Summer Caeda

Weapon: Dolphin-Dive Axe

Assist: Positional Assist / Assistless / Flexible

Special: Glimmer / Ruptured Sky 

Passive A: Atk/Spd Catch / AR Atk/Spd 

Passive B: Flow Refresh 

Passive C: Fatal Smoke / Panic Smoke / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow / Sturdy Blow / Death Blow / Hardy Bearing / Heavy Blade

• Summer Caeda and Plumeria are at their most effective when equipped to act as a standard offensive nuke, featuring fantastic damage output (especially against common tanks), range, and overall maneuverability; these strengths alongside their ability to enable the Duo’s Hindrance structure also makes them a particularly compelling choice of frontliner for Aether Raids Defense. Increasing either of Caeda/Plumeria’s Attack or Speed stats will work well to build on their offensive ceiling. 
  • Note that while alterations are always an option, Summer Caeda and Plumeria are blessed to have come with a perfectly functional (and powerful) base kit; for minimal investment, simply equipping them with a Special completes their build.
• The choice of Assist is mostly inconsequential for general gameplay, though this becomes a more important consideration for Aether Raids Defense since one must account for the way in which the AI prioritizes turn order. Generally speaking, unless attempting to pull off a Rally trap (though this is susceptible to being shut down by Isolation), it’s best to simply not equip an Assist at all to employ a standard movement-based overload. 
• Glimmer scales well with Summer Caeda and Plumeria’s typically good damage — particularly against foes who trigger their effective damage effect — but Ruptured Sky may also be considered to punish high Attack foes and/or beast threats (looking at you, Fallen Edelgard); both are ultimately good options, though, and their short cooldowns mean that the duo can activate them frequently.
• Caeda/Plumeria’s base Atk/Spd Catch is generally their best A skill regardless of where you’re using them, providing up to a whopping +9 in-combat boost to both of their key stats under the proper circumstances. AR-D Atk/Spd may be considered for Aether Raids Defense purposes if aiming to maximize the Sea-Blossom Pair’s potential (as it can beat out the boost granted by Atk/Spd Catch if enough structures remain) without needing any other condition to be fulfilled, but this is rather costly for minimal improvement so it’s mainly up to personal preference.
• Their base Flow Refresh is excellent for the partial Null Follow-Up effect it imparts, granting Caeda and Plumeria some safety in case they don’t flat out OHKO their opponent by making follow-ups a simple Speed contest again — something they are more than likely to win. Since Dolphin-Dive Axe already comes with Canto, there is typically very little need to swap this out for something else like Near Trace.
• Fatal Smoke is an excellent C skill choice that further ensures the summertime duo’s ability to shred through opponents, negating enemy healing and massively debilitating the enemy team upon applying its debuff. Their native Panic Smoke works well too, reversing enemy bonuses rather than punishing sustain tanks, but may not be worthwhile in Aether Raids Defense during Astra season due to the presence of Ashera (who negates any Panic debuffs via her Order’s Restraint). 
• Realistically, any Sacred Seal that augments Summer Caeda and Plumeria’s offenses will work well, though those that enhance both (such as Swift Sparrow) are usually preferred over those that only improve one. Alternatively, they may be equipped with the Hardy Bearing Sacred Seal to shut down Vantage strategies for Aether Raids, or Heavy Blade to strengthen damage through faster Special activations instead.

Weapon: Dolphin-Dive Axe

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Galeforce

Passive A: Heavy Blade / Atk/Spd Catch

Passive B: Lull Atk/Spd / Flow Refresh 

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Smoke Skills / Savage Blow / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Heavy Blade

• Although this retains their preferred aggressive playstyle, this build narrows the scope of their usage to their place within Galeforce centered strategies in Aether Raids Offense as their Harmonic Skill and mobility-based lean allows them to excel within such applications. A +ATK IV is preferred over everything else to ensure their Heavy Blade activations, but +SPD may still be put to good work here. 
• Naturally, the heart of this build lies in Summer Caeda and Plumeria’s choice of Special: Galeforce. Its self-refreshing quality allows for multiple initiations in quick succession, letting Caeda/Plumeria sweep through the enemy forces alongside their allies when paired with a complementary team composition. Their Harmonic Skill could also be used to aid this goal as well. 
  • For instance, Caeda/Plumeria could be utilized alongside a fellow Galeforce sweeper (who should be from Mystery of the Emblem or Heroes to actually be targeted by it) and use it on them in the middle of the Galeforce chain; this may prove especially useful in the event that the other ally otherwise fails to gain enough charges to initially activate Galeforce, providing some safety.
  • Alternatively, one could plan to use their Harmonic Skill on a refresher (namely, either Peony or Plumeria depending on the season) and have Summer Caeda be the main carry of the team, taking a more central role by continuously being the one to mainly receive additional actions. This does leave the duo more susceptible to the presence of the Duo’s Hindrance structure, though.
• Using Heavy Blade as an A skill + the Quickened Pulse seal is recommended to lower the minimum amount of initiations required to activate Galeforce down to two, assuming Heavy Blade triggers and none of the enemies are equipped with a Guard effect. If one wishes to fully maximize damage instead, Summer Caeda and Plumeria can keep their base Atk/Spd Catch and use the Heavy Blade Sacred Seal. 
  • Regardless, though, some version of Heavy Blade is needed for this build to be effective — Galeforce’s cooldown is too long otherwise, especially since their effective damage may mean that they’ll simply OHKO their foe before even accumulating enough charges to trigger it.
• A Lull skill works excellently in the summertime duo’s B skill to help guarantee their Heavy Blade activations by taking away from their foe’s Attack, plus one other stat of choice. Their base Flow Refresh is more situational here since while the partial Null Follow-Up effect is useful, the healing portion of this skill may not be synergistic with certain Wings of Mercy strategies. 
• For their C skill, Joint Drive skills are stellar since Caeda/Plumeria will be in pretty close proximity to their allies once in the Galeforce chain, essentially granting them stats for free in addition to buffing any allies who may be participating as well. Smoke skills may also work well for improved subsequent matchups after the first, with Savage Blow operating similarly but perhaps not being as effective if using the Bolt Tower already.