Lyn

Preferred IV: +ATK,+Spd / -HP
Weapon: Sol Katti (+Spd, +Atk)
Assist: Swap / Reposition / Rally Atk Up +
Special: Galeforce
Passive A: Flashing Blade 4
Passive B: Null-Follow up 3
Passive C: Joint Hone Spd / Threaten Atk/Spd 3
Sacred Seal: Brazen Atk/Spd 3

Lyn is still in a weird place. Her sword's refine is good, not great as Brash Assault becomes more and more outdated with the slow powercreep of range units making it useless (it does not work on units that cannot counter you). So I have been waiting for a weapon and skills to come along to make use of the #1 waifu in Fire Emblem in some way. Sure, I could make her use my Mia-Armorsmasher build to become an anti-armor dragon slayer, but I wanted something a bit more unique and universal. I first thought I found it with Cake Cutter, but through various testing, I figured out that I was just refining Lyn the wrong way.

Preferred IV: +Atk/+Spd/+Res are all winners for a boon. With Atk, you get a Lyn that might not do 0 damage as much. With Spd, you help activate Flashing Blade. And with Res, you get yourself access to some Ploy skills and protection against dragons. Choice is ultimately yours, but I like to go with power first.

Weapon: Sol Katti (+Spd) gives Lyn some much needed speed in a world where everyone seems to raise the bar farther from her. You can easily flip this to +Atk refine if you have a +Spd Lyn, but this is where the juggling comes in. +Atk only gives you +2 attack while the boon gives you +3. You want Lyn to have a good mix of both attack and speed and diving heavily into one, leaves the other worst off. Lyn's attack is bad, but a boon makes it workable. Her speed is good, but has a lot of competition from newer units. My preference is the healthy mix of a +3 Atk boon and a +3 Spd refine. Your own results may vary, but this is what has worked for me. Keeping the Desperation effect but dropping the Brash Assault is incredibly important because that +3 Spd is going to help close that gap for Lyn where Brash Assault isn't as useful (assuming you use dragon flowers and a summoner support and/or unit support). While a weapon like Cake Cutter is still going to give you more oomph on initiation, Desperation will literally mean Lyn kills or is killed because she can attack twice before the enemy. This is the beginning of how Lyn can start to mimic Mareeta with some finagling.

Assist: Swap is what I prefer for infantry units, but others swear by Reposition. Or you can grab a Rally skill if you are hunting for Arena score.

Special: Galeforce works great for this build and is the cheaper option since Lyn already comes with it. Moonbow or Luna is good for getting in some extra damage (and seeing Lyn shout things) what with Lyn's attack being mediocre and all. But with Galeforce you get to preform some crazy shenanigans and help get Lyn into Desperation/Brazen range as it is nearly impossible to avoid damage on a Galeforce user.

A slot: Flashing Blade 4 is what helps pull this build together. It is great for lowering Lyn's CD for Galeforce and for giving her some much needed guaranteed damage.

B slot: If you are going to fodder off a Mareeta for Flashing Blade 4, you might as well grab Null Follow-up while you are there (Flashing Blade 1-3 being available on a grail unit). Chill Spd 3 is great as a budget option, but as we move on, that will not be needed as Lyn should become fast enough to double most people with the proper investment. Null Follow-up is great if you want to guarantee that Lyn attacks twice for maximum CD and damage on units like Myrrh and Surtr.

C slot: Almost anything can go here. Joint Hone Spd or Threaten Atk/Spd is good to keep Lyn's speed up higher. But any Wave skill will work or any support skill that you might want for team support. I lean toward any skill that improves Lyn's own stats, though, as I do not want to take any chances that she becomes outmatched.

Seal: This is where Lyn separates herself from Mareeta. Mareeta's weapon requires her to be above a certain HP threshold while Lyn's weapon is the opposite. Because of this, Lyn can take advantage of Brazen skills more reliably and allows her to catch up to faster folks like Mia and Mareeta. This is crucial for securing doubles and kills on both them and tanky units like Surtr.

