GamePress
Analysis by MackerelPye
Nailah - Unflinching Eye

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
163
HP 40
ATK 31
SPD 37
DEF 32
RES 23

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 17 6 10 7 3
Middle 18 7 11 8 4
High 19 8 12 9 5

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 36 28 34 29 20
Middle 40 31 37 32 23
High 43 34 40 35 27

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

Skill Sets

AWOOOOOOOOOO-GA (Special Spiral Nuke)

Build by MackerelPye
Recommended
Wolf Queen Fang (+Eff) A Atk/Spd Solo (3 or 4)
Alternate: Distant Counter
Reposition B Special Spiral 3
Aether
Alternate: Luna
C Glare
Alternate: Atk Smoke 3
IVs

+ATK or +SPD / -HP or -RES

SSteady Breath
Alternate: Mystic Boost 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Wolf Queen Fang (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Aether / Luna / Dragon Fang

Passive A: Atk/Spd Solo / Distant Counter / Other Distant Counter or Atk/Spd Skill variations

Passive B: Special Spiral

Passive C: Glare / Atk Smoke

Sacred Seal: Steady Breath / Atk/Spd Solo / Mystic Boost / Fierce Stance

  • As Nailah's playstyle leans on activating her Specials when transformed, a Special Spiral build is naturally on the table. After Nailah's Special activates for the first time, Special Spiral will come into play and reduce the amount of cooldown needed — if not fully charge entirely —  to get Nailah's Special ready by two charges. 
  • As long as Special Spiral comes into play and considering how Wolf Queen Fang already provides a number of cooldown acceleration techniques (such as CD -1 and neutralizing effects that would slow Nailah's charge down) while dealing a great amount of Special damage, Nailah can choose from quite a few longer-winded Specials. 
  • The Special you choose ultimately determines Nailah's build and playstyle.
    • Double Phase Always-Ready Luna (Luna + Spiral): Luna has the shortest cooldown of the options mentioned here at a very convenient 2 CD, meaning that after every Special Spiral charge, Luna will be up and running immediately without requiring any other setup. This allows Nailah to have a nuking option ready at any moment you deem necessary, especially in situations where she may no longer have the strength to bait anymore attacks and is thus forced to initiate attacks in Player phase. 
    • Enemy-Phase Aether (Spiral + Aether + Steady Breath or some outsourced equivalent): With Spiral and some Breath effect active, the normally cumbersome Aether becomes much more manageable to charge, allowing Nailah to make grand use of its huge burst damage and healing in one package. Combined with the increased damage and healing effects from Wolf Queen Fang, Nailah can find herself hitting and healing more strongly than ever, which ideal for survivability-based modes like Aether Raids Offense or certain difficult Hero Battles. 
      • Unless you can outsource Nailah's Breath effect through another ally (like Thórr's Worldbreaker or Brave Lucina's Geirskögul), Steady Breath is pretty much a must as the Sacred Seal option. 
    • Enemy-Phase Dragon Fang (Spiral + Ignis): Similar to Aether, but focuses exclusively on dealing an extremely heavy hit rather than sustain. No Breath effects are necessary to charge Ignis fully because it's slightly shorter-charged at 3 CD, so only one baited enemy attack is necessary after Spiral activation. 
  • On any build that doesn't require the additional acceleration from the Steady Breath Sacred Seal, Nailah is free to choose from Mystic Boost, Fierce Stance, or Atk/Spd Solo to improve her tanking and/or damage. Be sure to choose one that fits your phase preferences best. 
  • To take Nailah's one-shot damage as far as it can be, a damage-boosting A-slot passive is preferred. Atk/Spd Solo in particular encourages Nailah to abide by her transformation conditions while being active in both Player and Enemy phase. For enemy phase-only builds, Nailah's base Distant Counter allows Nailah to both take on ranged enemies directly. Unless you're using one of its stat-increasing variations, though, it comes at the cost of some stats and thus melee performance. 
  • Glare's Gravity-inducing effect isn't terribly necessary on a build designed to nuke and to bait attacks, though it's fine on initiation-able builds. Atk Smoke is, then, a fine alternative to take offensive pressure off of Nailah if she must take multiple enemies in one sitting.

