New Year Gunnthrá

• Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK / -RES
• Weapon: Hikami 
• Assist: Reposition / Flexible
• Special: Glimmer / Moonbow
• Passive A: Atk/Spd Solo / Swift Sparrow 
• Passive B: Desperation 
• Passive C: Fortify Fliers / Joint Hone Spd / Guidance / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Atk/Spd 2 / Attack +3 / Speed +3

Thanks to her simply fantastic offensive stat spread and unique personal weapon, New Year Gunnthrá is more than capable of performing as a strong offensive nuke on virtually any team, especially when paired with her superb mobility, though her access to class-exclusive buffs allows her to truly shine when utilized alongside other fliers. Since this build aims to capitalize on her potency as a Player Phase frontliner, Assets to either of her offensive stats are ideal, both ultimately being great and fairly interchangeable options with the more support she is given. 

This iteration of the eldest princess of Nifl wields a unique sword of her own, Hikami. Debuffing the nearest foes within four spaces by -4 Atk/Spd/Def/Res, in addition to providing New Year Gunnthrá with a flat +3 Speed boost, Hikami is an astoundingly versatile weapon that lends itself to various different applications and not-so-coincidentally functions perfectly with this build’s offensively oriented playstyle, simultaneously granting her with a substantial boost to her raw damage output, survivability, and ability to perform and deny follow-up attacks. Furthermore, her flexible mobility allows her to truly make the best use of Hikami and practically ensures that she will be able to benefit from the weapon’s debuff in every round of combat. 

New Year Gunnthrá’s native Glimmer is a solid option for her Special, scaling well with her typically good damage output, and boasts a relatively low cooldown to boot. Should one desire for greater consistency when facing off against particularly bulky foes, however, Moonbow will then be preferred, though do keep in mind that Hikami’s Defense debuff does detract from the Special’s effectiveness somewhat. Additionally, either can be utilized in tandem with the Heavy Blade seal to guarantee New Year Gunnthrá’s Special activation in every round of combat even while under Desperation’s HP threshold, provided that she performs a follow-up attack and that Heavy Blade activates -- this is most effective when providing her with Hone Fliers support. 

Atk/Spd Solo is a powerful A slot skill that lends itself well with this build’s aggressive playstyle and offers the princess a substantial increase to her offenses without compromising her defenses, merely necessitating that New Year Gunnthrá has no adjacent allies in order for her to benefit from the skill’s offensive boost. Given its extremely scarce availability, however, one can simply make use of her native Swift Sparrow instead should Atk/Spd Solo be inaccessible, producing similar results with its sizeable +4/+4 Atk/Spd in-combat boost upon initiation. Desperation is New Year Gunnthrá’s ideal B slot skill to ensure her ability to strike in succession and engage in extended rounds of combat, even after having been dealt serious amounts of damage -- and luckily, she comes with it right out of the box. 

New Year Gunnthrá’s C slot is relatively flexible and can be filled with any skill that best compliments the rest of her team composition, though there are some particular standouts. If using her alongside other fliers, class-exclusive buffs such as Fortify Fliers will be her best options but in mixed team compositions, her native Joint Hone Spd is a much stronger choice that enables her to simultaneously enhance her and any adjacent ally’s performance considerably. Guidance can also be considered to allow her teammates to take advantage of her excellent mobility. Lastly, should the Heavy Blade seal be unavailable, any offensive stat-boosting seal can be taken, most notably Atk/Spd 2, Attack +3, and Speed +3. 

• Preferred IV: +SPD or +ATK or +DEF / -RES
• Weapon: Hikami 
• Assist: Reposition / Swap / Flexible
• Special: Moonbow / Glimmer 
• Passive A: Fury / Swift Sparrow
• Passive B: Atk/Def Link / Flier Formation / Aerobatics
• Passive C: Joint Hone Spd / Guidance / Fortify Fliers / Flier Guidance / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Guidance / Flier Formation / Drive Atk / Drive Spd

Hikami’s extremely wide radius for applying its debuff also capacitates New Year Gunnthrá to function as a formidable support unit while remaining an effective combatant in her own right. Despite her newfound supportive capabilities, though, an Asset to her Attack or Speed stat will still be New Year Gunnthrá’s best option for IVs, greatly appreciating the offensive boost. This build’s lack of Desperation also makes a Defense Asset a worthwhile consideration to grant her greater longevity against physical damage dealing foes who she will most commonly be fighting against. 

Moonbow and Glimmer are chosen for their low Special cooldown, both being capable of activating in any round of combat in which New Year Gunnthrá performs a follow-up attack and her opponent counterattacks. Of the two, Moonbow is the more consistent option in that it will generally provide her with a solid amount of damage output increase regardless of how much support she is given, faring considerably better than Glimmer against bulky opponents who would otherwise pose a threat even with Hikami’s debuff. However, with enough support to her Attack stat, it is possible to raise her damage output to high enough levels such that Glimmer is the preferred option -- thusly, the matter of which to utilize as her chosen Special ultimately boils down to a mix of personal preference and what the rest of her team composition consists of.

Fury is New Year Gunnthrá’s ideal choice of A slot skill as its solid +3 boost to all her stats allows her to simultaneously benefit from an increase to her offensive potential and durability, making it much safer for her to engage in extended rounds of combat despite its chip damage. Otherwise, her native Swift Sparrow can be taken to provide her with a strictly superior offensive boost, though it does come at the cost of doing nothing to augment her survivability in addition to being functionally useless to her in the Enemy Phase. 

Thanks to this build’s focus on New Year Gunnthrá’s supportive capabilities and decent overall bulk, she can forego the use of Desperation altogether in favor of other alternatives, such as Link skills. These are strikingly powerful options that serve to further her ability to function as a benefactor to her team, providing both buff and debuff support concurrently. In particular, Atk/Def Link pairs especially well with her native Joint Hone Spd to grant herself and any adjacent ally a substantial +6/+5/+6 Atk/Spd/Def buff -- when combined with Hikami’s effect, this results in New Year Gunnthrá and her teammates potentially receiving a staggering +10/+9/+10/+4 stat advantage against any foe when utilized properly, drastically turning the tide of the battle in her team’s favor. Alternatively, one can take Flier Formation (which is fortunately also available as a seal) or Aerobatics as her chosen B slot skill to improve her maneuverability in flier-exclusive and mixed team compositions respectively. 

Aside from her native Joint Hone Spd, Guidance, class-exclusive buffs such as Fortify Fliers, and Flier Guidance remain stellar options to run in her C slot, with the choice of which to use essentially boiling down to what best suits her allies’ needs. One can also make use of the Guidance seal instead to leave her C slot open for another skill that is not yet available as a seal. The Drive Atk and Drive Spd seals should also be considered to strengthen New Year Gunnthrá’s ability to support her team with in-combat buffs.