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Analysis by lordhelpme
Kronya - Gleaming Blade

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
162
HP 44
ATK 31
SPD 39
DEF 22
RES 26

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 17 8 10 4 3
Middle 18 9 11 5 4
High 19 10 12 6 5

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
4★
3★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 41 27 36 19 22
Middle 44 31 39 22 26
High 47 34 42 25 29

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

This unit requires use of Trait Fruits to get access to IVs

Skill Sets

Real Clown Hours (Defensive Nuke)

Build by lordhelpme
Recommended
Athame (+Eff) A Close Salvo
Alternate: Atk/Spd Finish 4
Positional Assist B Special Spiral 4
Alternate: Seal Def 4
Moonbow
Alternate: Ruptured Sky
C Fatal Smoke 3
Alternate: Pulse Smoke 3
IVs

+ATK / -HP or -DEF

SAtk/Spd Form 3
Alternate: Savage Blow 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Athame (+Eff)

Assist: Positional Assist / Flexible

Special: Moonbow / Ruptured Sky / Glimmer / Miracle

Passive A: Close Salvo / Close Counter / Atk/Spd Finish / Atk/Spd Unity 

Passive B: Special Spiral 4 / Seal Def 4 / Null C-Disrupt / Mystic Boost 4

Passive C: Fatal Smoke / Savage Blow / Pulse Smoke / Flexible

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Form / Savage Blow / Atk/Spd Solo 

  • This build remains largely centered around maximizing the use of Kronya’s exclusive weapon, Athame, which heavily encourages a one-shot playstyle via its unique Vantage-esque effect. Since the primary focus here is her raw damage output, a +ATK IV is thus ideal to further increase Kronya’s firepower if Trait Fruits are available; further support to her damage output is highly recommended here to solidify her effectiveness. 
  • The basic game plan here remains largely the same throughout most game modes, with room for variances depending on the team composition and map one is fighting against: during the initial Player Phase, Kronya should safely initiate on a foe to spread her debuffs, chip damage, and 【Exposure】to debilitate her opponents through Athame, and then unleash havoc in the following Enemy Phase. 
    • The choice between an A skill that enables counterattacks regardless of distance or a traditional stat-boosting option depends on whether you plan to use her with Near Save support. Running Kronya with such support can help greatly in easing some of the pressure on her and lessening her damage issues by using something like Atk/Spd Finish or Unity, though it may require a little effort to ensure her partner remains in range to protect her. Otherwise, Close Salvo or Close Counter should be used to ensure her effectiveness.
  • Since Athame already comes with Vantage built-in, Kronya’s B slot is open to several different options and each are quite effective – the choice largely depends on personal preference and the type of obstacles one more commonly runs into. 
    • From a damage perspective, the fourth-tier versions of Special Spiral and Seal Def are likely Kronya’s best bet.
      • Special Spiral 4 helps her cut through the excessive amount of damage reduction among numerous units that otherwise inhibit her playstyle, all the while adding further damage to her Special activations and making it so she can trigger them on each counterattack before her foe can even attack. It does require a bit of setup to get the chain started, but the benefits remain well worth it.
      • On the other hand, Seal Def 4 is a pretty straightforward skill that ensures Kronya can easily cut through her opponent’s Defense even before landing her post-combat debuffs — and while the skill’s in-combat debuff decreases after the visible ones are applied, it grants an appreciated Guard effect in exchange should she ever need to eat a hit.
      • Alternatively, Null C-Disrupt can be considered for the consistency it grants, mitigating one of the biggest counter strategies to Vantage setups: counterattack negation. This is especially useful in Aether Raids, though one can consider Mystic Boost 4 for greater longevity in exchange for having the neutralization of counterattack negation being limited to only staff units. 
  • Kronya’s Special choice depends on her choice of B slot skill. If using Special Spiral, those with a two-turn cooldown are ideal for immediate Special activations; Ruptured Sky and Moonbow are both standout candidates, and Glimmer can be considered as well once one feels confident enough in Kronya’s base firepower. While such Specials can also be used with other B slot skills, using something other than Special Spiral does open up the ability to use Miracle for bonus protection.
  • Since refined Athame now inflicts chip damage by default, Kronya isn’t strictly limited to utilizing Savage Blow in her C or Sacred Seal slots, thus having a bit more flexibility. She certainly still can use those skills if desired, but options like Fatal Smoke (to prevent foes from going back to full HP) and Pulse Smoke (to encourage a more tank hybrid role) should be considered if they’re an option. Additionally, she may want to equip a Sacred Seal that directly pads her Atk and Spd stats instead for more generalized combat benefits.

