Halloween Nils

Weapon: Lantern Breath+ (+Def) / Surprise Breath+ (+Def)

Assist: Play 

Special: Escutcheon

Passive A: G Duel Infantry 4 / HP +5 

Passive B: Even Pulse Tie / Odd Pulse Tie

Passive C: Infantry Pulse 

Sacred Seal: HP +5 

• Nils’ niche as a refresher with high HP is valuable, as it allows him to use strong supportive skills better than most other refreshers. This set focuses entirely on Nils’ support, with slots that don’t grant support being dedicated to his survivability.
  • At the time of writing, no inheritable Dragon weapon has any supportive capabilities that don’t require Nils to first enter combat. Lantern Breath grants consistent survivability via inflicting -5 Atk/Res and a Guard effect on the enemy to slow Specials, while Nils’ base Surprise Breath grants him +5 Atk/Res and inflicts Atk/Res debuffs = 20% of Nils’ Res during combat. +Def refine is still chosen for Surprise Breath over +Res given that most melee enemies deal physical damage.
  • No Special grants any supportive effect as well. Escutcheon is a 2-cooldown Special that activates on a melee enemy’s attack, reducing damage taken by 30%. Assuming no Guard effect or counterattack-nullifying effect is active, Nils can activate this on the enemy’s follow-up attack if necessary, which can make the difference between surviving and being KO’d.
• G Duel Infantry 4 and HP +5 effectively achieve the same thing, with the former coming with the additional goodies of +2 to all other stats and higher Coliseum mode scoring. If using Nils for Coliseum modes, then the former is a necessity to maintain as high scoring as possible. Naturally, HP +5 is Nils’ best Sacred Seal choice.
• One of the skills that Nils’ high HP allows him to use well is Even Pulse Tie; if the enemy with the lowest HP has their Special ready, Nils’ HP is ≥ their HP +1, and it is an even turn, Nils will inflict +2 Special cooldown on them, erasing their charged Special. Odd Pulse Tie has the same effects, but works on odd turns as opposed to even turns.
  • Odd Pulse Tie is generally more useful on Aether Raids Defense, as it is likely that meta Raiding Parties will have at least one pre-charged Special that needs to be removed from the equation as soon as possible.
  • Even Pulse Tie is generally more useful on Aether Raids Offense; any pre-charged Specials on the Defense Keep will only be pre-charged on the Enemy Phase of turn 1, which is after Odd Pulse Tie would activate for the first time (forcing players to wait until turn 3, which isn’t always an available grace).
• Another skill that Nils’ high HP allows him to use well is the well-known Infantry Pulse, which grants -1 Special cooldown to allies that have less HP than him at the start of turn 1.
• For Aether Raids Defense, note that Elimine’s Staff of the Saint can shut down both Infantry Pulse and Pulse Ties.

Weapon: Surprise Breath+ (+Spd)

Assist: Play

Special: Moonbow

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot 

Passive B: Dragon’s Wrath 4 / Wings of Mercy / Null Follow-Up 

Passive C: Infantry Pulse / Atk/Spd Oath 4 

Sacred Seal: Null Follow-Up / Darting Breath / Steady Breath

• If you’re a dedicated Nils fan that wants to use him both combatively and supportively, this is the set for you! This set focuses on maximizing Nils’ damage (via boosting his Atk/Spd as much as possible) while still maintaining his supportive capabilities via Play.
• Tragically, no inheritable Dragon weapon in the game grants Spd, visible or in-combat. As such, Nils’ base Surprise Breath is actually his best weapon for maximizing damage, granting +5 Atk/Res and a debuff to the enemy’s Atk/Res = 20% of Nils’ in-combat Res.
• With no accelerated Special cooldown or boosted Special charge, low-cooldown Specials such as Moonbow are ideal for being activated as frequently as possible.
• Atk/Spd Boosting A Slots are naturally Nils’ best choices for maximizing his offensive capabilities; whichever is chosen is generally up to availability and player preference, though Atk/Spd Unity and Atk/Spd Ideal are particularly worth mentioning. The former grants +5 Atk/Spd and reverses visible Atk/Spd debuffs and panicked Atk/Spd buffs during combat if Nils is within two spaces of an ally (maximizes consistency), while the latter grants +7 Atk/Spd during combat if Nils’ HP = 100% or he has a Bonus, plus an additional +2 Atk/Spd if both conditions are met. While the HP condition for Atk/Spd Ideal will likely only be active for Nils’ first combat, the Bonus condition is very easy to achieve, which still gives +7 Atk/Spd.
• Dragon’s Wrath 4 + Null Follow-Up is a strong B + S slot combination, with the former augmenting damage and bulk and the latter significantly increasing Nils’ overall consistency via neutralizing effects that prevent Nils’ follow-up or guarantee the enemy’s follow-up.
  • Alternatively, Nils can use either Dragon’s Wrath 4 or Null Follow-Up in his B slot, then use a Breath Sacred Seal to activate a 2-cooldown Special (such as the aforementioned Moonbow) on his first counterattack, assuming no Guard effect is active.
• For a more supportive B slot, Wings of Mercy is a go-to for refreshers, allowing them to warp to spaces adjacent to allies that have ≤ 50% HP.
• Given Nils’ high HP that gets boosted by 5 via Spd-refined Surprise Breath, Infantry Pulse is a strong C slot option, granting -1 Special cooldown to allies that have less HP than him at the start of turn 1. For a more combative and mobile choice, Atk/Spd Oath is excellent with its +6 Atk/Spd visible buff at the start of the turn, +3 Atk/Spd during combat, and the Orders effect, allowing Nils to warp to spaces adjacent to allies within two spaces.