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Analysis by Chibi_Chu
Olwen - Blue Mage Knight

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Related Heroes

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
144
HP 34
ATK 26
SPD 34
DEF 20
RES 30

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 16 6 7 4 5
Middle 17 7 8 5 6
High 18 8 9 6 7

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 31 23 31 17 27
Middle 34 26 34 20 30
High 37 30 37 23 33

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

Skill Sets

It's our turn to trap you! (Aether Raids Defense)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Recommended
Flora Guide+ (+Spd) A Swift Sparrow (2 or 3)
Alternate: Atk/Spd Push 4
Positional Assist B Lull Spd/Res 3
Moonbow C Panic Smoke 3
Alternate: Goad Cavalry
IVs

+ATK or +SPD / -DEF or -HP

SSwift Sparrow 2

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Flora Guide (+SPD)

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Moonbow 

Passive A: Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Atk/Spd Push 4 

Passive B: Lull Spd/Res 

Passive C: Panic Smoke / Goad Cavalry 

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow 

  • Olwen’s combination of 3 movement, 2 range, and Flora Guide can make her a great addition to Aether Raids Defense, particularly in a Cavalry Line whose goals are space control and punishing players that have too many offensive structures to keep frail units from being in enemy range.
  • Flora Guide is an excellent inheritable Blue tome that inflicts -5 Spd/Res to enemies within 2 spaces of Olwen. This significantly increases her damage output, as she’ll be able to dish out more damage and more frequently perform follow-up attacks.
  • As with Olwen’s other sets, she wants to go all-in on offensive investment. As such, skills that increase her Attack and Speed such as Swift Sparrow and Atk/Spd Push 4 are excellent choices. Note that Atk/Spd Push 4 can potentially be a risky skill to use, as offensive Bolt Towers may drop Olwen’s HP below the ≥ 25% HP condition to receive +7 Atk/Spd increase during combat.
  • Lull Spd/Res neutralizes the target’s Speed and Resistance buffs along with inflicting -3 Spd/Res during combat, further bolstering Olwen’s offensive capabilities.
  • Panic Smoke can be incredibly obnoxious to deal with if the player uses visible buffs. If their supertank has visible buffs active, applying Panic Smoke will make it significantly more difficult for them to survive the remainder of the enemy attacks, along with potentially making the next Player Phase much more difficult.

Spark in the Sky (Aether Raids Offense)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Recommended
Dire Thunder A Swift Sparrow (2 or 3)
Alternate: Death Blow (3 or 4)
Positional Assist B Lull Spd/Res 3
Moonbow C Pulse Smoke 3
Alternate: Joint Drive Atk
IVs

+ATK or +SPD / -DEF or -HP

SSwift Sparrow 2
Alternate: Death Blow 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Dire Thunder

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Moonbow 

Passive A: Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Death Blow (3 or 4) 

Passive B: Lull Spd/Res 

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Joint Drive Atk 

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow / Death Blow

  • Thanks to Dire Thunder, Olwen can provide a unique Aether Raids Offense role to the table: KOing common Red frontliners such as Sothis, Seliph, and Líf without receiving a counterattack like most Mages would have to. She can also 2HKO Eliwood without needing absurd Speed like most other Mages would need, although she needs lots of Attack investment instead.
  • As with Olwen’s other sets, Attack and Speed investment from skills such as Swift Sparrow are greatly appreciated to increase her damage and follow-up consistency. While Defense teams rarely use visible buffs, Lull Spd/Res still inflicts -3 Spd/Res to the enemy during combat, making it a strong offensive choice as well.
  • Alternatively, players can Attack-stack as high as possible to make Olwen a 2HKO nuke. In this case, Swift Sparrow in both Olwen’s A and S slots are replaced by Death Blow. However, note that Reinhardt does this better since he has higher Attack.
  • While Pulse Smoke may seem like a strange choice given that Olwen’s role isn’t Enemy Phase, it allows her supertank partner to use a different C slot such as Atk Smoke or Joint Drive Atk. Alternatively, Olwen herself can use Joint Drive Atk to boost the damage of both herself and her allies.

Raining Holy Swords on her Enemies (General Offense)

Build by Chibi_Chu
Blárblade+ A Swift Sparrow (2 or 3)
Alternate: Fury (3 or 4)
Positional Assist B Desperation 3
Alternate: Lull Spd/Res 3
Glimmer C Joint Drive Atk
Alternate: Hone Cavalry
IVs

+ATK or +SPD / -DEF or -HP

SSwift Sparrow 2

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Blárblade+ 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Glimmer 

Passive A: Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Fury (3 or 4) / Atk/Spd Push 4

