Marcia

Weapon: Springy Lance+ (+Spd) / Wagasa+ (+Spd)

Assist: Dual Rally+ / Rally Up+ / Reposition 

Special: Ruptured Sky / Galeforce / Aether 

Passive A: Any 300 SP Skill (ideally increases Attack or Speed) 

Passive B: Aerobatics / S/D Near Trace / Flow Refresh / Atk/Spd Link / Spd/Def Snag / Flexible

Passive C: Any 300 SP Skill (ideally increases Attack or Speed) / Guidance / Atk/Spd Rein 

Sacred Seal: Guidance / Atk/Spd Solo 

• Thanks to her Flier status and strong overall statline, Marcia can be a high-scoring, mobility-increasing unit that can hold her own in combat if necessary.
• Scoring in Arena is based on a variety of factors, including base stat total (BST), total SP cost of Skills (Arena score increases every 100 SP), and merges. After a merge, Marcia’s BST will increase from 177 to 180 because one merge removes her Flaw (or in the case of neutral IVs, grants additional stat increases), meaning she does not need B Duel Flying 4 to reach 180 BST like most other Lance Fliers do. While she still needs to use a 300 SP A Slot to maximize SP cost (thus maximizing score), being able to use an A Slot other than B Duel Flying 4 widens the combat performance gap between Marcia and her peers.
  • Increased damage output is always appreciated, so 300 SP A Slots such as Atk/Spd Push 4, Atk/Spd Solo 4, Atk/Spd Bond 4, and Atk/Spd Unity are excellent choices. Note that all of these Skills have their respective conditions: needing to be at ≥ 25% HP at the start of combat and inflicting 5 recoil damage after combat, needing to be adjacent to no allies, needing to be adjacent to an ally, and needing to be within 2 spaces of an ally. Note that Atk/Spd Bond’s Atk/Spd debuff neutralization and Atk/Spd Unity’s Atk/Spd debuff reversal are redundant with Springy Lance.
  • Impact Skills that prevent the enemy from performing a follow-up attack when Marcia initiates and grant Marcia hefty in-combat buffs are great choices as well.
• Springy Lance grants Marcia +5 Atk/Spd and nullifies her visible Atk/Spd debuffs during combat if the enemy’s HP is ≥ 75%, making it an excellent weapon for increasing damage output and consistency. Alternatively, Marcia can wield a supportive weapon such as Wagasa, which has a built-in Chill Def effect that inflicts -7 Defense on the enemy with the highest Defense at the start of the turn.
• In order to maximize score, Marcia needs a 400 SP Assist such as Harsh Command+, any Dual Rally+, and any Rally Up+. Ideally, this Assist actually synergizes with Marcia’s team, but in the worst-case scenario, the Assist slot can simply be used to bolster her Arena score. Marcia also needs a 300 SP C slot to score as high as possible; Atk/Spd Menace, Joint Drive Atk, and Joint Drive Spd are all strong options, as they boost Marcia’s and/or her teammates’ damage output and/or bulk.
• Additionally, Marcia needs a 500 SP Special for top-scoring, so Ruptured Sky, Blue Flame, Galeforce, or Aether is necessary. Typically, lower cooldown is better in Coliseum modes due to the myriad of Guard effects preventing Specials from charging, so Ruptured Sky > Blue Flame > Galeforce = Aether, although Galeforce and Aether are much more accessible than Ruptured Sky and Blue Flame. Ruptured Sky can also help take down Dragon and Beast enemies more consistently, as it grants bonus damage equal to 40% of the enemy’s Attack instead of 20% if they are a Beast or Dragon.
• At the time of writing, Marcia lacks access to a 300 SP B slot or Scared Seal, although she still needs a 240 SP skill in both slots in order to make her set as SP-costly as possible. The combination of Guidance and Aerobatics is typically very helpful for both pressing the offensive and retreating when necessary, making them strong supportive choices. More offensive choices for both include:
  • S/D Near Trace for Marcia’s B Slot, inflicting -3 Spd/Def during combat and allowing her to move after initiating combat. The number of spaces she can move is equal to any movement not already used + 1
  • Flow Refresh for Marcia’s B Slot, neutralizing effects that prevent Marcia’s follow-up attack and healing her for 10 HP after combat.
  • Atk/Spd Solo or Atk/Spd Bond for Marcia’s Sacred Seal; the former grants +6 Atk/Spd during combat if she is not adjacent to an ally while the latter grants +5 Atk/Spd during combat if she is adjacent to an ally.
• Arena can be daunting, so some players may sacrifice a 400 SP Assist in favor of Reposition to increase mobility. This decreases Marcia’s maximum possible SP from 2330 to 2080; because Arena score only increases for every 100 SP her skills cost, she can afford to drop a 300 SP C Slot in favor of a 240 SP C Slot such as Guidance or Atk/Spd Rein. Since Marcia is using Reposition, her B Slot options increase, as she can use Link and Snag skills to increase team damage output and/or bulk.

