Hector (LA)

Weapon: Berserk Armads (+Eff)

Assist: Swap / flexible

Special: Bonfire / Sol / Glimmer

IVs: +Atk or +Res or +HP / -Spd

Passive A: Distant Counter

Passive B: Special Fighter / Slick Fighter / Crafty Fighter / Vengeful Fighter

Passive C: A/R Far Save / Pulse Smoke / Atk Smoke / flexible

Sacred Seal: Mystic Boost / Quick Riposte / Atk/Def Solo / Atk/Res Bond

• Berserk Armads’ refine is one of a very small number of Weapons in FEH that heal a direct percentage of the user’s HP when activating a Special, 30% in this case, in addition to several other useful effects like Slaying, Wrath, and debuffing enemy Attack and Defense. This weapon allows Hector to function well as a tank. 
• Since Berserk Armads’ healing activates when dealing damage with a special, and boosts Special damage by 10 when Hector is under 75% HP, this build seeks to activate Specials as often as possible. Bonfire can be used with some form of Special charge acceleration such as Special Fighter or support from Brave Lucina to provide a significant boost in damage from Hector’s high Defense. Sol can be used instead to provide extreme amounts of healing in combination with Berserk Armads’ healing effect, at the cost of no added power. Moonbow and Glimmer are decent alternatives to Bonfire if no Special acceleration is available. 
• Distant Counter is necessary to counterattack ranged enemies. 
• The choice of assist is flexible and the best option will depend on the team and context.
• The ideal boon is either +Atk to boost Hector’s damage further and secure more one-shots, or +Res to improve his performance against magic units. +HP can also be used, as it increases Hector’s ability to survive high damage single hits, and will almost always give him an extra point of healing from Berserk Armads (depending on the precise HP value he lands at). Hector generally does not have enough Speed to follow-up, so -Spd is the best bane. 
• Some form of guaranteed enemy-phase follow-up is highly useful for those enemies that Hector cannot one-shot. If using Special Fighter, this can be accomplished with the Quick Riposte seal. Otherwise, a B slot such as Slick Fighter or Crafty Fighter can be used. Vengeful Fighter is also an option, but generally inferior to both, as the HP threshold for activation is higher and the Special acceleration on Hector’s attacks is generally not useful.
• A/R Far Save allows Hector to step in when any of his allies within two spaces are attacked by ranged units, which can be highly useful in some situations. Pulse Smoke is a useful C slot if used in Aether Raids offense against teams with precharged specials. Atk Smoke is a decent option to reduce enemy Attack after combat if neither of the previous options are available. 
• Mystic Boost is a great choice of seal that provides a bit more healing and disables the Wrathful effect of staves, which Hector cannot counterattack if they are using Dazzling Staff or a similar effect. This improves his survivability against these units significantly. Otherwise, stat-boosting options are useful; Atk/Def Solo being useful if Hector generally will not be adjacent to allies when in combat, and Atk/Res Bond being useful if he will, such as when using A/R Far Save. 

Weapon: Berserk Armads (+Eff)

Assist: Swap / flexible

Special: Bonfire / Glimmer

IVs: +Atk or +Def / -Spd

Passive A: Fierce Breath / Atk/Def Unity / flexible

Passive B: Slick Fighter / Special Fighter / Crafty Fighter / Vengeful Fighter

Passive C: A/D Near Save / D/R Near Save

Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Bond / Close Def / Quick Riposte

