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Analysis by Chibi_Chu
Silvia - Traveling Dancer

3-4

Obtainable as a 3 - 4 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
150
HP 40
ATK 27
SPD 36
DEF 17
RES 30

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 15 4 7 3 5
Middle 16 5 8 4 6
High 17 6 9 5 7

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 37 23 33 13 27
Middle 40 27 36 17 30
High 43 30 39 20 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

Assets

  • +SPD: All Dancers enjoy having high Speed to lower the chance of getting doubled on enemy-phase, and Silvia is no exception. 39 Speed with a Speed asset is a fantastic value, allowing her to avoid most natural doubles and sometimes double.
  • +ATK: With a very low base Attack of 27, Silvia appreciates an Attack asset to increase her damage output whenever she needs to. However, this is generally less useful than +Speed, which is helpful both when she is and isn’t attacking.

Neutral

  • HP: Silvia’s HP is generally her least important stat, since lowering either of her defenses is more detrimental to her. However, Silvia’s HP is also the highest of any dancer available at 3-4*, which makes Silvia the best budget dancer for Panic Ploy, Infantry Pulse, and Sudden Panic sets. If the player is choosing to run any of these skills with Silvia, +HP is recommended to increase the number of enemies Silvia can Panic or Infantry Pulse. Otherwise, -HP is her best flaw.
  • DEF: Despite seeming like a throwaway stat, Silvia doesn’t want to lower her neutral Defense of 17. With a physical bulk of 56, she’s just barely able to avoid most OHKOs from physical enemies. Lowering her Defense to 13 with a superflaw would greatly increase the amount of physical enemies that can OHKO her. If planning to stack her HP for a Panic set, then -DEF can be used, as her physical bulk will be high enough with her HP alone to afford losing 4 Defense.
  • RES: Silvia’s Resistance barely matters at all, since lowering her magical bulk from 70 to 67 is insignificant in most cases. However, since Silvia’s Resistance is fairly high, Silvia can run sets focusing on Ploy support really well, in which case +RES can be chosen.

Skill Sets

A Rose's Thorns

Build by
Recommended
Slaying Edge+ (+Spd)
Alternate: Slaying Edge+ (+Atk)
A Swift Sparrow (2 or 3)
Alternate: Atk/Spd Push 4
Dance B Wings of Mercy 3
Alternate: Escape Route 3
Galeforce
Alternate: Luna
C Def Smoke 3
Alternate: Atk Smoke 3
IVsSFlashing Blade 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP

  • Since Silvia’s base Attack is a meager 27 and her base Speed is a high 36 (before any Speed buffs that will raise it even higher), raising her Attack will be more beneficial. -HP is chosen as the bane since HP isn’t utilized for any skills in this set.

Weapon: Slaying Edge+ (+ATK or +SPD)

  • In order to increase the chances of activating Galeforce or Luna/Iceberg, Slaying Edge+ is used to decrease the special cooldown to 4 or 2 respectively. This allows Silvia to activate her special even if the enemy doesn’t counter, assuming her special charge isn’t slowed and she performs a follow-up attack. +ATK can be chosen if the player is concerned about Silvia’s damage output, while +SPD can be chosen if the player is concerned about Silvia activating her special.

Assist: Dance

Special: Galeforce / Luna / Iceberg

  • Due to the offensive nature of this set, Galeforce is chosen so Silvia can take advantage of her great Speed with Flashing Blade and Slaying Edge+ synergy.

  • If the player is worried about Silvia’s lackluster Attack preventing her from being an offensive presence, Luna or Iceberg can be used instead since they still retain the Flashing Blade and Slaying Edge+ synergy due to their 3 special cooldown. If Life and Death is used, Luna should be chosen over Iceberg.

Passive A: Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Atk/Spd Push 4 / Death Blow (3 or 4) / Life and Death / Bonus Doubler

  • Since Silvia will be initiating for most of her combat, Swift Sparrow grants her +4 Attack and Speed to increase her damage output and chances of activating Flashing Blade. 

