Valentine Rudolf

Default
Attack
Special
Injured

Blue Lance

Valentine Rudolf - Emperor of Rigel
5 Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40

180

HP 46

ATK 43

SPD 21

DEF 41

RES 29

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation

Weapon

5★

	HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Low	23 23 25 25	9 25 11 27	3 3 5 5	10 10 12 12	6 6 8 8
Middle	24 24 26 26	10 26 12 28	4 4 6 6	11 11 13 13	7 7 9 9
High	25 25 27 27	11 27 13 29	5 5 7 7	12 12 14 14	8 8 10 10

Level 40 Stat Variations

Weapon

5★

	HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Low	42 42 44 44	39 55 41 57	18 18 20 20	38 38 40 40	25 25 27 27
Middle	46 46 48 48	43 59 45 61	21 21 23 23	41 41 43 43	29 29 31 31
High	49 49 51 51	46 62 48 64	24 24 26 26	45 45 47 47	32 32 34 34

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.

HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Average	Best	Worst	Best	Best

Skill Sets

Lord of a Dead Empire (Defensive Tank)

Build by lordhelpme

Recommended

	Thorn Lance	A	Distant Counter
	Pivot	B	Special Fighter 3
	Sol	C	Pulse Smoke 3 Alternate: Def Smoke 3
IVs	+ATK or +DEF or +RES / -SPD	S	Mirror Stance 2 Alternate: Quick Riposte 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IVs: +ATK or +DEF or +RES / -SPD
Weapon: Thorn Lance
Assist: Pivot / Flexible
Special: Sol / Noontime
Passive A: Distant Counter
Passive B: Special Fighter / Wrath
Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Def Smoke / Atk Smoke / Threaten Atk/Def / Flexible
Sacred Seal: Mirror Stance / Fierce Stance / Quick Riposte

Rudolf’s min-maxed statline alongside the phenomenal defensive capabilities of his Thorn Lance allows him to shine as a defensive tank. Taking a +ATK IV is a great choice to activate his PRF more consistently and make healing Specials more effective, though +DEF or +RES IVs may be considered to supplement his raw bulk.
With his native Special Fighter, Thorn Lance allows Rudolf to activate Sol on every counterattack in the Enemy Phase for vastly improved survivability; combining this with Distant Counter makes him quite effective at tanking damage from all enemy types. Noontime is also an option for its shorter cooldown, freeing his B slot for Wrath for greater OHKO potential.
Smoke Skills synergize perfectly with a defensive playstyle. Pulse Smoke is ideal if Rudolf is to be used in Aether Raids to dismantle Infantry Pulse setups; otherwise, Def Smoke or Atk Smoke should be used to enhance his damage output and durability respectively.
The Mirror Stance and Fierce Stance seals are excellent options to develop his key stats in the Enemy Phase, though the Quick Riposte seal is always a great defensive choice that ensures his follow-up attack for safety should he fail to OHKO.

Afterglow (Mixed Phase)

Build by lordhelpme

	Thorn Lance	A	Distant Counter
	Pivot	B	Bold Fighter 3
	Bonfire	C	Armor March 3 Alternate: Def Smoke 3
IVs	+ATK / -SPD	S	Quick Riposte 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Preferred IVs: +ATK / -SPD
Weapon: Thorn Lance
Assist: Pivot / Flexible
Special: Bonfire
Passive A: Distant Counter
Passive B: Bold Fighter
Passive C: Armor March / Threaten Atk/Def / Flexible
Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte

Rudolf can perform well with a standard mixed phase armor build as well. Since the focus of this set is his damage output, a +ATK IV is ideal.
Pairing Bold Fighter with the Quick Riposte seal helps ensure Rudolf’s follow-up attack in both the Player Phase and Enemy Phase, allowing him to present a strong threat at all times. Distant Counter is highly recommended to leverage this attribute against a much wider breadth of opponents.
Thanks to Thorn Lance’s built-in Slaying effect, Rudolf can safely take Bonfire as his chosen Special as it will activate in every round of combat, provided his opponent with a skill that slows Special activations like Guard.
The C slot is mostly flexible here, with his native Threaten Atk/Def being a solid budget choice that provides enhanced damage output and durability with proper positioning. Armor March deserves a mention as it helps massively in improving Rudolf’s mobility, which is important for Player Phase combat.