• Hector’s high Attack and Defense, in combination with Berserk Armads, allow him to use A/D Near Save or D/R Near Save to protect teammates from being attacked by melee units. In particular, Berserk Armads’ refine allows him to deal extremely high damage with Specials while also healing himself by a reliable 30% of his max HP. 
• Hector’s Special, A slot, and B slot should be chosen together to allow him to activate his Special on his first counterattack, after being hit once. Bonfire is a great option for damage, and can be used with Fierce Breath, or another Breath, or Special Fighter. If none of these forms of Special charge acceleration are used, Glimmer is a lower-cooldown option that doesn’t require any acceleration and still provides decent damage. Atk/Def Unity provides good power and bulk if the A slot is not used for Special acceleration. 
• Some form of enemy-phase guaranteed follow-up also makes Hector significantly more threatening. This can be a B slot such as Slick Fighter, Crafty Fighter, or the Quick Riposte seal. Slick Fighter is somewhat of a waste if using Atk/Def Unity, since the penalty neutralization from Slick Fighter cancels out the in-combat buff from penalties in Atk/Def Unity, so Crafty Fighter is a better option in that case, with Vengeful Fighter being serviceable if neither is available.  
• +Atk boon is ideal to maximize Hector’s power on the counterattack. +Def is also an option to increase his physical bulk and slightly increase Bonfire damage. -Spd is the best bane, as Hector’s Speed is generally not useful. 
• The seal is chosen to maximize Hector’s power and bulk. Atk/Def Bond is a great option that will be active whenever Hector activates Near Save. Atk/Res Bond is also an option to shore up his weaker matchup against melee units that hit Res, such as dragons. Close Def gives him more bulk at the cost of no added power. Quick Riposte can be used to guarantee an enemy-phase follow-up if Hector is using Special Fighter, or used with a B slot that guarantees an enemy-phase follow-up to break through effects like Sturdy Impact.  

Weapon: Berserk Armads (+Eff)

Assist: Ardent Sacrifice / flexible

Special: Aether

IVs: +Atk or +Res / -Spd

Passive A: Distant Counter / Fierce Breath

Passive B: Special Spiral

Passive C: A/R Far Save / flexible

Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Quickened Pulse

• Hector can take advantage of Berserk Armads and Special Spiral to consistently fire off powerful Aethers that heal him by 50% of his damage dealt plus 30% of his maximum health. If he activates Aether in combat, its cooldown will be reduced by 2 after combat by Special Spiral, allowing him to get attacked once and activate Aether immediately on the counterattack, provided he has some form of Special charge acceleration. This is an incredible amount of potential damage and healing that few units can match. However, it is limited by requiring either a support unit like Brave Lucina with Geirskogul or a skill like Fierce Breath to provide Special charge acceleration. In addition, Hector will not activate Aether on his first counterattack in his first combat unless he receives two Pulses of some sort, such as from Quickened Pulse, Ostia’s Pulse, or Grandscratcher+, or from Berserk Armads when he is at or below 75% of his maximum HP at the beginning of a turn. 
• Quick Riposte seal is highly useful to provide Hector with a guaranteed follow-up so long as he starts combat above 70% health. This makes it much easier to activate Aether in his first combat and start activating Special Spiral. Quickened Pulse is an alternative that can be used to precharge Hector’s special before his first combat, but he must receive an additional pulse from some other source to reduce Aether’s cooldown to 2 in order to activate it on his first counterattack. This can also be accomplished by attacking an enemy on player phase.
• If Hector’s HP can be reduced to 75% or below, such as by a bolt trap or Upheaval, plus Ardent Sacrifice healing a teammate, Berserk Armads will reduce his Aether cooldown by 1 at the start of each turn. Doing this for two turns in a row will allow him to start his first combat with Aether at 2 cooldown, ready to go. Once the cooldown has been lowered adequately, Hector can be healed back to full with no loss in Special charge. 
• The choice of C slot is flexible based on what the player has available and what type of team Hector is being used on. Save skills such as A/R Far Save or A/D Near Save are highly useful in many contexts due to allowing Hector to protect his teammates while also boosting his stats when they activate. Something like Joint Drive Atk could also be used for additional power. 
• The best boon is either +Atk for even higher damage and more consistent one-shots, or +Res to shore up Hector’s weaker defensive stat and ensure he can survive long enough to activate Aether and heal. +HP is also an option, but Hector is generally much more threatened by magical units than physical, making it generally inferior to +Res. -Spd is the best bane, as Hector’s Speed is generally too low to be useful.