- Default
- Attack
- Special
- Injured




Matthew - Faithful Spy |
---|
|
Hero Stats
Stat Variations
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low | 16 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 4 |
Middle | 17 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 5 |
High | 18 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 6 |
HP | ATK | SPD | DEF | RES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low | 38 | 22 | 31 | 27 | 14 |
Middle | 41 | 25 | 34 | 30 | 18 |
High | 44 | 29 | 37 | 33 | 21 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Assets
-
+ATK: Matthew's base Attack stat is hideously low, at just 25. His 4-point Attack Asset will essentially be mandatory on most sets in order to make up for it.
Neutral
-
SPD: Though Matthew would greatly appreciate boosting his Speed, improving his poor Attack stat will usually be much more important.
-
DEF: The same as with his Speed; he simply requires the Attack much more.
Flaws
-
-HP: Though it lowers both his physical and his magical bulk, it can make it slightly easier to get into the low-HP threshold of skills such as Vantage, and he actually ends up with one more point of magical bulk compared to a Resistance Flaw,
- -RES: A Resistance Flaw helps maintain his good physical bulk, though beware it is a 4-point drop, and leaves him with just 55 magical bulk at full HP before the effects of any other skills.
Skill Sets
Oh? You're Approaching Me? (Vantage)
![]() |
Spy's Dagger (+Eff) | A | Close Counter Alternate: Brazen Atk/Def 3 |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reposition Alternate: Reciprocal Aid |
B | Vantage 3 |
![]() |
Moonbow Alternate: Bonfire |
C | Atk Smoke 3 Alternate: Spd Smoke 3 |
IVs | S | Seal Atk 3 Alternate: Brazen Atk/Def 3 |
Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP or -RES
-
Matthew desperately wants as much Attack as possible. His choice of Flaw is largely preference.
Weapon: Spy's Dagger (+Eff)
-
With its unique refine, Spy's Dagger gains a "reverse Bladetome" effect, like Gunnthrá's weapon Blizzard.
Assist: Reposition / Reciprocal Aid
-
Movement assists like Reposition are solid and reliable team support options.
-
His native Reciprocal Aid can actually be quite useful, serving a few different purposes:
-
He can use it to heal up an ally in need when Matthew's own combat isn't needed.
-
It can allow him to quickly get himself into Vantage range, if the opportunity presents itself.
-
It enables a frontline Matthew to quickly leech HP from an ally if he finds himself needing more HP to survive the next turn.
-
Special: Moonbow / Bonfire
-
A low-cooldown Special like Moonbow is most likely to be up when Matthew needs it.
-
Bonfire scales greater with his high Defense, especially after buffs from Spy's Dagger, though it will activate less often.
Passive A: Close Counter / Brazen Atk/Def
-
Allows him to counterattack melee units. Greatly improves his Enemy Phase potential.
-
Theoretically replaceable with both cheaper skills like Fury or Brazen Atk/Def, or high investment skills like Steady Stance 4, but it will severely shrink the list of units he can viably combat.
Passive B: Vantage
-
With Vantage, Matthew can hope to one-shot squishier debuff enemies before getting hit.
-
Fortunately, even if he fails to one-shot, Matthew may still often have the bulk to a couple more hits thanks to the boost from Spy's Dagger plus any Attack-debuff skills he runs.
Passive C: Atk Smoke / Spd Smoke
-
Atk Smoke both boosts Matthew's survivability and increases the bonus damage granted by Spy's Dagger.
-
Spd Smoke will not grant him any direct bulk but may end up more ultimately useful if it successfully prevents a follow-up from a fast opponent.
Sacred Seal: Seal Atk / Brazen Atk/Def
-
As Atk Smoke does not affect his actual target, the Seal Atk seal can be used alongside it and greatly aid him in 1v1 situations and pickoffs.
-
Brazen Atk/Def can provide similar effective stats, though may be more coveted among other units. Meanwhile, there is virtually no competition for the Seal Atk seal—stick it on him and never ever have to worry about needing to move it around ever.
Death Marker (Chill Player Phase)
![]() |
Spy's Dagger (+Eff) | A | Death Blow (3 or 4) Alternate: Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Draw Back Alternate: Reposition |
B | Chill Def 3 |
![]() |
Moonbow Alternate: Bonfire |
C | Even Atk Wave 3 Alternate: Hone Spd 3 |
IVs | S | Drive Atk 2 |
Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP or -RES
-
Matthew desperately wants as much Attack as possible. His choice of Flaw is largely preference.
Weapon: Spy's Dagger (+Eff)
-
Matthew can utilize Spy's Dagger "reverse Bladetome" to specifically chase after enemies that have been "marked" by Chill skills.
