Tsubasa

Preferred IV: +ATK or +SPD / -HP or -DEF or -RES

• As with most offensive sets, Tsubasa wants +ATK to increase her raw damage or +SPD to bolster her chances of performing a follow-up attack. Any defensive Flaw works well, since Tsubasa wants to 2HKO her enemies before they can counterattack.

Weapon: Mirage Feather

• Granting +3 Speed, effectiveness against Cavalry and Armored enemies, and a conditional +6 Atk/Spd and Desperation effect if an ally has already acted, Mirage Feather makes Tsubasa a force to be reckoned. Thanks to dual-effectiveness and +6 Atk/Spd, Tsubasa can consistently score 2HKOs, especially with Attack buffs. With its Desperation effect, Tsubasa can work around her middling defenses by focusing on 2HKOing the enemy before they can counterattack.

Assist: Reposition / Flexible 

Special: Moonbow / Glimmer 

• Moonbow is a great option, helping Tsubasa score KOs on physically-bulky enemies she may not be able to KO otherwise. Its 2-cooldown also allows Tsubasa to activate it on her second attack if Heavy Blade is activated and no Guard effect is active on the enemy.

• Because of Mirage Feather’s dual-effectiveness, Glimmer is a strong alternative, adding 50% of damage dealt when activated. This helps Tsubasa score KOs on enemies that can prevent Tsubasa’s follow-up attack or especially tanky Cavalry and Armored units. 

Passive A: Blade Session / Death Blow (3 or 4) / Atk/Spd Push 4 / Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) 

• Given that Mirage Feather already requires an ally to take their action, Tsubasa’s native Blade Session works wonders, granting 3 + 3x Atk/Spd with x = the number of allies that have already acted and the total increase maxing at 9. While this requires increased awareness and cautiousness of the order in which to move units, Tsubasa’s reward is very high.

• Death Blow grants +6/8 Attack if Tsubasa initiates, greatly improving her damage output and chances of activating Heavy Blade. Tsubasa will be initiating for most of her combat due to the emphasis on Player Phase for offensive sets, meaning Death Blow will activate for most of Tsubasa’s combat.

• If Tsubasa’s HP is ≥ 25%, Atk/Spd Push 4 grants her +7 Atk/Spd during combat, boosting Tsubasa’s damage output and consistency in performing follow-up attacks.

• Swift Sparrow is another good option, granting +4/6 Attack and +4/7 Speed if Tsubasa initiates. Given the Player Phase style of offensive sets, Tsubasa will be initiating for most of her combat, making Swift Sparrow a synergistic choice.

Passive B: Chill Def / Aerobatics / Flier Formation / Mystic Boost

Thanks to Mirage Feather, Tsubasa doesn’t need to run Desperation in her B slot. Unfortunately, because of her Flier status, Tsubasa doesn’t have access to valuable B slots such as Special Spiral and Null Follow-Up that would increase her damage and follow-up consistency.

• Chill Def inflicts -7 Defense on the enemy with the highest Defense, assisting both Tsubasa and her physical allies in KOing physical walls.

• Movement-based B slots like Aerobatics and Flier Formation can increase Tsubasa’s mobility and flexibility for reaching and escaping from enemies. Which one to use should be chosen based on whether or not Tsubasa has flying allies.

• If utilizing Atk/Spd Push 4 in her A slot, Mystic Boost can be chosen to heal its recoil damage, allowing Tsubasa to keep Atk/Spd Push 4 active assuming she doesn’t take damage otherwise. 

Passive C: Def Smoke / Hone Fliers / Flexible 

• Def Smoke inflicts -7 Defense on enemies within 2 spaces of the target, helping Tsubasa and her physical allies KO immediate threats. Note that this may not synergize well with Blade Session, since her allies want to move before her to increase her Atk/Spd buff. 

• Fliers skills such as Hone Fliers work well if using Tsubasa with flying allies, granting buffs that otherwise could not be granted with a singular skill.

• Tsubasa’s C slot is flexible and can be changed depending on her allies’ skills.

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Swift Sparrow 

• Despite her middling base Attack, Tsubasa is more than capable of increasing her Attack to heights where she can consistently activate Heavy Blade. With this, she can activate 2-cooldown Specials on her second attack if no Guard effect is active, allowing her to dish out more consistent damage.

• As with her A slot, Swift Sparrow is a strong option to heighten Tsubasa’s damage output and follow-up chances, granting +4 Atk/Spd when Tsubasa initiates.

