Brave Lysithea

Weapon: Dark Spikes T (+Eff) 

Assist: Assistless / Rally Assist 

Special: Dragon Fang / Luna

Passive A: AR-D Atk/Spd (3 or 4) / Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot 

Passive B: Atk/Res Tempo / Lull Spd/Res

Passive C: Time’s Pulse / Joint Drive Atk

Sacred Seal: Blade Session / Atk/Spd Form 

• Lysithea is a fantastic Aether Raids Defense nuke for Dark Season, as Dark Spikes T sets her up for success via -1 Special cooldown, +12 Atk/Spd, a guaranteed follow-up before the enemy can counterattack, +1 Special charge per Lysithea’s attack, and an Orders effect allowing her to teleport to spaces adjacent to allies within two spaces.
  • Unfortunately, Lysithea functions much less consistently in Anima Season, as Elimine, a prominent Astra Mythic, can prevent Lysithea’s Orders effect and 1 self-damage (which is needed for her to gain the guaranteed follow-up attack and Desperation effect, as the condition for those is Lysithea’s HP being < 100%).
• Thanks to Dark Spikes T, Lysithea can activate higher-cooldown Specials such as Dragon Fang and Luna with Time’s Pulse, a vital C slot that grants Lysithea -1 Special cooldown if her Special is at its maximum cooldown (which it always will be at the start of turn 1).
  • If using Dragon Fang, Lysithea prefers Atk/Res Tempo, as neutralizing the ubiquitous variety of Guard effects guarantees that Lysithea will activate it on her follow-up attack.
  • If using Luna, then her additional Special charge per hit will cancel out enemy Guard effects, allowing her to activate it stress-free without Atk/Res Tempo (so she can use Lull Spd/Res instead, which neutralizes the enemy’s visible Spd/Res bonuses and inflicts -3 Spd/Res on them during combat). However, against enemies without Guard effects, Lysithea would be “wasting” her additional Special charge; if this is a concern, then Time’s Pulse can be replaced with other C slots such as Joint Drive Atk to maximize Lysithea and allies’ damage.
• While AR-D Atk/Spd is ideal due to its ceiling of up to +10/11 Atk/Spd during combat if 5+ defensive structures are still in tact, other Atk/Spd Boosting A slots such as Lysithea’s native Atk/Spd Push 4 and Blade Session are also strong options for boosting her damage. 
• Atk/Spd Boosting Sacred Seals such as the aforementioned Blade Session and Atk/Spd Form are Lysithea’s strongest options as well. The former grants +3, +6, or +9 Atk/Spd if zero, one, or at least two ally/allies have already moved (which is almost a given since units in the seventh slot immediately end their turn if their entire team is alive and/or that unit typically receives a refresh and/or Rally traps will occur before Lysithea initiates). The latter grants +1, +3, +5, or +7 Atk/Spd during combat if zero, one, two, or at least three ally/allies are within two spaces of Lysithea, which synergizes with Dark Spikes T’s Orders effect and Bridal Catria, the most common and arguably most powerful Dark Season unit due to her granting allies a conditional Brave (attack twice consecutively) effect.

Weapon: Dark Spikes T (+Eff) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Luna / Dragon Fang 

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot 

Passive B: Lull Spd/Res / Atk/Res Tempo 

Passive C: Atk/Spd Menace / Time’s Pulse 

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Solo / Blade Session 

• With strong offenses and Dark Spikes T’s effective -1 Special cooldown, +1 Special charge per Lysithea’s attack, +12 Atk/Spd, guaranteed follow-up before the enemy can counterattack, and Orders effect allowing Lysithea to teleport to spaces adjacent to allies within two spaces, she is a great general purpose, go-to magical nuke.
• A variety of Special, B slot, and C slot combinations can be made depending on player preference and whether players prefer maximum potential vs. maximum consistency:
  • With 3-cooldown Specials such as Luna, Lysithea can activate it on her follow-up attack if no Guard or Tempo effect is active on the enemy. If players are concerned about enemies with these effects, however, Lysithea can use Atk/Res Tempo or Time’s Pulse in her B or C slot respectively, with the former neutralizing Guard effects and the latter granting -1 Special cooldown at the start of the turn if Lysithea’s Special cooldown is at its maximum. If not using Atk/Res Tempo, her native Lull Spd/Res can be used to neutralize enemy Spd/Res buffs and inflict -3 Spd/Res during combat; if not using Time’s Pulse, Atk/Spd Menace can be used to grant her +6 Atk/Spd and inflict -6 Atk/Spd on the closest enemies within four spaces at the start of the turn.
  • With 4-cooldown Specials such as Dragon Fang, Lysithea needs Time’s Pulse to activate it on her follow-up attack. She also needs Atk/Res Tempo to break through Guard effects.
• Atk/Spd Boosting A slots such as Lysithea’s native Atk/Spd Push 4 are naturally strong choices to maximize her damage output.
• Atk/Spd Solo and Blade Session grant significant in-combat buffs to Lysithea, with the former granting +6 Atk/Spd if she is not adjacent to an ally and the latter granting +3, +6, or +9 Atk/Spd on initiation if zero, one, or at least two ally/allies have already moved.