Mucho Texto, Ikeman! (General Use Fighter / Fallen Edelgard Popper)

Build by MackerelPye
Recommended
Wolf Queen Fang (+Eff) A Atk/Spd Solo (3 or 4)
Alternate: Distant Counter
Reposition B Null Follow-Up 3
Alternate: Wrath 3
Luna
Alternate: Moonbow
C Glare
Alternate: Time's Pulse 3
IVs

+SPD / -RES or -HP

SAtk/Spd Solo 3
Alternate: Mystic Boost 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Wolf Queen Fang (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Luna / Moonbow

Passive A: Atk/Spd Solo / Distant Counter / Other Distant Counter or Atk/Spd Skill variations

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Wrath / Lull Atk/Def / Lull Atk/Spd

Passive C: Time's Pulse / Glare

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Solo / Mystic Boost / Steady Breath / Spd/Def Solo / Atk/Def Solo

  • Wolf Queen Fang upholds Nailah's combat performance by granting her a variety of stat and Special activation effects. It'd be wasted time to simply repeat all that it does, so we'll cover some accompanying skills that make Nailah a fantastic mixed phase unit for general use.  
  • Luna and Moonbow are already good defense-cutting Specials that are strengthened and quickened significantly by the cooldown effects of Wolf Queen Fang. Both have very doable 1 and 2 maximum cooldown, respectively, and their activation can be further shortened if not outright fully charged with the presence of other cooldown-cutting skills like Steady Breath or Time's Pulse (we cover exact combinations later)
  • Null Follow-Up generally provides the greatest B-slot utility as it neutralizes effects that prevent Nailah's follow-up or allow autodoubles on the enemy's behalf. In particular, it's fantastic versus slower enemies with follow-up manipulation — they will be utterly unable to avoid the sheer power of Nailah's incoming Special hit unless they can retaliate with a single killing hit. Lacking that or preferring to increase the power of single Special hits even more, Wrath is a slightly more accessible alternative but requires a little setup as its effects mainly work below 75% HP. 
    • For more favorable matchups and stat comparisons, Nailah may also be interested in the Lull skill line as a honorably-mentionable alternative. Preferably, an Atk-based Lull should be taken to improve on Nailah's survivability. 
  • While Nailah's default Glare combos well with the Canto effect of her weapon — which allows her to leave enemy territory safely while surrounding enemies struggle to follow with Gravity active on them — Time's Pulse can prove to be a preferable cooldown-cutting C-passive alternative that can charge Nailah's chosen Special fully or near-full. 
  • Finally, Nailah's A-passive and Sacred Seal slots are determined mainly by available outsourced skills and preference between stats or longevity. There's quite a lot you can combo with here, but in short:
    • Distant Counter is generally preferred at higher merges or investment as Nailah would otherwise lack the stats and constitution to take on higher-ring enemies. For lower investment or melee-only performance, you may be interested in Atk/Spd Solo and another Solo choice in the Seal for a hassle-less stat boosts. 
    • Mystic Boost is a generally good survivability option as it provides additional healing alongside the during-combat healing effect of Wolf Queen Fang, and its other effects prove handy if Nailah has no choice but to take stray attacks from Wrathful Staff healers.
    • As specified above, Steady Breath is pretty much a necessity to get Luna locked-and-loaded on any incoming attack in enemy phase. As a note, however, it's not the only way to charge up Luna; you can get it running at the start of every turn with some mix-and-match of Time's Pulse, Wrath, or outsourced support like Ostia's Pulse II. 
  • With the above skills discussed, optimal skill combinations are as follows:
    • Generalist / Fallen Edelgard Check (Luna + Null Follow-Up): Transformed Nailah can act as a Fallen Edelgard bait check — and thus take on other tough bulky units with follow-up prevention — by running a simple combination of Luna and Null Follow-Up. With Null Follow-Up and the Null Special manipulation effect from her transformation, Nailah can ensure the kill on Edelgard with a Luna-charged follow-up after hitting past Armored Wall's damage reduction with her first hit. No cooldown acceleration is necessary as it's absolutely vital that Luna hits on Nailah's second attack.
    • Instant-Ready Moonbow (Time's Pulse + Moonbow): the title says it all. At the start of every turn, Time's Pulse fully charges the already shortened Moonbow for a good amount of burst damage in either phase. 
    • Easy Luna (Steady Breath or outsourced equivalent + Luna): an easy, no-commitment way to instantly pop a powerful Luna on foes that dare initiate into Nailah. The Steady Breath seal or some outsourced form of it (like Geirskögul) will easily fill in Luna's 2 CD upon any attack. 
    • Wrathful Luna (Wrath + Time's Pulse + Luna): With a little setup from prior combat, Nailah can have an even stronger Luna fire at any moment for both phases due to the charging from both Wrath and Time's Pulse. When Nailah's starting out, all you have to do is bait out a reasonable enemy attack (like with Steady Breath) as Luna will initially be only at 1 CD. 

