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Analysis by Adonyx
Nephenee - Fierce Halberdier

5 Legacy

Obtainable as a 5 during certain summoning events only.

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
157
HP 37
ATK 31
SPD 35
DEF 34
RES 20

Stat Variations

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

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 34 28 32 31 17
Middle 37 31 35 34 20
High 41 34 38 37 23

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

Boons

  • +ATK: This is a fantastic choice due to being more efficient with an effective damage weapon like Dauntless Lance.

  • +SPD: A +SPD boon will improve upon Nephenee’s already strong Speed stat and works very well when combined with the refined effect of Dauntless Lance. A +ATK boon gets better than a +SPD boon when accounting for team support, as it is possible for Nephenee to have overkill levels of Speed.

  • +DEF: Nephenee hits 37 base Defense with a boon, which is enough for her to function as a great physical tank. A +DEF boon will increase both her defensive bulk as well as offensive damage output via Specials like Bonfire or Ignis.

Banes

  • -RES: Nephenee’s Resistance is her clear dump stat, and taking a bane won’t affect her matchups too much. She should always be careful when dealing with enemy mages or dragons.

  • -HP: While taking a -HP bane will impact both physical and magical bulk, it has the benefit of making it easier for Nephenee to enter HP thresholds such as for her base Wrath skill.

Skill Sets

Quiet Breathing (Defensive Nuke)

Build by
Recommended
Dauntless Lance (+Atk)
Alternate: Dauntless Lance (+Eff)
A Steady Breath
Reposition B Wrath 3
Bonfire C Odd Atk Wave 3
Alternate: Threaten Def 3
IVsSClose Def 3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP or -RES
  • Weapon: Dauntless Lance (+Atk/Eff)
  • Assist: Reposition
  • Special: Bonfire / Ignis / Moonbow
  • Passive A: Steady Breath / Close Def / Sturdy Stance
  • Passive B: Wrath / Guard / Quick Riposte
  • Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Threaten Def / Flexible
  • Sacred Seal: Close Def / Quickened Pulse / Flashing Blade / Quick Riposte

Nephenee’s unique Dauntless Lance turns her into a spectacular defensive unit - in addition to functioning as a Slaying Lance with additional Attack, she also gets effective damage against armored units and +4 Spd/Def when initiated on (with the refine). Thanks to her good Defense, this allows Nephenee to function as an excellent physical tank similar to Lukas and Shiro, except she has spectacular Speed to easily avoid a large number of doubles. Alternatively, taking a +Atk refine on Dauntless Lance allows Nephenee to retaliate with massively damaging Special attacks; every point of Attack is particularly efficient when engaging armored units due to effective damage.

The choice of Special is mostly dependent on the rest of Nephenee’s skill choices. Bonfire works very well with Steady Breath for a Special activation on every counterattack, while Moonbow can accomplish the same thing if Steady Breath is unavailable. Ignis is a very high damage option that can be run under two circumstances. The first is if running Steady Breath, and will require Nephenee to either run the Quickened Pulse Seal or receive at least one ally’s worth of Infantry Pulse support. The other is if not running Steady Breath, then she can run the Flashing Blade seal to expedite the charge rate enough to be able to activate Ignis every combat (assuming she can double).

This build is mostly defined by the chosen A skill. Steady Breath is ideal for a physical tanking setup, as it allows Nephenee to instantly activate Bonfire on every counterattack in addition to the +4 Defense it grants. If Steady Breath is unavailable, then any of the myriad of stat-boosting skills can work. Close Def and Sturdy Stance are both great choices due to the large amount of stats they can provide. There are many other viable choices that can be utilized based on availability and preference, such as Fury, Atk/Def Bond, Kestrel Stance, and Spd/Def Bond.

Nephenee’s base Wrath skill works great for an aggressive take on the physical tank build. It is unlikely that she will stack enough Defense to entirely avoid damage from the strongest damage threats, so her low HP pool will allow her to enter Wrath range even if not taking very much damage, resulting in very high-powered Special activations. For a safer option, Guard will help keep Nephenee safe from getting nuked by high-powered Special activations from enemies. Both Wrath and Guard work best with the Quick Riposte Seal to ensure that Nephenee can double (this may be unnecessary if she can stack enough Speed, particularly with team support). Otherwise, Quick Riposte is always a good option for a B skill.

YOU! (Offensive Generalist)

Build by
Recommended
Dauntless Lance (+Spd) A Fury 3
Alternate: Atk/Spd 2
Reposition B Wrath 3
Moonbow C Odd Atk Wave 3
Alternate: Threaten Def 3
IVsSQuickened Pulse

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -RES or -HP
  • Weapon: Dauntless Lance (+Spd)
  • Assist: Reposition
  • Special: Moonbow
  • Passive A: Fury / Atk/Spd 2
  • Passive B: Wrath
  • Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Threaten Def / Flexible
  • Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Attack +3 / Speed +3

Thanks to Nephenee's fantastic stat spread, she can easily handle a mixed phase build. This build utilizes most of her base kit to maximize the power of her specials, as her high speed allows her to activate them frequently. With a +Spd refine, +SPD IV, and Fury, Nephenee has a blazing 44 unbuffed speed.

