- Default
- Attack
- Special
- Injured




Leo - Sorcerous Prince |
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Related Heroes
Hero Stats
Stat Variations
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 16 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
Middle | 17 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
High | 18 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
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Low | 35 | 25 | 19 | 22 | 26 |
Middle | 39 | 29 | 22 | 25 | 30 |
High | 42 | 32 | 25 | 29 | 33 |
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 |
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Unlike most ranged Cavalry, Leo is a mixed tank. This makes most of his stats relevant but results in him being a jack-of-all-trades, master of none type of unit.
Boons
- +ATK: When not using a Blade tome, Leo’s offense is lacking. An Attack boon helps secure KOs.
- +DEF: Extra Defense helps round out Leo’s bulk and triggers refined Brynhildr’s effect. Moreover, as a superboon, it gives +4 instead of the usual +3.
Neutral
- HP: As a superbane on a tanky unit, minus HP greatly hurts Leo. That said, Leo is very likely to get doubled, which lowers the value of HP compared to Defense and Resistance.
- RES: Another superbane of Leo’s. While 26 Resistance is respectable and the refined Brynhildr adds to Leo’s magical soak, it is not worth lowering if one has the choice. It can be taken as a boon if one intends to use Ploy skills.
Banes
- -SPD: Even with a boon at 25 and Cavalry-class buffs, most units would still double Leo. Speed is the least used of his stats so it’s the best stat to lower.
Skill Sets
Leo’s Iceblade (Cavalry Blade tome)
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Rauðrblade+ | A | Distant Def 3 Alternate: HP +5 |
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Swap Alternate: Draw Back |
B | Quick Riposte 3 |
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Iceberg Alternate: Glimmer |
C | Fortify Cavalry Alternate: Hone Cavalry |
IVs | S | Distant Def 3 |
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Preferred IV: +RES or +DEF or +HP / -SPD
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Weapon: Rauðblade+
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Assist: Swap / Draw Back / Varies on Team
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Special: Iceberg / Glimmer
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Passive A: Distant Def / Close Counter / HP +5
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Passive B: Quick Riposte
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Passive C: Fortify Cavalry / Hone Cavalry / Varies on Team
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Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Close Def / HP +5
Leo’s bread and butter build, allowing him to both tank and hit hard. This build requires fellow horsemen as teammates to reach its full potential, unless you stack on Tactics skills in a mixed team composition. Swap is preferred over Reposition to allow Leo to slip between adjacent allies in preparation of the next turn.
With how much Rauðblade boosts his Attack, Leo can focus on strengthening his defenses with either +DEF, +RES, or +HP. Since this is also a tank build and Quick Riposte is kept, -SPD is the bane to go for.
Usually, a Blade tome user prefers having the lowest cooldown Special possible due to the tome’s Special cooldown penalty. Glimmer and Moonbow both have a cooldown of 2, but due to the high Atk overwhelming the enemy’s Res, Glimmer is favored. Leo can run Iceberg thanks to his Quick Riposte and low Speed where Glimmer would result in an overkill. Draconic Aura is a stronger option if you are constantly fully buffed, but with the rise of buff-nullifying abilities, Iceberg is a safer option that frees up your positioning .
Against a tanky enemy, a blue mage or an enemy who nullifies buffs such as Deirdre, Leo’s combat flow with Iceberg as a Special would be:
Position to bait (4 CD)
Get hit once (3 CD)
Hit the enemy (2 CD)
Get hit again (1 CD)
KO the enemy (Iceberg ready)
Trigger Iceberg on your next enemy for at least 15 extra damage.
As for his A slot and Sacred Seals, one choice is to double down on Distant Def, reaching 39/43/48 neutral HP/DEF/RES on counter once given full +6 buffs, not to mention the 29 (base stat) + 13 (Rauðrblade+) + 30 (buffs) = 72 ATK.
Alternatively, Leo’s mixed bulk and innate Quick Riposte allows him to be an excellent user of Close Counter. Coupled with Close Def, Leo becomes a highly versatile Enemy Phase unit.
Finally, stacking HP is a budget option that allows Leo to resist enemy Panic Ploy better. With the implementation of trenches, Cavalry positioning has become more difficult than simply navigating around forests, so this ability is not to be underestimated.