Passive B: Desperation / Lull Spd/Res 

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Hone Cavalry / Flexible 

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow 

  • As with any Blue Mage, Olwen can take advantage of visible buffs to use Blárblade, a tome that grants bonus Attack during combat equal to the sum of Olwen’s visible buffs, to great effect. 
  • Olwen’s Cavalry status is especially beneficial, as she can receive +6 Atk/Spd from Hone Cavalry and +6 Def/Res from Fortify Cavalry to easily achieve a whopping +30 damage (24 from the visible buffs and an additional 6 from having +6 Attack). Because she can receive so much bonus damage, Glimmer is Olwen’s strongest Special, increasing her damage by 50% when activated.
  • As always, skills that increase Olwen’s Attack and Speed such as Swift Sparrow, Fury, and Atk/Spd Push 4 are fantastic for increasing her damage output. Joint Drive Atk is always a strong option as it grants +4 Attack to Olwen and allies within 2 spaces of her, although a Cavalry-specific skill such as Hone or Fortify Cavalry can substitute if she has Cavalry allies.
  • Although Lull Spd/Res is always a strong choice for neutralizing Speed and Resistance buffs and inflicting -3 Spd/Res to the enemy during combat, Desperation is arguably better for PvE content, as it allows Olwen to perform her follow-up attack before the enemy can counterattack if her HP is ≤ 75%. With this in mind, skills that inflict recoil damage such as Fury and Atk/Spd Push 4 may be chosen over Swift Sparrow, although Atk/Spd Push 4’s ≥ 25% HP condition can be a bit awkward to work with in combination with its 5 recoil damage and Desperation’s HP condition.

Strengths

Decent Speed

While 34 Speed is far from special nowadays, Olwen can still consistently perform and avoid follow-up attacks with some Speed investment. 

Cavalry strengths

Olwen’s combination of 2 range and 3 movement grants her great flexibility, allowing her to snipe faraway enemies and apply pressure on Aether Raids Defense. In addition, she can receive buffs such as Hone and Fortify Cavalry, which are especially helpful if Olwen is using Blárblade, which grants an Attack bonus equal to the sum of Olwen’s visible buffs.

Weapon variety

Along with having her personal Dire Thunder, Olwen can also choose from strong Blue tomes including Blárblade, Spooky Censer, Flora Guide, and even Tannenbit. As such, she can fill a variety of different roles depending on what the player wants.

Unique Aether Raids Offense role

Dire Thunder allows both Olwen and Reinhardt to have an Aether Raids Offense niche in the form of using their great range and Dire Thunder to KO frontliners that may give superunits/supertanks problems without receiving a counterattack. Defense Mythics such as Sothis and Líf commonly have skills (or allies' skills) that allow them to survive one magical attack and counterattack with a charged Special, but Dire Thunder's Brave effect makes it much less likely for them to survive an initiation. Dire Thunder can also help Olwen score KOs on dangerous ranged frontliners with their Specials ready such as Legendary Alm and New Year's Alfonse.

Weaknesses

Terrible Attack

Unfortunately, Olwen is cursed by being a classic case of a unit with “high” Speed but horrendous Attack, as she has a pathetic 26 Attack. Because of this, her damage output is lacking compared to her competition.

Low overall bulk

With 34 HP, 20 Defense, and 30 Resistance, Olwen has an unimpressive 53 physical bulk and very middling 63 magical bulk. Without support or Desperation to circumvent her bulk, Olwen is prone to being OHKO’d by both physical and magical enemies.

Cavalry shortcomings

Trenches, forests, and Cavalry-effective weapons plague all cavaliers, and Olwen is no exception. Reduced movement greatly hurts Olwen’s flexibility, as she may have trouble reaching some of her enemies. Not having access to skills such as Heavy and Flashing Blade can also be annoying, preventing her from activating her Special as frequently as she may like to.

Competition for PvE modes

If players are uninterested in Olwen’s Aether Raids potential, it can be difficult to justify using her over other Blue Mage Cavaliers such as L’Arachel, Spring Catria, Groom Pent, Reinhardt, Valentine’s Soren, and even Ursula. Their offenses can easily match and exceed even Resplendent Olwen’s offenses, and Dire Thunder’s PvE practicality is debatable in most battles.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Thunder
Blue Tome Users Only
50 2 4
Elthunder
Blue Tome Users Only
100 2 6
Thoron
Blue Tome Users Only
200 2 9
Dire Thunder

Spd-5. Attack twice when initiating combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 2 9
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Support Skills

Support Skills Rng. SP
Reposition

Target ally moves to opposite side of unit.

Learns by default at 5 ★
1 150

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Warding Blow 1

If unit initiates combat, grants Res+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
50
A
Warding Blow 2

If unit initiates combat, grants Res+4 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100
A
Warding Blow 3

If unit initiates combat, grants Res+6 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
A
Spur Res 1

Grants Res+2 to adjacent allies during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
50
C
Spur Res 2

Grants Res+3 to adjacent allies during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
100
C
Ward Cavalry

Grants Def/Res+4 to cavalry allies within 2 spaces during combat.

Only inheritable by cavalry units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

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