Seliph

Weapon: Divine Tyrfing (+Eff) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Noontime / Ignis / Bonfire

Passive A: Sturdy Stance 3 / Close Def 4 / Atk/Def Unity

Passive B: Null Follow-Up 

Passive C: Joint Drive Skills 

Sacred Seal: Steady Breath 

• By pairing Seliph with a Far Save ally, he can focus specifically on his performance against melee threats. Most notably, this frees his A Slot from the usual Distant Countering A Slot, allowing him to use other choices such as:
  • Sturdy Stance 3, which grants +6 Atk/Def and a Guard effect on Enemy Phase.
  • Close Def 4, which grants +8 Def/Res and neutralizes the enemy’s visible buffs when defending against a melee enemy.
  • Atk/Def Unity, which grants +5 Atk/Def and reverses visible Atk/Def debuffs and panicked Atk/Def buffs if Seliph is within two spaces of an ally.
• Steady Breath allows Seliph to activate two-cooldown Specials on his first counterattack (assuming no Guard effect is active), making Noontime a strong option for sustainability. Alternatives include Ignis and Bonfire, which both grant additional damage on activation that scales with Seliph’s Def.
• Null Follow-Up is vital; as Divine Tyrfing’s main draw is its guaranteed follow-up attack, neutralizing follow-up prevention effects such as those from Impact skills means that the only way Seliph will not perform a follow-up is if the enemy has both Null Follow-Up and ≥ 5 more Spd than him. Additionally, neutralizing effects that guarantee follow-ups improves Seliph’s sustainability.
• Joint Drive C Slots, which benefit both Seliph and allies within two spaces via additional stats, are even more valued than usual because melee specialist Seliph is ideally paired with a Far Save ally that receives ranged attacks for him.

Weapon: Divine Tyrfing (+Eff) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Galeforce / Bonfire 

Passive A: Atk/Def Bond 4 / Atk/Def Solo 4 / Atk/Def Unity

Passive B: Wings of Mercy / Null Follow-Up

Passive C: Time’s Pulse / Atk/Def Menace / Atk Smoke / Def Smoke

Sacred Seal: Heavy Blade

• With Divine Tyrfing’s conditional +10 Atk/Def and guaranteed follow-up, Seliph can be a strong Player Phase unit that receives physical counterattacks particularly well.
• Galeforce:
  • Because of Seliph’s high HP, he is ill-suited for being a beacon that drops to ≤ 50% HP so that allies with Wings of Mercy can teleport to spaces adjacent to him. Rather than being a Wings of Mercy enabler, Seliph is best at being a Wings of Mercy user, and as such, this is his B Slot of choice. If not using Seliph for Galeforce strategies on Aether Raids Offense, however, then Null Follow-Up is best to ensure his guaranteed follow-up is not neutralized by follow-up prevention effects.
  • If using Wings of Mercy, Atk/Def Bond 4 and Atk/Def Unity are particularly strong and consistent choices, as Seliph will typically be adjacent to an ally. The former grants +7 Atk/Def and neutralizes visible Atk/Def debuffs and panicked Atk/Def buffs, while the latter grants +5 Atk/Def and reverses these rather than neutralizing them. While the former is arguably more consistent, the latter has a much higher ceiling.
  • As Galeforce is a five-cooldown Special, Seliph needs Time’s Pulse and Heavy Blade in his C and S Slots respectively to activate it after two attacks without relying on receiving a counterattack.
• Bonfire:
  • A Slots that increase Seliph’s Atk/Def maximize his damage and bulk, making them his best options. Atk/Def Solo 4 is particularly noteworthy, as Player Phase units are typically away from allies and it does not inflict any recoil damage.
  • Null Follow-Up neutralizes effects that prevent Seliph’s follow-up or guarantee the enemy’s, making it incredibly valuable for securing his damage and survival.
  • As Bonfire is a three-cooldown Special, Seliph needs Time’s Pulse and Heavy Blade in his C and S Slots respectively to activate it on his follow-up attack without relying on receiving a counterattack. Alternatively, if players don’t mind relying on receiving a counterattack, he can replace Time’s Pulse for C Slots that increase his damage output and/or bulk such as Atk/Def Menace, Atk Smoke, and Def Smoke.

Weapon: Tyrfing (+Eff) 

Assist: Positional Assist / Assistless 

Special: Vengeance 

Passive A: Distant Countering A Slot 

Passive B: Vantage

Passive C: Time’s Pulse / Infantry Pulse / Joint Drive Atk 

Sacred Seal: Atk/Def Form / Brazen Atk/Def

• Pretty much here only for posterity given how uncommon it is nowadays, this set is nonetheless incredibly unique and worth noting given that it was Seliph’s most notable and successful gimmick for quite a while. This set uses the combination of Tyrfing’s Miracle effect, a Distant Countering A Slot, Vantage, and precharged Vengeance so that Seliph can counterattack for significant damage, making it difficult for teams that abuse AoE Special damage or the Bolt Tower/Trap structures to approach Seliph and allies.
• Whether Seliph has a positional Assist or no Assist depends on if players want him to move before or after other allies: for the former, he should not have any Assist (as the AI prioritizes moving Assistless units), while for the latter, he should have a positional Assist. Positional Assists such as Reposition and Draw Back can also help move allies toward the backline, making them more difficult to snipe.
• In order to precharge Vengeance, Seliph needs Special charge from allies and Time’s Pulse. If he does not need Time’s Pulse, he himself can provide Special charge for Infantry allies with lower HP than him with Infantry Pulse, or he can maximize the damage output of both himself and allies within two spaces by providing +4 Atk via Joint Drive Atk.
• Atk/Def Form and Brazen Atk/Def both grant +7 Atk/Def under ideal conditions. While the former requires three allies within two spaces, the latter requires Seliph to be at ≤ 80% HP, making the former generally easier and more consistent; given that this set is for Aether Raids Defense, Seliph and his allies will be clumped together for, at the very least, their initial formation.