Thea

Weapon: Springy Lance+ (+SPD) / Wagasa+ (+SPD)

Assist: Dual Rally+ / Rally Up+ / Reposition

Special: Ruptured Sky / Galeforce / Aether

Passive A: B Duel Flying 4 

Passive B: Aerobatics / S/D Near Trace / Atk/Spd Link / Spd/Def Snag / Flexible

Passive C: Any 300 SP Skill (ideally increases Attack or Speed) / Guidance / Atk/Spd Rein

Sacred Seal: Guidance / Atk/Spd Solo / Aerobatics

• Scoring in Arena is based on a variety of factors; for Thea, these factors are base stat total (BST), total SP cost of skills (Arena score increases every 100 SP), and merges. While her 165 BST after removing her Flaw by merging her to at least +1 is sufficient for an Arena core, B Duel Flying 4 increases Thea’s BST to 180, making her score considerably higher than units without access to Duel 4 skills. Thanks to her Flier status and well-rounded statline, Thea can be an integral part of an Arena core, serving as a high-scoring, mobility-increasing unit that can hold her own in combat if necessary. 
• Springy Lance is Thea’s most valuable combat weapon, granting +5 Atk/Spd and nullifying her visible Atk/Spd debuffs during combat if the enemy’s HP is ≥ 75%. The Speed increase is particularly important given the constantly-increasing Speed ceiling of meta FEH units. Alternatively, Thea can wield a more supportive weapon such as Wagasa, which has a built-in Chill Def effect (inflicts -7 Defense on the enemy with the highest Defense at the start of the turn).
• In order to score as high as possible, Thea needs any 400 SP Assist; these include Harsh Command+, any Dual Rally+, and any Rally Up+. Ideally, Thea has a 400 SP Assist that actually synergizes with her team, but in a worst-case scenario where that is not possible, the Assist slot can simply be used to bolster Thea’s Arena score. Thea also needs a 300 SP C slot (ideally Joint Drive Atk or Joint Drive Spd, since increasing damage output and follow-up performance/avoidance is very valuable for preventing enemies from becoming overwhelming) to score as high as possible.
• Thea also needs a 500 SP Special for top-scoring, so Ruptured Sky, Blue Flame, or Aether is necessary. Typically, lower cooldown is better in Coliseum modes due to the myriad of Guard effects preventing Specials from charging, so Ruptured Sky > Blue Flame > Aether. Ruptured Sky can help take down tough Dragon and Beast enemies as well, as it grants bonus damage equal to 40% of the enemy’s Attack instead of 20% if the enemy is a Beast or Dragon.
• At the time of writing, Thea lacks access to any 300 SP B slot or Scared Seal, although she still needs a 240 SP skill in both slots in order to make her set as SP-costly as possible. The combination of Guidance and Aerobatics is typically very helpful for both pressing the offensive and retreating when necessary, making them strong supportive choices. More offensive choices include S/D Near Trace for Thea’s B slot (inflicts -3 Spd/Def during combat and allows Thea to move after combat; the number of spaces she can move is equal to any movement not already used + 1) and Atk/Spd Solo or Atk/Spd Bond for Thea’s Sacred Seal (the former grants +6 Atk/Spd during combat if Thea is not adjacent to an ally while the latter grants +5 Atk/Spd during combat if Thea is adjacent to an ally).
• Arena can be incredibly frustrating, so many players sacrifice a 400 SP Assist in favor of Reposition to increase mobility. This decreases Thea’s maximum possible SP from 2330 to 2080; because Thea’s Arena score only increases for every 100 SP her skills cost, she can afford to drop a 300 SP C slot in favor for a 240 SP C slot such as Guidance or Atk/Spd Rein. Since Thea is using Reposition, her B slot options increase, as she can use Link and Snag skills to increase team damage output.

Weapon: It’s Curtains…+ (+ATK) / Slaying Lance+ (+SPD)

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Galeforce 

Passive A: Heavy Blade (3 or 4) / Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / A/D Near Trace

