Young L'Arachel

Weapon: Staff of Rausten 

Assist: Rescue+ / No Assist / Return+ / Restore+

Special: Windfire Balm+ / Miracle 

Passive A: Atk/Spd Push 4 / AR-D Atk/Spd 

Passive B: Dazzling Staff / S/R Far Trace

Passive C: Odd Recovery

Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Atk/Spd Solo / Flexible 

• Young L’Arachel has a combination of characteristics that makes her a fantastic Aether Raids Defense unit:
  • Staff of Rausten allows L’Arachel to deal normal damage (as opposed to halved damage) and inflicts -6 Res and a status preventing counterattacks (Flash effect) to the nearest enemies within 5 spaces. This shuts down the common strategy of placing one unit within the range of several enemies, as they cannot do much of anything if they cannot counterattack (unless they have Null C-Disrupt).
  • Turn 1 initiations typically occur via wide space oppression or traps. L’Arachel’s 5 range makes her an ideal unit for space oppression, while her access to Assists such as Return, Rescue, and Restore and the coveted C slot of Odd Recovery lets her participate in trap set-ups. By using Return or Rescue on a unit that has taken damage (through Winter Bernadetta’s Hrist), L’Arachel can extend her and/or her allies’ ranges, allowing for surprise initiations beyond their original ranges. The same can be said for Restore, although Restore will only extend L’Arachel’s range. Odd Recovery prevents Offense players from inflicting Isolation through skills such as Mila’s Turnwheel and Gjallarbrú; L’Arachel will simply restore the Isolation on herself and allies within 2 spaces of her, allowing valuable refreshing Assists such as Gentle Dream, Frightful Dream, and Whimsical Dream, to be used.
  • Dazzling Staff in L’Arachel’s B slot makes all of L’Arachel’s initiations completely safe unless the enemy has Null C-Disrupt. Meanwhile, her native S/R Far Trace inflicts -3 Spd/Res to the enemy during combat and allows L’Arachel to use her remaining movement after combat, which can put her in range of receiving a refresh to initiate again. With very strong offenses, L’Arachel can play a hybrid of supportive and offensive, which can be very obnoxious to deal with.
• Atk/Spd Push 4 and AR-D Atk/Spd both significantly increase L’Arachel’s offenses. The former grants +7 Atk/Spd during combat if L’Arachel’s HP is ≥ 25%, while AR-D Atk/Spd grants L’Arachel more Atk/Spd the more defensive structures have not been broken. The former is more consistent, while the latter has a higher ceiling and can be used effectively if the Defense Keep has a very high Danger Area.
• The combination of Quickened Pulse and a 1-cooldown Special such as Windfire Balm allows L’Arachel to activate her Special on her first heal. If not using an Assist, however, Miracle is the only Special that can do anything for L’Arachel; its high 5 cooldown means it may not see use very often, but when it does, it allows L’Arachel to survive a lethal attack if her HP is > 1, which can make her an annoyance when attempting to reach her allies. Atk/Spd Solo is a nice alternative that grants +6 Atk/Spd during combat if L’Arachel is not adjacent to an ally; while this can be inconsistent because the AI does not account for the non-adjacent condition when deciding which space L’Arachel attacks from, the substantial increase in offenses can pay dividends.

Weapon: Staff of Rausten 

Assist: Martyr+ / Rescue+ / Flexible 

Special: Miracle 

Passive A: Atk/Spd Push 4

Passive B: S/R Far Trace / Dazzling Staff

Passive C: Joint Drive Spd / Savage Blow / Flexible 

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Solo / Savage Blow / Flexible 

• 37/38 base offenses and high range make L’Arachel an excellent Player Phase unit. Staff of Rausten’s additional +6 Atk/Spd on initiation, Wrathful Staff effect to allow L’Arachel to deal normal rather than halved damage, and -6 Resistance debuff and status preventing counterattacks to the nearest enemies within 5 spaces only further improve L’Arachel’s offensive potency. She can initiate safely, deal high damage, and consistently perform follow-up attacks with relative ease.
• Atk/Spd Push 4 is L’Arachel’s strongest and most consistent A slot, granting her +7 Atk/Spd during combat if her HP is ≥ 25% at the sacrifice of 5 recoil damage after combat. L’Arachel can use its recoil damage to her advantage by using Martyr as her Assist: Martyr heals her target ally equal to 50% of her Attack + the number of HP L’Arachel is missing while also healing L’Arachel for half of her missing HP. This keeps both L’Arachel and her allies healthy and keeps Atk/Spd Push 4’s HP condition fulfilled.
• S/R Far Trace inflicts -3 Spd/Res on the enemy during combat and allows L’Arachel to use her remaining movement after combat; she can use this to retreat back to the safety of her allies or continue to push towards the enemies, making it especially helpful in combination with a refresh. Dazzling Staff is a great alternative, however, allowing L’Arachel to always initiate safely unless the enemy has Null C-Disrupt.
• If players want to exclusively focus on L’Arachel’s offensive capabilities, then a C slot such as Joint Drive Spd and a Sacred Seal such as Atk/Spd Solo grant her additional, albeit conditional offenses. Alternatively, L’Arachel can use Savage Blow in both slots to inflict 14 damage on enemies within 2 spaces of the target after combat, softening up the enemies for both L’Arachel and her allies to score easier KOs.