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Analysis by Adonyx
Soren - Shrewd Strategist

3-4

Obtainable as a 3 - 4 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
148
HP 36
ATK 33
SPD 33
DEF 17
RES 29

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 16 6 8 3 6
Middle 17 7 9 4 7
High 18 8 10 5 8

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 33 30 30 13 25
Middle 36 33 33 17 29
High 40 36 36 20 32

IV Sets

Key stats worth increasing through nature if possible.
Complementary stats that matter, but not to the point of picking them over key stats for nature increase.
Relatively worthless stat that can safely be decreased through nature.
HPATKSPDDEFRES

Boons

  • +SPD: The safest and most consistently good boon, +SPD will directly benefit all of Soren’s builds by allowing him to double more enemies as well as avoid being doubled himself.

  • +ATK: Decent, but not as consistent as +SPD. However, if Soren has access to Speed buffs from his team, then +ATK gets a lot better.

Neutral

  • RES: Soren’s Resistance gives him good magical bulk, as well as opening up his  potential to run Ploy skills; it’s best to avoid a bane here, and a +SPD or +ATK boon would be more useful than +RES.

  • DEF: Soren has pitifully low Defense, making it a clear choice of bane for a Blade tome setup. However, if running his new unique tome, Wind’s Brand, with its unique Owl tome effect refine, then Soren’s physical bulk can get high enough that he can potentially survive a single hit.

Banes

  • -HP: While hitting both physical and magical bulk isn’t ideal, taking a -HP bane avoids having to take a superbane with -DEF; this is more relevant when running a non-Blade tome setup.

Skill Sets

Social Savant (Defensive Utility)

Build by
Recommended
Wind's Brand (+Eff) A Atk/Spd Bond 3
Alternate: Fury 3
Swap B Chill Spd 3
Alternate: Vantage 3
Moonbow C Res Ploy 3
IVsSDistant Def 3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +SPD / -HP
  • Weapon: Wind’s Brand (+Eff)
  • Assist: Swap
  • Special: Moonbow / Iceberg / Glacies
  • Passive A: Atk/Spd Bond / Fury / Distant Def
  • Passive B: Chill Spd / Chill Def / Vantage / Quick Riposte
  • Passive C: Res Ploy / Spd Ploy / Varies on Team
  • Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Speed +3 / Heavy Blade

Soren’s new unique tome, Wind’s Brand, offers him exceptional utility to his team in the form of a devastating, unavoidable Attack debuff. With its refine, he can also function as a defensive mage counter, thanks to the big boost in stats from the refine’s Owl tome effect.

The primary function of this build is to utilize the powerful debuffing capabilities of Wind’s Brand. Combining the Chill Atk effect with the Chill Spd B skill results in Soren completely crippling what are likely the two biggest threats on a given enemy team, which would be the units with the highest Attack and Speed - this may even be a single unit running something like Life and Death. Chill Def can work in place of Chill Spd, particularly if he plans on supporting a powerhouse physical attacker like a Brave Bow archer. For budget, Vantage doesn’t help Soren’s ability to debuff, but it does work well in improving his Enemy Phase fighting ability with the Owl effect refine. Without a refined Wind’s Brand, Quick Riposte is useful to secure doubles against speedier mages that Soren may otherwise be unable to double due to lacking the bonus stats from his refined tome.

The choice of Special is entirely up to preference and level of support that Soren has. The main thing to consider is the desired timing of Special activation: a lower cooldown will result in being able to fire off the special during each combat, while higher cooldown can allow Soren to save his special after one combat to wipe out the next enemy. However, if running Heavy Blade, then Iceberg is the best choice.

Due to the Owl effect of the refined tome, Bond skills like Atk/Spd Bond work fantastically. Alternatively, Distant Def can be taken to maximize Soren’s defensive capabilities versus ranged enemies. Fury is a good budget option that can allow Soren to shine on both phases, though the Owl effect can be difficult to utilize on Player Phase.

C slot is mostly personal preference, but running a Ploy skill like Res Ploy works great with the debuffing nature of this build. Ploys are an even better option if running Fury due to the extra Resistance resulting in increased chance of landing them. Otherwise, any skill can be used as needed to suit the team; Spur or Drive skills work great in Owl tome-centric team compositions.

For seals, Distant Def boosts Soren’s defensive capabilities further. Combining this with the Owl tome effect of Wind’s Brand and any of the recommended A slots will result in Soren becoming quite powerful on Enemy Phase. Alternatively, Speed +3 is a good option all-around. Finally, Heavy Blade can be worth considering as despite Soren’s relatively unimpressive Attack stat, all of the Attack boosting from the build combined with the -7 debuff from Wind’s Brand can actually make it quite easy for Soren to activate it.

Cutting Wind (Offensive Blade Tome)

Build by
Gronnblade+
Alternate: Gronnblade
A Fury 3
Reposition B Desperation 3
Glimmer C Spd Ploy 3
IVsSSpeed +3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +SPD / -DEF
  • Weapon: Gronnblade+ / Gronnblade
  • Assist: Reposition / Ardent Sacrifice
  • Special: Glimmer / Draconic Aura
  • Passive A: Fury / Swift Sparrow / Life and Death
  • Passive B: Desperation / G Tomebreaker
  • Passive C: Spd Ploy / Res Ploy / Varies on Team
  • Sacred Seal: Speed +3 / Heavy Blade

Standard Blade tome setup for Soren. Nino runs this blade better in terms of raw offensive power, but Soren has the advantage of having a higher Resistance stat, allowing him to run a Ploy skill to bolster not only his own capabilities, but also provide a bit of team support.