Passive C: Atk/Def Rein / Atk/Spd Rein

Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Heavy Blade

• Perhaps Thea’s sole use in Aether Raids Offense is in Galeforce strategies, which involve utilizing multiple units with Galeforce in order to create a “Galeforce chain” capable of completely (or almost completely) sweeping a Defense Keep in one Player Phase. There are 2 ways to achieve this: one-tap Galeforce (activated after 1 attack) and two-tap Galeforce (activated after 2 attacks).
• One-tap Galeforce:
  • The combination of It’s Curtains…+ and Quickened Pulse reduces Galeforce’s cooldown from 5 to 2. By using Heavy Blade in her A slot, Thea can activate Galeforce after one attack assuming no Guard effect is affecting her and her Attack exceeds the enemy’s Attack (in order to gain the +1 Special charge from Heavy Blade).
  • Atk/Spd Rein is vital for this, as inflicting -4 Atk/Def on enemies within 2 spaces helps Thea with both damage output and passing Heavy Blade’s Attack check. If the player wishes for Thea to be the first unit in the Galeforce chain, she can use A/D Near Trace instead of Wings of Mercy to further reduce the enemy’s Atk/Def by 3.
• Two-tap Galeforce:
  • Slaying Lance reduces Galeforce’s cooldown from 5 to 4. By using Heavy Blade in her Sacred Seal, Thea can activate Galeforce after two attacks assuming no Guard effect is affecting her and her Attack exceeds the enemy’s Attack (in order to gain the +1 Special charge from Heavy Blade).
  • Atk/Spd Boosting A slots such as Atk/Spd Push 4, Swift Sparrow, and Fury are vital for this, as Thea’s offenses are too middling on their own to consistently deal high amounts of damage and perform follow-up attacks. Atk/Spd Rein boosts Thea’s follow-up consistency and helps her pass Heavy Blade’s Attack check.

Of course, given Thea’s 31/35 offenses, she is far from the best choice for this set. Any Lance Flier with better offenses (which is most of them) will be able to perform better with this set than Thea; it is likely that Thea will need Attack support via visible buffs and stat increases from matching her Blessing with an Aether Raids Offense Mythic that increases Attack (such as Reginn and Altina).

Weapon: Springy Lance+ (+SPD) / Flowing Lance+ (+SPD) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Noontime / Moonbow 

Passive A: Distant Counter / Fury (3 or 4) / Atk/Spd Push 4

Passive B: Mystic Boost / S/D Near Trace / Quick Riposte

Passive C: Atk/Spd Rein / Spd/Def Rein 

Sacred Seal: Iote’s Shield / Atk/Spd Solo

• Thea’s jack-of-all-trades statline naturally lends itself well to flexible generalist sets. One is more oriented towards Enemy Phase, while the other is more oriented towards Player Phase.
• Regardless of which phase Thea focuses on, Springy Lance and Flowing Lance are Thea’s best combat weapons. Springy Lance grants Thea +5 Atk/Spd and neutralizes her visible Atk/Spd debuffs if the enemy’s HP is ≥ 75%, while Flowing Lance inflicts -5 Atk/Def and neutralizes the enemy’s visible Atk/Def buffs if she is not adjacent to an ally.
• Enemy Phase focus:
  • With Distant Counter, Thea can counterattack against ranged enemies, making it arguably necessary for an effective Enemy Phase set. Unfortunately, Thea suffers from a Bow weakness due to her Flier status, so she needs Iote’s Shield in her Sacred Seal for as much survivability as possible; she can, however, use Atk/Spd Solo for a much-needed increase in offenses.
  • Noontime grants Thea sustainability, making it a strong Special choice. Since her offenses are a bit lacking, however, she can use Moonbow to deal increased damage to high-Defense enemies. Mystic Boost grants additional healing via 6 HP after every combat and neutralizes Wrathful Staff (the effect that allows Staff units to deal normal rather than halved damage), although Quick Riposte can be used to counteract Impact effects via a guaranteed follow-up counterattack if Thea’s HP is ≥ 70%.
  • Atk/Spd Rein inflicts -4 Atk/Spd on enemies within 2 spaces during combat, increasing Thea’s follow-up avoidance and consistency and bulk. Alternatively, Spd/Def Rein inflicts -4 Spd/Def, increasing her damage output instead of bulk.
• Player Phase focus:
  • While Fury and Atk/Spd Push 4 inflict recoil damage after combat, Mystic Boost can heal the recoil damage, making those A slots much less risky to use. Fury is generally preferred since this set aims to increase Thea’s damage output and bulk, although Atk/Spd Push 4 can certainly be used to make her lean more towards offense.
  • S/D Near Trace inflicts -3 Spd/Def on the enemy during combat and allows Thea to move a number of spaces after combat equal to her unused movement when initiating + 1, making it a fantastic choice for hit-and-run strategies.
  • Spd/Def Rein is better-suited for an offensive focus than Atk/Def Rein since the former increases Thea’s damage output and chances of performing a follow-up attack. Atk/Spd Solo is Thea’s best Sacred Seal for the same purpose, as Iote’s Shield is not as beneficial (especially considering she does not use Distant Counter).