Finally, in a Cavalry team, Leo will begin his turn next to his teammates, he can thus buff them himself with a Hone or Fortify Cavalry. Taking Ward or Goad Cavalry would be losing out on those potential teammates buffs, but your fourth horseman could take either of those.
Bird of the Dark Kingdom (Raven tome)
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Rauðrraven+ | A | Triangle Adept 3 |
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Reposition Alternate: Draw Back |
B | Quick Riposte 3 |
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Glimmer Alternate: Moonbow |
C | Atk Ploy 3 Alternate: Hone Cavalry |
IVs | S | Distant Def 3 |
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Preferred IV: +RES or +ATK or +DEF / -SPD
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Weapon: Rauðraven+
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Assist: Reposition / Draw Back / Varies on Team
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Special: Glimmer / Moonbow
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Passive A: Triangle Adept
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Passive B: Quick Riposte / Axebreaker
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Passive C: Atk Ploy / Res Ploy / Varies on Team
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Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Atk Ploy / Quick Riposte / Attack +3
A standard Raven set, leveraging the tome’s effectiveness against colorless foes and doubling it with Triangle Adept. This build can be run in any team composition and doesn’t rely on any particular buffs.
+RES allows Leo to survive more and trigger Ploys more easily while +ATK allows him to secure a few extra kills. -SPD only affects Leo’s matchups against Lilina and Sanaki.
Glimmer and Moonbow have a similar damage output in this build, but if you are taking Res Ploy, Glimmer will gain an edge over Moonbow in terms of damage. .
Quick Riposte is kept to allow Leo to counter a variety of weapon types. Even with the extra color advantage, Leo will rarely oneshot his enemies, so he would need a Breaker skill to double on Player Phase, but this would reduce his general effectiveness. One solution would be to take a Breaker and the Quick Riposte Sacred Seal, but it is costly when Leo naturally has Quick Riposte and the Sacred Seal is in high demand.
Atk Ploy and Distant Def offer Leo 11 extra effective Def/Res, greatly adding to his survival. If one of your other units is already using said Sacred Seal, an alternative is to run Atk Ploy instead and take Res Ploy (or any other skill) in the C slot.
Sacred Inside-out Collar (Refined Brynhildr)
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Brynhildr (+Eff) | A | Atk/Def Bond 3 Alternate: Attack +3 |
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Reposition Alternate: Draw Back |
B | Quick Riposte 3 |
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Glacies Alternate: Glimmer |
C | Res Ploy 3 Alternate: Hone Cavalry |
IVs | S | Distant Def 3 |
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Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF / -SPD
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Weapon: Brynhildr (+Eff)
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Assist: Reposition / Draw Back / Varies on Team
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Special: Glacies / Glimmer / Iceberg
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Passive A: Atk/Def Bond / Fierce Stance / Distant Def / Defense +3 / Attack +3
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Passive B: Quick Riposte
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Passive C: Res Ploy / Atk Ploy / Hone Cavalry / Varies on Team
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Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Defense +3 / Attack +3
With his weapon’s new effect, Leo gains more tanking capacity and can prevent enemy follow-ups if his Defense is higher. +DEF is thus a natural choice, but it can be swapped for +ATK if you choose the proper skills and teammates. -SPD is highly recommended, moreso than in the other sets because Leo should not be doubled by anyone ranged. As always, Quick Riposte is kept to compensate for the Speed loss.
The choice of special depends on whether one wants to ORKO more enemies (Glimmer), secure more kills on the Player Phase after baiting (Iceberg), or bait again on the following turn with a hard-hitting Special (Glacies).
This time, the A slot and Sacred Seal work together with the IV set to reach the right numbers. Looking at the list of ranged non-staff units, the average Defense is around 22 and the common non-Armored foes that are able to double Leo have up to 30. That means he needs 2 extra Defense points if he’s +DEF and 6 if he’s got a neutral DEF IV. Once he reaches this threshold, Leo is better off building Attack, Fierce Stance gives the most of that and is slightly more offensive (and affordable) than Sturdy Stance. However, for general purposes Atk/Def Bond is easy to activate and gives potent buffs. Do note that these thresholds assume no buffs on either side and no Defense boon on the enemy. With Cavalry or Tactics buffs, Leo can reach those thresholds much more easily.
Flat stat boosts are an affordable and valid option. Fury is not taken because it would easily push Leo out of Quick Riposte range. The C Passive is flexible. Res Ploy lands extra kills while offering team support, while an all-Cavalry team will like dedicated buffs.