Weapon: It’s Curtains…+ (+Atk) / Slaying Lance+ (+Spd) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Galeforce

Passive A: Heavy Blade 4 / Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot 

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / A/D Near Trace

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

Sacred Seal: Quickened Pulse / Heavy Blade 

• Marcia can be a pivotal unit for Galeforce strategies in Aether Raids Offense that involve multiple units with Galeforce in order to create a “Galeforce chain” capable of completely (or almost completely) sweeping a Defense Keep in one Player Phase. There are 2 ways to achieve this: one-tap Galeforce (activating Galeforce after 1 attack) and two-tap Galeforce (activating Galeforce after 2 attacks).
• One-tap Galeforce:
  • The combination of It’s Curtains…+ and Quickened Pulse reduces Galeforce’s cooldown from 5 to 2. By using Heavy Blade in her A slot, Marcia can activate Galeforce after one attack assuming no Guard effect is affecting her and her Attack exceeds the enemy’s Attack (in order to gain the +1 Special charge from Heavy Blade).
  • Atk/Def Rein is vital for this, as inflicting -4 Atk/Def on enemies within 2 spaces boosts Marcia damage output and chances of passing Heavy Blade’s Attack check. If players wish for Marcia to be the first unit in the Galeforce chain, she can use A/D Near Trace instead of Wings of Mercy to further reduce the enemy’s Atk/Def by 3 and allow Marcia to move after her subsequent combat, which can help with positioning allies’ Wings of Mercy for their own Galeforces, refreshes, and trapping enemies.
• Two-tap Galeforce:
  • Slaying Lance reduces Galeforce’s cooldown from 5 to 4. By using Heavy Blade in her Sacred Seal, Marcia can activate Galeforce after two attacks assuming no Guard effect is affecting her and her Attack exceeds the enemy’s Attack (in order to gain the +1 Special charge from Heavy Blade).
  • Atk/Spd Boosting A Slots such as Atk/Spd Push 4, Swift Sparrow, and Fury are vital for ensuring Marcia’s damage output and follow-up consistency are sufficient. Atk/Spd Rein boosts Marcia’s follow-up consistency and helps her pass Heavy Blade’s Attack check, making it an excellent C Slot choice.

Weapon: Springy Lance+ (+Spd) / Unbound Lance+ (+Spd) 

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Noontime / Moonbow 

Passive A: Distant Stance / Distant Counter / Fury (3 or 4) / Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot 

Passive B: Mystic Boost / Flow Refresh / Quick Riposte / S/D Near Trace

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

Sacred Seal: Iote’s Shield / Atk/Spd Solo 

• Marcia’s balanced statline lends itself well to generalist sets. One is more focused on Enemy Phase, while the other is more focused on Player Phase.
• Regardless of which phase Marcia prioritizes, Springy Lance and her native Unbound Lance are her best combat weapons. Springy Lance grants Marcia +5 Atk/Spd and neutralizes her visible Atk/Spd debuffs during combat if the enemy’s HP is ≥ 75%, while Unbound Lance inflicts -5 Atk/Def and neutralizes the enemy’s visible Atk/Def buffs if she is not adjacent to an ally.
• Enemy Phase focus:
  • With Distant Stance, Marcia can counterattack against ranged enemies and gain +5 Resistance during combat, making it key for an effective Enemy Phase set. Distant Counter does the same, but does not grant +5 Resistance, making it a purely budget version of Distant Stance. Unfortunately, Marcia’s Flier status makes her weak to Flier-effective weapons, so she needs Iote’s Shield in her Sacred Seal for as much survivability as possible.
  • Noontime grants Marcia sustainability via healing 30% of damage dealt, making it a strong Special choice. Mystic Boost grants additional healing via 6 HP after every combat and neutralizes Wrathful Staff (the effect that allows Staff units to deal normal rather than halved damage), although Quick Riposte can be used to counteract Impact effects via a guaranteed follow-up counterattack if Marcia’s HP is ≥ 70%.
  • Atk/Spd Rein inflicts -4 Atk/Spd on enemies within 2 spaces during combat, increasing Marcia’s follow-up consistency and bulk. Alternatively, Spd/Def Rein inflicts -4 Spd/Def, increasing her damage output instead of bulk.
• Player Phase focus:
  • While Fury and Atk/Spd Push 4 inflict recoil damage after combat, Mystic Boost in Marcia’s B Slot can heal the recoil damage, making these A Slots much safer to use. Fury is generally preferred since this set aims to increase both Marcia’s damage output and her bulk, although Atk/Spd Push 4 and other, more offensive A Slots can certainly be used to make her lean more towards offense.
  • Flow Refresh is a great alternative to Mystic Boost, as it not only heals 10 HP after initiation, but also neutralizes effects preventing Marcia’s follow-up attack during combat, making it a great Skill for both damage output and sustainability. Another alternative is S/D Near Trace; this inflicts -3 Spd/Def on the enemy during combat and allows Marcia to move a number of spaces after combat equal to her unused movement when initiating + 1, making it a fantastic choice for hit-and-run strategies.
  • Spd/Def Rein is better-suited for an offensive focus than Atk/Def Rein since the former increases both Marcia’s damage output and her chances of performing a follow-up attack. Atk/Spd Solo is her best Sacred Seal for the same purpose, as Iote’s Shield is not as beneficial (especially considering she does not use Distant Counter).