Xander

Weapon: Siegfried / Slaying Edge+ (+Def) / Safeguard+ (+Def)

• Siegfried is taken to give Xander access to Distant Counter. He may struggle against mages and staves with his lower end Resistance, but he should be able to shrug off most bows and daggers with his high Defense.

• Slaying Edge is an alternative choice that removes Xander’s Distant Counter in exchange for enhancing his performance as a close range physical tank. Slaying Edge ensures that Specials can be activated more frequently.

• Safeguard is another alternative for the pure close range Xander that provides a large boost of 7 Defense during Enemy Phase at the cost of not helping Xander’s Special uptime like Slaying Edge does.

Assist: Reposition / Rally Def/Res / Player Preference

• Reposition is a generally useful movement Assist that can be used to help Xander retreat, or help his allies move in with ease.

• A Rally such as Rally Def/Res is to be taken if running a Ruse skill on Xander, as the Ruse requires either Xander to be rallied or for Xander himself to rally an ally.

Special: Bonfire / Ignis / Moonbow

• Bonfire is one of Xander’s best specials as it scales off his high Defense stat and can activate within a reasonable timeframe.

• Ignis activates less frequently than Bonfire, but hits much harder to compensate. It is best used with Slaying Edge for more frequency.

• Moonbow is even more consistent than Ignis with Slaying Edge equipped, as every hit Xander takes in Enemy Phase will allow him to immediately retaliate with Moonbow.

Passive A: Steady Stance (3 or 4) / Warding Stance (3 or 4) / Distant Def (3 or 4) / Close Def

• Steady Stance 4 provides Xander with a strong 8 Defense boost as well as a Guard effect during Enemy Phase. If Steady Stance 4 is unable to be obtained, then Steady Stance 3 can function well enough on budget at the cost of not having the Guard effect and possessing only a 6 Defense boost compared to 8.

• Warding Stance can be a useful tool to try and salvage Xander’s poor Resistance somewhat, increasing his effectiveness at tanking hits from mages. It is best paired with a Sacred Seal that also grants a Resistance boost.

• Distant Def 4 can nullify ranged buffs, allowing for much easier ranged tanking than before. Distant Def 3 does not possess the ability to nullify buffs but it is easier to obtain by comparison.

• Close Def is an alternative option if Xander is expected to handle close range tanking more than ranged tanking.

Passive B: Lull Atk/Def / Atk/Spd Ruse / Quick Riposte / Guard

• Lull Atk/Def provides immense utility for Xander and is one of the very few skills that cavalry units have access to. Not only will Xander inflict -3 Attack/Defense to his opponent during combat, but his opponent’s displayed buffs to their Attack and Defense will be ignored.

• Atk/Spd Ruse, when used correctly, can inflict -5 Attack/Speed to whoever Xander is able to affect, as well as hit them with a Guard debuff. These debuffs help to make Xander much safer during combat, though it does force him to run a Rally Assist skill just to make it more consistently available.

• Quick Riposte is very mandatory to Xander’s performance as a slow tank, as he is not fast enough to secure his own natural follow-up attacks. If Quick Riposte is not being used in the Sacred Seal, it should be used in the B Passive.

• Guard makes a fine B Passive option for those that cannot have access to Steady Stance 4 or Warding Stance 4, as it can provide Xander with an immediate Guard effect.

Passive C: Atk Smoke / Hone Cavalry / Player Preference

• Atk Smoke helps Xander’s to survive if he is to take on more than one opponent during the Enemy Phase. The -7 Attack debuff will greatly enhance Xander’s survivability.

• A class-exclusive buff such as Hone Cavalry is a skill that will benefit Xander’s allies if he is on a team with other cavalry units.

Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Distant Def / Close Def / Steady Stance / Warding Stance

• If Quick Riposte is not being run in the B Passive, Quick Riposte finds its home within the Sacred Seal slot as Xander requires additional aid to secure follow-up attacks.

• Distant Def and Close Def are solid Sacred Seals to run that can enhance Xander’s survivability when taking on a specific attack range.

• Steady Stance and Warding Stance are options for the Sacred Seal slot that work against both ranged and melee opponents compared to Distant Def and Close Def.

Weapon: Siegfried

• Siegfried is a crucial part of this build, as it ensures that Xander is able to activate Vantage against even ranged opponents that try to attack him.

