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Magic Edelgard build ideas


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So I'm thinking of branching off into a different class path for Edelgard on my second CF run, since I went the boring Emperor route the first time. I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge fan of Wyvern Lords, so instead I've been trying to find a way to put that budding talent of hers to good use and do a magic-focused build. She gets some pretty nice spells from her Reason list, and even a couple of good white magic options even though I'll have to push her through that Faith weakness to get them. Nothing quite like what Lysithea or Dorothea gets, unfortunately. But still a strong list of spells: Fire, Bolganone, Luna Λ, Hades Ω, Heal, Nosferatu, Recover and Seraphim along with a Levin Sword+ and Hexblade. Now I've been shuffling back and forth on what her best magic class would be. But, leaving out Mortal Savant for obvious reasons (heh), it looks like she has three options that stand out from the rest: Dark Flier, Dark Knight and Gremory.

Dark Flier's the class that jumped out at me first, since it's easier to get into than the other two on top of being a flying class. It's only drawback is the lack of Dark Tomefaire, so only Fire and Bolganone are getting a boost. But El might be able to get some pretty decent mileage out of Transmute between her own res and stat bonuses from being in a magic class (and likely Pegasus Knight as well). Dark Flier's high movement and flight would also make it easy for her to stay close to my Falcon Knight Byleth and build support.

Dark Knight has both Dark and Black Tomefaire, but at the cost of flight. It's also a master class, so she won't have it as early on as Dark Flier. Overall though, she'll be dealing more damage with all her Reason spells while still having high movement and Canto. But I don't know if giving up flight is worth it, especially if Byleth's a flier and she isn't.

And then Gremory has no -faire skills at all, with low movement and no Canto unless I give her the Fetters of Dromi. Even with double usage on all her spells, this seems like her weakest option.

Going off of everything I just said, I'll probably build my El with Dark Flier in mind for the endgame. Something like this, while also getting her the Dancer cert.

Monk > Mage (Master) > Pegasus Knight (Master) > Valkyrie (Master) > Dark Flier

Which gives her Fiendish Blow, Darting Blow, Uncanny Blow, Sword Avoid +20 and Weight -5 if I buy back her A+ in Heavy Armor. And then I'll just hand her the Caduceus Staff and she'll be good to go. Valkyrie's definitely a bit out-of-the-way compared to something like Warlock but I'd rather pick up Uncanny Blow than Bowbreaker, since El shouldn't be engaging archers at all as a flier.

How does this look for a magic El build? Does Dark Flier seem like the best choice for an endgame class? Any other skills you think I should get along with/instead of these?

Spoiler

Yes, I'm prepared to feed her lots of Magic Herbs and Spirit Dust haha

 

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When I did my first CF run back in November or so, I also went for a Magelgard build. Because the DLC hadn’t been released yet, Dark Flier wasn’t an option for me. I opted to go Dark Knight, and it worked quite well for me. It actually has a magic modifier, unlike Dark Flier, she has a faire skill she can utilise. 
The other thing DK has for it is higher strength, letting Edelgard still use Aymr and Raging Storm effectively. Especially if you’re not on Maddening, she can one shot enemies with raging storm and then take another one out with her magic from a distance. Higher strength also helps offset the weight of her spells, so there’s also that.

As for your abilities, I’m a little confused as to why she has Sword Avo over something like reason prowess, and even something like Mag +2. I’d personally recommend substituting both of those for Sword Avo and Weight -5. You could also add axe prowess (to boost Raging Storm’s hit if it’s too inaccurate for your taste) or even black magic crit +10 instead of weight -5 (my magelgard was doubling enemies fairly consistently on hard mode, and she didn’t even have darting blow).

Anyway, good luck with the run!

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I'd argue Great Knight would be a good choice as a endgame class if you're playing NG +.

That may seem contradictory if you want a magic class, but it's true. Lighting Axe with something as basic as a Silver Axe + already outdamages Hades without even accounting for the 30% Res Scaling, while the Bolt Axe + provides good 3 range without having to use a +Range Magic staff. 

Sure, it doesn't have Flight, but that actually leads into it's second advantage, Ground based Battalions. With Dark Flier, you're effectively locked to one battalion, Nuvelle Filers, which doesn't give the best Hit or Protection in the world. With something like Superme Armored Corp on the other hand Edelgard can dish out damage and take it. It also makes it much easier for Hubert to Adjutant her if you're not using him.

