Henry

Fun fact: according to AR replays, my Henry has now survived Tiny Hands McGee making a beeline for him multiple times.

Preferred IVs: +Atk, +def/ -spd
Weapon: Loyal Wreath (+def)
Assist: Reposition/ literally anything but Reciprocal Aid
Special: Sol/Bonfire/Ignis
Passive A: Brazen Atk/Def OR Brazen Def/Res
Passive B: Seal Atk/ Chill Atk/ Guard
Passive C: Threaten Atk
Sacred Seal: Brazen Atk/Res OR Brazen Atk/Def

Stats with all buffs activated, summoner support and attack boon/speed bane (if I calculated it right):
52/54/24/48/37

Who likes Henry? I like Henry. FEH made him terrible. Now, after about half a year of experimenting with whatever came to mind, this is what I have to show for it. I have absolutely no regrets.

One thing to note: my Henry is +1 merged and summoner supported because I am a crazy person. Results may vary due to this. Stats are stated as if unmerged but summoner supported (but please do excuse anything I might’ve calculated wrong due to the one merge, too). Let’s do this.

Anyways. Henry has absolutely ridiculous defence, so we’re going to jack that up as far as we can. Speed is unsalvageable here, but we can, at least, push his attack over 50. This set is basically designed for Henry to sit in front of your team and face-tank whatever comes his way while Repositioning allies out of harm, as well as deal more than 0 damage when he hits something.

Boon and bane are chosen because of two factors: I was lucky enough to get a +Atk, and because I want a more offensive role. Defense boon is great, too, for maximum wall. HP bane is acceptable, but cuts into tankiness.

You’ll need double Brazen for this, though which ones run up to personal preference. I use Atk/Def in A slot and Atk/Res for Sacred Seal, but you could also run Brazen Atk/Def to further bolster that ridiculous defense stat. I use Atk/Res to allow Henry to survive one or two magical hits.

B and C slots both debuff the enemy’s attack to heighten Henry’s effective bulk. I’m not sure which skill would work better in B slot, but I’m currently using the Seal skill so. Um. Take of that what you will.

Sol as a special may seem counterintuitive to the whole point of the Brazens, but I’ve found it increases survivability by quite a lot in case of lance users. Daylight doesn’t heal enough in my experience, though it might work for someone else. I don’t know. Bonfire or Ignis totally works, though, if one is looking for sheer damage output, because Henry’s defense is effectively 45 (48 with Loyal Wreath) with one active brazen def and 52 (55) with two. Personally, I’ve switched between Sol and Ignis depending on situation.

Weapon can also be owltome for even more buffs if set up correctly, but owltome has less base might and requires more positioning. Since the rest of my team is usually super squishy and either yeeting across the map with dancers or hiding far out of range, I find Loyal Wreath and Reposition in tandem tend to be more reliable.

But. Well. There you have it, my (hopefully not super confusing) explanation. Enjoy the murderous crow boi.

Henry needs a lot of love and a lot of care to be made viable, but he is far from a terrible unit, if you build him right.

Henry needs an Attack boon the most. Defense is his best stat by far, and despite what some might tell you the extra damage by dealt by his special is not worth having three less Attack. His bane can either go to Speed or HP. Henry isn't going to be naturally doubling anyone and refining his weapon will get the HP back so either works just fine. Don't touch his Res if you can help it.

Henry has limited effective options in terms of weaponry. His native Raudrraven+ is a great tome for a budget build, but is poor for optimization as it cannot be refined. Raudrowl+ works well with him but requires his team to hug him as much as possible (Gronnowl+ works much better on his Halloween variant). Raudrblade can help boost his attack if you get him a buffer like Eirka or Ephraim, but again that is relying on the placement of units. Not to mention, the extra special charge isn't doing him any favors. Candelabra+ works great but is very limited. In my opinion, his best choice of weapon is Keen Raudrwolf+, which is easy enough to attain if you have the resources to promote Raigh and refine it after transferring to Henry. It doesn't require him to have allies adjacent to him, it can be refined, and it has good might, as well as giving him an advantage over cavalry units.

For refinement, I recommend Resistance if you're playing the long game, as I have. His defense is already very high, and with merges both will get higher. A Res bonus makes Henry into a great mixed tank, sporting an impressive 30+ in both defensive stats when Fury is applied, unmerged. However, if you're not going to buff him up in levels or Summoner support, it might be wise to increase his Defense even more. If Horse Emblem is giving you trouble, Nullify Cavalry has its uses.

As a mixed tank, Henry uses Reposition quite well. You're going to want him to be taking the brunt of most attacks to charge his special and to protect squishier units. Swap can work well too, as does Pivot if you like playing it a bit more risky.

Bonfire is a must for Henry. While Ignis lets him hit extensively hard, its charge time can be too long to prove useful. Bonfire adds a respectable 17 damage to his attacks with this build, unmerged. Luna can act as a decent substitute, having the same charge time with a good effect for someone with low attack such as Henry. However, those playing the long game definitely want Bonfire.

A skill should definitely be Fury 3. Henry needs all the buffs he can get, and Fury 3 increases his attack even more while making him even more tanky, with a bonus of patching his bad speed slightly. There really is no alternative. For those playing the long game, Close Counter should be substituted at around +2 or +3 with no Summoner Support, and around +5 with Summoner Support (the increased stats make Henry even tankier with Fury and thus more effective). However, due to the rarity of the skill, Fury 3 is still very viable.