The thing with this build is that of all the skills here, the Desperation effect of Lyn's weapon is the only one that cares if you initiate or the enemy does. This is a very dual phase friendly build that allows Lyn maximum versatility in the field and encourages the unit to do what it does best. If you are a fan of Lyn and want to see her be relevant again, despite what rankings have her as, this is the build that will allow her that chance.

Fury-based set to take advantage of Sol Katti. Seal and C-skill are to help Lyn's defense, because her Resistance is fine for what this build tries to be.

*Update* The build is still to get her HP at around 50% still however she has much better skills that have been introduced. And she is a +2 merged unit so her stats have increased slightly.

So brash assault is now brash assault 4 and built into her weapon, and with the addition of brazen atk/spd grants her +7 for each stat when her HP is 80% or less of her max. Wrath adds extra damage to luna however moonbow could work too. And atk smoke helps her bulk as well as her teammates bulk as well. As for a seal quicken pulse could work with luna but 3 extra attack seemed more helpful, speed could work too. I'd say this is a better build albeit more expensive. but both work amazing.

Basically this build is to get her under or at least 50% of her max HP.
She is best at initiating attacks with the help of death blow and brash assault and with desperation 2 built into her weapon most units will fall to lyn if she attacks first.
Reciprocal Aid helps with getting her to that threshold quicker and easier and luna is for those units with higher defense stats to ensure victory.
Threaten Def is used to give her a bit more attack power and since she usually hits twice it grants her +10 more damage most of the time.
My lyn is +HP -DEF so if you have one that is +SPD or +ATK she could be even better.

One of my absolute favourite FE characters, this build is the one I use for PvE and occasionally Arena. I personally believe in using units that have been powercrept, just to show that they're still viable. I know that the HP caveat needed is annoying, but its not going to deter me from using her!

Build name: [Brisk Winds of Sacae]

*Note: This is an update to my post back in February since Flashing Blade and Brazen Atk/Res are now available as seals. All evaluations and stat references will be done according to my ideal stat spread of Lyn: Lady of the Plains.

Now then, as everyone and their mother already has a similar concept of what the ideal build(s) for Lyn should be, this explanation will be more of an in-depth analysis on the circumstances in which my best girl will/will not prefer varying IVs/blessings, skills, and provide a team/facilitate ideas for a team built AROUND her. Here is my team as an example (my IGN for FEH is KinoSei): https://imgur.com/gallery/WvbRE3W
I apologize in advance for the wall of text.

[Boons/Banes/Blessings]
My ideal IVs for her are +Atk/-HP. With summoner support (+5 HP and +2 to all other stats), Sol Katti +Eff (+3 HP), and my Legendary Hero/Season of choice (+3 HP and +4 Res), she will reach 49 HP (38 + 5 + 3 + 3 = 49). My Lyn’s stats are as follows: 49 HP / 53 Atk / 43 Spd / 32 Def / 39 Res

HP should always be the dump stat for Lyn since nowadays you will get extra HP from a plethora of sources such as: summoner support, weapon refines, corresponding blessings/seasons, and more situationally, being the bonus unit for Arena/Tempest Trials.

Res and Spd boons are acceptable as well. You should really only go for a Def boon if you plan on running something like Brazen Atk/Def with Bonfire/Ignis or have substantial physical defense support (which I will get to at the end of this section).

A Res boon will help Lyn ploy a slightly wider range of heroes and indirectly allow her to deal more damage if she is running Def Ploy. For example, certain armored heroes like Gwendolyn and the more recent Bector can have enough resistance to avoid being ployed by Lyn. If Lyn runs a Res boon, she will lose out on 3 attack, but will in turn inflict -5 def to the aforementioned heroes and allow her to deal 2 extra damage per hit.
Neutral resistance does still allows Lyn to ploy her fair share of heroes and capitalizes on Iceberg/Glacies, which are the specials that do the greatest amount of damage, taking into account her stats, buffs, and complementary blessing(s).

