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Analysis by lordhelpme
Eliwood - Knight of Lycia

3-4

Obtainable as a 3 - 4 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
155
HP 39
ATK 31
SPD 30
DEF 23
RES 32

Stat Variations

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

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 35 28 26 20 29
Middle 39 31 30 23 32
High 42 34 33 26 35

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

Skill Sets

oh haha wow what a cool sword (Galeforce / Hit-and-Run)

Build by lordhelpme
Recommended
Blazing Durandal (+Eff) A Swift Sparrow 3
Alternate: Atk/Spd Push 4
Positional Assist B S/D Near Trace 3
Alternate: Flow Force 3
Galeforce C Joint Drive Atk
Alternate: Def Smoke 3
IVs

+ATK or +SPD

SQuickened Pulse

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Blazing Durandal (+Eff) 

Assist: Reposition / Flexible

Special: Galeforce

Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Push / Atk/Spd Solo / Atk/Spd Catch

Passive B: S/D Near Trace / Flow Skills / Wings of Mercy

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Smoke Skills / Savage Blow / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Solo

  • Eliwood shines with a Galeforce setup by merit of his phenomenal mobility and (more importantly) his access to refined Blazing Durandal, with its built-in cooldown acceleration potentially enabling instantaneous access to the Special against foes who can counterattack when equipped with Quickened Pulse. This is particularly coveted in the context of Aether Raids Offense where proper and quick accumulation of Special charges is crucial to one’s success. 
  • Beyond his choice of Special, another significant aspect of this build lies in Eliwood’s B skill selection, as he has a few options — each with their respective benefits.
    • S/D Near Trace lends itself well to traditional Galeforce strategies by allotting more flexibility in Eliwood’s positioning post-activation, in addition to opening up the possibility of a hit-and-run approach when necessary.
      • For instance, Eliwood can initiate and activate Galeforce against an opponent, move back up to three spaces, and then destroy a structure or use an Assist to trigger S/D Near Trace’s 【Canto】effect to retreat even further. 
    • Alternatively, Flow skills may be considered for their partial Null Follow-Up effect to push through enemy follow-up denial, solidifying his offensive pressure. Of those available at the time of writing, Flow Force and Flow Refresh are ideal; Flow Guard isn’t bad by any means, but simply redundant due to Blazing Durandal already having Guard. 
    • Wings of Mercy is a standard choice for AR-O specific Galeforce builds, and for good reason as many such compositions often include a low HP beacon to enable quick proximity to the enemy team without needing further assistance.
  • Essentially any A skill that enhances both Eliwood’s Atk and Spd can work to bolster his combat prowess; some of his best options include Atk/Spd Push, Atk/Spd Solo, Atk/Spd Catch, and Swift Sparrow. The Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal is pretty non-negotiable within Aether Raids Offense — but outside of that, any that follows the same trend as his A skill works well.
  • Joint Drive and Smoke skills both help strengthen the quality of Eliwood’s overall matchups while also offering some benefits to his team. Savage Blow is an interesting C skill candidate that operates similarly to Smoke skills, though it may not be worthwhile in AR-O during Light / Dark Season depending on how often you encounter Medeus. 

wait wait wait DON’T- (Offensive / Damage Focus)

Build by lordhelpme
Recommended
Blazing Durandal (+Eff) A Swift Sparrow 3
Alternate: Surge Sparrow
Positional Assist B Flow Force 3
Alternate: Lull Spd/Def 3
Dragon Fang
Alternate: Glimmer
C Joint Drive Spd
Alternate: Spd Smoke 3
IVs

+ATK or +SPD

SSwift Sparrow 2

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Blazing Durandal (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Dragon Fang / Glacies / Moonbow / Glimmer / Ruptured Sky

Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Surge Sparrow / Atk/Spd Push / Atk/Spd Solo

Passive B: Flow Skills / S/D Near Trace / Lull Spd/Def / Lull Atk/Spd 

Passive C: Joint Drive Spd / Fatal Smoke / Panic Smoke / Cavalry Skills / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow / Sturdy Blow / Death Blow / Atk/Spd Solo

