Lugh

Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -DEF

• As with nearly any offensive set, +ATK and +SPD are great choices, with the former increasing Lugh’s raw damage and the latter securing more follow-up attacks to make the most of Gronnblade’s absurd damage capabilities. -DEF is chosen because decreasing Lugh’s Defense won’t have a large impact on his combat, as his physical bulk is already so low.

Weapon: Gronnblade+

• Like most offensive mages, Lugh can wreak havoc with a Blade tome, as it raises his damage capabilities to sky-high levels. In tandem with a 35/36 offensive statline, Lugh can frequently ORKO or even OHKO his enemies with some visible buffs. However, note that Lugh becomes very reliant on his teammates for buffs.

Assist: Reposition / Flexible 

Special: Glimmer / Moonbow

• Glimmer is an excellent choice for a special, as its damage scales with Gronnblade’s additional damage granted by visible buffs. Combined with Heavy or Flashing Blade as Lugh’s Sacred Seal, he can ensure that Glimmer is activated in his first round of combat assuming he performs a follow-up attack and the opponent counterattacks. 

• Moonbow is a good alternative, as it also has 2 cooldown and can deal more damage to units with Dull Ranged effects or lots of Resistance.

Passive A: Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Atk/Spd Solo 3 / Bonus Doubler / Fury (3 or 4) / Brazen Atk/Spd (3 or 4)

• Swift Sparrow is a fantastic choice for Lugh, as he’ll be initiating for most of his combat. Granting +4 to Attack and Speed or +6 to Attack and +7 to Speed helps Lugh perform more follow-up attacks with more damage.

• Most Player Phase units need to stray away from their allies to reach faraway enemies, and Lugh is no exception. As such, Atk/Spd Solo is a fantastic choice, as it increases Lugh’s Attack and Speed by 6 when he’s not adjacent to any ally. Atk/Spd Solo is also active on Enemy Phase, which can be convenient whenever Lugh needs to counterattack.

• Since Lugh is already reliant on visible buffs from his teammates, Bonus Doubler can be chosen to help both his offense and defense. Note that Bonus Doubler does not add additional damage to Gronnblade.

• Fury can help Lugh activate Desperation with relative ease. Increasing Lugh’s Resistance by 3 or 4 bolsters Lugh’s ability to Ploy enemies as well.

• If willing to purposely damage Lugh or overcome a weak first combat, increasing Lugh’s Attack and Speed by 7 or his Attack by 9 and Speed by 10 drastically improves Lugh’s offense.

Passive B: Desperation 

• With Desperation, Lugh can unleash a follow-up attack before the enemy can counterattack. This is extremely vital, as Lugh’s awful physical bulk can leave him vulnerable to being OHKO’d; with Desperation, Lugh won’t have to worry about his bulk as much.

Passive C: Even/Odd Atk Wave / Even/Odd Spd Wave / Res Ploy / Spd Ploy / Flexible 

• Wave skills help Lugh become more self-sufficient, as he’ll be able to grant himself additional Gronnblade damage. An Atk Wave or Spd Wave is particularly helpful, as they boost his offensive capabilities.

• If wanting to put Lugh’s solid Resistance to use, any Ploy skill can be used. Res Ploy and Spd Ploy are the most helpful for Lugh himself since they help maximize Lugh and his magical teammates’ damage, although he can run any Ploy depending on his teammates.

• Like most units, Lugh can be flexible with his C slot. What the player chooses is dependent on Lugh’s teammates and their skills.

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Flashing Blade / Brazen Atk/Spd 3 / Darting Blow / Sturdy Blow

• Special cooldown acceleration is always appreciated, so Flashing Blade and Heavy Blade are fantastic options for Lugh’s Sacred Seal. While no special can be activated from max cooldown if in Desperation range (due to Gronnblade’s +1 special cooldown), it can still ensure Lugh activates his special sooner than later.

• Brazen Atk/Spd synergizes well with Desperation and a second Brazen skill in Lugh’s A slot. Again, note that Lugh’s initial combat(s) will be weak in comparison to his combats after activating Desperation and/or Brazens.

• Darting Blow and Sturdy Blow both benefit Lugh’s offense and defense, making them solid alternatives. The former secures more follow-up attacks and helps Lugh avoid enemy follow-up attacks, and the latter increases Lugh’s raw damage and physical bulk.

Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD or +RES / -DEF

• Lugh’s Asset is quite flexible for an anti-mage set. An Attack Asset helps Lugh’s damage output, a Speed Asset makes Lugh less reliant on Quick Riposte for doubling on Enemy Phase, and a Resistance Asset increases Lugh’s magical bulk. -DEF is Lugh’s best Flaw, since this set focuses strictly on magical bulk and Lugh’s physical bulk is already pathetic.

