New Year Ash

Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF or +RES

• Assets to Ash’s Attack and/or defensive stats are most suitable for this Enemy Phase playstyle and offer the most significant advantage in combat. 

Weapon: Heralding Horn

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Bonfire / Ruptured Sky / Escutcheon/Sacred Cowl or Pavise/Aegis / Aether / Miracle

• Bonfire offers an exceptional amount of damage with a guaranteed opportunity for activation every round of combat with Heralding Horn.
• Ruptured Sky trades some damage when compared to Bonfire in exchange for a shorter cooldown, allowing for an instant activation following the opponent’s attack. This can be an effective way to break through foe’s skills that may otherwise protect them such as the Miracle effect. 
• Escutcheon and Sacred Cowl are defensive specials that reduce damage and cannot be bypassed by most forms of melee and ranged damage respectively. Though their initial cooldown will need to be charged.
• Pavise and Aegis are stronger defensive specials than the aforementioned, however require more work to initially charge. 
  • One advantage is that these can also easily be recharged by Ash’s weapon thanks to the brave weapon effect.
• Aether has a very high initial cooldown but still has the potential for activating every single round of combat when paired with some form of Special cooldown acceleration such as a Breath skill and activates to both deal damage and heal the user. 
• Miracle can be an interesting yet potentially very effective gimmick. Following its initial charge (which comes at a very high cooldown of 4), Ash has the potential to loop miracle by attacking her opponent to recharge it during combat while healing afterwards to stay above 1 HP. 

Passive A: Distant Reversal / Stance Skills / Close Def / Finish Skills 

• Distant Counter skills such as Ash’s native Distant Reversal enable her to counterattack against ranged foes while providing a stat boost during Enemy Phase.
• For a set that specializes purely in combat against melee opponents (such as on a team paired with a Far Savior), Alternative skills such as Sturdy Stance for the Guard effect or Close Def to neutralize foe’s bonuses during combat. 
• Finish skills provide utility during both phases of combat not just through the stat boost but also by adding offensive Special true damage and healing on hit during combat. 

Passive B: Atk/Def Bulwark / Special Spiral 4 / Vantage / Null C-Disrupt / Shield Pulse 

• Atk/Def Bulwark suits Ash’s role as a unit perfectly by preventing foes from moving around her on the map in order to attack her teammates, thus keeping a safe backline while also getting stats and healing after combat. 
• Special Spiral 4 can be an incredible pairing for any offensive Special by boosting their damage, preventing foe’s non-Special skills that reduce damage, and lowering the cooldown following the initial activation. 
• Vantage allows Ash to have a preemptive attack against her opponent when below 75% HP which is especially effective when paired with a weapon that allows for consecutive attacks in the Enemy Phase. Not only can effectively checkmate enemy teams that don’t have countermeasures but is an effective way to circumvent Ash’s difficult matchups against certain AoE Specials. 
  • The 40% damage reduction on foe’s first hit present in Ash’s weapon also makes it more safe to get into the HP threshold for vantage when forced to take a foe’s attack. 
• Null C-Disrupt can be an effective countermeasure when facing opponents with skills that prevent counterattacks. 
• Shield Pulse is useful specifically when used in tandem with defensive Specials such as Pavise and Aegis by instantly charging them at the start of the first turn as well as further reducing a flat 5 damage when they are active during combat. 

Passive C: Opening Retainer / Flexible

• Ash’s personal C slot is an exceptionally strong movement-based support for her allies by allowing them to warp from behind her while she shields them in the front and is generally the most standout reason for using her, however can be replaced as needed if using her for her own merits as a unit. 

Sacred Seal: Breath Skills / Form Skills / Hardy Bearing / Deflect Skills / Mystic Boost 

• Breath Skills such as Steady Breath are an effective boost for most Specials by accelerating their cooldown on any attack during combat. This can enable things such as an instant retaliation with Bonfire active. 
• Form skills with the appropriate accompanying stats are another effective choice of Sacred Seal given Ash’s likely proximity to his teammates with this build.
• Hardy Bearing is a countermeasure against foe’s skills that change attack priority during combat such as Desperation and Vantage effects.
  • This effect applies to Ash herself and so should not be used with her own vantage build.
• Deflect skills can act as a safety net against brave weapon effects or other consecutive attacks.
• Mystic Boost provides further healing after combat while also disabling any form of foe’s adaptive damage.