B skill should be Swordbreaker 3. Henry's attack is too low to oneshot and his speed is too low to double naturally. Swordbreaker will allow Henry to double the biggest demographic of unit in the game, many of which come with very low Resistance and very high Speed, effectively countering Swordmasters. His native Green Tomebreaker can help deal with quick green mages like Nino and Soren, but ultimately limits his overall killing power. Quick Riposte can work for a more Enemy-Phase Henry, but I find that Swordbreaker still works better for that too.

C skill is very flexible. Tailor it to your team's needs. With that being said, if you're willing to fodder an Ishtar, Odd Attack Wave 3 helps Henry a lot.

Sacred Seal should be Attack +3. Henry needs the attack, enough said. Panic Ploy can work well too, provided you don't have an HP bane. Still, boosting his Attack is the crux of making Henry viable.

With this build, Henry can take out many key threats, even when unmerged. All Red, Green, and Colorless cavalry units fall rather easily Henry, most notably being able to oneshot Brave Lyn, Green Olwen, and can double both Reinhardts to death when initiating. Blue cavs are a bit trickier. Henry can still be defeated by Camus, Ephraim, L'arachel, and others relatively easily. He also takes out most swords very easily thanks to Swordbreaker. He fares well against archers (barring Magic Sponge Innes), less so against dagger users like Halloween Sakura, Sothe, and anyone with half-decent attack and a poison dagger. He does well against greens, being able to take most of them out. However, the more dangerous ones such as Valentine Hector, male Grima, etc can still beat him.

Henry's greatest threats are red and blue mages, which he is beat by in most cases. All three Tharjas, Julius, Celica, both Morgans, Lute, basically every other blue mage barring Reinhardt, Olwen, and Robin, etc.

In conclusion, while Henry won't be steamrolling the meta any time soon, he is certainly salvageable. He can take out the majority of units with this build, becoming a decent magic attacker with a bulky defensive spread. With merges, he becomes even stronger, and anyone thinking of merging and S Supporting Henry should definitely go for it in my opinion. He has been on my arena team for months now and has been a staple of it. While he may perform a bit better with the "optimal" Raudrowl+ build, this hinges on him being next to multiple allies. This build allows Henry to go out and wreck the enemy independently.

Henry's +iv for defense gives him 35 without any buffs which is high for a mage and the - iv for speed doesn't change affect Henry very much.

Reposition is a good assist but can be subsitiuted for whatever the player wants.

Ignis is used to make Henry get some wins that may be more difficult but Bonfire could work, however due to Henry's low attack this could be problematic.

A-skill is obviously Triangle Adapt, to insure Henry can deal damage while also tanking green mages and bow units pretty well.

B-skill as Quick Riposte aids Henry as a defensive mage, allowing for doubles and earlier use of Ignis.

C-skill being Threaten Atk is mainly to aid Henry in surviving while also helping his allies. However this is very flexible depending on the team.

As for seal, Distant Defense works wonderfully with Henry, giving him 41 Defense and 31 Resistance, further making Henry a decent mage.

-Triangle Adept for dealing more demage against green and colorless units
-Green Tomebreaker for doubling green tomeusers
-Fortify Def to boost allies DEF
-Ignus to deal more demage with activation skill, he has very high DEF after all

IVs: +Def -Spd

Henry is a unique unit in a class of his own, being the one mage in heroes with the highest HP and Defense in the cast, having neutral 45/32/25 (45/35/25 with given IVs) bulk. Unfortunately, he pays for it in his 23 Atk and 22 Spd (19 with given IVs), and this build is made specifically to circumvent that and make him into an unholy abomination worthy of praise from Grima himself.

With his solid physical bulk of 45/32, Henry is actually able to use Close Counter to counterattack at melee range, allowing him to duel Swords, Axes and Bows alike. Quick Riposte is his ideal B slot due to his otherwise lackluster Atk and Speed, giving him more power during enemy phase.

The real kicker of this build lies within his new weapon - Rauorblade+, which helps to mitigate his low attack by instead increasing his damage with team buffs. For example, hone combination such as that from Eirika or Ephraim (+3 atk, +4 to another stat), even without rallies that gives him an extra 10 damage, and actually makes Henry have an impactful enemy phase due to his attacks now actually doing damage. For instance, assuming Ryoma does not run Moonbow, Henry can beat a +Atk unbuffed Fury Ryoma with this setup.

The rest of the build is more or less self-explanatory. Henry's Support Skill is flexible, and so is his C Slot, though his high HP makes Panic Ploy a very appealing option, increasing the amount of targets he can take on due to them having their offense handicapped as a result. To help utilize Panic Ploy, HP +5 is the ideal seal for him, and also helps with his bulk as a whole even without the need for Panic Ploy's activation. Bonfire is the preferred special to take advantage of Henry's 35 Def, and provide a bonus 17 damage on activation. Ignis can also be used, but given it's cooldown of 5 due to Rauorblade, Bonfire will see at least some use comparatively.

This Henry build absolutely requires support in the form of Hones and/or Fortifies, so a teammate like Eirika is essential for this build to perform optimally. Hone Speed shouldn't really be necessary for this Henry outside of giving a flat 4 damage, since Henry's speed is unsalvageable anyway.

Rauorowl is an interesting option and increases his Defenses to become an even sturdier wall, though Rauorblade can somewhat rectify his painfully low attack and therefore is more valuable as a whole, while not being reliant on every team member having fixed positioning to support Henry and still being effective.