Ideally, you will want to keep speed as a neutral stat since other sword heroes like Ayra, Mia, and Karla have been given a higher BST, better offensive spread, and more often than not, have blessings that boost their speed. All this does is make Lyn play catchup in terms of stats, not outperform them. Brash Assault takes care of the player phase speed issue for the most part.

To put things into perspective, the most common +10 +Spd/-Res build for Ayra in high end arena, details a speed forged Slaying Edge, Fjorm/Water Blessing, Distant Counter, Wrath, and Quickened Pulse/Infantry Pulse teammate (who has higher HP than her), can reach up to 50 speed neutrally and have instant Regnal Astra ready.

Ayra’s stat line is: 45 HP / 51 Atk / 50 Spd /35 Def / 22 Res, whereas a +Spd Lyn has 46 speed. Lyn can reach 49 with a Spd Blessing and the following A skills give her an additional boost: Fury (Lyn’s 52 speed to Ayra’s 50 speed) as well as LnD (54 Speed to 50 Speed) still do not give Lyn enough speed to double Ayra naturally, unless Lyn runs a Speed+ sacred seal. I didn’t factor in Brazen Atk/Spd because at that point Lyn will more than likely be in Brash Assault range.

Now it isn't as if speed is completely useless, as it does allow her to avoid doubles from ranged attackers so long as they aren't running Swordbreaker. The padded speed from Brazen Atk/Spd also allows Lyn to double ranged units; if you do find her speed lacking, a slight bump from the team should suffice as she will have already reached 50 speed at 80% HP.

Now going back to my example of Ayra, her instant Wrath infused Regnal Astra will deal exactly 49 damage in one attack against Lyn (51 atk + 40% of 50 spd + 10 extra damage from Wrath - 32 def > 51+20+10 - 32 > 81 - 32 = 49). It would be incredibly inefficient to pour resources into a stat just to survive a few matchups for a playstyle that doesn’t suit their kit.
Bold Fighter Armors are the prime example of why you won't want to run anything that suggests that Lyn should be taking multiple hits.

Based on my previous points, her go to Blessings should be Attack and/or Resistance, depending on your team. I advise against placing heroes with the same weapon on the same team due to poor team composition, so in regards to Lyn, don’t give her an Earth Blessing on L!Ike's team or Fire Blessing on L!Marth's team.

Wind Legendary Heroes: Gunnthra and L!Lyn are good choices as they provide extra resistance and attack respectively. You can even consider putting them on the same team; not to mention that giving Lyn a Wind Blessing makes a neat reference to her alignment in FE7. A Fire Blessing from L!Hector is also acceptable as he provides extra Attack and has Ostian Pulse if you choose to run a Tactics/mixed movement or FE7 theme team. Any other heroes that I didn't mention aren't horrible but simply don't synergize with Lyn's strengths in particular.

[A Skills to consider running]
Brazen Atk/Spd allows Lyn to bolster her wet noodle stat, since Brash Assault will allow her to double against most opponents who can counter; the added speed will aid in preventing naturally faster units from doubling, and help her score doubles against ranged attackers who fall out of Lyn’s speed tier once reaching the 75% HP threshold. Fury is a nice budget option to easily activate her skills and plays nice with the Ploy C skills, but packs less of a punch. Since Lyn should be built (ideally) as a player phase unit, I will give a honorable mention to Swift Sparrow and DB4; however, if you know what you’re doing, dropping 25% of her HP should be a cinch as +7 atk/spd in both phases is much better than +4 atk/spd and +8 atk during the player phase respectively.