While the -4 Speed Penalty might be a turn off, it really doesn't matter on Maddening Mode. Enemies are going to be too fast to double even with Darting Blow unless you saddle them with a lot of speed carrots and cooked bullheads. Even then, it's not likely she'll be able to one round without a bunch of premium magic herbs. One shoting is always the way to go with mages. 

If I had to recommend a class path, it'd be: Monk -> Armor Knight (for 12 base Defense) -> Mage -> Warlock (for 17 Base Magic) -> Valkyrie -> Great Knight. Axe Prowess, Uncanny Blow, Fiendish Blow, Magic +2 are the skills I'd recommend. 

Edited by LoneRecon400
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Why Sword Avoid +20? If she's generally using spells, then it's of no use to her. And if she's generally using swords, then she wants to be in a Swordfaire class, and doesn't need Caduceus. 

I would say Reason Prowess, Fiendish Blow, Darting Blow, Magic+2, and Weight-5 is a solid skillset. Possibly with Uncanny Blow, Transmute, or Bowbreaker slotting in for one of the skillslots. And Dark Magic Range +1, if you can reach it. I think any of the classes you outlined would work fine for her.

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Outside of Gremory, Edelgard will only have 3 hits of her best spells, leaving most of her magical damage dealing to Bolganone/Seraphim/magical weapons/Lightning Axe. Assuming this is Maddening and she isn't likely to double, this means she'll be limited to chip damage for much of the game. In which case, sticking around in Valkyrie for 4 range with Caduceus seems like a decent idea. This way Edelgard can fill your magical sniper niche, and you don't have to be too concerned about overall damage output (because the mag sniper is mainly looking to deal good chip damage). I'm assuming you left out Reason Prowess because you had Uncanny Blow, but in that case you want to be doubly sure Edelgard is far from enemies (because she won't have the Avo/Crit Avo benefits from Prowess) meaning Valkyrie is the safest bet.

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11 hours ago, LoneRecon400 said:

I'd argue Great Knight would be a good choice as a endgame class if you're playing NG +.

That may seem contradictory if you want a magic class, but it's true. Lighting Axe with something as basic as a Silver Axe + already outdamages Hades without even accounting for the 30% Res Scaling, while the Bolt Axe + provides good 3 range without having to use a +Range Magic staff. 

Sure, it doesn't have Flight, but that actually leads into it's second advantage, Ground based Battalions. With Dark Flier, you're effectively locked to one battalion, Nuvelle Filers, which doesn't give the best Hit or Protection in the world. With something like Superme Armored Corp on the other hand Edelgard can dish out damage and take it. It also makes it much easier for Hubert to Adjutant her if you're not using him.

While the -4 Speed Penalty might be a turn off, it really doesn't matter on Maddening Mode. Enemies are going to be too fast to double even with Darting Blow unless you saddle them with a lot of speed carrots and cooked bullheads. Even then, it's not likely she'll be able to one round without a bunch of premium magic herbs. One shoting is always the way to go with mages. 

If I had to recommend a class path, it'd be: Monk -> Armor Knight (for 12 base Defense) -> Mage -> Warlock (for 17 Base Magic) -> Valkyrie -> Great Knight. Axe Prowess, Uncanny Blow, Fiendish Blow, Magic +2 are the skills I'd recommend. 

I haven't heard such great things about Great Knight or Supreme Armored Co, tbh...

14 hours ago, Anathaco said:

When I did my first CF run back in November or so, I also went for a Magelgard build. Because the DLC hadn’t been released yet, Dark Flier wasn’t an option for me. I opted to go Dark Knight, and it worked quite well for me. It actually has a magic modifier, unlike Dark Flier, she has a faire skill she can utilise. 
The other thing DK has for it is higher strength, letting Edelgard still use Aymr and Raging Storm effectively. Especially if you’re not on Maddening, she can one shot enemies with raging storm and then take another one out with her magic from a distance. Higher strength also helps offset the weight of her spells, so there’s also that.

As for your abilities, I’m a little confused as to why she has Sword Avo over something like reason prowess, and even something like Mag +2. I’d personally recommend substituting both of those for Sword Avo and Weight -5. You could also add axe prowess (to boost Raging Storm’s hit if it’s too inaccurate for your taste) or even black magic crit +10 instead of weight -5 (my magelgard was doubling enemies fairly consistently on hard mode, and she didn’t even have darting blow).

