Brave Claude

Weapon: Wind Parthia (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Deadeye / Luna

IVs: +Atk or +Spd / -Def or -Res

Passive A: Atk/Spd Catch 4 / Fury 4 / Flexible

Passive B: S/D Far Trace / Guard / Flexible

Passive C: Spd/Def Rein / Atk/Spd Rein / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Blade Session / Flexible

• This build aims to power up Claude’s combat on player phase, allowing him to attack, get counterattacked, and then activate a powerful Special on the follow-up. 
• The choice of Special is flexible; Luna lets him punch through the Def of bulky units like Brave Hector while Deadeye ignores percentage-based damage reduction effects common on units like Brave Edelgard and Brave Ike. Both are good in the right situation. 
• The boon and bane are flexible, with +Atk and +Spd both being great options for boon to increase Spd and damage. Def and Res are both good choices of bane; both are preferred over HP since HP decreases Claude’s effective bulk against both physical and magical units. 
• The A skill should boost Atk and Spd. Atk/Spd Catch 4 provides a large potential boost of up to +9, and +7 as long as Claude’s foe is at 100% HP or debuffed. Other options like Swift Sparrow 3 or Fury 4 can also work. 
• The B skill is flexible. S/D Far Trace gives Claude a Canto effect, allowing him to move after combat with any spaces of move that he didn’t use before combat. It also debuffs his foe’s Spd and Def by 3, improving his ability to double and his damage. Guard is a decent option to prevent Claude’s foe from activating a Special in retaliation, making it easier for him to survive the counterattack and heal up close to full HP when he activates his Special. Other options can also work. Windsweep and Watersweep synergize well with Wind Parthia, but require running a lower cooldown Special to activate. 
• The C skill is flexible, with Spd/Def Rein providing a great -4 debuff to the Def and Spd of any foes within 2 spaces, essentially increasing Claude’s Spd by 4 comparatively and allowing him to deal more damage. Other options can also work; Atk/Spd Menace and Spd/Def Menace can be great to provide Claude a buff and debuff nearby foes as long as there is a foe within 4 spaces at the start of his turn. 
• The seal is flexible, with Blade Session providing the largest potential boost to Atk and Spd when initiating. Other seals like Atk/Spd Solo provide similar boosts. 

Weapon: Wind Parthia (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Moonbow / Ruptured Sky

IVs: +Atk or +Spd / -Def or -Res

Passive A: Atk/Spd Catch 4 / Flexible

Passive B: Windsweep / Watersweep / Flexible

Passive C: Spd/Def Rein / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Blade Session / Flexible

• This build is very similar to the previous build, but swaps out the B skill for Windsweep or Watersweep to deny counterattacks from physical or magical foes, respectively. The Specials have been swapped out for shorter cooldown choices to allow Claude to activate his Special on his second attack against foes that can’t counterattack him. 
• As long as Claude’s HP is above 25%, Wind Parthia (+Eff) neutralizes any effects that prevent his follow-up attacks, allowing him to use Windsweep or Watersweep with no drawbacks. 
• The ideal bane is dependent on the Sweep used; -Def for Windsweep as Claude should not be taking counterattacks from physical units and -Res for Watersweep. 

Weapon: Wind Parthia (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Moonbow / Ruptured Sky

IVs: +Atk / -Def or -Res or -Spd

Passive A: Atk/Def Catch 4 / Iote’s Shield / Flexible

Passive B: A/D Far Trace / Mystic Boost / Flexible

Passive C: Atk/Def Rein / Atk/Spd Rein / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Catch 3  / Deflect Magic /  Iote’s Shield / Flexible

• The idea behind this build is that Claude takes an attack, then counterattacks, activating his Special to deal high damage, potentially KO, and heal up to near full. Many of the skill choices are flexible, with his most important stat being Atk. 
• A 2-cooldown Special should be used so that Claude can activate it on his first counterattack. Moonbow and Ruptured Sky are the most reliable options in general. 
• +Atk is generally the best boon, since Claude wants to KO as many foes as possible on the first counter to avoid any follow-up attacks. There is no good choice of bane, but -Def and -Res are somewhat less impactful than -HP. -Spd is also not a terrible option but does render him vulnerable to certain effects from faster units. 
• The A skill is flexible. A skill that boosts his Atk and another stat like Atk/Def Catch 4 is great for improving his survivability and damage. Iote’s Shield is also a good option to remove his Bow weakness; otherwise he is vulnerable to being oneshot by strong bow units. 
• The B skill is flexible. Claude can opt for a slight debuff to his foe’s stats from A/D Far Trace, or some healing from Mystic Boost, along with disabling the Wrathful effect of staves and any effect that targets the lower of his Def or Res. 
• The C skill is flexible, with Atk/Def Rein improving Claude’s damage and decreasing his damage taken. Atk/Spd Rein doesn’t improve his damage but instead lets him follow-up attack more easily. 
• The seal is flexible. In addition to the A skills listed above, Deflect Magic substantially improves his survivability against tomes that can strike twice before he can counterattack, such as Ninja Corrin, Winter Lysithea, and Summer Micaiah. Other stat-boosting seals like Atk/Res Solo or another Mystic Boost for healing can also be solid.