GamePress
Analysis by lordhelpme
Lute - Prodigy

5 Legacy

Obtainable as a 5 during certain summoning events only.

Related Heroes

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
151
HP 33
ATK 36
SPD 32
DEF 16
RES 34

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 15 9 7 2 7
Middle 16 10 8 3 8
High 17 11 9 4 9

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 30 33 29 12 31
Middle 33 36 32 16 34
High 36 39 35 19 37

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

Assets

  • +SPD: Lute’s base Speed stat is somewhat middling, so a +SPD IV can help massively in further developing her offensive capabilities by helping her perform and deny follow-up attacks with greater ease; this IV pairs especially well with the substantial amount of Speed she can accumulate via Weirding Tome (up to a potential +12 with all its effects considered), but can be put to good use with virtually any set. 

  • +RES:Given that the majority of Lute’s functionality when equipped with Weirding Tome comes from her ability to consistently apply its debuff against opposing foes, a +RES IV makes for a strong choice as this weapon scales off of her visible Resistance stat. In addition, this allows her to make greater use of other similar skills (like Ploys and Sabotage skills), bolstering her offensive and supportive utility simultaneously. 

  • +ATK: Lute can also benefit notably from receiving a +ATK IV to increase her raw damage output, which can be quite useful with builds aiming to maximize her firepower and when fighting against slower opponents who tend to possess greater magical bulk. 

Neutral 

  • HP: Lowering Lute’s HP is not recommended as to not tamper with her reasonable amount of magical bulk; however, if -DEF is not available, taking a -HP IV remains a decent alternative option and can be mitigated fairly easily. 

Flaws

  • -DEF: Lute’s Defense is by far her most nonessential stat and thusly makes for her ideal choice of Flaw, as lowering it further will hardly do much to affect her poor durability against any source of physical damage. It is a four-point Flaw, though, so do exercise some caution to prevent her from being taken out too early. 

Skill Sets

Resolute Superiority (Offensive Support)

Build by
Recommended
Weirding Tome (+Eff) A Fury (3 or 4)
Alternate: Fort. Def/Res 3
Reposition B Sabotage Atk 3
Alternate: Chill Atk 3
Moonbow
Alternate: Glimmer
C Panic Smoke 3
Alternate: Res Ploy 3
IVsSDarting Blow 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

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

Thanks to the unique applications of her refined weapon, Lute can excel at fulfilling an offensive and supportive role simultaneously without necessarily needing to sacrifice her effectiveness at doing either, a trait that this build aims to take full advantage of. A +SPD IV is ideal to maximize her follow-up potential (as well as enhance her survivability by lessening her likelihood of being doubled), but +RES makes for an excellent choice as well to ensure she can leverage Weirding Tome’s effect on as wide a range of opponents as possible and strengthen her proficiency at utilizing additional Ploys and Sabotage skills. A +ATK IV can also be considered instead to increase the power behind each of her individual hits. 

Weapon: Weirding Tome (+Eff)

  • Although its base form is nothing impressive, Weirding Tome’s addition into the weapon refinery system grants Lute a much-needed performance boost through its newly acquired power. Firstly, upon taking any sort of refinement, its original base effect of Spd Ploy is altered to a variant of a Sabotage skill, applying a notable -5 Spd/Res debuff against opponents whose Resistance stats are at least three points lesser than hers and are adjacent to an ally at the start of the turn. With smart play, Lute can easily debilitate multiple foes with this ability and improve her own performance significantly while providing useful support to other offensive magical damage dealers as well. 

  • Its unique refinement option synergizes further solidifies Lute’s combat prowess by granting her a +4 in-combat boost against foes afflicted by any sort of status ailment -- including the debuff applied by Weirding Tome’s new base effect. This resulting combination is incredibly synergistic and makes her a flexible ally who can constantly maintain a meaningful impact at all times, whether it be in combat or outside of it; this is only bolstered by the fact that her effectiveness is not limited to only certain team compositions (unlike some of her direct comparables). 

Assist: Reposition / Flexible

Special: Moonbow / Glimmer

  • Moonbow and Glimmer are both excellent choices for Lute’s Special as she can activate them frequently thanks to their low cooldown, with the choice between which to use depending primarily on personal preference. Moonbow works well to squeeze out a bit of extra firepower against bulky foes whom she may have otherwise failed to ORKO, whereas Glimmer may prove to be a more favorable alternative if one feels confident Lute’s ability to consistently output high enough amounts of damage to warrant its usage. 

Passive A: Fury / Fort. Def/Res 

  • Fury (3 or 4) is Lute’s ideal choice of A slot skill as its overall stat boost can prove greatly beneficial in augmenting her offensive capabilities both directly and indirectly, strengthening her raw damage output, follow-up potential, and ability to leverage Weirding Tome’s debuff at the same time. Furthermore, it also helps reduce her chances of being OHKO’d outright by an opponent’s counterattack. 