Introduction
As the first red mage Cavalry in the game (and the only one for a long time), Leo had a niche in the meta based around all-Cavalry teams. Unfortunately, Leo’s low ranged Cavalry BST and balanced stat distribution hold him back. He thus needs heavy team support or costly inheritance in order to shine.
With the release of Sacred Memories Eirika, Leo’s poor offense made him less desirable, but he still fulfills his role as a mixed tank compared to Eirika’s glass canon. The refine for his unique tome Brynhildr further strengthened his defenses, allowing him to even check blue mages.
Strengths
Good mixed bulk
With 39/25/30 HP/Def/Res and Brynhildr’s effect, Leo can specialize in tanking ranged foes both physical and magical.
Cavalry mage
Leo has increased mobility and 2-range for a great reach in the game’s small maps. Additionally, he has access to powerful class-specific buffs. Since Leo makes use of all his stats, he greatly benefits from any buff he receives.
Weaknesses
Poor offense when not supported and Enemy Phase specialization
In order to double and KO, Leo is very reliant on Quick Riposte, which only works on Enemy Phase. Without a Blade tome and full buffs, Leo can easily become a mere support unit on Player Phase.
Low Speed
If he is not triggering Brynhildr’s unique refined effect or one-shotting his attacker, Leo can still die to a strong double or a Special.
Rise of anti-Cavalry weapons and terrain
With the advent of anti-Cavalry weapons as well as buff-nullifying skills, running a Blade tome set is more difficult. Moreover, the numerous trenches make it hard for Cavalry units to run (or rather, gallop) into favorable formations.
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Brynhildr | A | Death Blow 2 |
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Reposition | B | Quick Riposte 3 |
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Growing Light | C | Savage Blow 3 |
S | Fierce Stance 3 |
Leo was my 2nd 5* that I actually used. Laugh all you want, it worked for me XD
The Gravity effect with his bulkish stat-line really saved my ass on some maps.
he is obviously been completely outclassed since, but:
Brynhildrs because it is cheap, Repo because Cavalry, Growing Light because I always preferred bigger range, even though for him it still makes no sense.
Death Blow 2 was because I didn't have the fodder for DB3, and I wanted him to have some player-phase power, QR3 is there for the moments he was thrown in to tank, and Savage Blow to chip the other units and because it's cheap.
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Brynhildr (+Eff) | A | Close Foil |
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Reposition | B | Atk/Def Link 3 |
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Bonfire | C | Threat. Atk/Res 3 |
S | Atk/Def Bond 3 |
well easy. Stack defense and destroy with counters. You will need lots of def. since the speed meta is quite out of his league. C could also be threat. atk def 3 but res does give you a little extra umpf at no merges and with good positioning skills leo will get + 16 def so 45 def on a non merged unit. If you really love leo You can give him summoner support for extra def also flowers 48 def if this is your deal.
You can also use Gunter for more def. or ward cavalry on any ally. drives would work fine too just....Don't make him fight a mage or a manakete at close quarters
Btw ruptured sky will work wonders too
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Brynhildr (+Eff) | A | Close Counter |
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Rally Atk/Def+ | B | Quick Riposte 3 |
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Aether | C | Odd Atk Wave 3 |
S | Atk/Def Bond 3 |
This is my pride and joy - a +10 OG Leo that I use in Arena. I decided to take advantage of the fact that Leo's refine allows him to deny a lot of prominent ranged units that are easily mergeable, such as Nino and Soren. He also has the added bonus of having enough mixed bulk and bulk, in general, to challenge most green dragons and some sword units without much trouble.
Why did I choose to +10 Leo? I mean, I just like him a lot as a character. That's all.
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Brynhildr (+Eff) | A | Defiant Def 3 |
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Reposition | B | Quick Riposte 3 |
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Blazing Light | C | Even Def Wave 3 |
S | Fierce Stance 1 |
+Def/-HP
A boon in attack is just as good as a boon in defense to help alleviate Leo's mediocre attack. A defense boon, in addition to being a super boon, allows a more comfortable range for Brynhildr's (+Eff) effect and adds to Leo's overall tankiness. Although a bane in speed is preferred, -HP isn't bad.