[A skills that aren’t as ideal OR are IV/support dependent]
Life and Death just makes it plain difficult to safely drop below 75% HP without utilizing an assist slot (Ardent Sacrifice/Reciprocal Aid), that will only likely be used once per match. Brazen Atk/Def WILL NOT help Lyn out. Going back to my example about Ayra in the previous section, Ayra will only deal 7 less damage (49 - 7 = 42) with Brazen Atk/Def active (39 HP or less), so Ayra will still KO Lyn; once again, she really shouldn’t be tanking multiple hits regardless of whether or not she is fighting mainly melee/physical units. By this logic, please don’t give her Brazen Def/Res. If your argument is that Brazen Atk/Def allows you to do more damage with Bonfire or Ignis, then you’ll come to the realization that Brazen Atk/Res with Iceberg/Glacies will allow you to do more damage thanks to Lyn’s naturally higher resistance. You can even run double Brazen Atk/Res thanks to the sacred seal version, or Brazen Atk/Spd and the Brazen Atk/Res seal.

[B skills and Specials]
Wrath and Special Spiral should be your two main options for maximum damage output. Wrath allows you to capitalize on 3-cooldown specials, while Special Spiral allows you to do so with 4-cooldown specials, including AoEs. Assuming you have reached the 75% HP threshold, Wrath will allow you to charge your special outside of battle in case you need to fight against enemies that have Guard effects in their weapons/skills. Special Spiral will in general net you slightly more damage with 4-cooldown specials even taking into account the extra 10 damage from 3-cooldown Wrath specials as you’ll see shortly. Special Spiral, however, has a more difficult startup since it only triggers after your first special activation; it’ll require some babying and/or Pulse support to pull off. These two B skills in tandem with Heavy/Flashing Blade or Infantry Rush/Flash allows Lyn to pop a special at least once every player phase.
Vantage is now an acceptable option thanks to the new capability of running double Brazen’s.

When it comes to choosing the ideal special however, we’ll need to crunch some numbers to see what will give us the most damage. Anything that isn't a 3 or 4-cooldown offensive special is simply inefficient for Lyn; same should be said for healing specials like Sol and Aether as they will bring her out of her 75% HP and below range. I will only be taking into account the passive stat increase provided from the A slot; while I acknowledge that there are skills like Odd Atk Wave and the like, it counts as a field buff and can be provided elsewhere.

1.Draconic Aura and Dragon Fang - Lyn will have 60 Atk (53 attack with +Atk ivs) after her Brazen Skill comes into play, which will give her 28 damage with Draconic Aura (30% of 60 = 18 > 18 + 10 extra Wrath damage = 28) and 30 damage with Dragon Fang (50% of 60 = 30).
2.Bonfire and Ignis - Taking into account Brazen Atk/Def, Lyn will have 39 Def (32 neutral defense), which will give her 29 damage with Bonfire (50% of 39 = 19.5 > game rounds down to 19 > 19 + 10 extra Wrath damage = 29) and 31 damage with Ignis (80% of 39 = 31.2 > game rounds down to 31).
3.Iceberg and Glacies - Taking into account Brazen Atk/Res, Lyn will have 42 Res (35 neutral resistance), which will give her 31 damage with Iceberg (50% of 42 = 21 > 21 + 10 extra Wrath damage = 31) and 33 damage with Glacies (80% of 42 = 33.6 > game rounds down to 33).
4.Luna and Astra - These two skills are less consistent cause they take another variable into account aside from your Hero’s stats: the enemy!
In order for Luna to outperform Iceberg, your enemy would have to have at least 44 defense (50% of 44 = 22 > 22 + 10 extra Wrath damage = 32), not to mention that it does not synergize well with defense debuffs on your opponent.
Astra on the other hand is dependent on the damage dealt, which means that WTA is a factor, meaning it is more effective against green enemies and less effective against blue enemies in Lyn’s case; Astra requires a measly damage output of 14 (250% of 14 = 35) to outdo the other specials. Now this may sound impressive, but if you’re only dealing 14 damage per hit to a green, red, or colorless unit, you might need to re-evaluate the circumstance in which you are making your Lyn attack. If you feel like you’re doing a substantial amount of damage outside of Astra, then the extra damage you get from it and the amount of effort it takes to setup Special Spiral Astra may not be worthwhile, hence why it’s inconsistent and hard to find a sweet spot/balance for this particular special.

