Table of Contents
- Default
- Attack
- Special
- Injured




Karel - Sword Demon |
---|
|
Hero Stats
Stat Variations
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low | 18 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 4 |
Middle | 19 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
High | 20 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 6 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low | 44 | 26 | 32 | 22 | 17 |
Middle | 47 | 30 | 35 | 25 | 20 |
High | 50 | 33 | 38 | 29 | 23 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Karel’s statline and personal weapon heavily favor the role of an initiator and physical duelist. As such, he enjoys raising his Attack and Speed while dropping Resistance.
Boons
-
+SPD: A boon in Speed will improve his relatively high base value of 35, giving him more longevity in both performing and avoiding follow-up attacks.
-
+ATK: Karel’s Attack is quite middling at a base value of 30, making a boon applicable in order to improve his raw damage output.
Neutral
-
DEF: Since most of Karel’s opponents will hit for physical damage, it is preferable to keep his Defense intact. However, since most of Karel’s bulk comes from his HP, a bane in Defense is still functional and helps with the activation of skills such as Wrath.
Banes
-
-RES: Resistance is the best bane that Karel can take, as he will still be sporting enough magical bulk (64) to survive at least a single hit from most green and red magical damage dealers.
- -HP: HP is another easy stat to drop. While it takes away from both his overall bulk and Panic Ploy potential, a bane in HP is easily circumvented by refining his personal weapon thanks to the passive +3 HP it provides.
Skill Sets
BATHE IN THE CRIMSON RAIN (Offensive/Special Activation)
![]() |
Nameless Blade (+Eff) | A | Life and Death 3 Alternate: Fury 3 |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reposition | B | Wrath 3 Alternate: Desperation 3 |
![]() |
Luna | C | Infantry Pulse 3 Alternate: Threaten Spd 3 |
SP | 1545 | S | Flashing Blade 3 |
-
Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK / -HP or -RES
-
Weapon: Nameless Blade (+Eff)
-
Assist: Reposition / Flexible
-
Special: Luna / Moonbow
-
Passive A: Life and Death / Fury
-
Passive B: Wrath / Desperation
-
Passive C: Infantry Pulse / Panic Ploy / Flexible
-
Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade / Panic Ploy / Quick Riposte / Speed +3
This build revolves around maximizing Karel’s damage upon activating his Special. This makes a boon in Speed the most desirable nature that Karel can receive; not only does it improve his own ability to perform follow-up attacks, but it allows him to avoid getting doubled by all but those in the highest Speed tier. A boon in also Attack makes for an acceptable choice, as it increases Karel’s raw damage output making it a more effective choice against slower bulkier opponents. In particular, this can be the deciding factor in his matchup against Fallen Hardin.
Thanks to the cooldown acceleration provided by Nameless Blade, Karel can activate powerful Specials more frequently. For the Special itself, Luna makes for a great choice by being both powerful and consistent with Karel’s middling Attack. In addition to this, it also pairs exceptionally well with the Flashing Blade Sacred Seal by allowing him to activate his Special on every other hit when in Desperation range.This allows him to perform reliably in continuous combat.
Moving on to main skills, Life and Death is the choice A skill to maximize Karel’s offensive potential. While this may take away from his already low Defense and Resistance, his survivability is hardly affected. Karel will still have a Def/Res bulk of 70/65, making him difficult to kill in a single hit. Fury makes for another great option; not only does it improve his bulk at the cost of 2 Atk/Spd compared to Life and Death, the 6 damage recoil taken after combat synergizes well with skills such as Wrath and Desperation.
On the topic of Wrath and Desperation, they are both choice options for the B slot. Wrath increases the frequency as well as the potency of Karel’s Special activations. This makes Karel’s Specials even more destructive thanks to the combination of Nameless Blade and Wrath giving him a monstrous +20 damage on activation. In exchange for the sheer damage provided by Wrath, Desperation makes for another great choice by allowing Karel to safely perform follow-up attacks on initiation without the risk of getting killed by a counterattack.
Thanks to his extraordinarily high HP pool, Karel can utilize skills such as Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy. These both provide fantastic team support, as Infantry Pulse accelerates the Special cooldown of all infantry allies with HP lower than him while Panic Ploy provides a massive advantage over teams that like to use Hone/Fortify buffs.
