) a reliable source of damage that, when combined with Savage Blow 3, can significantly soften up the enemy team for your other units, and Close Counter and Darting Blow 3 seal help charge his special faster. I recommend either Reciprocal Aid or Ardent Sacrifice for some nice healing, but any assist skill will do. And of course Imhullu needs no explaination, and when paired with Savage Blow and an aoe special you can deal some serious unblockable damage to the entire enemy team.
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Imhullu | A | Close Counter |
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Draw Back | B | Vantage 3 |
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Luna | C | Atk Smoke 3 |
S | Close Def 3 |
Close Counter Build
Weapon: Imhullu. Because if you aren't using this, you aren't using Gharnef.
Special: flexible. Moonbow or Luna preferred to punch through higher RES enemies. Bonfire/Iceburg work too
A: CC, because CC set
B: Vantage, QR or native Chill ATK. QR might not be needed to double
C: ATK Smoke. standard Tank C slot
S: Close Defense or Brazen ATK/DEF for more stats.
Gharnef has an odd statline to work with and a LOT of competition both from Red Mages in general, and Grail units.
so what does Gharnef have going for him? What makes him stand out?
Dat Art mostly.
Statwise? high SPD and passable Defenses. his Mixed bulk is surprisingly good. Unlike Sophia, this comes primarily from denying doubles.
Epic Voicework
and of course, Imhullu.
Imhullu is an amazing tome, but it's purely a teamfight weapon and doesn't do much for Gharnef himself. So my first thoughts for remaining slots are Chills, Sabotages and Smokes. Good thing he comes with Chill ATK already. He can shut down entire teams once Spoopy Turn starts so supporting the team by crippling them further is an easy choice.
Having said that, he is far from useless on his own, Merges and flowers can have him starting at 40+ SPD before buffs.
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Rauðrblade+ | A | Brazen Def/Res 3 |
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Ardent Sacrifice | B | Vantage 3 |
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Glimmer | C | Odd Def Wave 3 |
S | Defense +3 |
Relatively new player here, this build that i thought up of is mainly meant for gharnef to survive enemy his enemy phase while using vantage as a mean for him to nuke his opponents considering he has an "ok" bulk for a tome unit.
Ardent sacrifice is used to proc him into vantage and brazen range.
Brazen def/res will further boost his survivability while at the same time providing a +12 Atk thanks to the blade tome, alternatively brazen spd/res could also work if you want him to counterattack in enemy phases.
Vantage is there to make sure he lands at least a hit when attacked.
Odd def wave further boosts his defense by 6 as well as another 6 attack thanks to his blade tem once again. Alternatively Odd Res wave can be substituted.
Then finally, we have a resistance/defense seal once again for added tankiness and the free 3 atk boost that comes from the tome.
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Imhullu | A | Darting Stance 3 |
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Swap | B | Chill Atk 3 |
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Growing Flame | C | Spd Smoke 3 |
S | Distant Def 3 |
I enjoy building strange builds so here's another one.
With it Gharneif can become nice mixed tank thanks to his prf tome and stat line he can become nice supporting and cheerleading unit for AA. With this skill set he can reach 40/33/32 spd/def/res wich is nice stat line considering that he will debuff enemy's atk and spd stat, in that case he can reach 38/44/47/40/39 hp/atk/spd/def/res. (note that chill atk debuffs emeny units who has highest atk stat)
As for special i chose Aoe special to get more splash damage wich will make him a better supporting unit and will work nicely with his tome's effect.
Weapon Skills
Weapons | SP | Rng. | Mt. |
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![]() Red Tome Users Only
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50 | 2 | 4 |
![]() Learns by default at 3 ★ Unlocks at 2 ★ Red Tome Users Only
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100 | 2 | 6 |
![]() Learns by default at 4 ★ Unlocks at 3 ★ Red Tome Users Only
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200 | 2 | 9 |
![]() Learns by default at 5 ★ Unlocks at 5 ★ Non-Inheritable skill.
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400 | 2 | 14 |
Special Skills
Special Skills | SP | Turns |
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![]() Learns by default at 4 ★ Unlocks at 3 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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100 | 4 |
![]() Unlocks at 4 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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200 | 4 |
Passive Skills
Passive Skills | SP | Slot |
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![]() Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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50 | A |
![]() Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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120 | A |
![]() Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★ |
240 | A |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★ |
60 | B |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★ |
120 | B |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★ |
240 | B |
Other Info
Origin |
Fire Emblem Heroes
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
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Banners Featured In
None