A Song of Lupines and Herons (Galeforce)

Build by MackerelPye
Recommended
Wolf Queen Fang (+Eff) A Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot
Alternate: Flashing Blade (3 or 4)
Positional Assist B Wings of Mercy 3
Alternate: Null Follow-Up 3
Galeforce C Glare
IVs

+SPD or +ATK / -HP or -RES

SFlashing Blade 3
Alternate: Blade Session 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Wolf Queen Fang (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Galeforce

Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Flashing Blade / Other Atk/Spd-boosting A-skills

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / Null Follow-Up / Desperation / Lull Spd/Def

Passive C: Glare 

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade / Blade Session / Swift Sparrow 

  • Galeforce has always been a good offensive option on Nailah, but the refinery effects of Wolf Queen Fang — especially its new Null Charge manipulation effect (read: Nailah can't be burdened by Guard effects) as well as remaining Canto and the weapon's many stat swings —  gives it newfound effectiveness tenfold. If you can properly transform Nailah and provide appropriate setup enemy targets, she can excel in her own pretty unique spot as a Galeforce attacker, especially when utilized with other Galeforce chain units on Aether Raids Offense and other modes.
  • As usual of a Galeforce unit, there are some standard fixing required to get around its pretty-long Special cooldown. Fortunately, the CD-1 from Wolf Queen Fang already converts Galeforce into a more manageable 4 CD Special. Therefore, Nailah only requires two Flashing Blade-powered initiations to fully charge it. 
    • Ultimately, unless you're employing special support measures (such as using Pulse support like Wolfpup Fang or multiple Infantry Pulses, or running acceleration support like Worldbreaker or Infantry Flash on a nearby ally), you must have some form of Flashing Blade and initiate against slower enemies for this build to perform reasonably well. 
  • On your usual Aether Raids Galeforce setup, Wings of Mercy does fantastistically more often than not. It allows Nailah to overcome her otherwise bad initiation movement and teleport next to another setup ally when they fall below half health. 
    • For other applicable modes, Nailah may be more interested in the utilities that Null Follow-Up or Lull Spd/Def offers; the former prevents anti-follow-up skills from getting in Nailah's way, while the latter makes Flashing Blade checks easier while improving her damage meanwhile.
    • Desperation is also a quite decent content-clearing option as it allows Nailah to make two hits consecutively (if she's able to make the follow-up) and avoid the threat of a killing hit when set up correctly. 
  • The combination of Wolf Queen Fang's 【Canto (Rem.)】effect, Glare, and Galeforce bears some fascination and a general gameplan: after successfully exiting combat and activating Galeforce, Glare comes into effect and restricts the movement of this combat's surrounding targets. Nailah should then use her additional action to attack another area of enemies and apply Glare yet again, and after leaving that combat, use Canto to safely step out and watch as the Gravity-ridden enemies fail to reach her in such a short distance. 
    • If you can pull this off correctly and eliminate any possible obstacles (especially dancers), this can be an effective escape plan in situations where your team cannot manage to get into an optimal final position. 
    • You can also leverage the Canto effect (whether you successfully triggered Galeforce or not) to purposefully test out nearby traps. In particular, stepping on a Bolt Trap can help if you need other units to use their own Wings of Mercy to step in. 
  • We finish off the remaining A-slot or Sacred Seal passive with whichever high-tier Atk/Spd boost you can offer since one of them is most likely occupied by Flashing Blade. Blade Session is typically the best choice as it's unlikely Nailah will be the first to move before a setup unit.