  • In exchange for losing out on a substantial amount of her offensive might, Fort. Def/Res may be preferred should one wish to focus solely on maximizing Lute’s supportive capabilities. The massive boost it provides to both of her defensive stats allows her to activate additional Sabotage and Ploy skills on top of Weirding Tome with relative ease, while also heightening her overall survivability.  

Passive B: Sabotage Atk / Chill Atk / Desperation 

  • Sabotage Atk shares a similar activation requirement to that of refined Weirding Tome and thus makes for an excellent choice to build upon the mapwide debuffs that Lute can inherently apply; this does, however, come at the cost of making her functionality be dependent on maintaining high levels of Resistance. Should one find wish for arguably greater consistency, Chill Atk may be considered as it is always guaranteed to target at least one foe -- though perhaps not one that Lute would want to attack in the first place. For these reasons, the choice between which to use here will boil down mainly to personal preference. 

  • Alternatively, Desperation can be taken for a purely offensive approach to Lute’s intended playstyle and ensure that she is able to safely engage in extended rounds of combat without regard to her low Defense, allowing her to perform consecutive follow-up attacks upon reaching its HP threshold. 

Passive C: Panic Smoke / Smoke Skill / Ploy Skill / Flexible 

  • Smoke skills are great choices to make opposing enemies even easier to take down and ensure that she can benefit from her PRF’s in-combat boosts more frequently. In particular, Panic Smoke stands out above all other available options due to its ability to convert all bonuses on foes within two spaces of her initial target into penalties, meaning that this will stack with Weirding Tome’s debuffs.

  • Although visible debuffs don’t stack, Ploys still remain worthwhile skills to consider using since her opponents are not always guaranteed to be directly adjacent to one another. Accordingly, equipping something like her native Res Ploy may not be a bad idea to grant Lute an additional layer of safety.

Sacred Seal: Darting Blow / Heavy Blade / Drive Skills / Ploy Skills / Tactic Skills 

  • Lute’s seal slot is quite flexible; any choice of Drive, Ploy, or Tactic skill will work perfectly to add on to her supportive capabilities, but the Darting Blow and Heavy Blade seals work well to supplement her offensive might through more consistent doubles and Special activations respectively. 

Soaring Wings (Offensive Nuke)

Build by
Blárblade+ A Swift Sparrow 3
Alternate: Atk/Spd Solo 3
Reposition B Desperation 3
Glimmer
Alternate: Draconic Aura
C Odd Atk Wave 3
Alternate: Res Ploy 3
IVsSHeavy Blade 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD -DEF

Lute’s reasonably strong offensive statline enables her to make solid use of a standard Blade tome set to maximize her overall damage output. Since this build focuses solely on bolstering the prodigy’s destructive potential as much as possible, a +ATK or +SPD IV is ideal here, with the latter being the more preferable choice given her reliance on her ability to consistently perform follow-up attacks. 

Weapon: Blárblade+

  • In exchange for losing out on Weirding Tome’s supportive capabilities and self-sufficient nature, Lute can be equipped with a Blárblade tome to obtain a considerably higher damage ceiling than otherwise possible. However, like most other Blade tome wielders, this will cause Lute to be wholly reliant on field buffs to actually function properly; this subsequently leaves her exceptionally weak to any type of buff nullification or reversal. 

Assist: Reposition / Flexible 

Special: Glimmer / Draconic Aura

  • Glimmer is a prime choice for most Blade tome wielders and Lute is no exception, as its low cooldown allows her to activate it frequently despite the +1 Special charge from her weapon. In addition, it can be paired with the Heavy Blade seal to ensure its activation in her first round of combat, provided that she performs a follow-up attack and her opponent can actually counterattack. Alternatively, Draconic Aura can be considered for more consistent damage instead of quicker Special activations (though this can easily be mitigated via the use of the Heavy Blade seal as well). 

Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Solo / Fury 

  • Swift Sparrow 3 and Atk/Spd Solo are both powerful candidates for Lute’s A slot, with the key difference between the two lying in their respective activation requirements; Swift Sparrow 3 simply requires that Lute be the one to initiate combat, whereas Atk/Spd Solo necessitates that she have no adjacent allies but has the added benefit of functioning in the Enemy Phase if necessary. Each have their own set of advantages and disadvantages, so the choice between these two will once again come down to a matter of personal preference. 

  • Fury (3 or 4) is a great option as well to similarly improve her combat prowess (albeit to a lesser extent compared to Swift Sparrow and Atk/Spd Solo), all the while decreasing her likelihood being immediately KO’d by an opposing foes; this also pairs nicely if sticking with her native Res Ploy. 

Passive B: Desperation 

  • Desperation is absolutely necessary here to bypass the impact of Lute’s poor physical bulk and allow her to freely engage in extended rounds of combat without having to worry about being killed in retaliation. 

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

  • Odd Atk Wave and Even Spd Wave are two particularly noteworthy C slot skills that allow Lute to be much more self-sufficient, as well as enable her to potentially provide team support on odd and even-numbered turns respectively. Such skills are not strictly necessary in order for the young prodigy to function properly, though, and can simply be replicated by providing her with team support to leave her C slot open for other choices, like her native Res Ploy instead. 