Karel can make very effective use of the Flashing Blade Sacred Seal thanks to his high Speed. This allows him to activate powerful Specials more frequently. If he isn’t already utilizing Panic Ploy in his C slot, it can also be run in the Sacred Seal slot. Quick Riposte is another choice that can be used to give Karel longevity against certain units that are too fast for him to double. In particular, this allows Karel to defeat opponents such as Ayra, Lucina, and Soleil in the Enemy Phase. Finally, Speed +3 is a great choice if you want to further improve Karel’s ability to perform follow-up attacks.
Nothin’ Personnel (Distant Counter)
![]() |
Nameless Blade (+Eff) | A | Distant Counter |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reposition | B | Wrath 3 Alternate: Vantage 3 |
![]() |
Glimmer | C | Infantry Pulse 3 |
SP | 1695 | S | Panic Ploy 3 |
-
Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK / -HP
-
Weapon: Nameless Blade (+Eff)
-
Assist: Reposition / Flexible
-
Special: Glimmer / Moonbow
-
Passive A: Distant Counter
-
Passive B: Wrath / Dull Ranged / Vantage
-
Passive C: Infantry Pulse / Panic Ploy / Flexible
-
Sacred Seal: Panic Ploy / Speed +3
Barring Dire Thunder and buffed Blade tomes, Karel’s magical bulk of 67 allows him to survive at least one hit from most mages. Coupled with his personal weapon and high Speed allowing him to avoid most follow-up attacks, Karel can serve as an effective ranged duelist by utilizing the skill Distant counter.
Thanks to the Special acceleration granted by Nameless Blade, Karel can bring the cooldown of Glimmer and Moonbow to only 1. This allows him to activate his Specials on his first counterattack every single time. Glimmer shines particularly in his matchups against mages due to them having lower physical bulk on average while Moonbow can be used to give Karel effectiveness against bulkier units.
Once again. Wrath is a great choice for his B skill. By gaining an additional +10 damage on Special activation, Karel will be able to swing even more matchups in his favor. Dull Ranged is another option that grants him immunity to Blade tomes by ignoring his opponent’s Hone/Fortify buffs. Finally, Vantage is another choice that can give him the potential to take out multiple opponents in the Enemy Phase assuming he has his Special ready.
Both Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy remain great choices of C skill on Karel. Infantry Pulse provides team support by accelerating the Special cooldown of infantry allies while Panic Ploy increases Karel’s overall survivability, especially against opponents that utilize Hone/Fortify buffs. As for Sacred Seals, Panic Ploy will work just as well here. Distant Defense is a great choice for this Enemy Phase oriented playstyle, as it will reduce damage taken from all ranged opponents when initiated on. Outside of that, Speed +3 further improves Karel’s survivability by allowing him to avoid more follow-up attacks.
Introduction
Thanks to weapon refinement, Karel’s blade has finally been unrestrained. Nameless Blade is a phenomenal weapon that combines the effects of Slaying Edge and Wo Dao. This gives Karel a massive boost to his damage output in both Player and Enemy Phase.
Statwise, Karel follows the Myrmidon archetype with high Speed, middling Attack, and low Def/Res. However, Karel distinguishes himself with his extraordinarily high HP pool. With it, Karel is able to utilize powerful support skills such as Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy. It also makes him deceptively bulky; with his refined weapon, Karel has a Def/Res bulk of 79/73. Coupled with his high Speed preventing follow-up attacks from most opponents, Karel can prove to be a difficult unit to take out in a single round of combat.
Karel isn’t without his flaws. At a base value of 30, Karel doesn’t hit hard with just his raw Attack. Instead, he relies on quickly activating his Specials in order to do any significant damage. Having most of your bulk in HP can also cause other issues, as no amount of Speed will stop certain follow-up attacks occurring such as when being initiated on by a unit running the skill Bold Fighter.
All in all, Karel is a very solid unit that fits well on a variety of teams thanks to his offensive prowess, fantastic personal weapon, and ability to provide support to his team by effectively utilizing skills such as Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy.
Strengths
Nameless Blade
Nameless Blade is a fantastic weapon that fits Karel’s playstyle perfectly, as it increases both the power and frequency of his Special activations.
Large HP Pool
With his refined weapon, Karel has a massive 50 HP. This allows him to effectively use skills such as Infantry Pulse and Panic Ploy in order to better support his team.
High Speed
At a solid base value of 35, Karel is able to both perform and avoid follow-up attack reliably. This can be accentuated by skills such as Fury or Life and Death depending on one’s preference.
