Asbel

Weapon: Grafcalibur 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Noontime / Sol 

Passive A: Close Foil / Close Counter 

Passive B: Null Follow-Up 

Passive C: Atk Smoke / Pulse Smoke 

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

• While 40 HP, 21 Defense, and 26 Resistance don’t seem like promising stats for a build meant to survive against and KO several Enemy Phase units at once, Grafcalibur allows Asbel to do so very effectively anyways.
  • Its -1 Special cooldown allows Asbel to more frequently activate healing Specials such as Noontime and Sol, granting him sustainability and stronger survivability. Sol is better if Asbel has a way to accelerate Special trigger on his enemy's attack (for example, support from New Year Velouria's Renewed Fang), as he'll be able to activate it on his first counterattack; otherwise, Noontime is best.
  • If Asbel initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally, he gains +5 to all stats and nullifies the enemy’s visible buffs during combat. The former helps Asbel deal more damage, perform/avoid follow-up attacks more consistently, and receive less damage, while the latter is very beneficial against Defense teams that use visible buffs or have refreshers that grant visible buffs, such as Duo Peony.
• Close Foil is the ideal A slot for Asbel, as while he will be unable to counterattack against Dragons (which are very uncommon minus the usually low-threat Sothis and Duma), he gains +5 Atk/Def during combat when physical enemies initiate combat against him. This improves both Asbel’s damage output and survivability against physical enemies.
• Asbel will almost never receive an enemy follow-up attack, as he makes it very difficult for enemies to perform natural follow-up attacks thanks to his sky-high Speed and makes it impossible for enemies to perform guaranteed follow-up attacks thanks to Null Follow-Up. On the offensive side, Asbel will almost always perform a follow-up attack thanks to his fantastic Speed and Null Follow-Up nullifying enemy skills that prevent his follow-up attacks.
• Asbel’s C and S slots are primarily up to player preference. While Atk Smoke’s -7 Attack debuff is more consistently helpful than Pulse Smoke’s +1 Special cooldown debuff, Pulse Smoke helps to shut down common Infantry Pulse Aether Raids Defense teams. When not adjacent to an ally, Atk/Def Solo grants Asbel +6 Atk/Def during combat while Spd/Res Solo grants +6 Spd/Res; both improve Asbel’s damage output and survivability.

Weapon: Grafcalibur

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Blazing Special 

Passive A: Life and Death (3 or 4) / Fury 4 

Passive B: Special Spiral 

Passive C: Res Smoke / Time’s Pulse 

Sacred Seal: Attack +3 / Hardy Bearing

• With high Attack and a weapon granting -1 Special cooldown, Asbel can become a fantastic abuser of AoE Specials with Special Spiral.
  • Grafcalibur reduces the cooldown of Asbel’s AoE Special to 3. When he activates it before combat, he attacks during combat immediately after, reducing his Special’s cooldown to 2. After combat, Special Spiral decreases the cooldown of Asbel’s Special to 0, allowing it to immediately be ready again.
• Blazing Special damage is calculated by multiplying the gap between Asbel’s visible Attack and the enemy’s visible Resistance by 1.5. As such, Life and Death, Fury, and Attack +3 are Asbel’s strongest choices to maximize both AoE and in-combat damage. Res Smoke inflicts -7 Resistance on enemies within 2 spaces of the target, maximizing the gap between Asbel’s visible Attack and the enemy’s visible Resistance and thus the damage he inflicts with his AoE Special.
• An alternative to Attack +3 in Asbel’s Sacred Seal is Hardy Bearing. Because AoE damage is considered to be pre-combat, enemies at ≤ 75% HP can activate Vantage during combat and threaten to OHKO Asbel before he can finish them off; Hardy Bearing nullifies any skills that change attack priority (such as Vantage), preventing this from occurring. A -HP IV is also something to consider, as lower HP allows Asbel to receive Special cooldown reduction from allies with Infantry Pulse more consistently.

Weapon: Grafcalibur 

Assist: No Assist / Positional Assist 

Special: Ruptured Sky / Luna 

Passive A: Sturdy Impact 

Passive B: Null Follow-Up / Lull Spd/Res

Passive C: Time’s Pulse / Distant Guard

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow / Hardy Bearing 

• With Grafcalibur granting -1 Special cooldown, the combination of it and Time’s Pulse allows Asbel to always have a 2-cooldown Special ready once his phase begins, even if he gets hit by Pulse Smoke beforehand. As such, Specials like Ruptured Sky, Moonbow, and Glimmer work wonders. Alternatively, with Infantry Pulse support, Asbel can opt for more powerful Specials with longer cooldowns like Luna and Dragon Fang, although he risks getting Pulse Smoked.
• Sturdy Impact and Null Follow-Up ensure as much as possible that Asbel will perform a follow-up attack and the enemy will be unable to do the same. The -3 Spd/Res debuff during combat that Lull Spd/Res inflicts still makes it a decent alternative despite Grafcalibur’s nullification of visible buffs. 
• With Grafcalibur, Sturdy Impact, and Swift Sparrow, Asbel gains +15 Attack, +9 Speed, +15 Defense, and +5 Resistance when he initiates or is within 2 spaces of an ally, making him potentially annoying to KO while dealing fantastic damage and preventing most follow-up attacks. Hardy Bearing is a strong alternative for ignoring Vantage, which many units use in Aether Raids Offense to sweep Enemy teams by OHKOing on their counterattack before enemies can attack them.
• Whether or not Asbel uses an Assist depends on whether players would like for him to get refreshed. Without an Assist, Asbel moves before refreshers, allowing him to get refreshed by them. Given that he is incredibly powerful when he initiates, this is a more than viable option.

Weapon: Grafcalibur

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Luna / Moonbow 

Passive A: Fury 4 / Atk/Spd Push 4

Passive B: Desperation

Passive C: Joint Drive Atk / Joint Drive Spd 

Sacred Seal: Flashing Blade / Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Solo

• Asbel’s 36/42 offensive statline naturally lends itself well to an offensive and Player Phase set.
• Grafcalibur’s -1 Special cooldown in addition to +5 to all stats and enemy visible buff neutralization if Asbel initiates or is within 2 spaces of an ally grants him a significant amount of additional offensive potency. In combination with Desperation and Flashing Blade, Asbel can activate a 3-cooldown Special such as Luna on his follow-up attack if no Guard effect is present and his HP is ≤ 75%. Alternatively, Asbel can swap Flashing Blade for Swift Sparrow or Atk/Spd Solo and Luna for Moonbow to achieve the same feat.
• Any A slot that increases Asbel’s offenses works wonders for an offensive set. His base Fury 4 is a fantastic choice, as it not only increases Asbel’s offenses, but also increases his defenses and inflicts recoil damage, allowing Asbel to reach Desperation’s ≤ 75% HP requirement without needing to receive an enemy attack at all. Atk/Spd Push 4 achieves a similar effect, sacrificing +4 Def/Res and being useless if Asbel’s HP is < 25% in exchange for an additional +3 Atk/Spd and 3 less recoil damage compared to Fury 4.
• Joint Drive Atk and Joint Drive Spd grant Asbel +4 Attack or Speed respectively if he is within 2 spaces of an ally, along with granting allies within 2 spaces +4 Attack or Speed. Whichever one is chosen is up to player preference.