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Analysis by Naz
Katarina - Wayward One

5 Legacy

Obtainable as a 5 during certain summoning events only.

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
147
HP 34
ATK 32
SPD 34
DEF 15
RES 32

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 16 5 7 4 7
Middle 17 6 8 5 8
High 18 7 9 6 9

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 31 29 31 12 29
Middle 34 32 34 15 32
High 37 35 37 19 35

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.
HPATKSPDDEFRES

Boons

  • +SPD: Speed makes for a fantastic choice of boon, as it makes Katarina more proficient in both performing and avoiding follow-up attacks. This is particularly effective when using a Blade tome.

  • +ATK: Increasing raw damage is always helpful with Katarina being no exception, making Attack another great choice of boon.

  • +RES: In addition to improving her magical bulk, a boon in Resistance capitalizes on her ability to effectively utilize Ploy skills. This is prevalent when utilizing her unique weapon, Reese’s Tome.

Banes

  • -DEF: At an already incredibly low base value of 15, Katarina can easily drop her Defense without much hindrance to her overall performance.

  • -HP: A bane in HP is comparable to a bane in Defense but takes away from her overall bulk, making it less desirable than the aforementioned.

Skill Sets

Reese’s Pieces (Mixed Phase/Utility)

Build by
Recommended
Reese's Tome (+Eff) A Fury (3 or 4)
Alternate: Swift Sparrow 2
Draw Back B Desperation 3
Iceberg C Atk Ploy 3
IVsSDef Ploy 3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK or +RES / -DEF or -HP

  • Weapon: Reese’s Tome (+Eff)

  • Assist: Draw Back

  • Special: Iceberg / Glacies

  • Passive A: Fury / Atk/Spd Bond / Swift Sparrow

  • Passive B: Desperation / Quick Riposte

  • Passive C: Atk Ploy / Flexible

  • Sacred Seal: Def Ploy / Quick Riposte / Distant Def

This build aims to make Katarina into an effective dual-phase combatant and team support.

As such, Attack, Speed, and Resistance are all key stats that Katarina enjoys receiving a boon in. A boon in Speed improves Katarina’s ability to both perform and avoid follow-up attacks while additional Attack increases her overall damage output. A boon in Resistance also makes for a suitable option by further improving Katarina’s magical bulk as well as her ability to activate Ploy skills.

With high Resistance and two Ploy skills built into her unique weapon, Reese’s Tome, Katarina can serve as a top-notch debuffer with the potential to completely cripple any targets in her cardinal directions. This makes Iceberg the choice Special to run, as its damage output will be quite effective thanks to Katarina’s high Resistance. At the cost of a longer cooldown, Katarina also has the option to run Glacies for an even more powerful Special activation.

Fury is a fantastic option for this set, as the boost it provides increases Katarina’s damage, overall bulk, and ability to utilize Ploy skills as effectively as possible. Alternatively, Atk/Spd Bond has great synergy with the Owl effect on Reese’s Tome, granting Katarina a whopping +7 to her Attack and Speed when adjacent to an ally. For a purely offensive approach or if neither of the aforementioned skills are available, Katarina’s native Swift Sparrow makes for a solid budget alternative by bolstering her offensive stats on initiation.

The choice of B skill depends on which phase of combat one wishes Katarina to focus on. Desperation is a fantastic Player Phase choice, as it allows Katarina to initiate on and double her opponent without any fear of retaliation. This crucial when taking on strong physical opponents due to Katarina’s extremely poor physical bulk. Meanwhile, Quick Riposte is better suited for dueling opponents in the Enemy Phase by guaranteeing her own follow-up attack. In particular, this makes it a more effective option against other fast mages such as Nino, Halloween Henry, and Bridal Tharja by allowing Katarina to reliably take them out in a single round of combat.  

As for C skills, Katarina can take her debuff game a step further by adding a 3rd Ploy into her C slot. Atk Ploy makes for a great choice and comes free of charge in Katarina’s base kit. While it doesn’t help her directly, Katarina can use the Def Ploy Sacred Seal in order to devastate her opponents by debuffing all four stats at once. Alternatively, both Quick Riposte (if not already being run in the B slot) and Distant Def also make for great choices of Sacred Seal by further improving Katarina’s Enemy Phase prowess.

Carry On (Offensive Nuke)

Build by
Rauðrblade+ A Swift Sparrow 2
Ardent Sacrifice B Desperation 3
Glimmer C Spd Ploy 3
IVsSHeavy Blade 3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK / -DEF or -HP

  • Weapon: Rauðrblade+

  • Assist: Ardent Sacrifice / Draw Back

  • Special: Glimmer / Moonbow

  • Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Fury

  • Passive B: Desperation

  • Passive C: Spd Ploy / Res Ploy / Flexible

  • Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Res Ploy / Speed +3 / Attack +3

This set takes a more offensive approach by trading the utility of Reese’s Tome for the sheer damage output of a Blade tome.

For her Assist, Ardent Sacrifice has great synergy with Desperation. Katarina’s extremely poor physical bulk of 49 makes her susceptible to getting killed in only one hit; by dropping her HP without the need to engage in combat, Katarina can safely get into Desperation’s 75% HP threshold. Otherwise, any choice of movement skill such as Draw Back will make for a suitable Assist.

