Summer Linde

Weapon: Courtly Fan+ (+Spd) / Starfish+ (+Spd) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Moonbow / Ruptured Sky / Glimmer

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot 

Passive B: Windsweep / Watersweep / Lull Spd/Def 

Passive C: Atk/Spd Menace / Savage Blow / Atk Smoke 

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Solo / Heavy Blade / Blade Session  

• Linde’s most consistent set is a basic, but effective general offense set focused on safely dealing as much damage as possible. The safety comes from the combination of Courtly Fan, an excellent Dagger that grants Linde +5 Atk/Spd on initiation and neutralizes effects that prevent her follow-up attack, and Windsweep or Watersweep, B slots that prevent counterattacks from certain weapon types (physical for the former and magical for the latter) if Linde’s Speed is higher than the enemy’s. Normally, these Skills prevent Linde from performing a follow-up attack, but thanks to Courtly Fan’s neutralization of effects that prevent her follow-up attack, this caveat is non-existent. Since Linde’s bulk is incredibly poor, she greatly benefits from counterattack prevention, even if it is not against every enemy type.
• Alternatively, Linde can stick to her Summer roots and use her base Starfish, which has an innate Desperation effect, that is, an effect allowing Linde to perform her follow-up attack before the enemy can counterattack if her HP is ≤ 75% and she initiates combat. Since Linde seeks to 2HKO if using Starfish, she can swap Windsweep or Watersweep for Lull Spd/Def to neutralize the enemy’s visible Spd/Def buffs and inflict -3 Spd/Def during combat. 
• Low-cooldown Specials are best for Linde so she can increase her damage as often and consistently as possible, making Ruptured Sky and Moonbow her strongest options. Ruptured Sky grants bonus damage equal to 20% of the enemy’s Attack (40% if they are a Dragon or Beast), while Moonbow ignores 30% of the enemy’s Defense, so the gap between them is typically negligible; Moonbow tends to be more consistent because of its higher percentage resulting in its often doing more damage than Ruptured Sky, but the latter can be predictably clutch against Dragons and Beasts. Glimmer is another good 2-cooldown Special, but it simply increases Linde’s damage by 50%, which can often be hardly any increase at all depending on the enemy.
• The rest of Linde’s Skills are dedicated to increasing her offensive potency as much as possible.
  • An Atk/Spd Boosting A slot does wonders for Linde’s damage output and follow-up consistency. Swift Sparrow is her most consistent choice, as she gains +4/6 Attack and +4/7 Speed with the simple condition of initiating combat, which she should be doing almost all the time given her poor Enemy Phase (due to her terrible bulk). Fury grants Linde +3/4 to all stats in exchange for 6/8 recoil damage, making it another good choice that can work on Enemy Phase in a pinch; recoil damage is also useful is Linde is wielding her Starfish, as she can drop to/below 75% HP after 1-2 combats. Atk/Spd Push 4 grants Linde +7 Atk/Spd on both phases in exchange for 5 recoil damage, but only works if her HP is ≥ 25% at the start of combat, creating a “limit” of sorts for how many combats Linde should be in.
  • Atk/Spd Menace inflicts -6 Atk/Spd on the enemy/enemies closest to Linde within 4 spaces while also granting her +6 Atk/Spd at the start of the turn, significantly increasing her damage output. Savage Blow and Atk Smoke are more budget-friendly options, with the former’s 7 AoE damage after initiation scoring Linde and her allies close KOs and the latter easing Heavy Blade’s Attack check if she is using it as her Sacred Seal.
  • If not using Heavy Blade to activate a 2-cooldown Special on her follow-up attack, Linde’s Sacred Seal should also be devoted to pushing her offensive capabilities, making Atk/Spd Solo and Blade Session the premier options. Atk/Spd Solo’s condition is simpler and more consistent (non-adjacency to an ally for +6 Atk/Spd during combat), but Blade Session has a higher ceiling and snowballs as the Player Phase continues and she receives refreshes (can grant +9 Atk/Spd if 3 allies have moved before she initiates combat).

Weapon: Courtly Fan+ (+Spd) 