Assist: Draw Back / Reposition
-
Another preferential choice. Draw Back may help him stay safer alongside his poor Enemy Phase.
Special: Moonbow / Bonfire
-
Moonbow's lower cooldown helps him activate it more often. Bonfire, however, will hit a bit harder.
Passive A: Death Blow / Swift Sparrow / Sturdy Impact
-
Helps Matthew hit his target as hard as possible.
-
Death Blow "variants" like Swift Sparrow and Sturdy Impact that offer additional effects also work quite well.
Passive B: Chill Def
-
Though a bit redundant with the "Dagger 6" effect on Spy's Dagger, Chill Def is the best Chill that Matthew can run to "mark" an enemy, providing him with 14 additional damage on that target.
Passive C: Even Atk Wave / Odd Atk Wave
-
Because his damage scales with enemy debuffs rather than his own buffs like Bladetomes, he can add an extra Atk Wave skill to further the damage he deals.
-
Instead, any team support skill such as a Drive can be run as desired.
Sacred Seal: Chill Atk
-
A second "marker" for Matthew, and the most likely Chill to hit the same unit targeted by Chill Def.
Introduction
Matthew is a dagger unit defined by his high Speed and decent Defense. Statwise he is quite comparable to Saizo, but at the end of the day his stats are mainly inferior. Matthew receives higher HP and Resistance, two stats he doesn't really need, in return for decreased Attack and Defense stats, both of which are quite critical. Matthew actually possesses one of the lowest Attack stats in the game, making it exceedingly difficult for him to actually take on his enemies alone.
Granted in the 3.7.0 update, Matthew received a new weapon, Spy's Dagger. In addition to the base Rogue Dagger property, it gives him a "reverse Bladetome" effect, granting him bonus damage equal to the total debuffs on his opponent, in the same vein as Gunnthrá's Blizzard tome. Though certainly a very welcome tool to help make up for Matthew's poor Attack, and a huge boon overall, it does not however suddenly skyrocket Matthew to the top. As useful as the weapon is, mages with simply-better statlines wielding a Bladetome, as well as other better-statline dagger units using the Broadleaf Fan (an inheritable dagger with the same "reverse Bladetome" effect), will still all usually outperform Matthew. In this respect, Matthew is very comparable to Odin, another low-Attack unique with a Prf Bladetome skill. However, Odin's unique tome also grants him an easy to utilize and generally-superior support component than Spy's Dagger, and typically magical damage will be superior to physical damage on such a "Bladetome" effect.
Those looking for something different can certainly find a fairly fun if perhaps gimmicky unit in Matthew, but those looking for a top contender will probably be best looking elsewhere. As said himself in-game, Matthew is "really more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy", truthfully not really designed for the spotlight, best used as a compliment to other units.
Strengths
Solid Speed and Defense
Though far from the fastest in the game, his decent Speed can be helpful for escaping doubles. Doubling slower enemies also aids his ability to charge his own Special procs. In conjunction with his Speed, sluggish physical attackers can have trouble taking him down, especially after further boosts to his bulk from Spy's Dagger.
Spy's Dagger
Matthew's Prf weapon is quite powerful, offering not only a Defense buff effect for both himself and his team, but also a "reverse Bladetome" effect, granting damage that scales with the number of debuffs on his opponent. These types of skills can achieve fairly high potential in conjunction with some favoritism, especially if one can manage to stack basic stat debuffs alongside panic debuffs, and pad this further with some standard stat buffs for Matthew himself.
Weaknesses
Terrifyingly Low Attack
Matthew's Attack is nearly unusable. Without an Attack boon, Matthew's visible Attack stat won't even reach 40 without additional Attack-boosting skills or Sacred Seals. Realistically Spy's Dagger is more of a band-aid for this issue than a true solution, as even when attacking an enemy with multiple debuffs, his damage output will still really only end up being about as good as that of a better offensive unit without any boosts—a far cry from what one would hope given the extensive setup necessary.
Questionable Resistance
Matthew's total magical bulk tends to rarely venture higher than the "Maybe he can survive one hit?" range, and is fairly unreliable. This lowers even further if Matthew happens across a Raven tome unit.
Outclassed in most builds
Compared to Saizo, Matthew loses 4 Attack and 3 Defense in return for 5 HP and 2 Resistance. Saizo will perform any non-Spy's Dagger set Matthew could hope to think of better, only being slightly more susceptible to mages (which Matthew can't even tank confidently anyway).
For offensive builds, other infantry dagger units like Gaius, Saizo, Kaze, Legault, and even Performing Olivia all have strictly better offensive spreads. Though Spy's Dagger does have high potential, securing debuffs on enemies can be much harder than simply putting buffs one's an actual Bladetome mage, and the aforementioned dagger units will all likely exceed Matthew at the same niche if given a Broadleaf Fan, an inheritable weapon with a similar "reverse Bladetome" effect.