Brynhildr (+Eff) is better than vanilla Brynhildr for an enemy phase build because the later only restricts enemies movement on player phase, which Leo is less suited for. The +Eff refine allows for leo to destroy common arena units, notably brave Lyn, who can't double Leo due to Leo having much higher defense. Slightly reduced damage from magic attacks also help.
Moonbow or glacies works well for Leo honestly. Reposition is also always good.
Distant def with a super boon in defense allows for Leo to reach (35/36) on enemy phase which is ridiculous for a cavalier mage. QR is essential to alleviate Leo's poor speed stat. Even def wave can give Leo a massive 41 defense on enemy phase, also the skill can be foddered from Silas. Res ploy improve's Leo's damage output but is more scarce. Fierce stance grants Leo a respectable 49 attack on enemy phase without cavalry buffs.
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Brynhildr (+Eff) | A | Distant Def 3 |
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Draw Back | B | Quick Riposte 3 |
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Aether | C | Fortify Cavalry |
S | Distant Def 3 |
Brynhildr's effect applies to only ranged units, and unless using Brash Assault and leaving Leo at 17 - 20 HP (whatever your (<=)50% mark is at), the only way he can double all but their slowest is with the use of Quick Riposte, which only works on Enemy Phase.
This pigeon holes you to using Distant Defense, which is already available as a Sacred Seal, AND recently became a lot less expensive as an A skill with the introduction of Garon and even more so with the addition of Hero Grails.
Aether is equally priced, if not a little less expensive, being available on Chrom, who can be pulled at 3-4 stars unless he's featured on the Banner in use, and unlocking as an inheritable skill at 5* rarity, but when it activates, it compensates for his low Atk by reducing their Res to 50%, and it gives him self sustain, something he really needs given that Quick Riposte only works (<=) 70% HP, and even has the advantage over healers in healing him Enemy Phase, potentially allowing him to take on more foes in the same round without falling out of QR.
His assist could be Reposition for sure, as it works well on Fliers and Cavalry, but Drawback is a less expensive skill if you don't have enough Reposition Fodder lying around, and does have some circumstances where it performs better. Arguably, Swap, Pivot, and even Smite all can work as they would be placing Leo in harms way (Enemy Phase) while moving his ally into a (preferably?) safer spot.
His C Slot could be one of the Cavalry buffs, all depending on your team composition and play style, but you could play around with the Odd/Even Wave and Tactic skills for mixed team composition.
An in depth look at his IV's:
Boon:
*Defense is his best by far (in this build), not only as it's a Super Boon, but as it boosts refined Brynhildr's effect. This is preferred, regardless of whatever Bane accompanies it.
*Any other boon, although maybe usable to some extent, does not achieve much with the statline he is given.
Bane:
*That said, if you do have a choice, HP is your best Bane.
*Leo needs every scrap of Attack he gets for his already poor 43, 40 with a bane (and 46 really isn't worth a boon), so avoid this bane if possible.
*Res, Spd, and HP are all very usable as Banes.
*His Res does come into play when baiting Mages and Healers, and is a super Bane, but with Distant Def 6 (Effectively), that would still sit at a fairly high 38 Res, 44 when Fortify Cavalry is in effect, and that is on top of the 30% damage reduction from all magic foes first attack.
*Spd is questionable, it definitely loses all use in enemy phase assuming Brynhildr's effect and Quick Riposte are both active, but if ever you need to use your Leo in player phase (something that will inevitably happen if being controlled by the AI), although 28 Spd (with Hone Buffs) isn't going to double anything above 23 Spd, which still increases if he happens to be a bonus unit, it prevents followups from anything at or below 33 Spd, which covers a lot of units that normally utilize Distant Counter, so although it's definitely usable, taking a Bane here would almost definitely limit him to Enemy Phase only.
*Although HP takes away from both his magic and physical bulk, he has a fair amount of both already, especially with Distant Counter 6, and Brynhildr's refined effect, so this is probably the Bane that takes the least away from Leo's function.
Weapon Skills
Special Skills
Special Skills | SP | Turns |
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![]() Learns by default at 5 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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150 | 4 |
![]() Unlocks at 5 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
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300 | 4 |
Passive Skills
Passive Skills | SP | Slot |
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![]() Inheritable by all units.
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60 | B |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
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120 | B |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★ |
240 | B |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
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50 | C |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
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100 | C |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★ |
200 | C |
Other Info
Origin |
Fire Emblem Fates
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