The choice between Glimmer and Draconic Aura is mostly up to preference. Both scale exceptionally well with the boosted damage from a Blade tome. If running the Heavy Blade seal, then Draconic Aura is the better option with Desperation, while Glimmer will work well without Desperation.

Fury is easily the best choice for the A skill, as while it gives less offensive stats than Life and Death or Swift Sparrow, it also provides additional Resistance which allows Soren to be more effective with Ploys. If not running Ploys, then Swift Sparrow and Life and Death are both viable options. Soren’s bulk will drop so low with Life and Death that it’s worth considering running Ardent Sacrifice to give him a safe way to enter the Desperation HP threshold without risking his survival.

For the B slot, Desperation is generally the best option to allow Soren the ability to take out entire teams with proper team support. However, G Tomebreaker is a viable option to secure his matchups against other green mages if that is a concern, such as if the team lacks an answer to them (usually if the red is a melee without Distant Counter).

Landing Spd Ploy maximizes the chance that Soren will be able to double enemies, but Res Ploy is also a good option to simply increase his damage. Being able to run Ploys is the primary advantage that Soren has over Nino, so it’s best to run them if at all possible.

For seals, Speed +3 is always a good option to help Soren land more doubles. Alternatively, the Heavy Blade seal can help him activate his Specials faster; this is useful due to the slowed activation rate as a result of wielding a Blade tome. Activating a strong special like Draconic Aura can allow Soren to win matchups he otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

Introduction

On his initial release, Soren was relatively unimpressive due to his stat spread being arguably worse than that of Nino. However, thanks to his new unique tome, Wind’s Brand, he now has an incredibly potent niche in the form of an unavoidable -7 Attack debuff. The potential Owl effect refine is just an added bonus on top of that.

Soren can now fulfill a variety of roles, often all at once - debuffing, damage dealing, tanking (against ranged, usually magical). Wind’s Brand even helps patch up his awful physical bulk - to the point that he can actually consider taking on physical threats now. However, he will still get blown apart by focused offensive physical threats like Brave Bows.

Overall, Soren has exceptional potential with his new tome. It is still possible for him to run a good Blade tome set, since he still does have his own niche there as well, but he really shines with his debuffing capabilities. Due to the entirely unavoidable nature of the debuff, he can fit into any team and produce spectacular results.

Strengths

Wind’s Brand

This tome comes with a powerful Chill Atk effect - an unavoidable -7 Attack debuff to the enemy with the highest Attack. With this, Soren can effortlessly cripple even the strongest enemies.

Superior Tome Refine

While the Owl effect refine of Wind’s Brand may not seem particularly impressive when looking at Soren’s Defense stat, it is important to consider that the effect is an additional bonus on top of the existing Chill Atk effect. The combination of the two result in Soren having an incredibly powerful and versatile weapon.

Decent Offenses

On top of having exceptional support capabilities, Soren can also deftly handle combat thanks to a good 33/33 offensive spread. The Owl effect refine in his unique tome only makes him better.

Highly Versatile

Due to his tome, Soren can fulfill a variety of roles - debuffer, damage dealer, magical ranged tank. Not only that, but he can do them all at once!

Weaknesses

Horrible Physical Bulk

With 53 physical bulk at neutral, Soren is already in extreme danger when facing any physical threat. With either a -DEF or -HP bane, this only gets worse. Fortunately, the Owl tome effect from his refined tome can help alleviate this.

Infantry

Soren lacks the superior mobility and buffs that other movement types (like cavalry and fliers) have access to, which does put a hamper on his potential. This is even more noticeable if running a Blade tome set.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Wind
Green Tome Users Only
50 2 4
Elwind
Learns by default at 3 ★
Green Tome Users Only
100 2 6
Rexcalibur
Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Green Tome Users Only
200 2 9
Rexcalibur+
Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Green Tome Users Only
300 2 13
Wind's Brand

At start of turn, inflicts Atk-7 on foe on the enemy team with the highest Atk through its next action.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 2 14
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Rising Wind

Before combat this unit initiates, foes in an area near target take damage equal to (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
150 4
Growing Wind

Before combat this unit initiates, foes in a wide area around the target take damage equal to (unit's Atk minus foe's Def or Res).

Unlocks at 4 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
300 4

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Watersweep 1

If unit initiates attack, no follow-up occurs. Against foe with magic, staff or dragonstone, if unit’s Spd - foe’s Spd ≥ 5, foe can’t counterattack.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
60
B
Watersweep 2

If unit initiates attack, no follow-up occurs. Against foe with magic, staff or dragonstone, if unit’s Spd - foe’s Spd ≥ 3, foe can’t counterattack.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
120
B
Watersweep 3

If unit initiates attack, no follow-up occurs. Against foe with magic, staff or dragonstone, if unit’s Spd - foe’s Spd ≥ 1, foe can’t counterattack.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
B
Fortify Res 1

Grants adajacent allies Res+2 through their next actions at the start of each turn.

Inheritable by all units.
50
C
Fortify Res 2

Grants adajacent allies Res+3 through their next actions at the start of each turn.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
100
C
Fortify Res 3

Grants adjacent allies Res+4 through their next actions at the start of each turn.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
200
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

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Official Hero Artwork