Valentine's Gustav

Weapon: Loyalist Axe

Assist: Positional Assist / Preference

Special: Sol / Bonfire

Passive A: Close Def / Sturdy Stance 3

Passive B: Slick Fighter 3 / Crafty Fighter 3

Passive C:  D/R Near Save / Preference

Sacred Seal: Mirror Stance / Sturdy Stance / Fierce Stance / Mystic Boost

• To the surprise of nobody, Gustav makes his playable debut in Fire Emblem Heroes as a seasonal armored axe unit(why can’t we have more good axe cavaliers IS). His statline is quite similar to standout axe armors like Brave Edelgard, and he carries a solid exclusive weapon as well, making him a decent choice among axe armors. Valentine’s Gustav is incredibly difficult to merge due to his status as a shared focus seasonal, however.
• Gustav’s exclusive weapon grants him the Slaying effect, in addition to reducing the foe’s Attack and Defense if they initiate combat or their HP is above 75%. It also has an upgraded Courtly Candle effect built in, which combined with Gustav’s already great bulk gives him excellent staying power.
• Gustav’s incredible Attack and Defense and low Speed means that an Enemy Phase build is a natural fit for him. A healing special and Distant Counter are fairly standard for AR based Enemy Phase units, but a damage Special can be used in place of a healing special provided Gustav has a healer teammate or the Mystic Boost sacred seal.
• Slick Fighter gives Gustav guaranteed follow-up attacks while negating debuffs, allowing him to essentially ignore them while tanking foes as long as his remaining HP is 25% or higher. Gustav’s innate Crafty Fighter is also a solid choice, granting him guaranteed follow-up attacks and the Guard effect, which gives him added protection against special reliant units, although he still has to watch out for precharged special users such as Lysithea.
• Pulse Smoke gives Gustav further protection against enemy specials by increasing the foe’s special cooldown by 1 after combat. Gustav’s Innate D/R Near Save is also a great choice, as it allows him to protect frailer allies from melee foes attacks, as long as he’s within 2 spaces of them.
• Finally, aside from the Mystic Boost sacred seal, other standard defensive sacred seals such as Mirror Stance are good options.

Weapon: Loyalist Axe

Assist: Positional Assist / Preference

Special: Bonfire / Galeforce

Passive A: Death Blow 4

Passive B: Bold Fighter / Special Spiral

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Armor March / Preference

Sacred Seal: Death Blow

• Gustav’s incredible Attack also lends itself well to a player phase build, helped by his access to Bold Fighter, which grants him guaranteed follow-up attacks and +1 Special Cooldown per attack, giving him quick access to his specials coupled with his exclusive weapon’s slaying effect. Special Spiral can also be an extremely effective option on Valentine's Gustav by virtue of his exclusive weapon's damage reduction, as once Spiral is charged, he can retaliate with an extremely powerful Bonfire before the foe gets a chance to get in a 2nd hit.
• Death Blow is Gustav’s offensive A slot option, giving him even more Attack during Player Phase with no downside, which can be stacked even further with the Death Blow sacred seal.
• Thanks to the Loyalist Axe and Bold Fighter, Gustav can trigger Bonfire every round of combat, and even if the foe has Guard, he’ll still have it charged for his next round of combat. Gustav can also use Galeforce, although this will require additional support in the form of Armored allies and Armor March.
• Pulse Smoke and Armor March are great C slot options for safety after combat and mobility respectively, but they can be substituted for a C slot of one’s choosing according to the team’s needs.