Saizo

Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF or +SPD / -RES

Saizo’s mix of good Speed and respectable physical combined with the potentially debilitating effects of his unique personal weapon, Saizo’s Star, enables him to take on the mantle of a defensive tank quite effectively, capable of tanking physical hits with relative ease. A +ATK IV is highly recommended to increase his damage output (as well as the amount of damage he can heal if using Aether as his chosen Special), though a  +DEF or +SPD IV may be worth considering as well to bolster his raw survivability.

Weapon: Saizo’s Star (+Eff)

• Saizo’s Star is a potent personal weapon that suits this build’s intended purpose perfectly. In its base form, Saizo’s Star functions essentially as a Smoke Dagger with improved Might, however, its unique refinement options heightens its potential massively, translating all debuffs on his respective opponents into an equivalent in-combat boost for himself.

• In practice, this amalgam of effects results in Saizo gaining a tremendous +12 stat advantage against any opponent — provided that they are afflicted by the debuffing qualities of his PRF. This allows him to function an extremely versatile hero with the capacity to neutralize a wide breadth of foes with proper usage.

• However, it is crucial to understand that Saizo cannot directly benefit from this aforementioned boost to his performance until AFTER he concludes his first round of combat, as only then will the -6 ATK/DEF/SPD/RES debuff from Saizo’s Star be applied to his opponents. This contingency makes it highly beneficial to slot in another debuffer into Saizo’s specific team composition if possible to ensure that his effectiveness remains constant throughout the course of a battle.

Assist: Reposition / Flexible

Special: Bonfire / Moonbow / Aether

• Bonfire can prove to be a strong choice for his Special, scaling well with his Defense stat to grant him a considerable damage boost upon activations. In exchange for some damage, Moonbow may considered instead as its lower cooldown allows him to activate it in every round of combat without necessitating the use of the Heavy Blade or Flashing Blade seals.

• Aether’s ability to grant him a reasonable increase to his damage output and sustain concurrently makes it a fantastic Special choice as well. However, equipping it will also require that Saizo use the Heavy Blade seal to circumvent its otherwise long cooldown, which may be undesirable depending on who his allies are.

Passive A: Close Counter

• Saizo can make fantastic use of Close Counter to build upon his exceptional amount of overall versatility as well as enable him to leverage his combat prowess against both melee and ranged threats effectively in the Enemy Phase. Combined with Saizo’s Star and status as a colorless hero, this allows his defensive capabilities to be quite applicable in nature.

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Guard / Quick Riposte

• Null Follow-Up is an exceptional choice of B slot skill that serves to shut down opposing foes who are reliant on skills like Bold Fighter and Gjöll to function properly, negating the effects of such skills entirely in addition to those that may prevent Saizo’s own follow-up attack like Sturdy Impact.

• Guard is also a noteworthy candidate to conversely strengthen Saizo’s resilience against opponents who rely on rapid Special activations to deal the majority of their damage. One also has the option of keeping Quick Riposte in his B slot to leave his seal slot open for another skill such as Atk/Def Bond for further stat specialization

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Savage Blow / Flexible

• Since Saizo can inherently apply a devastating debuff to all stats on his opponent with his PRF, Pulse Smoke makes for an exceedingly worthwhile consideration to make to maximize his ability to debilitate incoming foes. This is a particularly powerful skill when facing off against enemy team compositions that are centered around the use of fast or instant Special activations, greatly reducing their effectiveness.

• Alternatively, Savage Blow may be taken to stack chip damage on top of his debuffs and directly diminish his opponents’ health to improve his chances of killing them in subsequent rounds of combat; this can be built upon even further by using it in his seal slot as well.

Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Atk/Def Bond / Atk/Spd Bond / Savage Blow

• Quick Riposte is a necessary aspect of this build as any sort of Speed stacking with this set-up is meant primarily to deny follow-up attacks (as opposed to ensuring them). Utilizing it as his chosen seal has the advantage of freeing up his B slot skills for other options like Null Follow-Up and Guard.

• Otherwise, if Quick Riposte is being used in the B slot instead, the Atk/Def Bond, Atk/Spd Bond, Close Def, and Savage Blow seals are excellent options that lend themselves well to this build’s intended playstyle, offering his performance in the Enemy Phase a worthwhile upgrade through their various boosts.

Preferred IV: +ATK / -RES

Saizo’s ability to elevate his stats (particularly his Attack) to high extents with relative ease also enables him to make pretty good use of a Vantage sweeper set-up, particularly for use in Aether Raids. Since he will be reliant upon his ability to consistently fell incoming foes with a single hit, an Attack Asset is his ideal choice of IVs to maximize his raw damage output.

Weapon: Saizo’s Star (+Eff)

Assist: Reposition / Flexible

Special: Glimmer / Moonbow

• His choice of Special is not especially significant here, but those with short cooldowns like Glimmer and Moonbow can nonetheless be considered due to their frequent activation rate. Glimmer pairs excellently with this build’s emphasis on maximizing his damage output, however, Moonbow may preferred should one wish to help Saizo face off against bulky foes whom he would have otherwise struggled against.

Passive A: Close Counter

• Close Counter is his ideal choice of A slot skill once again to guarantee Saizo’s ability to deal with a wide variety of threat, offering him a good deal of additional versatility.

Passive B: Vantage

• Vantage is a crucial component of this build to ensure that Saizo can properly fulfill his role as a defensive nuke. Upon reaching its HP threshold, Vantage enables the angry ninja to potentially take down multiple foes in one fell swoop — all the while remaining entirely unscathed.

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Savage Blow

Sacred Seal: Brazen Atk/Def / Brazen Atk/Spd / Brazen Atk/Res / Fierce Stance

• Brazen skills synergize perfectly with this set’s emphasis on maximizing Saizo’s potency at low HP, sharing a similar HP threshold to that of Vantage. Should one favor consistency over raw power and wish to improve his damage output regardless of how much health he has, however, the Fierce Stance seal can be considered instead, granting him a considerable +6 Attack boost in the Enemy Phase.