Winter Cecilia

Weapon: Lethal Carrot+ (+Def/+Res) / Barb Shuriken+ (+Def/+Res) / Minty Cane+ (+Def/+Res)

• Winter Cecilia has a variety of weapon options available to her thanks to her strong statline and status as an armor unit. Regardless of the chosen weapon, the choice between a +Def or +Res refine is mostly up to preference, as Winter Cecilia’s final stats can vary widely based on team support and the season for Aether Raids.

• Lethal Carrot is the best choice, offering Winter Cecilia a mix of bonus damage and healing with her Special. However, it is also the most difficult of the option to obtain due to being locked to a seasonal unit.

• Barb Shuriken and Minty Cane both allow for superior healing compared to the Lethal Carrot while losing out on the bonus damage. The choice between the two is mostly preference - Barb Shuriken offers higher healing potential with Sol, but Minty Cane offers more consistent healing due to healing at least 5 regardless of enemy HP.

Assist: Swap / Pivot

Special: Noontime / Sol / Aether

• Noontime will be the ideal Special to maximize sustain when combined with Special Fighter.

• Use Sol if running Barb Shuriken to take advantage of the reduced cooldown.

• Aether is mainly an option if specifically running Winter Cecilia alongside Brave Lucina with her refined weapon.

Passive A: Close Counter

• Being able to retaliate against melee threats is vitally important for Winter Cecilia to safely tackle Aether Raids defense setups, so Close Counter is a must.

Passive B: Special Fighter / Special Spiral

• One of the biggest benefits of being an armor is having access to Special Fighter - increased Special charge gain on all attacks makes it significantly easier for Winter Cecilia to repeatedly activate her Special.

• Special Spiral is an interesting alternative that allows Winter Cecilia to utilize other Weapon/Special combinations, such as Lethal Carrot/Sol and Barb Shuriken/Aether (specifically if running her along with Brave Lucina with her refined weapon). 

Passive C: Pulse Smoke / Atk Smoke

• Pulse Smoke is an incredibly potent skill that allows Winter Cecilia to single-handedly shut down Infantry Pulse-based defense setups.

• Atk Smoke is a decent budget option for reducing incoming damage if Pulse Smoke is unavailable.

Sacred Seal: Fierce Stance / Quick Riposte

• Fierce Stance is the ideal Seal for this build as increasing Winter Cecilia’s damage gives her the best chance of KO’ing her opponent in one hit to minimize incoming damage and maximize healing.

• Quick Riposte is a decent alternative for situations when Winter Cecilia may not be able to KO her opponents in one hit, particularly if she doesn’t have access to Lethal Carrot.

Weapon: Broadleaf Fan+ (+Atk) / Pumpkin-a-Box+ (+Atk) / Scallop Blade+ (+Atk)

• Unfortunately, all the best generic daggers for vantage builds are seasonal, making them harder to obtain than most other weapons.

• Broadleaf Fan is by far the best option, allowing Winter Cecilia to stack huge damage bonuses via debuffing her opponents.

• Pumpkin-a-Box and Scallop Blade are the next best options, providing notable damage boosts - but nowhere near as much as Broadleaf Fan.

Assist: Swap / Pivot

Special: Moonbow / Miracle

• Since most of Winter Cecilia’s damage comes from her weapon, her Special isn’t particularly important. However, Moonbow can help give her an extra bit of damage she may need to finish off a tankier opponent.

• Alternatively, Miracle offers an opportunity for Winter Cecilia to not get punished for immediately KO’ing an opponent through Vantage, offering her a level of protection.

Passive A: Close Counter

• Since the point of this build is to be able to tackle an entire team at once, Close Counter is a must to ensure that Winter Cecilia can handle melee threats.

Passive B: Vantage

• Vantage is the key to this build, as it allows Winter Cecilia to circumvent needing to tank hits from otherwise dangerous threats.

Passive C: Atk Smoke / Spd Smoke / Pulse Smoke

• Combining the base debuff from Broadleaf Fan with Atk Smoke and Spd Smoke from Winter Cecilia’s C skill and Sacred Seal allow her to apply debuffs to all four stats, maximizing her damage.

• Alternatively, Pulse Smoke is a very strong option (regardless of whether utilizing Broadleaf Fan or not) to shut down enemy Specials, which is still important for a Vantage unit because sometimes getting hit is unavoidable.

Sacred Seal: Spd Smoke / Atk Smoke / Armored Boots / Brazen Atk/Spd / Fierce Stance

• Using either the Spd Smoke or Atk Smoke Seal (whichever isn’t being used as Winter Cecilia’s C skill) will complete her coverage for Broadleaf Fan.

• Alternatively, Armored Boots can help initially cover for the fact that Winter Cecilia is an armored unit and will therefore struggle getting into position.

• Finally, Brazen Seals like Brazen Atk/Spd or the Fierce Stance Seal are good options for additional damage if not utilizing Broadleaf Fan or if mass debuffing is already covered by an ally.

Weapon: Barb Shuriken (+Def/+Res) / The Cleaner+ (+Def/+Res) / Flexible

• Winter Cecilia’s choice of weapon varies greatly based on the context she’s in. For general purposes, Barb Shuriken is always a safe bet.

• For Aether Raids defense setups, alternative daggers like The Cleaner can be devastatingly powerful. Some other strong options include Ouch Pouch, Dragonslasher, Bottled Juice, Temari, or Sky Maiougi.

Assist: Swap / Pivot

Special: Glacies / Luna / Moonbow / Ruptured Sky

• Winter Cecilia’s Special will also vary heavily depending on which weapon she is using and the context she’s in. Glacies is a good choice to pair with Barb Shuriken for a general purpose build.

• Luna, Moonbow, and Ruptured Sky are all more specialized options that are better suited for something like Aether Raids defense.

Passive A: Close Counter / Death Blow (3 or 4)

• Close Counter is vitally important for a mixed phase setup, in order to ensure that Winter Cecilia will be able to retaliate against melee threats.

• However, for a stronger raw damage threat, Death Blow is a good choice (particularly in Aether Raids defense).

Passive B: Bold Fighter

• Winter Cecilia’s base Speed is low enough that she’s likely not going to be able to naturally double most opponents, so Bold Fighter is a fantastic choice for her.

Passive C: Atk Smoke / Flexible

• Winter Cecilia’s C skill isn’t particularly important for this build, so it can be replaced as needed to suit the team.

Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte / Sturdy Blow / Quickened Pulse

• For a mixed phase setup, Quick Riposte is a must in order to allow Winter Cecilia to double most opponents on Enemy Phase despite her poor Speed.

• Sturdy Blow and Quickened Pulse are both good options to otherwise increase Winter Cecilia’s damage potential for something like Aether Raids defense.