Groom Hinata

Weapon: Huge Fan+ (+Atk) / Slaying Hammer+ (+Atk) / Slaying Axe+ (+Atk)

Assist: Reposition / Flexible

Special: Ignis / Moonbow / Bonfire

Passive A: Atk/Def Solo / Death Blow / Atk/Def Bond / Brazen Atk/Def

Passive B: Special Spiral / Lull Atk/Def

Passive C: Infantry Pulse / Atk Smoke / Def Smoke / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Death Blow / Brazen Atk/Def / Atk/Def Bond / Equivalent Stances

• A more offensive approach certainly isn't off the table as Hinata's great neutral base 37 Attack and default Huge Fan (which offers a substantial additional Attack boost if Hinata has got a bonus on himself) can be further built on.
  • A build that focuses less on melee baiting and more on single hit damage output (meaning Hinata can flexibly initiate himself if required) is thusly more than doable.
• Death Blow in the A slot skill or Sacred Seal or both is one method of improving Hinata's player phase performance in particular. Should Hinata have access to Atk/Def Solo, however, that should be run instead to improve dual-phase performance with an easy condition. While Atk/Def Bond does a similar job and is easily available as a default kit skill and Sacred Seal, there tend to be times where ally adjacency isn't an ideal option. Brazen Atk/Def is a similar option with slightly more potency but requires setup.
• Special Spiral and Lull Atk/Def are two ideal options that improve Hinata's Special and non-Special performance respectively.
  • In particular, Special Spiral combos well with Huge Fan or Slaying Axe to help Hinata charge higher-cooldown Specials—Ignis and Bonfire in particular—at much more acceptable timings.
• As always, Slaying Hammer is an option for those who plan to mainly use Hinata in Coliseum settings due to the abundance of armored units.
• Hinata can also use his huge resulting HP stat and Infantry Pulse to support other infantry units in prechaging their own Specials turn 1, but the C slot is otherwise flexible.

Weapon: Guard Axe+ (+Def) / Slaying Axe+ (+Def) / Huge Fan+ (+Def) / Slaying Hammer+ (+Def)

Assist: Reposition / Swap

Special: Bonfire / Ignis / Aether

Passive A: Distant Foil / Sturdy Stance / Steady Stance / Breath skill / Heavy Blade 4

Passive B: Wrath / Lull Atk/Def / Quick Riposte

Passive C: Atk Smoke / Time's Pulse

Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Heavy Blade / Stance or Bond skills

• Like all units, Hinata can also opt for a posher form in the form of a higher-investment kit. The most notable change here includes a wider selection of axe weapons and A-slot skills depending on your needs.
  • Guard Axe, for instance, delays his opponent's Special charge, meaning those without Special acceleration skills of their own cannot hope to win fair fights by eventually fully charging their Special skill. The effect can be substituted by any high-tier Stance skill, though the Axe is more accessible through free units.
  • Slaying Axe brings a more standard take on the enemy phase axe unit archetype. It is comparable to Hinata's default Huge Fan as it quickens Special activation by permanently reducing cooldown by 1, though Hinata loses out on the extra Atk/Def offered by activating Huge Fan's effect (through visible bonuses).
  • As armor units are annoyingly common in Coliseum environments, you may enjoy the extra bite Slaying Hammer brings to such environments as Hinata benefits from quicker matchups.
  • Distant Foil is effectively an upgrade over Hinata's base Atk/Def Bond; it provides the same amount of bonuses and the ability to counterattack against Bow and Dagger users, especially the ever-oppressive Legendary Chrom.
• Depending on the presence of certain Special reduction skills (Wrath, Slaying Axe, Huge Fan, Infantry Rush, etc), Defense-based Specials Ignis and Bonfire will usually be Hinata's go-toes, whereas Aether allows for good sustainability but requires true acceleration. Several combinations are as follows:
  • Slaying Axe + Breath skill + Bonfire: instantly activate Bonfire on any non-Guarded counterattack.
  • Huge Fan+ Blade skill + Quick Riposte+ Aether: a relatively budget method of activating Aether in a single round without help from a Breath skill, as Huge Fan and some form of Blade (Infantry Rush, Heavy Blade seal, etc) will work in tandem with each other.
  • Huge Fan + Time's Pulse + Bonfire: similar to the first combination, Hinata relies on the initial reduction from Time's Pulse at the start of the phase to activate Bonfire after just one enemy hit.
  • Heavy Blade + Huge Fan + Most Specials: emulates the Breath effect by having the cooldown acceleration of both Huge Fan (work usually only on enemy hits) and Heavy Blade (player hits) work in tandem.

Weapon: Huge Fan+ (+Def)

Assist: Reposition / Reciprocal Aid

Special: Noontime / Moonbow / Bonfire

Passive A: Atk/Def Bond / Sturdy Stance

Passive B: Quick Riposte / Guard / Renewal

Passive C: Close Guard / Atk Smoke / Atk or Def-based Wave skills

Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Bond / Renewal / Fierce Stance / Steady Stance

• Hinata's gifted with some already nice and useful default skills, meaning not much investment is required to get him up and running at all. Thus, users needing a quick but easy build for his Tempest Trials and other content can utilize him on the field as a solid melee bait option.
• Huge Fan is already a very solid weapon as-is; it is essentially a lite version of Breath skills, allowing Hinata to build up his Specials quickly on enemy attacks while also benefitting from a nice Atk/Def +4. While these benefits are locked behind a condition, said condition is fairly easy to activate: Hinata can benefit from another ally's buff more often than not, or can simply use his own (through a Wave skill or more expensive alternative) if this isn't the case.
  • The weapon's added Special acceleration allows 2 CD Specials such as Moonbow and Noontime to activate instantly after any enemy attack. For more standardized damage, Bonfire get huge damage potential after calculating Hinata's great resulting Defense.
• Sticking with Atk/Def Bond as Hinata's A slot skill means he can doubly reward himself for adhering to its adjacency conditions (for +10 in-combat Atk and Def) by also utilizing it as his Sacred Seal. In preferential situations where adjacency isn't an option, Sturdy Stance can be used instead. As far as other Seal options are concerned, anything that helps in damage output or survivability (examples being Renewal, Fierce Stance, or Steady Stance) helps Hinata do the job.
• Hinata lacks a default B slot option, so the choice there comes down to a matter of playstyle. Quick Riposte provides an additional counterattack which allows Hinata to close matchups more often, whereas Guard or Renewal deal with long-winded matchups in their own way.
• Close Guard is a relatively rare and useful support skill that helps other allies tank attacks themselves. It can be replaced with a budget-friendly Smoke or Wave skill for improving Hinata's own tankability or allowing him to self-sufficiently activate his Huge Fan's effects.