Ninja Zihark

Weapon: Ninja Katana+  

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Galeforce / Ruptured Sky / Moonbow 

Passive A: Fury (3 or 4) / Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) / Atk/Spd Push 4

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / Desperation 

Passive C: Time’s Pulse / Odd Tempest / Joint Drive Atk

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade 

• High offenses make a Player Phase set a naturally strong option for Zihark. His base Ninja Katana is a great choice for his weapon, allowing him to attack twice (4 times if he can perform a follow-up attack) and granting +4 Speed in exchange for -4 Def/Res. 
• The combination of Ninja Katana, Galeforce, Time’s Pulse, and Flashing Blade allows Zihark to activate Galeforce after 2 attacks and perform another action assuming no Guard effect is active. Wings of Mercy is chosen for this set because Galeforce chains are a common strategy in Aether Raids Offense; when one Galeforce unit falls below 50% HP, another can teleport to a space adjacent to them and Galeforce themselves.
• Alternatively, if Zihark is receiving -1 Special cooldown from an ally, he can swap Time’s Pulse with Odd Tempest instead, granting him greater mobility on odd turns.
• Zihark can also swap Galeforce for a damaging Special for a more general offensive set; Ruptured Sky and Moonbow are 2-cooldown Specials that can be activated on Zihark’s second attack with Flashing Blade. He can also replace Wings of Mercy for Desperation, allowing Zihark to perform 4 attacks before the enemy can counterattack if he performs a follow-up attack and his HP is ≤ 75%.
• On both sets, Fury, Swift Sparrow, and Atk/Spd Push 4 are excellent choices, bolstering Zihark’s offenses. Fury is particularly good for Galeforce chains because of its 6/8 recoil damage; Atk/Spd Push 4 performs a similar role, dealing 5 recoil damage instead.

Weapon: Slaying Edge+ (+SPD or +RES) / Carrot Cudgel+ (+SPD or +RES) / Bellringer+ (+SPD or +RES) / Pledged Blade+ (+SPD or +RES)

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Noontime / Sol 

Passive A: Distant Counter 

Passive B: Spurn / Null Follow-Up

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Joint Drive Res 

Sacred Seal: Spd/Res Solo / Atk/Def Solo 

• With high Attack, stellar Speed, and decent Defense, Zihark can become a very effective supertank in Aether Raids Offense. His lower Resistance is problematic given the ubiquity of mages and staff units, but investment in his Resistance via Blessings, weapon refines, skills, and even a Resistance Superasset can greatly improve his survivability. Damage reduction from skills such as Spurn are also very beneficial, especially considering Zihark’s excellent Speed that can easily exceed 10 more than the enemy’s Speed to receive the full 40% damage reduction.
• Because Zihark lacks a personal weapon, he has a myriad of weapons to choose from. Slaying Edge allows Zihark to activate Noontime on her first counterattack, but with how common Brave Lucina is with supporting supertanks, Carrot Cudgel and Bellringer may be better options, with the former granting +5 Atk/Def and neutralizing Zihark’s visible Atk/Def debuffs and the latter healing 5 HP for every attack Zihark performs.
• Distant Counter is a necessity for any melee supertank, as receiving attacks only to fail to counterattack makes very little progress. In addition, Zihark is reliant on a healing Special such as Noontime or Sol to have sustainability unless he is using Bellringer.
• An alternative to a damage reduction B slot is Null Follow-Up, which neutralizes effects that prevent Zihark’s follow-up and guarantee the enemy’s follow-up. This greatly boosts his consistency, as he will more frequently be able to perform a follow-up attack and less frequently receive a follow-up attack.
• Infantry Pulse Aether Raids Defense teams are very common, so Pulse Smoke is an excellent C slot that shuts these teams down by inflicting +1 Special cooldown on the target and enemies within 2 spaces. A strong alternative is Joint Drive Res to help both his and his allies’ survivability against magical enemies. Spd/Res Solo and Atk/Def Solo both work wonders; the former increases his follow-up consistency, survivability against magical attacks, and consistency in gaining maximum damage reduction with Spurn, while the latter increases his damage output and survivability against physical enemies.