Assist: Reposition / Player Preference

Special: Glimmer / Bonfire

• Glimmer can vary in effectiveness depending on the matchup that Xander finds himself in. Either it helps Xander get a OHKO easily thanks to the high attack potential of this set, or it barely helps at all as the opponent has too much Defense to make Glimmer worth it. Glimmer does have a 2 charge cooldown however, making it quite frequent in terms of activations.

• Bonfire is somewhat less frequent than Glimmer in terms of uptime, but it is much more useful damage wise as it is dependent on Xander’s own high Defense stat.

Passive A: Fierce Stance / Brazen Atk/Def

• Fierce Stance grants Xander with 6 Attack during the Enemy Phase. Vantage builds are dependent on delivering a powerful strike during Enemy Phase so that a OHKO can potentially be claimed, so Fierce Stance proves to be a very consistent way of bolstering Xander’s Attack.

• Brazen Atk/Def requires that Xander be reduced to 80% HP or lower in order for the skill to activate, but it does grant Xander a large boost of 7 Attack/Defense during combat. Brazen Atk/Def will always be active once Xander has set up Vantage.

Passive B: Vantage

• Vantage is the key component to this build, as Xander will be able to retaliate before his opponent has a chance to hit him once he has dropped to 75% HP or lower. Be on the lookout for opponents that possess Hardy Bearing, whether it be through the Sacred Seal or a weapon such as Dawn Suzu. These types of effects completely bypass skills such as Vantage, making them a direct counter to this build.

Passive C: Def Smoke / Player Preference

• Def Smoke is exceptionally beneficial to Xander if he finds himself having to activate Vantage on more than one opponent. If additional enemies get hit by the -7 Defense debuff, Xander gets an effective 7 more Attack to work with that can greatly enhance what he can OHKO with Vantage.

Sacred Seal: Fierce Stance / Brazen Atk/Def

• The Fierce Stance Sacred Seal when paired with Fierce Stance in the A Passive will grant Xander a consistently large 12 Attack during the Enemy Phase. It can also be used with Brazen Atk/Def A Passive in order to make up for the fact that Brazen Atk/Def will not be ready before Xander is at 80% HP or less.

• The Brazen Atk/Def Seal will be exceptionally strong when Xander has lost the HP needed to activate it, but do be wary of the dangers of running both this Sacred Seal and the Brazen Atk/Def A Passive together. Xander’s performance before reaching 80% HP or less will be drastically weakened.

Weapon: Siegfried

• Siegfried is Xander’s default weapon. This makes it the cheapest weapon for Xander to use as no inheritance is required.

Assist: Reposition / Player Preference

Special: Moonbow / Bonfire

• Moonbow is a special that activates very frequently and is necessary if Xander wants to push the most out of Swordbreaker.

• Bonfire uses Xander’s high Defense stat for a burst of damage, but it does not activate in one round of combat if Xander is running a breaker skill.

Passive A: Triangle Adept / Fury

• Triangle Adept is a very accessible A Passive that seeks to enhance Xander’s matchups against green units. Even if Xander is not able to secure a kill against these opponents, he should at the very least be able to wall them off with ease.

• Fury is another accessible A Passive that gives Xander an all around stat boost. The chip damage from Fury can eventually prove to be an issue, but if Xander does not partake in multiple rounds of combat this should not be an issue.

Passive B: Swordbreaker / Axebreaker / G Tomebreaker / Quick Riposte

• Swordbreaker gives Xander some coverage in terms of what opponents he can try to take on. Moonbow, when run with Swordbreaker, will activate in one round of combat. This can help to somewhat bypass Xander’s middling Attack stat.

• Axebreaker or G Tomebreaker can be used if the player requires Xander to specifically hard counter these types of units. They are less flexible than Swordbreaker, but will push matchups against these types of units heavily in Xander’s favor when combined with Triangle Adept.

• Quick Riposte does not prevent specific opponents from landing follow-up attacks against Xander, but it does ensure that he can follow-up attack on more than just one weapon type.

Passive C: Hone Cavalry / Spur Def  / Player Preference

• Hone Cavalry is a simple C Passive that allows Xander to buff his fellow cavalry allies that he may be deployed alongside.

• In the event that a C Passive is not to be inherited, Xander’s default Spur Def is fine to keep on this build.

Sacred Seal: Attack +3 / Player Preference

• Due to the fact that the Quick Riposte Sacred Seal is likely taken by another unit during a player’s Arena Assault run, a simple Attack +3 Sacred Seal can be fine enough to squeeze a bit more damage out of Xander during his instances of combat.