  • Although expensive, Atk/Spd Push 4 is fantastic for Silvia as well, granting +7 Attack and Speed during combat if her HP is not below 25% at the cost of 5 HP per combat, but no decreased defenses. It can also be used to knock Silvia into Escape Route range.

  • Life and Death can be chosen as a dual-phase Swift Sparrow 2.5 at the sacrifice of some crucial Defense and insignificant Resistance. Note that Life and Death prevents Silvia from utilizing Ploys.

  • Alternatively, Death Blow can be chosen if the player isn’t concerned about Silvia’s Speed being too low to activate Flashing Blade.

  • Finally, Bonus Doubler can be chosen if the player really wants to dump several buffs on Silvia. The player should keep in mind that Silvia cannot be buffed by Legendary Azura’s Gray Waves and Silvia should still be providing some support rather than her teammates providing all the support for Silvia.

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / Escape Route / Null Follow-Up

  • As usual, Wings of Mercy is chosen as Silvia’s B slot to provide support for her teammates.

  • Escape Route can be used in combination with Atk/Spd Push or purposely lowering her HP to allow her to provide support or flee regardless of her teammates’ HP.

  • Null Follow-Up allows Silvia to nearly always attack twice, increasing her damage output and chances of activating her special.

Passive C: Def Smoke / Atk Smoke / Spd Smoke / Def Ploy / Spd Ploy

  • Due to Silvia’s low Attack, Def Smoke can synergize well with Galeforce to allow her to deal more damage in her next combat or set up for a teammate’s kill.

  • Atk Smoke and Def Ploy are good alternatives to decrease damage taken or increase damage given respectively. Spd Ploy can indirectly do both at the same time. If Life and Death is used as her A slot, Atk or Spd Smoke should be chosen. 

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade

  • Silvia’s high Speed allows her to consistently activate Flashing Blade, which synergizes perfectly with Slaying Edge+ and a special with 5 or 3 cooldown (such as Galeforce and Luna/Iceberg respectively).

Panic! at the Disco (Panic Supporter)

Build by
Recommended
Geishun+ (+Spd)
Alternate: Geishun+ (+Res)
A R Duel Infantry 3
Alternate: HP +5
Dance B Sudden Panic 3
Alternate: Wings of Mercy 3
Luna
Alternate: Moonbow
C Panic Ploy 3
Alternate: Infantry Pulse 3
IVsSHP +5
Alternate: HP/Res 2

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +HP / -DEF

  • Increasing Silvia’s HP with an HP asset is vital, since higher HP equates to a higher number of enemies Silvia can Panic or Infantry Pulse. Because her HP is stacked so high for this set, -DEF is chosen since she has more than enough physical bulk to take at least one hit.

Weapon: Geishun+ (+SPD or +RES)

  • Geishun’s Chill Atk effect allows Silvia’s teammates to initiate safer and tank easier. +SPD is chosen to increase her survivability, but +RES can be chosen if the player wishes to run Ploys.

Assist: Dance 

Special: Luna / Moonbow / Aether / Blue Flame / Ruptured Sky

  • Since Silvia’s Attack isn’t being utilized much for this set, Luna can be chosen to deal more damage to high-Defense units Silvia struggles to damage. Moonbow is a good alternative, since it trades a 20% Defense reduction for 1 less cooldown.

  • If using Silvia for Arena, Aether, Blue Flame, or Ruptured Sky can be used for high SP cost.

Passive A: R Duel Infantry / HP +5 

  • Since R Duel Infantry is just HP +5 with increased Arena scoring, HP +5 can be used for budget or non-Arena builds.

Passive B: Sudden Panic / Wings of Mercy / Chill Def / Chill Res / Chill Spd

  • The main focus of this set is to stack Silvia’s HP as high as possible to ensure her chances of activating Sudden Panic, Panic Ploy, and/or Infantry Pulse so she can support her allies. Sudden Panic is particularly special since it relies on enemies being adjacent to each other rather than in a cardinal direction of Silvia and can be crucial in Aether Raids and Arena, where Rally Ups, Dual Rallies, Tactics, and Hone Atk and Spd 4 are prevalent.