  • This set takes a more straightforward approach to Eliwood’s performance in the Player Phase compared and focuses strictly on maximizing his damage output, relative to the first build’s more mobility-centered capabilities. That being said, both +ATK and +SPD IVs remain ideal as to elevate Eliwood’s offensive baseline. 
  • Dragon Fang and Glacies become extremely potent Special choices here for their high ceilings, becoming surprisingly accessible thanks to the beauty that is Blazing Durandal’s refine: despite their four-turn cooldowns, if his foe can counterattack and he can double, they can quickly activate in one round. Glimmer, Moonbow, and Ruptured Sky are weaker in terms of pure burst, but their trigger rates are much higher and consistent across enemy types. 
  • A substantial portion of Eliwood’s offensive potency does come from how rapidfire his Specials become with the influence of Blazing Durandal, making Flow skills undoubtedly his best B skill choice to ensure his follow-up attacks for more cooldown charges; they also make him a much more punishing threats on Aether Raids Defense compositions. If unavailable, S/D Near Trace remains fantastic as well for bonus mobility (though it is much, much better used in player hands rather than AI), and Lulls are always solid to deny enemy bonuses.
  • Both his C skill and Sacred Seal should help further develop his damage, with Smokes, Joint Drives, and standard offense-enhancing options like Atk/Spd Solo and Swift Sparrow once again remaining helpful in this respect. For his C skill, Special consideration should be given to Fatal Smoke (and to a lesser extent, Panic Smoke) for Aether Raids Defense to punish common offensive strategies.

Strengths

Blazing Durandal

Eliwood’s access to his son’s Blazing Durandal remains the key to his relative success compared to recently introduced cavaliers — despite being one of the earliest units accessible in the game. In particular, the weapon’s refinement raises his Player Phase performance substantially through its combination of both Special Fighter and Steady Impact upon initiation. This enables enhanced damage through much more easily accessible Special activations (compared to many of his competition who must rely on Heavy Blade or ally support) and frequent follow-up attacks, while simultaneously mitigating Eliwood’s issue of poor overall bulk.

Serviceable Offensive Stats

The knight’s baseline offensive stat distribution of 31/30 may not be highly impressive by any means given current standards, but it nonetheless provides a decent enough foundation to work with given sufficient merges, Dragonflowers, and his weapon’s myriad of bonuses. 

Fantastic Availability

While Brave Roy also features access to Blazing Durandal, one of the primary reasons Eliwood eclipses his son in popularity is due to his considerably higher availability: currently accessible in the three and four ☆ pools, it’s quite simple to actually acquire the copies and ideal IV set necessary to maximize Eliwood’s combat performance. Some of his better skill options are admittedly pricy to bridge his gap in stats — but the same goes for many other units, ultimately leaving him an excellent long-term project through and through.

Cavalry Benefits

By merit of his cavalry status, Eliwood can maximize the Player Phase lean of Blazing Durandal with exceptional mobility and crucial skill access, such as Flows (to neutralize enemy follow-up denial), Near Trace skills (for hit-and-run strategies), and Lulls (for greater stat superiority). Also, this also gives access to somewhat dated, but ultimately nifty class-exclusive buffs like Hone Cavalry for simple but effective team synergy alongside other horse-riding allies.

Weaknesses

Requires Heavy Investment

Although the Knight of Lycia’s weaponry options certainly became much more competitive through Blazing Durandal’s refinement, his statline nonetheless continues to show its age with lacking values at base. It’s more than possible to mitigate this as mentioned previously through a variety of different means — merges, Dragonflowers, premium skills, potentially even his Resplendent — but this incurs pretty heavy investment costs in the long run. This makes Eliwood more of an option for those willing to spend both time and resources, as he otherwise may struggle to keep pace despite the power of his weapon.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Sword
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
50 1 6
Steel Sword
Learns by default at 3 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
100 1 8
Silver Sword
Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Only Inheritable by Sword Units.
200 1 11
Durandal

Grants Atk+4 during combat if unit initiates attack.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 1 16
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Holy Vestments

Reduces damage inflicted by attacks from foes 2 spaces away by 30%.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Restricted to melee units.
100 3
Sacred Cowl

Reduces damage inflicted by attacks from foes 2 spaces away by 30%

Unlocks at 4 ★
Restricted to melee units.
200 2

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Axebreaker 1

If unit's HP ≥ 90% in combat against an axe user, unit makes a follow-up attack and the foe cannot.

Non-Inheritable by blue units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
50
B
Axebreaker 2

If unit's HP ≥ 70% in combat against an axe user, unit makes a follow-up attack and the foe cannot.

Non-Inheritable by blue units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
100
B
Axebreaker 3

If unit's HP ≥ 50% in combat against an axe user, unit makes a follow-up attack and the foe cannot.

Non-Inheritable by blue units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
B
Spur Res 1

Grants Res+2 to adjacent allies during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
50
C
Spur Res 2

Grants Res+3 to adjacent allies during combat.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
100
C
Ward Cavalry

Grants Def/Res+4 to cavalry allies within 2 spaces during combat.

Only inheritable by cavalry units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
200
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

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