Anyway, good luck with the run!

Your're right, I completely forgot about Reason Prowess! I can definitely swap out Sword Avo for that. I don't really see the point of Aymr on a magic build though. I never actually needed Raging Storm outside of the final boss and Marianne's paralogue on my first run. And if I give her a crest sign, she's got Blutgang at her disposal on top of a Levin Sword and her spells. Those seem like better weapons in this case since I don't think Aymr scales off magic at all.

Weight -5 was just because most of her spells are strong, but heavy. That's why I'm getting Darting Blow too. But if you think Darting Blow alone is enough, then Mag +2 is always welcome.

Dark Flier does have Black Tomefaire, though. It just doesn't have Dark Tomefaire. Dark Knight's slightly better damage-wise but I'd rather have El be able to stay close to Flyleth in part 2 where there's a lot of maps that fliers can navigate more easily. I don't think Dark Tomefaire's worth losing flight over.

6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Why Sword Avoid +20? If she's generally using spells, then it's of no use to her. And if she's generally using swords, then she wants to be in a Swordfaire class, and doesn't need Caduceus. 

I would say Reason Prowess, Fiendish Blow, Darting Blow, Magic+2, and Weight-5 is a solid skillset. Possibly with Uncanny Blow, Transmute, or Bowbreaker slotting in for one of the skillslots. And Dark Magic Range +1, if you can reach it. I think any of the classes you outlined would work fine for her.

Okay, I'm finally giving up on Sword Avo lol I've tried to shoehorn it onto enough builds now to know that it's not nearly as useful as it sounds. Guess there's gonna be lots of tea, charm boosters and hip-swinging in Linhardt's future haha

That skillset seems exactly like what I'm looking for. You'd suggest I keep both Darting Blow and Weight -5? Or should I drop Weight -5 for Uncanny Blow? I can always boost her speed with items like I did for Emperor if she's having trouble doubling.

Btw, I'm on hard, not maddening. Maddening sounds like about as much fun as Silver Snow, imo.

Edited by RainbowMoon
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13 minutes ago, RainbowMoon said:

Your're right, I completely forgot about Reason Prowess! I can definitely swap out Sword Avo for that. I don't really see the point of Aymr on a magic build though. I never actually needed Raging Storm outside of the final boss and Marianne's paralogue on my first run. And if I give her a crest sign, she's got Blutgang at her disposal on top of a Levin Sword and her spells. Those seem like better weapons in this case since I don't think Aymr scales off magic at all.

Weight -5 was just because most of her spells are strong, but heavy. That's why I'm getting Darting Blow too. But if you think Darting Blow alone is enough, then Mag +2 is always welcome.

Dark Flier does have Black Tomefaire, though. It just doesn't have Dark Tomefaire. Dark Knight's slightly better damage-wise but I'd rather have El be able to stay close to Flyleth in part 2 where there's a lot of maps that fliers can navigate more easily. I don't think Dark Tomefaire's worth losing flight over

The main reason I suggested keeping Aymr was that Edelgard will still have good strength even on a pure magic path. I personally used it a fair bit even with Magelgard, but it’s not necessary by any means.

I had similar reasoning behind weight -5- her strength will be high enough to at least partially offset the high weight of her spells. Considering that getting it, at least in this case, is as simple as spending renown, you can always grab it and see if it makes a difference or if the extra speed is overkill. It depends on how Edelgard levels up.

Touche on Black Tomefaire- I forgot that Edelgard learned black magic spells. Dark Knight will still provide higher damage even for fire and bolganone, (DK gives +2 to magic while DF doesn’t affect it at all), though flight is a very valid reason to go dark flier instead (and arguably even with dark magic +7 damage still pales in comparison to flight). She should still deal good damage regardless of what class she ends in.

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1 hour ago, RainbowMoon said:

I haven't heard such great things about Great Knight.

Btw, I'm on hard, not maddening. Maddening sounds like about as much fun as Silver Snow, imo.

Main reason why you don't hear good things about it are it's Skill Rank Requirements and Speed Penalty. But NG+ eases upon the requirements and Maddening makes the Speed Penalty not matter much.