Assist: Assistless / Rally Assist / Positional Assist

Special: Ruptured Sky / Moonbow 

Passive A: AR-D Atk/Spd / Other Atk/Spd Boosting A Slots

Passive B: Windsweep 

Passive C: Fatal Smoke / Panic Smoke 

Sacred Seal: Blade Session / Atk/Spd Solo

• Linde’s 3 movement and decent offenses make her a great choice for Aether Raids Defense. This set focuses on dealing as much safe damage as possible while inflicting lethal debuffs, including -7 Def/Res from Linde’s Dagger of choice and Deep Wounds from Fatal Smoke or Panic from Panic Smoke.
• Courtly Fan is Linde’s premier Dagger choice, as it grants her Atk/Spd +5 on initiation and neutralizes effects that prevent her follow-up attack. This synergizes perfectly with Windsweep in her B slot, which prevents counterattacks from physical weapon users if her Speed is higher than theirs; normally, Linde has to sacrifice her follow-up attack for this counterattack prevention, but thanks to Courtly Fan, that caveat is neutralized. Linde’s poor bulk means she would often get OHKO’d (especially by Far Save Armors), but Windsweep prevents this, allowing her to safely inflict debuffs and status effects to cripple the enemy team. 
• Note that what Assist Linde uses (if any) can change from Defense Keep to Defense Keep:
  • Assistless- Linde’s movement will usually be prioritized over allies with Assists, meaning she can receive refreshes to infiltrate an enemy’s vulnerable backline.
  • Rally Assist- Linde’s 5 range makes her ideal for a Rally Trap in which Linde Rallies an ally, then receives a refresh, thus increasing her threat range beyond what it was at the beginning of the turn.
  • Positional Assist- Linde’s movement usually will not be prioritized over allies with or without Assists, meaning refreshes can be saved for her allies or she can move an ally back with Positional Assists such as Reposition and Draw Back.
• Because so many super units and Far Save Armors Attack-stack, Ruptured Sky is arguably Linde’s best Special, as it deals bonus damage equal to 20% of the enemy’s Attack (or 40% if they are a Dragon or Beast, which is especially nice against units like Spring Idunn and Fallen Edelgard). Moonbow is fantastic as well, with its 30% Defense reduction cutting through Defense-stacking units to deal good damage. Note, however, that Linde may not be activating her Special very often; she has few avenues of Special acceleration and this set does not use Heavy Blade (instead favoring Attack-stacking and Speed-stacking), meaning units with Guard effects may prevent her from activating her Special at all.
• On the note of Attack-and-Speed-stacking, AR-D Atk/Spd grants Linde Atk/Spd during combat equal to a value that is dependent on the number of unbroken defensive structures; she can potentially gain +10 Atk/Spd during combat, making it incredibly potent. Given Linde’s high threat range (in combination with allies that also have high threat ranges), Raiding Parties may find it difficult to break defensive structures, making this Skill more consistent than it seems. If it is still too inconsistent, however, then any other Atk/Spd increasing A slot works almost as well.
  • Atk/Spd Solo, Atk/Spd Push 4, and Fury are of note, with the former granting Linde +6/7 Atk/Spd during both phases as long as she is not adjacent to an ally (which she should not be on initiation), the middle inflicting 5 recoil damage in exchange for +7 Atk/Spd during both phases if her HP is ≥ 25%, and the latter inflicting 6/8 recoil damage in exchange for +3/4 to all stats. Recoil damage can be useful for activating allies’ Wings of Mercy Skills, which allows them to teleport to a space adjacent to Linde if her HP is ≤ 50%. 
• The choice between Fatal Smoke and Panic Smoke is a difficult one, as both inflict lethal negative status effects on the target and enemies within 2 spaces after combat. The former inflicts Deep Wounds, which prevents enemies from healing, while the latter inflicts Panic, which converts visible buffs into negative buffs (different from debuffs, as they can stack with one another). Fatal Smoke is generally preferable since most Raiding Parties exclude visible buffs (aside from Peony and Plumeria’s Gentle and Sweet Dreams respectively) as a result of Panic/Dull/Lull effects, but if another ally already has Fatal Smoke, there is little point in having more than one. 
• Blade Session grants Linde Atk/Spd during combat equal to a value that is dependent on the number of allies that have moved before her initiation; given that this is typically at least 1, Linde can gain +5, +7, or even +9 Atk/Spd during combat. Alternatively, Atk/Spd Solo grants Linde +6 Atk/Spd if she is not adjacent to an ally, which is higher than what Blade Session grants if only one ally has moved before Linde (+5).

Weapon: Broadleaf Fan+ (+Atk) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Glimmer / Miracle 

Passive A: Close Foil / Close Counter 

Passive B: Vantage

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Pulse Smoke / Savage Blow

Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Solo / Heavy Blade 

• A Dagger with at least 30 Attack? Sounds like the perfect unit to try to Vantage sweep with! Broadleaf Fan grants Linde an in-combat Attack bonus equal to the sum of the enemy’s visible debuffs; with Broadleaf Fan itself inflicting -7 Def/Res debuffs to the target and enemies within 2 spaces after combat, Linde already gains +21 Attack (+14 from the visible debuffs and +7 from the -7 Defense itself), skyrocketing her damage output. Visible Atk/Spd debuffs from allies will further boost Linde’s attack, meaning she can potentially score OHKOs on an entire enemy team.
• Since Linde can receive an abundance of in-combat Attack boosts, Glimmer is a great 2-cooldown Special for increasing her damage by 50% when activated. Alternatively, Linde can use Miracle to survive any lethal combat she either fails to OHKO in or fails to activate Vantage in. Note that because of its high 5 cooldown, Linde prefers Heavy Blade compared to an Attack-increasing Sacred Seal (such as Atk/Def Solo) that she would use for Glimmer.
• Because Linde’s bulk is too low to receive several attacks in one Enemy Phase, she needs to rely on the combination of Close Foil or Close Counter and Vantage. Vantage allows Linde to counterattack before the enemy can attack if her HP is ≤ 75%, meaning she can OHKO them before they can deal any damage to her. Close Foil grants Linde +5 Atk/Def if an enemy that uses a physical weapon type initiates combat in addition to letting her counterattack against any enemy except Dragons; Close Counter allows her to do so, but at the cost of +5 Atk/Def, which is crucial for scoring close OHKOs and surviving both pre-Vantage encounters and encounters in which Linde’s Vantage is nullified by Hardy Bearing effects. 
• Joint Drive Atk grants Linde +4 Attack if she is within 2 spaces of an ally, further elevating her damage output. Typically, Linde needs to initiate a combat during Player Phase in order to apply her -7 Def/Res debuffs from Broadleaf Fan; if she can fall below 75% HP without being KO’d during this combat, then even better so she can activate Vantage during Enemy Phase immediately. As such, Player Phase options such as Savage Blow and Pulse Smoke are great alternatives; the former deals 7 damage to enemies within 2 spaces of the target after initiation, while the latter inflicts +1 Special cooldown to the target and enemies within 2 spaces after any combat Linde attacked in. 7 damage can enable close OHKOs, while Pulse Smoke prevents enemies with Hardy Bearing and/or their Specials charged from OHKOing Linde either at > 75% HP or through her Vantage effect (by surviving Linde’s counterattack or ignoring it altogether). Savage Blow tends to be less consistent, however, since its damage can be healed on the following Enemy Phase via the Healing Tower structure in Aether Raids.