Sonya

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP or -DEF
• Weapon: Dark Excalibur (+Eff)
• Assist: Reposition / Flexible
• Special: Glimmer / Moonbow
• Passive A: Death Blow 4 / Death Blow 3 / Mirror Strike
• Passive B: Special Spiral
• Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Even Atk Wave / Res Ploy / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Attack +3 

This set aims to capitalize on the power of Sonya’s legendary tome, Dark Excalibur, an incredibly potent personal weapon that grants her a flat +10 damage increase whenever her Special activates -- and what’s more, its unique weapon refinement allows her to utilize this effect quite frequently, providing her with -2 Special cooldown at the start of the first turn. When utilized properly, this combination of effects enables her to be entirely self-sufficient, being much less reliant on receiving team support in order to function properly in contrast to some of her direct comparables while still possessing tremendous destructive potential. Given this build’s primarily OHKO-dependent playstyle, an Attack Asset is highly recommended here to augment her raw damage output as much as possible. 

For her Special, those with a two-turn cooldown will be her strongest (and most consistent) options thanks to their fantastic synergy with Dark Excalibur’s effects and Special Spiral. When utilized in tandem, such Specials will be fully charged at the start of every round of combat -- not only does this ensure her ability to consistently benefit from Dark Excalibur’s +10 damage boost, but it also functions as a way to circumvent her middling Speed by capacitating her to simply kill her opponent before they can even counterattack, thus eliminating the need for her to perform a follow-up attack in most scenarios. As for which Special to actually use, however, Glimmer offers her the strongest damage potential of her available options, though her native Moonbow can also be taken to help against magically bulky foes. 

Moving on to her main skills, Death Blow 4 is Sonya’s ideal choice of A slot skill as it grants her the greatest boost to her Attack stat possible, allowing her to push her raw damage output to exceptionally high extents. However, should Death Blow 4 be unavailable, Death Blow 3 or her native Mirror Strike can make for acceptable budgetary alternatives. Special Spiral composes the crux of this build and is necessary in order for Sonya to consistently make use of Dark Excalibur’s effect without being reliant on her ability to consistently perform follow-up attacks. 

Odd Atk Wave and Even Atk Wave are particularly standout candidates for her C slot, and serve to heighten her self-sufficiency even further with the massive +6 Attack buff they provide her with on odd and even-numbered turns respectively. With a strong base Resistance of 32, Sonya’s can also make great use of Ploys, with her native Res Ploy being her preferred option here to similarly enhance her damage output. Otherwise, her C slot can be filled with any skill that best compliments her chosen team composition. Lastly, since she has no need to utilize Quickened Pulse thanks to her unique weapon refine, Sonya can take the Attack +3 seal or any of its variants to gain a solid boost to her offensive potential. 

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP or -DEF
• Weapon: Dark Excalibur (+Eff)
• Assist: Reposition / Flexible
• Special: Blazing Wind / Blazing Light / Growing Wind / Flexible
• Passive A: Life and Death / Death Blow 4 / Death Blow 3 
• Passive B: Special Spiral
• Passive C: Odd Atk Wave / Even Atk Wave / Atk Ploy / Res Ploy / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade

This build takes a slightly more unconventional approach to Dark Excalibur and its unique interactions with AoE Specials. Although this set does require additional setup to function properly in contrast to the first, it conversely enables Sonya to possess exponentially stronger and more applicable offensive capabilities, in large part due to AoE Specials’ ability to effectively bypass the Weapon Triangle entirely. That being said, aside from the aforementioned setup, two other specific skills are also required in order to ensure this build’s effectiveness: Special Spiral and the Heavy Blade seal. Following their initial activation, AoE Specials will only have a two-turn cooldown thanks to Special Spiral’s effect, which in combination with the Heavy Blade seal, allow for them to consistently activate in every round of combat -- combined with Dark Excalibur's +10 damage boost upon Special activations, this practically guarantees that Sonya will be able to quickly decimate any foe who dares cross her path. 

Despite detracting significantly from her overall bulk in addition to disallowing her from making use of Ploys, Life and Death remains Sonya’s ideal choice of A slot skill as the calculation for AoE Specials’ damage is based solely on visible stats and does not account for in-combat boosts, making Life and Death’s flat +5 Attack exceedingly valuable. However, should one wish to preserve her bulk in the case that she needs to take a single hit from an opposing mage in the Enemy Phase, or if aiming to make use of Ploys, Death Blow makes for a powerful alternative, offering her a substantial boost to her raw damage output as well as her ability to OHKO a weakened opponent; it also allows her to activate the Heavy Blade seal much more reliably. 

Odd Atk Wave and Even Atk Wave are once again stellar options for her C slot thanks to their ability to make Sonya much more self-sufficient, however, they are not strictly necessary for her to function properly and can be replaced by any other skill that complements her teammates’ needs. Alternatively, she can also take a Ploy of one’s choosing, provided that she is not using Life and Death as she will otherwise not have enough Resistance to reliably activate them against opposing foes. In particular, although Sonya should rarely (if ever) be taking damage with this build, Atk Ploy can still be a suitable choice for her C slot skill as it strengthens her ability to consistently activate Heavy Blade. Her native Res Ploy is also a great option to enhance her raw damage output. Otherwise, any skill that complements her teammates can be used here. 

As for her choice of AoE Special, Blazing Wind is her overall best choice due to its wide radius giving her the greatest chance of inflicting damage to more foes with one hit. In exchange for losing out on some of Blazing Wind’s damage, Growing Wind can also be considered should one wish to inflict AoE damage upon as wide a group of opponents as possible. However, depending on personal preference, Blazing Light or Blazing Flame may be preferred, thus allowing her choice of Special to be flexible.