New Year Askr

Weapon: Duality Vessel

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Bonfire / Ignis 

Passive A: Def/Res Finish / Close Reversal / Unity Skills / Distant Def 

Passive B: Atk/Res Tempo 

Passive C: Opened Domain

Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Form / Stance Skills / Mystic Boost 

• With multifold defensive mechanics built into his Duality Vessel and an optimized statline, New Year Askr can double down on his inherent benefits to function as a pretty consistent tank. Depending on personal preference, he can be built as an all-purpose wall or a ranged specialist depending on whether Near Save support is available, though both options will be highlighted below. Regardless, a +ATK IV or an Asset to either of Askr’s defensive stats is recommended.
  • If you do have Near Save support, it’s highly advised to have him act as a ranged specialist to utilize a standard A skill for more stats and effects. However, if you plan to use him during Light Season, utilizing the ranged specialist approach becomes more unreliable due to the presence of Embla’s Severance skill (which highly inhibits the use of Save units).
  • …Which is a long-winded way of saying: Askr’s best build when it comes to tanking is very dependent on context, so switching out skills every now and then will be required.

• Regardless of the route chosen, Askr’s B skill options remain the same. His default Atk/Res Tempo is quite solid as it ensures his damage output by negating all Guard effects while preventing foes from leveraging accelerated cooldown, making it a balanced choice.

• The same applies to his Special and Sacred Seal; his options don’t really change across both types of tanking. For his Special, given how much bulk Askr can obtain through his weapon and skills alone, a pure damage-dealing Special is likely better than one that heals  to ensure kills more consistently. Bonfire is a good self-sufficient choice that can trigger on Askr’s first counterattack thanks to Duality Vessel’s Slaying effect + Opened Domain’s Time’s Pulse effect, though Ignis may be considered if Breath support is given. Any Sacred Seal that enhances his key stats is recommended, though Mystic Boost may be considered for more defensive utility.

• In all honesty, the biggest difference between all-purpose and ranged tanking builds comes down to Askr’s A skill. 
  • For those comfortable with leaving his allies to take care of melee combat (meaning he’ll be acting as a ranged specialist), the god is free to equip any A skill that elevates his key stats. 
    • His default Def/Res Finish is especially strong as it supplements high stat boosts with bonus damage and healing upon Special triggers, but Distant Def and Unity skills may be considered to nullify enemy buffs and obtain potentially greater stat boosts respectively.  
• For those seeking to have New Year Askr function as the main defensive carry (as an all-purpose tank), an A skill that enables counterattacks becomes non-negotiable to ensure he can actually do something against any incoming melee threats. Close Reversal is ideal among those available, but regular Close Counter can work just as well.
  • Since this comes at a pretty steep cost to how many stats Askr can obtain otherwise, providing him with the proper support becomes all the more necessary with this approach.

Weapon: Duality Vessel

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Bonfire / Ignis

Passive A: HP/Def 2 / Still Water / C Duel Infantry 4 / Fury

Passive B: Even Pulse Tie / Sabotage Skills / Sudden Panic

Passive C: Opened Domain 

Sacred Seal: HP +5 / HP/Def 2 / Fort. Def/Res / Fortress Res / Phantom Res

• Alternatively, New Year Askr can lean entirely into a supportive role (and function pretty well within this niche), despite the combat focus of his PRF. This is due to a few reasons:
  • Opened Domain alone provides an excellent starting point through its steady stream of buffs: the Spectrum +4 in-combat boost and one-time Impact effects granted by his dual【Resonance】buffs are universally appreciated, and the no-frills, flat Special charge it provides lends well to teams centered around Special triggers (such as Galeforce compositions). 
  • Coupled with the bonus Special charge and visible Spectrum +6 buff granted via his Duo Skill, Askr can act as a surprisingly competent battery for his whole team.
  • Additionally, unlike his base version, New Year Askr can actually benefit from Blessings to inflate his initial statline to a greater extent. This matters because…
• …This build aims to develop this supportive quality by simply stacking further support tools, specifically those that utilize either his HP or Res to wield skills that scale off them that debilitate opposing enemies. Now that he can receive Blessings, it’s much easier to actually succeed in these checks, especially where HP is concerned. The choice of which route to go is entirely up to personal preference, though stacking HP is generally more potent. 
• Askr’s A skill and Sacred Seal choices are fairly simple, as anything that enhances his visible HP or Res (again depending on which route you’re taking) is fair game. It’s worth noting that C Duel Infantry 4, however, is only really recommended because of the overall visible stat boost it grants — not for its boost to scoring potential, as this doesn’t come into play because of his Duo Hero benefits.
• For his B slot, his most potent HP-based option is undoubtedly Even Pulse Tie for its ability to neutralize threats wielding instant (or decently-charged), though Sudden Panic is also pretty nifty to exploit teams that attempt using visible buffs. On the Res-stacking side, Askr’s choices largely come down to your personal choice of Sabotage to inflict mapwide debuffs upon succeeding the check.

Weapon: Duality Vessel

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Bonfire / Ignis

Passive A: Atk/Def Ideal / Atk/Res Finish / Def/Res Finish / Still Water

Passive B: Special Spiral 4 / Atk/Res Tempo

Passive C: Opened Domain 

Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Sturdy Blow / Atk/Def Form / Atk/Def Solo / Null Follow-Up

• Adopting an entirely aggressive approach to Askr’s playstyle is also an option for him, as he can quickly access his Special through Opened Domain — backed by the power of his gargantuan Atk and guaranteed follow-up from Duality Vessel. While his defensive tools don’t shine as brightly in this context, they’re still plenty helpful in making Askr’s initiations incredibly safe compared to other nukes. It’s also worth considering that his Duo status allows him to enable the Duo’s Hindrance structure in Aether Raids Defense teams; coupled with Opened Domain’s useful buffs, he can pack surprising value.
• Atk/Def Ideal is a fantastic A skill for the high value boosts it provides to his preferred stats. While Atk/Def Finish would be a little better for bonus true damage and healing, it currently doesn’t exist (at the time of writing) so Atk/Res Finish and his default Def/Res Finish are potential options if you want those benefits. 
  • Lastly, Still Water makes for a compelling choice if specifically seeking to use New Year Askr in Defense teams during Astra / Anima Season; this skill boosts his raw Atk, but more notably allows him to potentially avoid Elimine’s 【False Start】debuff to trigger Opened Domain.
• Special Spiral 4 is largely recommended for its ability to pierce through damage reduction effects for maximum firepower, pairing well with Bonfire (which he can interestingly charge fully by himself with Quickened Pulse) for constant Special triggers. However, given its scarcity, Askr’s default Atk/Res Tempo remains a perfectly strong skill to break through Guard effects. 
• As mentioned, the Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal is a strong contender when using Bonfire, as this skill + Opened Domain fully charges the Special for an immediate trigger on Askr’s first initiation. Outside of this, Null Follow-Up is excellent to ensure he doesn’t have to worry about winning natural Spd contests against foes with innate follow-up denial effects, or any standard stat-boosting Seal can work.