Strengths

Athame

Kronya’s exclusive Athame is her key to fame and differentiates her through its Vantage-esque effect, though it differs from actual Vantage in one crucial way: rather than being dependent on her own HP pool, Athame instead requires that her opponent be below full HP. 

Compared to traditional Vantage wielders who often have to rely on HP manipulation techniques, Kronya’s setup becomes much easier post-refinement as she simply has to initiate during the Player Phase, subsequently triggering her chip damage and 【Exposure】debuff for greatly enhanced oneshot power for the ensuing Enemy Phase. This also differentiates Kronya as one of the few units capable of utilizing Vantage with powerful B skills and potentially at full HP, offering a unique role as a nuke/tank hybrid considering her surprisingly good HP pool. It also grants an appreciated +10 in-combat boost to both offensive stats, altogether making her a solid source of overall damage. 

Fantastic Speed

While Kronya’s base Speed of 39 may not necessarily contribute much to her damage output in her typical one-shot playstyle, it is still useful to her as it provides an appreciable degree of safety in the case that she has to tank an enemy hit (which isn’t always avoidable even with Athame’s effect) by helping her deny enemy follow-up attacks, which can mitigate a great sum of damage. This also helps her in her initial setup during the Player Phase and pairs nicely with the in-combat boost provided by Athame as well. 

Colorless + Infantry Benefits

As a colorless unit, Kronya benefits from neutral matchups across the board against all foes (with the rare exception of units wielding a Raven effect), which grants her strong consistency in the types of foes she can safely engage in combat against. This is underscored by Kronya’s ability to take advantage of her free B slot through her stellar infantry skill access, further elevating her performance (especially for Aether Raids Offense as she can work around some counter-Vantage strategies that other units cannot).

Weaknesses

Hardy Bearing and Enemy Heals 

Since the majority of Kronya’s functionality lies in Athame’s built-in Vantage effect, she remains incredibly vulnerable to the Hardy Bearing seal or a weapon that includes its effect since it effectively shuts down her weapon. In a similar vein, sources of enemy heals (such as the Healing Tower in Aether Raids) are greatly detrimental to Kronya’s success since Athame requires that her opponent be below full HP to be functional, and the introduction of Medeus only makes her playstyle more fickle due to his 【En Garde】buff preventing foes from receiving chip damage.

Requires High Investment

Although Kronya does have interesting potential, the Gleaming Blade does need a hefty amount of investment to perform up to par, particularly in merges and support due to her initially unimpressive base Attack which counteracts her one-shot heavy playstyle. To this end, even assuming high investment, the absurd amount of bulk that many units possess nowadays — the likes of which will only increase — makes her inherent playstyle fundamentally risky, and her refinement doesn’t really do much to fix this beyond a little more damage.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Dagger

After combat, inflicts Def/Res-3 on foe through its next action.

Learns by default at 1 ★
Unlocks at 1 ★
Dagger users only.
50 2 3
Steel Dagger

After combat, inflicts Def/Res-3 on foe through its next action.

Learns by default at 3 ★
Unlocks at 2 ★
Dagger users only.
100 2 5
Silver Dagger

After battle, inflicts Def/Res-5 on foe through its next action.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Dagger users only.
200 2 7
Athame

Grants Res+3. At start of combat, if foe’s HP < 100%, grants Atk/Spd+5 during combat, and if foe initiates combat, unit can counterattack before foe’s first attack. Effect:【Dagger 7】  【Dagger 7】 After combat, if unit attacked, inflicts Def/Res-7 on target and foes within 2 spaces of target through their next actions.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-Inheritable skill.
400 2 14
Available Rearmed Weapons
Arcane Void
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
New Moon

Treats foe's Def/Res as if reduced by 30% during combat.

Learns by default at 4 ★
Unlocks at 3 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 3
Luna

Treats foe's Def/Res as if reduced by 50% during combat.

Unlocks at 4 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Desperation 1

If unit’s HP ≤ 25% and unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 3 ★
50
B
Desperation 2

If unit’s HP ≤ 50% and unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
100
B
Desperation 3

If unit’s HP ≤ 75% and unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
200
B
Distant Guard 1

Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic, or staff, grants Def/Res+2 during combat."

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 1 ★
60
C
Distant Guard 2

Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic, or staff, grants Def/Res+3 during combat."

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 2 ★
120
C
Distant Guard 3

Allies within 2 spaces gain: "If foe uses bow, dagger, magic, or staff, grants Def/Res+4 during combat."

Inheritable by all units.
Unlocks at 4 ★
240
C

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Banners Featured In

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