Weaknesses
Unremarkable Attack
At a base value of 30, Karel doesn’t hit very hard with just his raw Attack alone. This makes him highly reliant on activating his Specials to do significant damage.
Special Reliant
Due to Karel’s middling Attack making him reliant on Special activation, any opponents running the skill Guard can completely mitigate Karel’s damage output.
Poor Availability
Since Karel is only available at 5* rarity, not only is it hard to get the optimal IV set, but getting additional copies of him to merge can be a challenge for most players.
![]() |
Nameless Blade (+Eff) | A | Brazen Atk/Spd 3 |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Swap | B | Wrath 3 |
![]() |
Blue Flame | C | Infantry Pulse 3 |
S | Darting Stance 3 |
This Karel is meant to optimize offensive or defensive damage during SP attack whatever the IV.
At first, his upgraded Nameless Blade is a monster since it packs both the slaying sword and Wo Dao effect in one. With such power, there is no doubt that he will always deal flat damage, but it's getting a lot funnier when you give him the Blue Flame SP. This special attack will always deals 10 flat damage or 25 flat damage when adjacent to any ally. Because of that, the Wo Dao and Blue Flame combo can sky rocks his damage output up to 35 flat damage.
His assist can be flexible, but swap is a good option to tank and protect weaker enemy phase heirs thanks to his physical bulk of 47HP.
As for Skills, you want to optimize damage output when in range of wrath 3, so his A will be Brazen Atk/Spd 3. With a boost of +7 on both Atk/Spd, he will reach a whooping 53 atk and 42 Spd, fast enough to prevent ishtar's atk speed of 46 with swift sparrow 2 and Mjolnir's darting blow effect, making it hard to double against him.
For his B skill, Wrath 3 is the most important skill of this build. The +10 flat damage and special cooldown +1 means Karel will become a monster in term of damage output. With Nameless blade, Blue Flame and Wrath 3 together, you got yourself a boost of 30 flat damage or a monstrous 45 damage when adjacent to ally when SP atk is triggered.
For his C skill, Infantry Pulse would be the best option when running a full infantry team due to his bulk. Another and expensive skill would be Odd/Even Speed Wave 3 to increase his offensive and defensive potential against fast sword unit or any fast glass cannons magic unit.
Finally for his seal, it is very flexible for what you want. For an offensive build, Brazen Atk/Def 3 would be good when in range of Wrath, or Atk/Spd bond 3 to increase his killing potential by +5 when adjacent to ally. For a more defensive build, Darting Stance 3 will prevent him from getting doubled by fast unit or any deflect seal to survive those following heroes: Reinhardt, WT Reinhardt and Brave Lyn with brave bow+.
![]() |
Nameless Blade (+Eff) | A | Life and Death 3 |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reposition | B | Desperation 3 |
![]() |
Glimmer | C | Threaten Spd 3 |
S | Speed +3 |
Hey you, you wanna go fast? Like, really fast? Look no further than this seemingly innocuous unit that is Karel. He hits some pretty crazy Spd thresholds, meaning that LnD actually works on him thanks to his Spd almost always negating doubles. Under proper circumstances he can out-speed even the mighty Brave Lyn! Desperation is there because speed and threaten speed is there because speed. Speed speed speed. Karel can go very fast indeed. Moonbow vs Glimmer is entirely dependent on player needs and wants; +10 stacks very nicely with Glimmer but Moonbow likes that extra punch to get through a couple walls.
![]() |
Nameless Blade (+Eff) | A | Life and Death 3 |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reposition | B | Desperation 3 |
![]() |
Luna | C | Infantry Pulse 3 |
S | Heavy Blade 3 |
Karel may seem unassuming at first glance. His attack stat is middling at a base value of 30, his speed is pretty above average at 35, although it won't save him from getting followed up at times without a boon, and his bulk, aside from his monstrous HP stat of 47, is pretty typical of Myrmidon/Swordmaster type units. His poor availability and competition with other 5* sword units such as Ayra and his sister, Karla, make him seem like a poor choice compared to them. All in all, Karel looks to have the makings of an underwhelming sword unit, so what makes him good? His Nameless Blade. This 16 mt sword is similar to the Hauteclare in terms of both base effect and effect refine, but that's not a bad thing. Being so special reliant, Karel takes what he can get. The Slaying and Wo Dao effect is a very powerful combination that cannot be underestimated, and Karel appreciates the extra power. Here is a special build that I use on my Karel.