Weapon: Gronnserpent+ (+SPD or +RES) / Gronnowl+ (+SPD or +RES)

• Conveniently, Lugh’s native Gronnserpent is fantastic for taking hits from mages, as it grants him Distant Def 3. A Speed or Resistance refine is best, with the former helping Lugh perform and avoid follow-up attacks and the latter helping his mage tank role.

• Gronnowl is a strong alternative that can potentially raise Lugh’s defenses as high as Gronnserpent does. However, Gronnowl can also grant buffs to all stats regardless of enemy range. Note that utilizing Gronnowl makes Lugh very dependent on his allies for activating its in-combat buffs.

Assist: Reposition / Flexible

Special: Iceberg / Glacies / Moonbow / Blue Flame

• Iceberg is arguably Lugh’s best Special, as this set focuses on increasing his Resistance to help him tank magical damage. Glacies is a good alternative that also scales off of Resistance, although it’s generally less consistent due to its +1 special cooldown.

• 2-cooldown Specials can activate in one combat if Lugh performs a follow-up attack and the enemy lacks a Guard effect. Moonbow is nice for dishing out damage against magical units with high Resistance.

• If utilizing Gronnowl, Blue Flame becomes Lugh’s best Special. Blue Flame synergizes perfectly with Gronnowl, as the effects of both are increased/amplified depending on the presence of adjacent allies.

Passive A: Mirror Stance / Atk/Spd Bond / Atk/Res Bond / Atk/Spd Form

• Lugh’s native Mirror Stance synergizes fantastically with an Enemy Phase playstyle, granting +4 Attack and Resistance if his enemy initiates. This can greatly benefit Lugh’s damage output if he performs a follow-up attack and/or is using a Special that scales based on Resistance.

• Atk/Spd Bond and Atk/Res Bond become some of the best and most synergistic A slots for Lugh if using Gronnowl, as he already needs at least one ally adjacent to him to gain in-combat buffs from Gronnowl.

• While very expensive, Atk/Spd Form can also synergize well with Gronnowl. In an optimal situation, Atk/Spd Form would grant 2 more Attack and Speed than Atk/Spd Bond; this situation won’t be terribly uncommon for Lugh, either, as he needs to stay close to his allies to make the most of Gronnowl.

Passive B: Null C-Disrupt / Quick Riposte / Lull Atk/Spd / Dull Ranged

• In order to counterattack against every 2-ranged magical unit, Null C-Disrupt is chosen, as it nullifies the effects of Sweep weapons and skills.

• If wanting to focus more on Lugh’s Attack and/or Resistance than Speed, Quick Riposte is a strong alternative that usually ensures a follow-up attack if he is at ≥70% HP.

• Lull Atk/Spd is fantastic for an Enemy Phase unit, as they won’t need to worry about Attack and Speed buffs ripping through their defenses. The -3 Attack and Speed also help Lugh deal more raw damage and perform more consistent follow-up attacks.

• Dull Ranged is a cheaper, but still very solid option if looking to nullify dangerous Attack and Speed buffs on ranged units. This is especially helpful when considering the abundance of mages that use Blade tomes to maximize their damage.

Passive C: Atk Smoke / Atk Ploy / Flexible

• Since this set focuses on taking low amounts of damage from magical units, Atk Smoke is a great option to solidify Lugh’s safety on Enemy Phase.

• Lugh can utilize Ploys pretty effectively with a solid 31 base Resistance. Atk Ploy in particular is helpful, lowering the amount of damage he and his allies take.

• Of course, Lugh’s C slot is flexible and can change depending on his allies and their skills.

Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Fierce Stance / Quick Riposte / Atk/Spd Bond / Spd/Res Bond

• Distant Def has great synergy with Gronnserpent, which is literally just a Distant Def tome. Combining the two allows Lugh to greatly increase his Enemy Phase capabilities, as he may be able to tank physical ranged hits decently.

• Fierce Stance is a strong alternative to pack some extra punch to Lugh’s counterattacks.

• If utilizing Null C-Disrupt and not relying on Lugh’s Speed to perform a follow-up attack, Quick Riposte is highly suggested to secure a follow-up attack.

• Any Bond works fantastically in combination with Gronnowl, since Bond skills and Gronnowl both depend on allies being adjacent to Lugh to grant in-combat buffs. Atk/Spd Bond and Spd/Res Bond work particularly well, though any will suffice.