Preferred IV: +ATK / -RES

• +ATK is Tsubasa’s strongest Asset, especially considering her mediocre 32 base Attack. Tsubasa needs to activate Heavy Blade to activate Galeforce after her first combat, so raising her Attack as high as possible while ensuring she performs a follow-up attack is optimal. -RES is chosen because melee units will counter against Tsubasa more often than magical units (they would need Close Counter or be Dragons), so -DEF and -HP should both be avoided.

Weapon: Slaying Lance+ (+SPD) / Mirage Feather

• Slaying Lance drops Galeforce’s cooldown from 5 to 4, allowing Tsubasa to activate it even if the enemy cannot counterattack if Heavy Blade activates and she performs a follow-up attack. +SPD is chosen to increase her chances of performing a follow-up attack.

• Mirage Feather can be combined with Quickened Pulse and Heavy Blade in Tsubasa’s A slot to activate Galeforce after 2 attacks. Its +6 Atk/Spd + Desperation condition is easy to meet, as Tsubasa will likely need a Smite or a Dance to reach enemies in Aether Raids.

Assist: Reposition / Flexible 

Special: Galeforce 

• Like Tsubasa being the star of the stage, Galeforce is the star of this set, allowing Tsubasa to perform another action when activated. With this, Tsubasa could score 2 KOs rather than just 1, or hit-and-run, or many other possibilities. Its hefty 5-cooldown forces Tsubasa to use Slaying Lance + Heavy Blade or Mirage Feather + Heavy Blade + Quickened Pulse to activate it regardless of whether or not the enemy counterattacks.

Passive A: Atk/Spd Push 4 / Heavy Blade 4 / Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Death Blow (3 or 4) / Fury (3 or 4) /

• Atk/Spd Push 4 grants +7 Atk/Spd if Tsubasa’s HP is ≥ 25%, greatly improving her damage output and likelihood of performing a follow-up attack. +7 Attack also helps Tsubasa activate Galeforce.

• If using Quickened Pulse + Mirage Feather, Tsubasa will need Heavy Blade to activate Galeforce after 2 hits. It’s likely not worth running only Heavy Blade 3, as Heavy Blade 4 grants +5 damage per attack along with the accelerated Special charge; Mirage Feather + Heavy Blade 3 is virtually the same as Slaying Lance+ (+SPD) + any other suggested A slot aside from dual-effectiveness.

• Given the Player Phase focus of Galeforce sets, Swift Sparrow has great synergy, granting +4/6 Attack and +4/7 Speed when Tsubasa initiates. Death Blow is another sufficient alternative, granting +6/8 Attack when Tsubasa initiates, which is especially helpful if the player is comfortable with Tsubasa’s Speed and would rather focus on activating Heavy Blade and Galeforce.

• Fury grants +3/4 to all stats, improving both Tsubasa’s offensive and defensive capabilities. +3 Def/Res can make the difference between being OHKO’d by an enemy counterattack and surviving, although slightly lower offenses can also make the difference between KOing or missing a KO, along with activating or not activating Heavy Blade.

Passive B: Desperation / Chill Def / Sabotage Def

• Desperation is key for Tsubasa’s second action, as her HP may be low from taking a counterattack. Desperation allows Tsubasa to perform a follow-up attack before the enemy can counterattack if her HP is ≤ 75%, which is fairly likely (especially in AR Offense, considering Galeforce strategies tend to have at least 1 other Galeforcer that utilizes Wings of Mercy via the injured first Galeforcer).

• Tsubasa doesn’t need Desperation if using Mirage Feather, so Chill Def works well to increase her damage output against bulky front-liners. Sabotage Def is a strong alternative since many Aether Raids Defense teams have their units adjacent to each other, although Tsubasa’s 30 Resistance may not be enough to debuff some enemies.

Passive C: Def Smoke 

• Def Smoke inflicts -7 Defense on enemies within 2 spaces of the target, which is especially helpful for Galeforce strategies since Tsubasa can immediately take advantage of the -7 Defense debuff if she activates Galeforce. It can also benefit other physical Galeforcers that use Wings of Mercy to warp adjacent to Tsubasa when her HP is ≤ 50%.

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade / Quickened Pulse

• Heavy Blade is mandatory to activate Galeforce after Tsubasa’s first combat, given its considerable 5-cooldown (decreased to 4 via Slaying Lance).

• If using Mirage Feather, Tsubasa will be unable to activate Galeforce after 2 hits without Quickened Pulse and Heavy Blade in her A slot.