Winter Bruno

Weapon: Peppy Cane+ / Snow Globe+ / Amity Blooms+

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Moonbow / Noontime / Glacies / Iceberg

A Passive: Distant Def (3 or 4) / Atk/Spd Unity / Atk/Def Unity / Atk/Res Unity / Kestrel Stance 3 / Steady Posture 3 / Bracing Stance 3

B Passive: Savvy Fighter / Quick Riposte 4 / Special Fighter 4 / Slick Fighter / Wily Fighter / Crafty Fighter / Special Spiral 4

C Passive: D/R Far Save / A/D Far Save / A/R Far Save

Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Spd/Def Form / Atk/Spd Form / Deflect Missile / Deflect Magic

• Winter Bruno is rather untraditional for a modern-day Armor as many of his stats are allocated to his Atk and Spd rather than his Def and Res. This is both beneficial and worrisome as having the additional offensive prowess can be good for taking out foes in the Enemy Phase. However, with such mediocre mixed bulk, there’s a very real possibility that he’ll only be able to take so many hits before ultimately falling in combat. What doesn’t help especially is his lack of access to Hardy Fighter, which would’ve made him much more formidable. Regardless, Winter Bruno will have to work with what he has, and for what it’s worth, he has quite a bit to work with. As such, we’ll be highlighting skill options for Far Save purposes.
   
• Winter Bruno’s status as a Green Tome is somewhat beneficial due to his weapon accessibility: mainly Snow Globe+. The weapon in question is effectively Atk/Res Unity, which can make up for his lackluster mixed bulk if debuffed, especially if paired with a second Unity skill to further bolster his defenses. Preferably, if you were to run Snow Globe+, either opting for Atk/Spd Unity or Atk/Def Unity may be more beneficial than double-dipping into Atk/Res Unity as the former can help with Savvy Fighter checks, and the latter with taking hits in general, assuming he’s debuffed. The consistency of Unity skills will ultimately be the biggest caveat as not being debuffed will hinder his combat prowess to a significant degree. So, if you would rather run something much more consistent, both for his weapon and A Passive, he can either keep his innate Peppy Cane+ or opt for Amity Blooms+, the former granting follow-up prevention, and the latter providing in-combat healing for further sustainability, and either run Distant Def 4 or a 300 SP Stance.
   
• As far as the B Passive is concerned, Winter Bruno has quite a bit to work with. For starters, if you want some form of Damage Reduction somewhere in his kit, he can either opt for Savvy Fighter or Quick Riposte 4, the former also granting Null Follow-Up at the cost of having to meet a Spd check, and the latter not providing any additional benefits beyond the guaranteed follow-up and 25% Damage Reduction on the foe’s first attack. Other than that, he can either run Special Figher 4 for sustainability purposes or any other miscellaneous Fighter skill. Just be cautious of what A Passive you run in tandem with it as some skills have quite a bit of overlap (i.e. Crafty Fighter & 300 SP Stances or Wily Fighter & Distant Def 4). And while not the most optimal, Special Spiral 4 could work in some scenarios where you want to put pressure on the foe initiating combat as being able to retaliate with a Special that negates Damage Reduction could spell trouble if you are in a scenario where the foe cannot one-shot (i.e. Damage Reduction support or Ymir’s Drive Miracle effect).
   
• Finally, for the Sacred Seal options, Winter Bruno has quite a bit to work with. He can either continue to opt for general stat-boosting Passives such as Distant Def or one of many Forms or run a Deflect. Distant Def and Form skills are beneficial in scenarios where you either need to take general hits or need to make Spd checks for Savvy Fighter, with the added benefit of being able to buff two stats at once. Meanwhile, if running a 300 SP Stance in the A Passive slot, running a Deflect may be a better call against threats that strike twice at once. With the Guard effect from the A Passive and Deflect in the Sacred Seal, the only means of getting a respective Special off is either with a pre-charge or Tempo, the former of which you can work around. 

Weapon: Peppy Cane+ / Snow Globe+ / Amity Blooms+

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Moonbow / Noontime / Glacies / Iceberg

A Passive: Close Reversal / Close Foil / Close Counter

B Passive: Savvy Fighter / Quick Riposte 4 / Special Fighter 4 / Slick Fighter / Wily Fighter / Crafty Fighter / Special Spiral 4

C Passive: A/D Near Save / A/S Near Save / A/R Near Save / D/R Near Save

Sacred Seal: Close Def / Spd/Def Form / Atk/Spd Form

• Since Winter Bruno cannot access the likes of Hardy Fighter, it may be more optimal to instead opt for a Near Save set as the number of units that can pierce through Damage Reduction at one range is nearly non-existent. Granted, having a base Def stat of 29 means that even with Damage Reduction, it’s possible for the foe to outright kill him in a single combat. However, it’s far less likely comparatively. As such, if you would rather run him as a Near Save unit, please refer to the following skills.
   
• Since Winter Bruno will be acting as a Near Save unit, he’ll naturally want the ability to counter. As far as notable Close Counter variants are concerned, the best one would have to be Close Reversal as it not only boosts his lowish Def stat but still grants him the ability to counter Dragons which will be more important going forward. That being said, if you’d rather gamble that chance encounter, Close Foil works as a good alternative as well as Close Counter if the former skills aren’t at your disposal.
   
• As far as the B Passive options are concerned, they’ll mainly be the same here. However, the potency of some of them will increase significantly as a result of taking up a Near Save role. For example, Savvy Fighter will be much more effective for Near Save purposes as there is a lack of one-ranged threats that can bypass the Damage Reduction properties of Savvy Fighter, and, at the time of this article, is the only means of acquiring a Spd-based Save skill (A/S Near Save), making Spd checks much more reliable. Of course, you could still opt for Quick Riposte 4 which still grants a flat amount of Damage Reduction, just without any other significant benefits beyond a guaranteed follow-up. And besides the rest of the Fighter skill options afforded to Winter Bruno, one other highlight would have to be Special Fighter 4 as he can maintain a fair amount of sustainability and damage output with it. Just keep in mind that his lowish mixed bulk could ultimately cost him if he isn’t receiving any form of Damage Reduction support.
   
• And for the Sacred Seal options, he’ll want to patch up as much of his Def as possible since 29 at base isn’t doing much for him whatsoever. Skills such as Close Def and Spd/Def Form are great options for that in particular, the latter especially as it further increases his Spd. That being said, you could always opt for Atk/Spd Form if running Savvy Fighter if you would much rather have additional damage output.