Strengths

Thorn Lance

Rudolf’s exclusive weapon is simple but extremely powerful. By debuffing his opponent’s Attack and Defense stats on top of negating their follow-up attack under the proper conditions, this weapon allows the Emperor of Rigel to effortlessly deal and mitigate large sums of damage. The built-in Slaying effect only furthers Thorn Lance’s effectiveness.

Exceptional Attack

Rudolf’s base Attack stat is simply phenomenal, allowing him to easily take away chunks of enemy health with a single blow if not outright OHKO them. Furthermore, this quality makes Rudolf a particularly strong user of healing Specials for consistent sustain and pairs nicely with Thorn Lance’s effect.

Excellent Mixed Bulk

With some of the best mixed bulk amongst his peers, Rudolf has no trouble in directly tanking sustained offensive pressure from all enemy types -- a trait only highlighted further by his ability to negate enemy follow-up attacks.

Armor

As an armored unit, Rudolf boasts numerous key advantages: access to the immensely powerful Fighter skills (such as his native Special Fighter), class-exclusive buffs, and an ample boost to his BST. Altogether, these can prove greatly useful in solidifying his already good combat potential.

Weaknesses

Effective Damage

As a result of his armored status, Rudolf remains incredibly susceptible to most forms of armor-effective damage which can prove particularly detrimental to his ease of use given the increasing commonality of damage in the enemy team compositions.

Poor Mobility

Rudolf’s inability to move more than one space at a time makes it incredibly difficult to utilize him for offensive play without the proper movement support, such as from Armor March, Ground Orders, and Guidance; however, this isn’t too much of an issue if equipped with a defensively oriented build.

User Submitted Builds

User Submitted Build Statistics Submit a Hero Build

Valentine Rudolf build by AndyYagami 01-23

	Thorn Lance	A	Fierce Stance 3
	Pivot	B	Special Fighter 3
	Bonfire	C	Threat. Atk/Def 3
S	Atk/Def Bond 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

A super budget build I'm using to try and salvage the particularly unfortunate -Atk +Spd IVs I got on my Rudolf. Since he'll probably have to Pivot over an ally to see tanking duty anyway, I figured slapping him with a Bond seal and Fierce Stance are the easiest ways to make sure he can meet the Atk check against a significant portion of the cast. If you have a Smitebot to launch him into enemy lines, A/D Solo works just as well.

Weapon Skills

Weapons	SP	Rng.	Mt.
Iron Lance Learns by default at 1 ★ Unlocks at 1 ★ Lance Users Only	50	1	6
Steel Lance Learns by default at 3 ★ Unlocks at 2 ★ Lance Users Only	100	1	8
Silver Lance Learns by default at 4 ★ Unlocks at 3 ★ Lance Users Only	200	1	11
Thorn LanceAccelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). At start of combat, if unit's Atk > foe's Atk, inflicts Atk/Def-6 on foe during combat and foe cannot make a follow-up attack. Learns by default at 5 ★ Unlocks at 5 ★ Non-Inheritable skill.	400	1	16

Weapon Evolution

Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills	SP	Turns
Glowing EmberBoosts damage dealt by 50% of unit's Def. Learns by default at 4 ★ Unlocks at 3 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.	100	4
BonfireBoosts damage dealt by 50% of unit's Def. Unlocks at 4 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.	200	3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills	SP	Slot
Special Fighter 1At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 90%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.) Only inheritable by armor units. Unlocks at 1 ★	60	B
Special Fighter 2At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 70%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.) Only inheritable by armor units. Unlocks at 2 ★	120	B
Special Fighter 3At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 50%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.) Only inheritable by armor units. Unlocks at 4 ★	240	B
Threat. Atk/Def 1At start of turn, inflicts Atk/Def-3 on foes within 2 spaces through their next actions. Inheritable by all units. Unlocks at 3 ★	100	C
Threat. Atk/Def 2At start of turn, inflicts Atk/Def-4 on foes within 2 spaces through their next actions. Inheritable by all units. Unlocks at 4 ★	200	C
Threat. Atk/Def 3At start of turn, if unit is within 2 spaces of a foe, grants Atk/Def+5 to unit for 1 turn and inflicts Atk/Def-5 on foes within 2 spaces through their next actions. Inheritable by all units. Unlocks at 5 ★	300	C