Moonbow is a great choice of Special because the -1 Special cooldown effect of Dauntless Lance allows her to have an instant Moonbow activation when combined with Quickened Pulse (or Infantry Pulse support). Furthermore, Nephenee will also be able to activate Moonbow twice in that same combat assuming the enemy can counter and she doubles. When Nephenee enters Wrath’s HP threshold, she will have Moonbow active at the start of each of her turns, allowing her to repeat the process.

Fury is ideal because not only does it provide an excellent boost to all of Nephenee's stats (all of which are important for a mixed phase build), it also deals recoil damage. This recoil damage is actually a benefit, as it allows Nephenee to reach the 75% HP threshold for Wrath much more consistently. It can be a mixed blessing, however, as this build does lack sustain; eventually, Nephenee will run out of HP and be unable to participate in combats where she can't one shot enemies with her active Special. This generally isn't an issue in Arena, but is worth consideration for longer modes such as Chain Challenge or Tempest Trials (bring a healer).

Quickened Pulse is a fantastic choice for Nephenee’s Sacred Seal, as it allows her to instantly have Moonbow active for her first combat. However, her status as Infantry means that she can benefit from Infantry Pulse support. If this is available, then Attack +3 and Speed +3 Seals are both great choices.

Introduction

Nephenee's well-rounded stat spread allows her to function in multiple roles, providing her with excellent versatility. Her high speed and defense with her decent attack allow her to function simultaneously as a tanky bruiser as well as have a strong offensive presence. Her unique weapon, Dauntless Lance, allows her to improve upon this by also adding on effective damage against armored units (which goes a long way to helping her middling Attack stat).

While she is an excellent unit, Nephenee's primary struggle is her competition from other blues. She is competing with the likes of Nowi, Ephraim, and Brave Lucina, all of which can offer more than just strong combat prowess.

Overall, Nephenee is an strong, well-rounded unit. She doesn't particularly require team support to function, though her potential can skyrocket given the proper support. While she may be outshined by some other units, she will still be a powerful force on a team, and can easily fit into most compositions.

Strengths

Strong Stat Spread

Good speed, good defense, and decent attack all lead to Nephenee having a strong presence both offensively and defensively. She can easily boost her speed high enough to avoid being doubled by even some of the fastest units in the game, while her defense can be boosted enough to make her into a solid wall.

Dauntless Lance

Nephenee’s unique lance functions as a Slaying Lance and Slaying Spear combined, with the potential to be further refined with either the standard assortment or a Spd/Def Stance effect. The effective damage against armors goes a long way to helping Nephenee’s relatively middling Attack stat, as they tend to be the units she otherwise struggles the most to damage.

Excellent Base Kit

Nephenee is fully functional even with absolutely no skill inheritance due to her good base kit. Even her mixed phase build requires very minimal inheritance, making Nephenee a very cheap unit to actually build (though high investment options exist).

Infantry

One of the perks of being an Infantry is that Nephenee can benefit from Infantry Rush and Infantry Pulse, though she benefits much more from Infantry Pulse than Infantry Rush due to her middling Attack stat.

Weaknesses

Middling Attack

While 31 base attack isn't particularly bad, it does mean that Nephenee will struggle to finish off bulkier enemies; this means that she is reliant on Special activations for the majority of her damage. Thankfully, Nephenee’s effective damage against armored units via Dauntless Lance helps alleviate this quite a bit.

Special Reliant

As a consequence of her low attack, Nephenee relies on Special activations for most of her damage. This means that if she is unable to activate her Special, such as if she is prevented from doubling or is facing a unit with Guard, then her damage output is heavily mitigated.

Low Magical Bulk

57 magical bulk isn't exactly awful, but the fact that Nephenee usually wants a bane in either HP or Resistance means that this number will drop to 54. The extra HP from a refined weapon helps a bit, but Nephenee will always need to be cautious around enemy units that can target her magical bulk.

Infantry

The downside of being an Infantry unit is lacking access to the superior mobility of fliers and cavalry as well as the unique buffs available to every other movement type.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Steel Lance
Lance Users Only
100 1 8
Slaying Lance

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1).

Lance Users Only
200 1 10
Slaying Lance+

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1).

Learns by default at 5 ★
Lance Users Only
300 1 14
Dauntless Lance

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). Effective against armored foes.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 1 16
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
Speed +1

Grants Spd+1

Inheritable by all units.
30
A
Atk/Spd 1

Grants Atk/Spd+1.

Inheritable by all units.
80
A
Atk/Spd 2

Grants Atk/Spd +2.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
160
A
Wrath 1

At start of turn, if unit's HP ≤ 25% and unit's attack can trigger their Special, grants Special cooldown count-1, and deals +10 damage when Special triggers.

Melee, Infantry, and Armored Only
60
B
Wrath 2

At start of turn, if unit's HP ≤ 50% and unit's attack can trigger their Special, grants Special cooldown count-1, and deals +10 damage when Special triggers.

Melee, Infantry, and Armored Only
120
B
Wrath 3

At start of turn, if unit's HP ≤ 75% and unit's attack can trigger their Special, grants Special cooldown count-1, and deals +10 damage when Special triggers.

Melee, Infantry, and Armored Only
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
B

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

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Official Hero Artwork