Marth

Weapon: Falchion (Refined) 

Assist: Rally Atk/Spd+ / Positional Assist

Special: Ruptured Sky / Moonbow 

Passive A: R Duel Infantry / Fury (3 or 4) / Life and Death (3 or 4)

Passive B: Atk/Spd Ruse / Even Pulse Tie

Passive C: Joint Drive Spd / Flexible 

Sacred Seal: Def Feint / Chill Def / Atk/Spd 2 / Def/Res 2 / Flexible

• The combination of Drive Atk/Spd/Def/Res 1 and Renewal make Marth a solid choice for support. There are 2 main routes that can be taken with a supportive Marth, but regardless of which one is chosen, he’ll rarely take part in combat.
  • Arena Support- Because of how Arena scoring works, a Dual Rally+, 500 SP Special, R Duel Infantry, and skills with at least 240 SP are crucial to maximize scoring. Since he’s locked to a Dual Rally+, Atk/Spd Ruse and Def Feint are excellent choices that inflict debuffs on foes within cardinal directions when Marth Rallies. The combination of Joint Drive Spd and Marth’s refined Falchion grants +2 Atk/Def/Res and +6 Speed to allies within 2 spaces, which is easily capable of turning the tide in favor of his allies.
  • Aether Raids Support- Soaking debuffs from Chill skills and Bright/Dark Shrines is crucial when supporting a superunit, so Fury and Life and Death are excellent choices to maximize the chances that Marth will soak those debuffs instead of his allies. The Dual Rally+ and Atk/Spd Ruse can be replaced by a positional Assist and Even Pulse Tie respectively, since the omnipresence of Panic makes visible buffs unreliable and Even Pulse Tie shuts down Infantry Pulse teams. Chill Def is chosen to allow Mila to inflict Isolation on Masquerade Eldigan, but Atk/Spd 2 or Def/Res 2 can also be used to ensure Marth soaks the Bright or Dark Shrine respectively.

Weapon: Ninja Katana+

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Galeforce / Ruptured Sky / Moonbow

Passive A: Atk/Spd Push 4 / Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Fury (3 or 4)

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / Desperation 

Passive C: Time’s Pulse / Odd Tempest / Joint Drive Atk 

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade 3 

• While 31/34 offenses aren’t the greatest, Marth can still be a dangerous offensive presence with investment. Ninja Katana’s +4 Speed in exchange for -4 Def/Res bumps Marth’s Speed to 38 and allows him to attack twice when he initiates (meaning he attacks 4 times if he can perform a follow-up attack). 
• The combination of Ninja Katana, Galeforce, Time’s Pulse, and Flashing Blade allows Marth to activate Galeforce after 2 attacks and move again assuming no Guard effect is active. Wings of Mercy is chosen because Galeforce chains are a common strategy in Aether Raids Offense; when one Galeforcer drops to ≤ 50% HP, another can teleport to a space adjacent to them, attack another enemy, and activate Galeforce themselves. If Marth is receiving cooldown reduction from an ally such as Velouria or Groom Rafiel, Time’s Pulse can be replaced with Odd Tempest to grant Marth additional reach that may only be achievable under normal circumstances through a refresh or Shove/Smite.
• Alternatively, Marth can swap out Galeforce for an offensive Special. 2-cooldown Specials such as Ruptured Sky and Moonbow work best with Ninja Katana’s Brave effect, as Marth can activate his Special twice if he performs a follow-up attack and no Guard effect is active. Desperation allows Marth to perform 4 consecutive attacks if his HP is ≤ 75%, which is capable of KOing much of the cast in combination with 2 Special activations.
• Regardless of which set is chosen, Fury, Swift Sparrow, and Atk/Spd Push 4 are excellent choices that boost Marth’s offenses. Fury is a particularly great choice for Galeforce chains because of its 6/8 recoil damage granting greater ease in dropping to ≤ 50% HP for Wings of Mercy chains; Atk/Spd Push 4 performs a similar role, inflicting 5 recoil damage instead.

Weapon: Slaying Edge+ (+SPD) / Carrot Cudgel+ (+SPD) / Bellringer+ (+SPD)  

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Noontime / Sol 

Passive A: Distant Counter 

Passive B: Spurn / Null Follow-Up 

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Joint Drive Res 

Sacred Seal: Spd/Res Solo 

• Marth can become a solid superunit thanks to his well-balanced statline that focuses on Speed. While his Resistance is concerningly low given the ubiquity of Mages and Staff units in Aether Raids, Resistance-stacking through Blessings, skills, support, and debuffs can help patch this issue.
• Unfortunately, Marth’s Falchion is not very helpful for the purpose of supertanking because Dragons are uncommon on Aether Raids Defense (save for Sothis, who neutralizes Dragon-effective effects); as such, he has a myriad of solid weapons to choose from. 
  • Slaying Edge allows Marth to activate Noontime on his first counterattack (which maximizes healing and sustainability), but since Brave Lucina is so common for supporting superunits, either swapping Slaying Edge for Carrot Cudgel / Bellringer or swapping Noontime for Sol may be better. 
  • Carrot Cudgel grants +5 Atk/Def and neutralizes Marth’s visible Atk/Def debuffs during combat if he is within 2 spaces of an ally, making it a great option for improving Marth’s damage output, sustainability with his Special, and physical bulkiness.
  • Bellringer heals 5 HP for every attack Marth performs, granting him excellent sustainability in combination with Noontime or Sol.
• Distant Counter, Spurn, and Pulse Smoke all play different roles, but are key for superunits. Distant Counter ensures Marth’s bulk is worthwhile by allowing him to attack against ranged units (increasing damage output and healing), Spurn allows Marth to take advantage of his Speed via damage reduction equal to the gap between his Speed and the enemy’s Speed x 4% (up to 40%, so a gap of 10 Speed), and Pulse Smoke shuts down the omnipresent Infantry Pulse teams by inflicting +1 Special cooldown to the target and enemies within 2 spaces. Spd/Res Solo secures follow-up attacks and maximum damage reduction while bolstering Marth’s otherwise low magical bulk.
• Alternatives for Marth’s B and C slots include Null Follow-Up and Joint Drive Res. Null Follow-Up shuts down common threats like Bramimond and Yune by nullifying effects that prevent Marth’s follow-up attack or guarantee theirs, while granting +4 Resistance to himself and allies within 2 spaces with Joint Drive Res can save the day against mage-heavy Defense teams.