What's a good arena build for slow axe units these days? (More in comments)
Posted Apr 9, 2022, 7:27 PM UTC
3913
I'm currently building Balthus for Arena also so here's my build for inspiration!
Weapon: Unbound Axe+ (Lull Atk/Def 5 pretty much)
Special: Aether
A: DC
B: QR3
C: Joint Drive Atk
SS: Warding or Steady Breath (Works well with Aether)
6
He's best in Arena as an Enemy phase unit with Distant Foil. Here's the build grivek shared with me along with his description:
https://i.imgur.com/ej2DFEe.jpg
That's what I'm using. I've been very impressed with him as an EP Distant Foil unit, he does a great job at baiting/counterkilling archers and Ninja Lyn (who feels like one of the most common +10 duos in arena) and his attack is so high he can one-shot some frail units on PP (e.g. if Lyn has Windsweep she tinks him 4x then gets one shot on PP). Before I had the Menace I was using Unbound Axe instead with QR in B and AD Solo as the seal.
I wouldn't recommend a player phase infantry builds for arena, it's very difficult to initiate with them when their range is so low.
6
Oh, Distant Foil is something I did not consider at all. Probably because I actually do not have the fodder for it, but I like this idea a lot. Hopefully I can get a Rinkah at some point in the future. Or I guess duo Eirika's rerun is coming up, but that seems slightly wasteful.
I'm still a little bothered by having to use a 3rd unit with a solo condition, but I guess I was already doing that with Echidna before... and it is hard to argue with the numbers on Plegian. I can always switch to a hammer if it becomes annoying.
5
The only other Axe worth considering you haven't mentioned is Love Candelabra, if you want him to be part support unit.
You can also think about Pulse Tie in your B slot since his HP is pretty high.
3
As a hybrid support/tank, I have: Plegian Dual Rally Aether DC A/D Ruse A/D Menace Warding Breath Seal
I know there's a bit of redundancy but the main goal is for him to be able to soak multiple hits against blue/ green units, or debuff enemies for his allies. He scores great for f2p and has amazing bulk.
2
He does really well for me with just a single fallen fem morgan sacrifice. solo 4 and menace, then toss on QR and apply your weapon of choice (plegian, unbound, hammer).
2
I use mine as armor counters, so Slaying Hammer
1
Theres also Def/Res Menace and Distant Stance. K run mine with Distant Stance and he's a beast.
1
My Balthus runs:
Rein Axe (Spd) or Steadfast Axe (Res)
Dual Rally+
Planning on giving him Ruptured Sky, but Bonfire and Ignis are good
A: Distant Counter(I use this) or Sturdy Stance for budget
B: Quick Riposte (if running Steadfast) or Close call if running Rein
C: Joint Drive Atk (goes well with Steadfast)
S: any bracing or solo skill
1
~-best build for slow axe inf is speed stacking~~
Probably a melee specialist sturdy stance 3, nfu, joint drive def/atk and sturdy stance/steady breath seal. Assuming you have far save available. If not… not sure probably still best to stack def and only fight melees Edit support is possible if not save skills to help him tank. pulse ties inf pulse and hp stack are good options for that
1
The AHR banner was not good to me, but I did get something like 6 Balthus copies in 50 pulls, and I needed to upgrade my arena core, so here we are. I was going to build Shamir, but this saves me grails.
He's obviously getting a Rally+ and some kind of 240 SP seal, but aside from that, I am not sure what to do.
I have access to just about every axe out there, plus a spare Hrid, so something like Plegian Axe + DC + Menace seems like the obvious choice. However, I also use Yen'fay AND Naesala on my arena team, so I am getting a bit tired of solo conditions. I am probably feeding him the Hrid regardless, cause I do need a 300 SP C skill of some sort, and I am sure I can use DC once in a while.
I have been trying to think of other good builds, but the only real thing that comes to mind is just using a Hammer. That would help Yen'fay a bit, since he has a rough time fighting Melee units after taking on ranged units. I also have a fallen Edelgard I never use, so something like Atk/Def Ideal would make him a good close combat bruiser, probably with QR. I'm leaning towards going with this, since I don't think he can realistically tank very well with DC against ranged units in arena.
I only have one copy of Ruptured Sky, which I don't really want to get rid of. Blue Flame seems decent. I could slap Aether on him, but that rarely seems to work well. Galeforce is an option, since he can probably tank a few hits and charge it up. Mobility is always nice in arena.
My previous green arena unit was Echidna, who ran the classic DC + Ruptured Sky + Spurn + JDA + Atk/Spd solo build with Deck Swabber.
Anyone else have some good ideas?
EDIT: I should mention that I bounce between tier 20 and 21 consistently, to give you an idea of what kind of opponents I see in arena.
I built Balthus pretty much the day he dropped
Plegian axe, Aether, A/D solo, Lull A/D, A/D Menace, QR seal
He's an absolute fucking monster, theres not a single physical unit in the game he doesn't gigastomp, only threats are some dragons + tome units. Curious how he does against spring maria but I haven't run into one yet
Personally I don't like DC on him though, I've tried it but it just isnt reliable, depending on season this hasn't really be an issue in my experience anyway, positioning him outta range of tomes isn't too hard. Can also just run him with a far save unit to negate the issue entirely as well, thats what I do in AR
This is pretty much my Mustafa build. I also have DC on him for SD, as Plegian is really tough to use while paired up with a Far Save unit, but it hurts him a lot. (He's run with Dheginsea oc for Bald Emblem). I also paired him with August so he can get all those effects he misses from a lack of PRF. Vantage also works for SD