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Darting Blow / Atk/Spd 2 / Speed +3 / Attack +3

  • The Heavy Blade seal enables Lute to skyrocket her damage tremendously through faster Special activations, but the Darting Blow, Atk/Spd 2, Speed +3, and Attack +3 seals (or any of their variants) remain good alternative options to supplement Lute’s offenses further. 

Introduction

The meme, the myth, the legend, Lute: Prodigy makes her way into Fire Emblem Heroes to assert dominance and show everyone what it means to be, well, superior. Her statline is incredibly similar to that of another infantry blue mage, Delthea. Trading in some of her Speed for additional Resistance and physical bulk, Lute stands tall as a reliable source of damage output who can hit hard and take incoming magical hits with relative ease; her high Resistance also grants her the flexibility of being able to provide some support by debuffing foes with Resistance-scaling skills like Ploys and Sabotage skills rather frequently. 

Lute’s main selling point, though, is her exclusive weapon: Weirding Tome. Admittedly, this weapon was previously quite underwhelming and caused the prodigy to pale in comparison to many of her contemporaries, failing to catch up to them in virtually any niche. However, upon being included to the weapon refinery system in the 3.10.0 version update, Weirding Tome’s functionality was drastically changed and now differentiates the youthful prodigy as one of the stronger blue mages around. In addition to having its base effect permanently changed to what is essentially Sabotage Spd/Res, this weapon also comes packed with a unique refinement option that grants Lute a significant +4 in-combat boost to all of her stats against any foe afflicted by a debuff or status ailment. While relatively simple, this combination of effects allows Lute to play to her strengths and easily amass a significant advantage against multiple opponents, all the while remaining a respectable support unit as her allies can benefit from the debuffs she applies as well. In other words, she’s incredibly flexible and self-sufficient. 

Her main weakness now mostly lies in her poor physical bulk which, despite somewhat improved thanks to the +4 Defense boost Weirding Tome can provide, remains thoroughly unimpressive. Should one be too careless, she will quickly fall against any source of physical damage that manages to catch her off-guard. That being said, this is a weakness associated with many mages and is not applicable solely to the unapologetic prodigy; rather, it is a byproduct of her own typing given her statline’s focus on her other key stats. Overall, Lute finally received the redemption arc that she deserved, with her Weirding Tome’s newfounded power making her a simple but effective asset at one’s disposal when played to her strengths. Such prowess is to be expected though -- she is superior after all. 

Strengths

Weirding Tome

Originally a rather unimpressive weapon, Weirding Tome now defines Lute as a good mage who can provide mapwide support through its debilitating debuffs and present a solid offensive threat simultaneously, all thanks to the power of its unique refinement option. 

Strong Attack

Lute’s base Attack stat of 36 sits as one of the highest values amongst all ranged units and provides each of her individual strikes with immense raw firepower. 

Great Resistance

Her Resistance is also quite strong and enables her to stand tall against many sources of magical damage. In addition, this allows her to make good use of Ploys, Sabotage skills, and her own Weirding Tome to assist her allies by making enemies easier to take down. 

Self-Sufficient 

Although her weapon’s built in Sabotage Spd/Res effect can indeed be a valuable asset to her allies, it also benefits Lute herself exponentially; with all its effects considered, Weirding Tome grants Lute an effective +9/+12/+4/+4 Atk/Spd/Def/Res against opponents afflicted by its debuff. This makes her a surprisingly powerful attacker who does not outright require the assistance of another unit, making her quite self-sufficient. 

Weaknesses

Horrible Physical Bulk

Lute’s physical bulk is nothing short of horrendous and makes her terribly weak to most (if not all) sources of physical damage, making it highly important that she is able to avoid such threats as best as possible

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Thunder
Blue Tome Users Only
50 2 4
Elthunder
Blue Tome Users Only
100 2 6
Thoron
Blue Tome Users Only
200 2 9
Weirding Tome

Grants Spd +3 At start of turn, all foes in cardinal directions, and with Res 1 or more lower than unit, suffer Spd-5 until the end of foes' next actions

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 2 14
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Support Skills

Support Skills Rng. SP
Rally Attack

Grants Atk+4 to an adjacent ally until the end of the turn.

Learns by default at 5 ★
1 150
Rally Atk/Res

Grants Atk/Res+3 to an adjacent ally until the end of the turn.

Learns by default at 5 ★
1 300

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Resistance +1

Grants Res+1

Inheritable by all units.
30
A
HP/Res 1

Grants HP+3, Res+1.

Inheritable by all units.
100
A
HP/Res 2

Grants HP+4, Res+2.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
A
Res Ploy 1

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

Inheritable by all units.
60
C
Res Ploy 2

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

Inheritable by all units.
120
C
Res Ploy 3

At start of turn, inflicts Res-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

Banners Featured In

Official Hero Artwork