  • If Sudden Panic isn’t available, Wings of Mercy is always a great alternative for Dancers. Chill skills aside from Chill Atk can also be run to chill a superunit in 2 stats or chill multiple units at once.

Passive C: Panic Ploy / Infantry Pulse / Def Ploy / Spd Ploy

  • Since Sudden Panic relies on enemies being next to each other, something the player cannot control (for the most part), Panic Ploy can be used as a way to control who gets panicked in case the enemies split apart.

  • If the player isn’t concerned about Sudden Panic not activating, Ploys can be run alongside Geishun+ (+RES).

Sacred Seal: HP +5 / HP/Res 2 / HP/Spd 2

  • HP +5 increases Silvia’s HP by the most out of all Sacred Seals. However, if players aren’t concerned about a measly 1 HP, HP/Res 2 and HP/Spd 2 are great alternatives that grant Silvia extra support/survivability while still granting HP +4.

Devious Diva (Support with Ploys)

Build by
Geishun+ (+Res)
Alternate: Geishun+ (+Spd)
A Fort. Def/Res 3
Alternate: R Duel Infantry 3
Dance B Wings of Mercy 3
Alternate: Chill Def 3
Iceberg
Alternate: Glacies
C Atk Ploy 3
Alternate: Def Ploy 3
IVsSDef Ploy 3
Alternate: Atk Ploy 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IV: +SPD or +RES / -HP

  • +SPD or +RES can be chosen, since the former provides better combat results while the latter increases her chances of activating Ploys. -HP is chosen because her HP isn’t being utilized for any skill.

Weapon: Geishun+ (+SPD or +RES) 

  • To increase her allies’ survivability and safety, Geishun+ is chosen for its Chill Atk effect. Again, +SPD increases her own survivability and damage output while +RES allows her to activate more Ploys. The player can balance between the choices for IVs and weapon refine to have Silvia do both if they wish.

Assist: Dance 

Special: Iceberg / Glacies

  • Since Silvia’s already decent base 30 Resistance will likely be increased via buffs, IVs, and/or weapon refine choice, Iceberg is chosen to make use of her high Resistance. Glacies is a good alternative, trading 1 special cooldown for activation damage off of 30% more Resistance.

Passive A: Fort. Def/Res 3 / R Duel Infantry

  • Fort. Def/Res 3 not only makes up for the HP flaw by granting +6 to both defenses, but also greatly boosts her ability to Ploy thanks to +6 Resistance. It also increases her survivability, since +6 Defense allows her to dodge most physical OHKOs and +6 Resistance allows her to take less magical damage and enemy Ploys/Sabotages.

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / Chill Def / Chill Spd / Chill Res / Sabotage Atk

  • As with every other Dancer, Wings of Mercy is an excellent skill for supporting her allies and getting them out of sticky situations.

  • Chills are good alternatives, since they strengthen Silvia’s ability to indirectly support her allies in combat.

  • Sabotage Atk, although being available only on Selkie at the time of writing, is a more niche pick that takes advantage of Silvia’s solid Resistance. Due to its dependency on allies being adjacent to each other and Geishun+ already being used as Chill Atk, it’s generally less useful than Wings of Mercy or a Chill skill.

Passive C: Atk Ploy / Def Ploy / Spd Ploy / Res Ploy 

  • The unit in a cardinal direction of Silvia won’t always be the unit debuffed by Geishun+, so Atk Ploy can help cover more enemies at the same time.

  • Any other ploy can also be used to help increase damage given rather than decrease damage taken.

Sacred Seal: Def Ploy / Atk Ploy / Spd Ploy / Res Ploy

  • Any of the Ploys that debuff a stat not chosen for the C slot can be used as a Sacred Seal slot to further support her allies.