![]() |
Spy's Dagger (+Eff) | A | Fury 3 |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reciprocal Aid | B | Renewal 3 |
![]() |
Ignis | C | Threaten Spd 3 |
S | Flashing Blade 3 |
This is a budget off-tank build for Matthew. Refined Spy’s Dagger works with Threaten Spd to help deal extra damage, plus Threaten Spd helps him get follow-up attacks. Flashing Blade helps his cooldown charge, since Ignis has a relatively high cooldown. I gave him Fury since, without merges or dragonflowers, most of his stats aren’t spectacular. Renewal helps him survive the recoil damage of using Fury, especially if he gets hit by mages.
![]() |
Spy's Dagger (+Eff) | A | Close Counter |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reciprocal Aid | B | Vantage 3 |
![]() |
Moonbow | C | Atk Smoke 3 |
S | Threaten Spd 3 |
(Note: This is my +10/+10 S-Support Matthew, which is part of why his stats are insanely high for a dagger user.)
This build functions both as a debuffer and a massive damage-dealer. Due to the effect of his refined Spy’s Dagger, he can use Atk Smoke and Threaten Spd (plus the regular effect of Spy’s Dagger) to debuff opponents and simultaneously deal much more damage than he otherwise could. Combined with Close Counter and Vantage, if he gets anywhere below 75% HP, he’s nearly untouchable. He also has Moonbow, just in case the debuffs aren’t quite enough to seal the kill with. It has a low enough cooldown to activate frequently, plus the def/res-lowering effect will help him take out bulkier units.
![]() |
Spy's Dagger (+Eff) | A | Close Counter |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reposition | B | Vantage 3 |
![]() |
Miracle | C | Atk Smoke 3 |
S | Brazen Atk/Res 3 |
I'm pretty sure Matthew is ranked tier 5 because people at GP do not know how to build him.
You use Matthew in Light season, pairing with Aversa. Give him a Light blessing so Eir and Peony can give him buffs. Use Sabotage skills too to further boost his initial damage. It's not hard.
Matthew is amazing. Complain to GP to increase his tier ranking, because his pref is better than Broadleaf, and he's incredibly tanky. He is top 1k achievable unit, even as of January 2020. Tier 5 is a joke. He's ranked among a ton of units that have no prayer of top 1k'ing AR :/
![]() |
Spy's Dagger (+Eff) | A | Close Counter |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Reposition | B | Vantage 3 |
![]() |
Miracle | C | Atk Smoke 3 |
S | Spd Smoke 3 |
~Budget Broadleaf~ (merged +1)
While not as meta as Sothe or Kronya, Matthew is still cool for CC Vantage shenanigans. He was needed for Astra season despite not getting much from the stat boosts, but double dancer helps set him up and spread debuffs well. Just held back by lack of feathers for merging at the moment.
![]() |
Spy's Dagger (+Eff) | A | Close Counter |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Pivot | B | Watersweep 3 |
![]() |
Bonfire | C | Atk Smoke 3 |
S | Spd Smoke 3 |
This set is built to emulate a Smoke Dagger+ refined, while also taking out enemies in the enemy phase with close counter. A Watersweep enables Matthew to strike at Mages and potentially kill them should they be weakened by debuffs, potentially caused during an enemy or player phase. Bonfire really aids Matthew in delivering the hurt, allowing him to use his self buffed modest defense in order to deliver high amounts of damage whenever charged, and Pivot for when things start getting dicey with the enemy team, should he need to get out of the spotlight.
Weapon Skills
Weapons | SP | Rng. | Mt. |
---|---|---|---|
![]() Learns by default at 2 ★ Dagger users only.
|
50 | 2 | 3 |
![]() Learns by default at 3 ★ Unlocks at 2 ★ Dagger users only.
|
100 | 2 | 5 |
![]() Learns by default at 4 ★ Unlocks at 3 ★ Dagger users only.
|
200 | 2 | 4 |
![]() Unlocks at 5 ★ Dagger users only.
|
300 | 2 | 7 |
![]() Unlocks at 5 ★ Non-Inheritable skill.
|
400 | 2 | 14 |
Support Skills
Support Skills | Rng. | SP |
---|---|---|
![]() Learns by default at 4 ★ |
1 | 150 |
Passive Skills
Passive Skills | SP | Slot |
---|---|---|
![]() Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 3 ★ |
60 | B |
![]() Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★ |
120 | B |
![]() Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★ |
240 | B |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 2 ★ |
50 | C |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 2 ★ |
100 | C |
![]() Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★ |
200 | C |
Other Info
Origin |
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
|
---|