Spring Xander

• Preferred IV: +ATK / -HP or -SPD
• Weapon:  Harmonic Lance (+Atk) / Carrot Lance (+Atk)
• Assist: Reciprocal Aid
• Special: Sol / Bonfire
• Passive A: Fury
• Passive B: Renewal
• Passive C: Spd Smoke / Def Smoke / Res Smoke / Threaten Spd
• Sacred Seal: Atk Smoke

Spring Xander’s physical bulk grants him an impressive ability to bait melee foes who come his way and debuff the enemy team in the process. This can be an excellent way of enabling his stronger teammates to perform a clean sweep or swinging certain matchups in their favor.

+ATK -- along with an Attack refinement and Fury --  is used to bolster Spring Xander’s damage output, and brings his Attack to a respectable 48. Fury also has the added bonus of boosting Spring Xander’s defensive stats for a rather negligible penalty, given that Spring Xander will be healing rather often. -HP is the preferred bane because of its negligible effect when making use of a refined lance, but -SPD can also be used to allow for more consistent Sol or Bonfire activations.

Reciprocal Aid or Ardent Sacrifice is a great assist for Spring Xander, synergizing with Renewal and allowing him to heal his allies who may be better suited for a matchup. Sol’s normally unimpressive damage output and healing effect is boosted by the flat +10 damage the Harmonic Lance provides while Bonfire hits hard when it activates due to Spring Xander’s high base Defense, and is preferable compared to Ignis due to its lower cooldown and the lack of Quick Riposte on this build. Renewal grants him greater self-sustain, especially when used in conjunction with the Carrot Lance or a Harmonic Lance-boosted Sol.

Spring Xander’s final slots, his C-slot and seal, are the secondary crux of this build. These powerful and wide-reaching debuffs will severely disrupt the enemy team -- no matter which of them is used. Spd Smoke is particularly notable for being available on the F2P Fallen Takumi, but any Smoke skill (barring Atk Smoke given its overlap with Spring Xander’s seal)  can be used. Threaten Spd is a decent budget option, though its Area of Effect is smaller and its activation condition much more stringent.

• Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF / -SPD
• Weapon: Carrot Lance (+Def) / Slaying Lance (+Def) / Harmonic Lance (+Def)
• Assist: Reposition / Swap / Flexible
• Special: Ignis / Bonfire
• Passive A: Close Def / Steady Stance / Earth Boost
• Passive B: Quick Riposte / Guard 
• Passive C: Threaten Def / Threaten Atk / Hone Cavalry / Fortify Cavalry / Flexible
• Sacred Seal: Close Def / Quick Riposte

The goal of this set is simple: bait to charge a Special, and then hit a foe for massive damage.

For IVs, +DEF is preferred to boost the power of a Bonfire or Ignis proc, while +ATK helps Spring Xander’s damage output when his Special is not charged. -SPD is used to help Spring Xander get doubled, which guarantees a devastating activation of Ignis on the next Player Phase.

Spring Xander’s native weapon, the Carrot Lance, allows him to self-sustain due to its HP recovery effect if he attacked in battle. Moreover, its ability to be refined grants Spring Xander 5 extra HP as well as a stat boost of his choosing. Alternatively, the refined Slaying Lance offers the same HP and stat boost as well as cooldown reduction, while the Harmonic Lance gives +10 damage to Spring Xander's Special procs. Either will serve this build well, especially when given a +Def refinement to further boost Spring Xander’s Defense.

Assists, as per usual, can vary. Swap allows Spring Xander to maneuver more effectively in tight quarters, while Reposition -- when combined with his cavalry movement -- grants him the ability to reach distant allies and deliver them away from danger. Any movement or support Assist can be used here, however -- dual rallies are always an excellent option for team support and/or Arena scoring.

Given the prevalence of red units possessing more than 28 Speed in all game modes, Ignis is Spring Xander’s preferred Special, granting him an additional 30 damage when it is activated when he initiates. Bonfire is another potential option that will activate when Spring Xander is initiated on and doubled, which should not be too difficult to ensure. Quick Riposte ensures that Spring Xander is able to sneak in an extra Special charge when he is attacked by a melee foe, while Guard severely limits if not downright disables the opponent's ability to charge their Special in return. When combined with the Carrot Lance's HP recovery effect, Sping Xander is more easily able to stay at the > or = 80% HP activation threshold for this skill. Do note that if Guard utilized, Quick Riposte should be used in Spring Xander's seal slot.

Due to the use of the Close Def skill and seal in conjunction, against melee units this build has a ludicrous 54 Defense with a +DEF boon (51 Defense with +ATK) -- Steady Stance and Earth Boost are serviceable alternatives with similar effects. Popular red swords like Arya, and Mia do nothing to this build unless they charge their special, and even then the damage is reasonably negligible due to Carrot Lance’s HP recovery. Moreover, Spring Xander’s impressive Resistance allows him to tank red dragons like Young Tiki and Adult Tiki. Most blue lances also do chip damage and are hit hard by a Ignis / Bonfire proc, and even red and blue Bold Fighter armors can’t usually KO this build outright.

As for C skills, Threaten Def increases the damage Spring Xander is able to deal when it is active, while Threaten Atk grants him more sustainability. If his team contains additional cavalry allies he can instead run the appropriate cavalry buff, but this skill can be anything from a Drive to a Tactic.