New Year Kyza

Weapon: Polished Fang

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Glimmer / Bonfire / Ignis

Passive A: Atk/Def Unity / Distant Counter / Atk/Def Solo 

Passive B: Lull Atk/Def / Null C-Disrupt / Special Spiral

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Time’s Pulse / Def Smoke / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Solo / Quick Riposte / Sturdy Stance / Quickened Pulse

• New Year Kyza excels at defensive play, though the strong explosive power and high frequency of their Special activations when all moving parts are in play — especially while transformed given the immunity to Guard effects this imparts — make investing specifically into their damage potential pretty worthwhile. A +ATK IV is recommended to complement this focus. 
• The choice of Special here varies depending on the rest of Kyza’s kit and/or the support they have available in their given composition. 
  • Glimmer is a particularly effective option that requires the least amount of effort to utilize — as long as New Year Kyza has more Defense than their foe to activate Polished Fang, it will activate on each and every counterattack. 
  • Bonfire is another Special to consider if you favor more consistency and want some wiggle room against particularly bulky blue foes, as the boost provided will always stay the same due to scaling on Kyza’s Defense rather than damage.
    • However, since New Year Kyza lacks a Slaying effect built into Polished Fang, reliable activation of Bonfire will require either Time’s Pulse in their C slot or Legendary Hector support via his Ostia’s Pulse II. 
  • For maximum oomph, Ignis is an extremely potent — but admittedly somewhat overkill — Special that fully maximizes the tiger’s investment into Defense. Its starting cooldown of four turns does mean that New Year Kyza must have Special Spiral equipped to ensure its trigger on each counterattack, though this does take some setup since Special Spiral doesn’t kick in until Ignis activates once by itself. 
• Atk/Def Unity is an exceptional A skill that carries the highest ceiling of all their potential candidates in terms of pure stat augmentation through its debuff reversal effect — the second Kyza becomes afflicted by any sort of Attack or Defense penalty, their values receive a substantial upswing that works well with the one-shot focus of this build. Other options include Distant Counter to heighten Kyza’s flexibility (though it’s unnecessary if Far Save support is available) and Atk/Def Solo. 
• If you’re not planning on using the above-listed Ignis + Special Spiral combination, New Year Kyza’s B skill options narrow to two main options: Lull Atk/Def or Null C-Disrupt. The former grants even more offensive potency through the ability to deny enemy bonuses while also slightly detracting from crucial stats, whereas the latter is useful solely if using Distant Counter as Kyza’s entire functionality relies on counterattacks and ranged units more commonly feature means of negating them such as Dazzling Staff. 
• Anything that aids New Year Kyza’s ability to land OHKOs should be used in the C slot; this can range to things like Joint Drive Atk and Def Smoke that directly pad their damage to Time’s Pulse which unlocks longer, more powerful Specials to wield. Do avoid Savage Blow, though — the chip damage may cause foes to fall below 75% HP, which shuts down part of Polished Fang. 
• The Quick Riposte Sacred Seal provides a neat safety net in case Kyza fails to neutralize a threat in one strike — surviving two consecutive Special activations from them, on the other hand, is pretty unlikely. It can be used as a B skill on a budget as well, but they have generally better options that are not currently available as a Sacred Seal. Standard stat boosters like Atk/Def Solo and Sturdy Stance, as well as Quickened Pulse if using Ignis to reduce setup time, may be considered as well.

Weapon: Polished Fang

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Noontime 

Passive A: Sturdy Stance / Atk/Def Unity / Atk/Def Solo 

Passive B: Lull Atk/Def / Quick Riposte / Null Follow-Up

Passive C: Joint Drive Def / Atk Smoke / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Mystic Boost / Atk/Def Solo

• This is an alternative set that leans towards more of a traditional defensive style via an emphasis on tanking and healing, capitalizing on Kyza’s inherent features to function as a reliable physical wall to incoming offensive pressure. Aside from a +ATK IV, increasing the tiger’s Defense works well here to directly mitigate physical damage.
• Noontime’s short two-turn cooldown means New Year Kyza can constantly activate it on each counterattack provided Polished Fang is in effect, allowing for greater longevity as this allows them to easily heal off damage incurred throughout the course of battle. 
• Sturdy Stance is a standout amongst New Year Kyza’s A skill candidates, specifically its third-tier version due to the permanent Guard effect it grants during the Enemy Phase alongside its complementary stat enhancements. This ensures a high degree of survivability since it prevents foes from exploiting Kyza’s Speed to quickly charge up their Special, especially if Kyza can constantly maintain their transformation — acceleration effects that could counteract this Guard effect are immediately negated, thus eliminating any chance of Special triggers barring those that were pre-charged.
  • For pure stats, Atk/Def Unity and Atk/Def Solo become Kyza’s main A skills to consider. Atk/Def Unity bears the higher ceiling of the two due to its debuff reversal effect, though the fact remains that it is quite scarce and has poorer functionality in maps where penalties are not particularly present. Meanwhile, Atk/Def Solo features far greater accessibility, is much easier to wield in both phases for bonus flexibility, and pairs well with transformation restrictions.
• Since they won’t be landing OHKOs as consistently as with the first build (particularly due to the lack of a damaging Special), the need for Quick Riposte is underscored here to secure kills — the choice then becomes whether to use it as a B skill or Sacred Seal. 
  • Using it as Kyza’s Sacred Seal is generally more efficient considering that powerful skills like Lull Atk/Def (to negate enemy bonuses) and Null Follow-Up (for security against slow units reliant on automatic follow-up attacks) are not currently available as Sacred Seals. 
  • Still, using it in their B slot is always an option and does have its benefits, such as allowing one to further augment Kyza’s stat values through Atk/Def Solo or their longevity through Mystic Boost. If nothing else, doing so comes with a much lesser strain on your resources since Quick Riposte is pretty readily available.