Strengths

Refined Wolf Queen Fang (Short Version)

Hoo boy, what an essay of a weapon. It's actually pretty concise and readable if you're already familiar with the universal infantry beast and Canto effect jargon. For the sake of reader sanity though, we'll list it out without all the smallprints:

  • CD -1 (aka the Slaying weapon effect)
  • Easy and rewarding stat swings
  • Updated Infantry Beast effect (aka Null Guard and additional Special damage)
  • Infantry Access to Canto
  • Per-Hit Healing

Refined Wolf Queen Fang (Detailed)

Now, here's why everything listed works like a well-oiled and tuned grandfather clock: 

  • The Slaying weapon effect is always a wonderful tool to have for quickening the activation of Specials. It synergizes well with the other positive Special effects of the weapon, thus being particularly cornerstone to Nailah's main playstyle: spamming Specials. 
  • Additionally, Nailah gains a simple Atk/Spd +5 if either her foe's current HP is over 75% — something that's pretty much a given at the start of every match — or she's near another ally by three spaces. Following either of these two conditions is pretty much incredibly easy and practical, and by precisely abiding by both, Nailah can additionally inflict an Atk/Def debuff of -5 on her enemies for the trouble. 
  • When ideally transformed out of battle, Nailah gains an updated list of effects now typical of refined and newly-released infantry beast units
    • A simple but helpful Atk boost of +2
    • Deals +7 damage flat when her Special activates
    • Cancels out effects that would delay her Special or accelerate the foe's own. Beyond practically guaranteeing that Nailah's Specials will pretty much always land regardless of usual countermeasures like Guard, this also means that Nailah and future refined infantry beasts can run non-damaging Specials, especially Galeforce, without sweating the opportunity cost of losing out on the aforementioned Wo Dao effect.
  • Nailah gets a form of post-combat movement in【Canto (Rem. +1)】, which pretty much always allows Nailah to retreat by at least one space — plus any unused space —  after a successful first action every turn. The fact that she has a form of it as an infantry unit is rather rare but thankful, as having an extra space to retreat can mean the difference between a successful or unsuccessful turn. 
  • Finally, if Nailah operates above 25% HP (which is pretty much a given as long as you doesn't push Nailah into unfavorable matchups): 
    • Even MORE stats, this time a simple boost of +4 to Nailah's Atk, Def, Spd, and Res on TOP of the stat swings discussed above.
    • To top off, Nailah gains +7 HP on every successful hit she lands, adding to her longevity while helping her maintain the very condition these two currently-discussed effects are locked behind. 

Reasonably Strong, Fast, and Sturdy

As mentioned, when positioning and transformation conditions are fulfilled on Wolf Queen Fang, Nailah is granted a number of in-combat stat swings in her favor. Thus, in considerable contrast with her now-considered modest but still workable base stats (by today's standards), Nailah enjoys higher raw damage, durability, and speed. In raw numbers and casually optimal conditions, we're looking at a +16 Atk and +9 Def/Res/Spd boost, not taking into account all the other effects that make Nailah play so nicely. 

Infantry Skill Access

Nailah's strengths are further reinforced by the list of infantry-exclusive passive skills available to her. Steady Breath, Flashing Blade, Wrath, Special Spiral, and Time's Pulse are especially valuable tools for Special spamming builds, and having Null Follow-Up on top of all that is especially a boon with all the follow-up manipulation going around.