Glimmer is a great choice of Special on any Blade tome user, as it scales with the additional damage received from Hone/Fortify buffs and activates within a reasonable timeframe despite the cooldown penalty tied to Blade tomes. Alternatively, Moonbow can be used as a more effective option against opponents with extraordinarily high Resistance such as Sanaki and Winter Tharja.

Katarina’s native Swift Sparrow makes for a fantastic choice of A skill, as it gives her a strong boost to her offensive stats on initiation without the need to forego anything else. Fury makes for another solid choice by making it easier to get into Desperation range along with increasing her overall bulk at the cost of a marginally weaker offense. In addition to this, the boost in Resistance improves Katarina’s ability to utilize Ploy skills.

Desperation is the quintessential B skill for any glass cannon mage; once in the HP range, Katarina will be able to safely perform follow-up attacks without the risk of getting killed on the counterattack. Moving on to C skills, Katarina can once again make effective use of Ploys. In particular, Res Ploy increases Katarina’s overall damage output while Spd Ploy allows her to secure additional follow-up attacks should they land. Otherwise, the C slot can be replaced as needed to suit the team.

Last but not least, Katarina has several options for Sacred Seals. If she isn’t already utilizing Res Ploy in her C slot, it can also be run in the Sacred Seal slot. Heavy Blade is another option with a consistent activation thanks to the damage scaling property of Blade tomes. This allows Katarina to activate her Special more frequently. Finally, both Speed +3 and Attack +3 make for good picks in order to give Katarina a solid offensive stat boost.

Introduction

Katarina brings a lot more to the table than your typical offense-oriented mage thanks to her unique weapon, Reese’s Tome. In addition to its base Owl effect, Reese’s Tome takes a page from Arvis and Saias by having two built-in Ploy skills upon refinement. This allows Katarina to perform well in both phases of combat as well as serve as a phenomenal team support through debuffs.

Statwise, Katarina has solid values in Attack, Speed, and Resistance. This makes her very flexible in the roles that she can fulfill such as attacking, tanking magical damage, and debuffing through the use of Ploy skills. Furthermore, Katarina can be run in different ways depending on one’s preference in playstyle such as the choice of focusing on combat in the Player or Enemy Phase or the amount combat-centric vs Ploy skills that she runs. In addition to this, Katarina also makes a very good use of a Blade set when not using her personal weapon.

While Katarina may be good at tanking magical attacks, she falls apart against any physical opponent. With her physical bulk at an extraordinarily low value of 49, Katarina is susceptible to getting taken out in only one hit by an overwhelming majority of Defense-targeting threats.

Regardless, Katarina provides fantastic utility through debuffing and performs exceedingly well in combat, making her a highly versatile option for almost any team-composition.

Strengths

Reese’s Tome

On top of boosting Katarina’s Enemy Phase prowess through its Owl effect, Reese’s Tome allows Katarina to be a first-rate debuffer thanks to having both Res Ploy and Spd Ploy built-in. This can be further accentuated by giving Katarina additional Ploys such as Atk Ploy and Def Ploy in his C and Sacred Seal slot respectively, potentially allowing her to debuff all four stats at once.

Good Resistance

In addition to making her a great magical tank, Katarina’s high Resistance allows her to consistently activate her Ploy skills against a majority of the cast.

Decent Offensive Stats

While nothing standout, Katarina’s solid 32/34 Attack/Speed lets her handle combat reliably during both Player and Enemy Phase.

Highly Versatile

Thanks to her tome, Katarina can take on a variety of roles including attacker, magical tank, and debuffer. Moreover, she can do all of these things at the same time!

Weaknesses

Abysmal Physical Bulk

With only 49 physical bulk at base, Katarina is highly susceptible to getting killed in only a single hit by most physical attackers. In addition to this, her low 34 HP leaves her open to almost any user of Panic Ploy.

Infantry

Katarina lacks the innate advantages of mobility and exclusive buffs available to other movement types such as cavalry and fliers. This can limit her potential, especially when utilizing a Blade tome set.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Fire
Red Tome Users Only
50 2 4
Elfire
Red Tome Users Only
100 2 6
Rauðrowl

During combat, unit's Atk/Spd/Def/Res boosted by number of adjacent allies x 2.

Red Tome Users Only
200 2 6
Rauðrowl+

During combat, unit's Atk/Spd/Def/Res boosted by number of adjacent allies x 2.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Red Tome Users Only
300 2 10
Reese's Tome

During combat, boosts unit's Atk/Spd/Def/Res by number of adjacent allies × 2.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 2 14
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Chilling Wind

Boosts damage dealt by 50% of unit's Res.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 4
Glacies

Boosts damage dealt by 80% of unit's Res.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 4

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Death Blow 1

If unit initiates combat, grants Atk+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
50
A
Swift Sparrow 1

If unit initiates combat, unit granted Atk/Spd+2 during battle.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
120
A
Swift Sparrow 2

If unit initiates combat, unit granted Atk/Spd+4 during battle.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
A
Atk Ploy 1

At start of turn, inflicts Atk-3 on foes in cardinal directions with Res < unit's Res through their next actions.

Inheritable by all units.
60
C
Atk Ploy 2

At start of turn, inflicts Atk-4 on foes in cardinal directions with Res < unit's Res through their next actions.

Inheritable by all units.
120
C
Atk Ploy 3

At start of turn, inflicts Atk-5 on foes in cardinal directions with Res < unit's Res through their next actions.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem

Banners Featured In

Official Hero Artwork