Azama

• Preferred IV: +DEF / -RES or -ATK

• Weapon: Dazzling Pain+

• Assist: Recover+ / Rehabilitate

• Special: Imbue / Miracle

• Passive A: Close Def / Fortress Def / Defense +3

• Passive B: Guard / Seal Atk/Def / Chill Spd / Live to Serve

• Passive C: Savage Blow

• Sacred Seal: Savage Blow

Thanks to his titanic Defense, Azama is unlike any other healer in the game and can stand in harm’s way with little to fear. This build capitalizes on Azama’s defenses while maintaining the destructive AOE damage that Pain provides. If you don't want to use Azama to attack, it may be better to run with the build below which focuses more on team support. 

In many ways, this is a standard Razzle Dazzle set. Double Savage Blow combined with the Pain staff allow Azama to wreak havoc on enemy teams without a risk, thanks to the Dazzling Staff refine. However, his poor Attack means that Wrathful Staff cannot help him much, and so it’s better to forego it for a better B slot for him. Guard ensures that he can take hits without enemies charging deadly specials. Seal Atk/Def is another option that can turn a positioning error into an opportunity for one of Azama’s team-mates. Chill Spd is a great option for Azama, and with a Speed boon, will make him much harder to double. It's best used in combination with offensive team-mates. Live to Serve takes full advantage of Azama's survivability, and is recommended if taking him to multi-map modes such as the Tempest Trials.

Close Def gives Azama even more Defense, enough to survive even double attacks from many foes. Fortress Def is a great alternative as is the cheaper Defense +3. Recover+ is the best choice for healing as it does not depend entirely on his Attack. Imbue gives Azama a small boost to his healing support, which helps to make up for his low Attack. Miracle's low charge time makes it somewhat unreliable, but it does make Azama a nightmare to KO, particularly when he runs Live to Serve.

• Preferred IV: +RES / -ATK

• Weapon: Dazzling Pain+

• Assist: Recover+

• Special: Imbue

• Passive A: Fortress Res / Resistance +3

• Passive B: Chill Spd / Chill Def / Chill Res

• Passive C: Atk Ploy / Res Ploy

• Sacred Seal: Def Ploy / Res Ploy / Atk Ploy

Thanks to gaining four Resistance from a boon, Azama can build his Resistance into something worthwhile. A Resistance boon combined with Fortress Res gives Azama 34 Base Resistance, enough to open up Ploy Skills as great options for him and sacrifice some offensive strength for debuff potential. This build is better suited to those who don’t want to attack with Azama at all, and would rather him take on a full support role. Even without investment, his base 32 Defense is enough to survive many physical assaults.

Recover and Dazzling Pain are still great for Azama, allowing him to avoid some of the downsides of his low Attack stat. Thanks to Fortress Res, Azama is bulky on both sides of the damage spectrum. Where this build really differs from his standard set is the choice of Ploy and debuff skills over Savage Blow.

There is no set rule for exactly which type of Ploys Azama should run, and it also depends on the kind of team-mates that Azama is paired up with. Atk Ploy is good in nearly all situations, making Azama harder to kill, making tanks more sturdy, and helping users of Heavy Blade activate the skill more reliably. Res Ploy is better when paired with strong offensive mages who just want enemy Resistance lowered.

Def Ploy and Res Ploy are more situational and depend more on Azama’s allies. By running these in his Seal slot, he can switch between them more easily, making him cheaper to build. Finally, Chill Spd is his best choice of B slot skill. The Speed debuff makes it much easier for Azama to survive assaults by enemies and is a godsend to nearly every ally he can have. It’s best to have the Speed debuffing skill as a Chill, as he may not always have enough Resistance to debuff mages and this ensures the most important debuff will be activated.