The star of the show here is Nameless Blade. At base, it is basically a 16 mt Slaying Edge, but once it gains its effect refine, it will grant a flat 10 damage when the special triggers. This refine makes Karel a deadly initiator type unit, and it truly allows him to live up the name of "Sword Demon."
The assist skill is Reposition. This one is a no-brainer. As for his special, Luna is a great choice with Heavy Blade. The Nameless Blade reduces the cooldown by one, so it has the same cooldown as Moonbow without a cooldown reduction, and it also provides a more significant 50% defense cut compared to Moonbow's 30%. As long as Karel has the attack advantage, he'll almost always be able to proc Luna on the second hit with Desperation and Heavy Blade.
Karel's bases means that he usually wants to opt for Life and Death in the A slot to increase his offensive potential. As his bulk is already fairly low, reducing it further won't affect his performance much and it will allow him to reach the thresholds needed for skills like Wrath and Desperation. This being a +atk Karel, he will be able to reach a value of 54 attack with Nameless Blade and Life and Death 3 equipped, which is the minimum needed to activate Heavy Blade fairly consistently in this build.
In his B slot is Desperation. Since it already comes in his base kit, you will not need to sacrifice a Shanna for this one. This skill is the bread and butter of Karel, as he likes to proc his specials consistently when initiating, and Desperation will always guarantee a follow-up when initiating as long as he is around or under 75%. With 47 HP at base, Karel can safely reach the threshold needed to activate it.
C slots are usually flexible, but Karel can opt for something like Panic Ploy or Infantry Pulse in his C slot. In this case, I chose Infantry Pulse. Infantry Pulse will allow Karel with some much needed special cooldown reduction for any infantry allies on the first turn, so long as he has the highest HP stat on his team. Provided you take an HP bane, refine his weapon and SS him, he will reach 52 HP, which is more than enough to use the skill, and without one, he will reach 55 HP, which rivals Zephiel at base, and is 5 points off from ARDEN at base. That is a pretty impressive value. If you're on a budget, I would highly suggest running skills like Threaten Atk or Atk Smoke instead if you need to consistently activate Heavy Blade instead.
Lastly, his seal is Heavy Blade 3. This seal is greatly increases his special procs so long as he has at least a 1 point attack advantage. This is for those who have an +atk Karel, and if you happen to have a +spd Karel, Flashing Blade 3 seal may serve you better.
All in all, Karel can actually hold his own and stand with the best of them. He surprisingly requires minimal investment to shine, and with even more investment, he will have no problem felling almost any foe who crosses him. Beware the Sword Demon, lest he cut you down without a second thought.
![]() |
Nameless Blade (+Eff) | A | Fury 3 |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reposition | B | Desperation 3 |
![]() |
Luna | C | Threaten Def 3 |
S | Brash Assault 3 |
Fury 3 helps him get into desperation range easier
Desperation 3 to help him avoid getting hit
Brash assault 3
thanks to fury 3 helps him get into brash assault range
![]() |
Nameless Blade (+Eff) | A | Distant Counter |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reposition | B | Vantage 3 |
![]() |
Glimmer | C | Atk Smoke 3 |
S | Quick Riposte 3 |
This build is handmade for Karel because of his weird but useful High HP, being one of the highest hp red sword units, he can attack, deal tons of damage and tank 1 or 2 hits, then, the party start, with HP<70%, wich is 32 HP, he can hit first, twice and dealing a lot of damage with the Nameless Blade(+Eff) + Glimmer Combo, 50% Att+10 dmg, becoming one of the dangerous and hard to kill Red sword units. Atk Smoke 3 can give possibility of surviving if one of the nerfed enemies attack.
Weapon Skills
Weapons | SP | Rng. | Mt. |
---|---|---|---|
![]() Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
|
50 | 1 | 6 |
![]() Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
|
100 | 1 | 8 |
![]() Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
|
200 | 1 | 9 |
![]() Learns by default at 5 ★ Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
|
300 | 1 | 13 |
![]() Unlocks at 5 ★ Non-Inheritable skill.
|
400 | 1 | 16 |
Special Skills
Special Skills | SP | Turns |
---|---|---|
![]() Learns by default at 5 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
|
100 | 3 |
![]() Unlocks at 5 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
|
200 | 2 |
Passive Skills
Passive Skills | SP | Slot |
---|---|---|
![]() Inheritable by all units.
|
40 | A |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
|
80 | A |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★ |
160 | A |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
|
50 | B |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
|
100 | B |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★ |
200 | B |
Other Info
Origin |
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
|
---|