I feel that, with what IS has provided with us so far, the Wind Blessing is Lyn’s best option for dealing extra special damage due to a bonus in attack and resistance. A standard Brazen Atk/Spd with a resistance blessing allows Lyn to do 19 damage off of a 39 resistance Iceberg, which edges out an attack blessing for 18 damage off of a 62 attack Draconic Aura.

[C skills/Team Synergy]
This skill slot is heavily dependant on what Lyn’s teammates bring to the table.

For example, my Lyn utilizes Def Ploy because I can capitalize on the extra resistance during Wind Season. A Def debuff on the opponent allows Lyn to maximize her damage output without affecting her special. Def Ploy provides Gunnthra the opportunity to do more damage thanks to her Blizzard tome; it can also allow Lyn to change the Chilling Seal target on the enemy team based on whether she has enough Res to ploy and whether the target she wants to ploy will have less Def than the current target after the ploy takes place. My Fae’s Panic Ploy can perform a similar role. The debuffs on the enemy’s attack and speed also let Lyn prevent and double ranged units and use Heavy/Flashing Blade or Infantry Rush/Flash effectively.

You should however keep an eye out for enemies that receive field buffs specifically towards resistance, as that will contribute to whether or not you can ploy them; receiving a field buff yourself does not affect this process, as the ploy lasts until the beginning of your next turn (more specifically before you receive field buffs). You will also want to avoid enemies with Panic Ploy as they utilize the same cardinal direction trigger and will likely have more HP than Lyn.

There are plenty of other viable options however, Odd/Even Atk Wave, Atk Ploy, Atk or Def Smoke being the most prominent. You may want to run Odd/Even Atk Wave if your team isn’t suited for Tactics skills for example, and you have other heroes capable of debuffing the opponents with say Chill skills or Panic Ploy. You may want to run the Smoke skills if you utilize an AoE theme skillset/Special Spiral build on Lyn; spread the love :). Smoke skills are particularly effective against enemies who clump together, like non-Armor March Armor emblem for example.

Team Options for Lyn include green heroes who can tank strong physical blues, blue and colorless bows and daggers. In my case, Fae is a great choice as she is considered an Infantry hero and can utilize Infantry Support skills. Heroes like Hector who come with or utilize Distant Counter and aren't weak to bows, are also quite effective.

I will also recommend WoM Dancers for their mobility. A flying dancer such as NY!Azura or Bridal Ninian are good choices, but Infantry dancers with Infantry Rush are particularly effective if Lyn opts to run a double Brazen Special Spiral build, as it can allow her to trigger her special twice in one player phase as long as the opponent isn't running Guard; in which case simply waiting a couple of turns before nuking with Wrath is a better option.

You will obviously want to have attack buffs, but if you utilize a special other than Draconic Aura, Luna, or Astra, you'll want to provide alternative buffs to the respective defensive stat. Options include field buffs such as rally assist skills, wave and tactic skills, as well as in-combat buffs from a teammate's ally support, weapon, or drive/spur skills.

[Sacred Seals]
Heavy Blade or Flashing Blade 3 , no contest, further questions, comments, or concerns. As I mentioned before, these two seals are what enables such fast acting nuke potential from the Lady of the Plains. Use whichever is at your disposal; buff Lyn’s Atk/Spd while debuffing the opponent’s Atk/Spd respective to the seal used. I will also suggest the new Brazen Atk/Res seal since +14 atk from a double Brazen build is simply too good to pass up. In this case I will suggest using an infantry ally’s C skill for Infantry Rush due to the padded attack.

Thanks for reading!