Introduction

Making her dramatic appearance into the battlefield, Silvia joins as an Infantry Sword Dancer! Boasting a high base Speed of 36, a decent base HP of 40, and a good base Resistance of 30, Silvia’s stats set her up as an amazing support unit that can fulfill more roles that simply Dancing. However, high values in those stats come at a cost of her Attack and Defense, which are 27 and 17 respectively, both extremely low values.

Of course, being a Dancer alone makes Silvia a valuable support unit, as allowing another unit to take an action at the “sacrifice” of hers allows for flexibility in nearly any situation. Because of her amazing base Speed, Silvia will hardly ever have to worry about getting doubled, especially considering most of her sets focus on her utility rather than her combat. However, Silvia can become a decent offensive Dancer despite her disappointing 27 Attack with the help of special activations, Attack buffs, and the Flashing Blade Sacred Seal.

Where Silvia truly shines for most players is in her flexibility. As previously mentioned, with 40 HP, she can not only Dance, but also become a good Sudden Panic and Panic Ploy user with enough HP stacking via A/S slots, a weapon refine, and a blessing. With her 30 Resistance, the player can opt to build her with Ploys to support her teammates via her own debuffs rather than having to rely on enemies’ buffs to panic. Silvia fulfills a rare niche even among Dancers that can only be matched by Leanne as they share similar statlines. While Leanne is likely the superior Dancer due to her Heron Wing granting her conditional 3 movement as a flier, she suffers from even lower physical bulk and flying weaknesses. Silvia’s status as an Infantry unit allows her to take advantage of skills such as Bonus Doubler, Null Follow-Up, Guidance, and Ground Orders (from her flying allies).

Due to her unique statline, Silvia stands out among Dancers as one that can fulfill many different roles, and even some at the same time. She’s capable of providing powerful support for her allies, and can even play rough if she needs to.

Strengths

Fantastic support outside of dancing

Not only can Silvia Dance, but she can also utilize her decent 40 base HP and 30 base Resistance to Panic and Ploy. A unit that can perform all 3 depending on how she’s built is extremely rare, only being surpassed in HP by Ninian, who has lower Attack, Speed, and Resistance, and surpassed in Attack, Speed, and Resistance (and technically Movement) by Leanne, who has a flier weakness, lower HP, and lower Defense.

Flexible and versatile

Thanks to her base HP of 40, base Speed of 36, and base Resistance of 30, Silvia can fulfill many roles at the same time, such as Dancing + Panicking and Dancing + Ploying for support. She can even become a decent offensive Dancer, utilizing Flashing Blade to activate her specials faster.

Weaknesses

Extremely poor Attack

While pretty insignificant if only being used as support, a meager base Attack of 27 can be a major obstacle if using Silvia as an offensive Dancer. While buffs and specials can help work around it, it lowers her damage output dramatically.

Shaky physical bulk

With a physical bulk of 56, Silvia stands just on the cusp of being OHKO’d by a lot of physical enemies. Thankfully, with a plethora of skills such as Fort. Def/Res 3, a variety of Attack-decreasing skills, and outside/other Defense buffs, Silvia can survive a physical hit fairly consistently, but surviving more afterwards is very questionable.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Sword
Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
50 1 6
Steel Sword
Learns by default at 3 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
100 1 8
Barrier Blade

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

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
200 1 10
Barrier Blade+

If foe initiates combat, grants Res+7 during combat.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
300 1 14
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Support Skills

Support Skills Rng. SP
Dance

Grants another action to target ally. (Cannot target an ally with Sing or Dance.)

Learns by default at 4 ★
1 150

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Warding Stance 1

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

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
50
A
Mirror Stance 1

If foe initiates combat, grants Atk/Res+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
120
A
Mirror Stance 2

If foe initiates combat, grants Atk/Res+4 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
A
Torrent Dance 1

If Sing or Dance is used, target also granted Res+3.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 1 ★
50
B
Deluge Dance 1

If Sing or Dance is used, grants Spd+2 and Res+3 to target.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
120
B
Deluge Dance 2

If Sing or Dance is used, grants Spd+3 and Res+4 to target.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
B

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

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