Glare + Canto

With her other unique PRF skill Glare, Nailah is one of the few non-healer units that can apply the Gravity effect on her enemies — an increasingly rare asset these days. Though it was a neat but unnecessary benefit at best on Nailah's first release (and it's not even a relevant Strength on her Bridal alt's page), its usefulness increases tenfold with the introduction of 【Canto (Rem. +1)】in Wolf Queen Fang's refinery update. 

Generally, after Nailah successfully exits combat and applies Glare to adjacent enemy units, she can immediately exit out to safety with her remaining spaces while affected enemies struggle to reach her without a dancer. This works even better in conjunction with Galeforce: a successfully triggered Galeforce gives Nailah a second chance to sort out her remaining spaces, apply Glare yet again to another group of enemies, and potentially make a total retreat for a total of two or even THREE spaces back.

Weaknesses

Blue Beast Blues

As an infantry beast unit, Nailah faces quite a few teambuilding and positioning limitations, her general disadvantage against greens aside. As is the case with all beast units, Nailah's general performance drops when untransformed — she particularly misses out on added Special damage and her null charge effects. This isn't much of an issue if you're skilled at positioning, especially if Nailah's fielded mainly with other beast or dragon units.

Nevertheless, this is a valid concern as anything can happen between turns, and Nailah won't always be in a position where she can cleanly transform away from non-beast/dragon allies. This can be a rather pronounced issue in Aether Raids where some Aether Keeps are arranged to keep your units crowded. Additionally, you're very likely to use other Mythic and normal units of all shapes and sizes, many of which are not beasts or dragons but are otherwise valuable to have (especially if they're ranged).  

Not that Bulky

Even with the stat increases from Wolf Queen Fang, Nailah's not exactly winning rewards for full-on tanking, especially as more hard-hitting units and skills get introduced into the game. Her high-Speed myrmidon-esque statline is somewhat let down by an inability to run skills with Dodge (basically, reduces damage up for up to a max of 40% depending on how fast you are over the enemy), leaving her totally reliant on her raw bulk to take the brunt of attacks. 

Without the ability to run damage reduction skills or specifically using defense-increasing skills, Nailah relies mainly on the healing effect of her weapon and Mystic Boost (if used) to keep herself alive if sustainability is your priority.  

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Whelp (Infantry)

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise, unit reverts). If unit transforms, grants Atk+2 and deals +10 damage when Special triggers.

Beast Infantry Only
50 1 4
Yearling (Infantry)

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise, unit reverts). If unit transforms, grants Atk+2 and deals +10 damage when Special triggers.

Beast Infantry Only
100 1 6
Adult (Infantry)

At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise, unit reverts). If unit transforms, grants Atk+2 and deals +10 damage when Special triggers.

Beast Infantry Only
200 1 9
Wolf Queen Fang

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). During combat, boosts unit's Atk/Spd by number of allies within 2 spaces x 2. (Maximum bonus of +6 to each stat.) At start of turn, if unit is adjacent to only beast or dragon allies or if unit is not adjacent to any ally, unit transforms (otherwise, unit reverts). If unit transforms, grants Atk+2 and deals +10 damage when Special triggers.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 1 14
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
New Moon

Treats foe's Def/Res as if reduced by 30% during combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 3
Moonbow

Treats foe's Def/Res as if reduced by 30% during combat.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 2

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Distant Counter

Unit can counterattack regardless of foe's range.

Restricted to melee units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
A
Null C-Disrupt 1

At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, neutralizes effects that prevent unit's counterattacks during combat.

Excludes Armor, Cavalry, and Flying
60
B
Null C-Disrupt 2

At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 50%, neutralizes effects that prevent unit's counterattacks during combat.

Excludes Armor, Cavalry, and Flying
120
B
Null C-Disrupt 3

Neutralizes effects that prevent unit's counterattacks during combat.

Excludes Armor, Cavalry, and Flying
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
B
Glare

After combat, if unit attacked, inflicts status on target and foes within 1 space of target restricting movement to 1 space through their next actions.

Non-Inheritable skill.
Unlocks at 5 ★
300
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

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