If you're playing on Hard, than it really doesn't matter what you do, al pretty much all your units will be one rounding if built properly. Just be aware that even on Maddening, It can't beat the power of Favoritism.

Edited by LoneRecon400
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2 hours ago, Anathaco said:

The main reason I suggested keeping Aymr was that Edelgard will still have good strength even on a pure magic path. I personally used it a fair bit even with Magelgard, but it’s not necessary by any means.

I had similar reasoning behind weight -5- her strength will be high enough to at least partially offset the high weight of her spells. Considering that getting it, at least in this case, is as simple as spending renown, you can always grab it and see if it makes a difference or if the extra speed is overkill. It depends on how Edelgard levels up.

Touche on Black Tomefaire- I forgot that Edelgard learned black magic spells. Dark Knight will still provide higher damage even for fire and bolganone, (DK gives +2 to magic while DF doesn’t affect it at all), though flight is a very valid reason to go dark flier instead (and arguably even with dark magic +7 damage still pales in comparison to flight). She should still deal good damage regardless of what class she ends in.

True, Weight -5 isn't a huge investment since I'm on NG+ and I can always just use it in the beginning until she gets Darting Blow. I'm hoping she'll be able to double with Darting alone though so I can use Uncanny too.

I might stick with my Dark Flier idea then. The extra damage would definitely be useful but flight's just too good to pass up. The class outfit's also a lot more elegant and regal-looking than Dark Knight's, so it'll suit El much better.

Thanks everyone for your advice!

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I actually did use a mage Edelgard for my first playthrough. 

Though this was before the release of the deal sees in her final class became Mortal Savant because she lacked high skill in riding and it is very difficult to get her with enough faith for gremory. 

But I did also make her the dancer after mastering the mage class. They are still capable of using magic and if you are planning to use a levin sword, dancer, provides a combat art that scales with her charisma, and Edelgard has the highest charisma growth in the game. She doesn't even have to really and much time as a dancer as she just needs to qualify for the combat art.

Thing with Edelgard as a mage is that she will be relatively bulky and have quite a decent strength growth anyway in comparison to other mages. So, she is a natural fit for a warrior mage. Someone capable of dealing both magical and physical damage. 

I just wish that the emperor class played more into this role as it is what makes Edelgard unique in comparison to the other Lords. Unlike Dimitri and Claude she actually has a decent potential for magic as well as significantly higher resistance growth.

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3 hours ago, Darkmoon6789 said:

Thing with Edelgard as a mage is that she will be relatively bulky and have quite a decent strength growth anyway in comparison to other mages. So, she is a natural fit for a warrior mage. Someone capable of dealing both magical and physical damage. 

I just wish that the emperor class played more into this role as it is what makes Edelgard unique in comparison to the other Lords. Unlike Dimitri and Claude she actually has a decent potential for magic as well as significantly higher resistance growth.

Not to mention that even as Emperor her only way to use her magic stat is either the Lightning Axe combat art which she gets at rank A or if she uses a forged Bolt Axe. Even by then her only way of hitting with either move is if she masters the Archer class for Hit +20. Though she has a bane in bow and arrow s that will take longer (though thankfully not impossible) for her to get there. As far as her resistance growth, the only niche set up I can think of maximizing her magic resistance is mastering the lord class to get resistance +2, have someone with rally resistance and then have her wait to get a res +4 adding it all up for her to get a whooping Resistance +10 when waiting. This in theory makes her a big magic sponge if you're having her draw in warlocks and such.

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I always make her a dark flier actually, keeping her axe rank up so she can also use the bolt axe.

In my most recent one I had her in the lord class, but she does fine as a peg knight.

Fire and Bolganone are her most useful spells imo. She can't really take characters out in one hit with Hades (which has only two uses).

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On 8/31/2020 at 6:45 PM, Barren said:

Not to mention that even as Emperor her only way to use her magic stat is either the Lightning Axe combat art which she gets at rank A or if she uses a forged Bolt Axe. Even by then her only way of hitting with either move is if she masters the Archer class for Hit +20. Though she has a bane in bow and arrow s that will take longer (though thankfully not impossible) for her to get there. As far as her resistance growth, the only niche set up I can think of maximizing her magic resistance is mastering the lord class to get resistance +2, have someone with rally resistance and then have her wait to get a res +4 adding it all up for her to get a whooping Resistance +10 when waiting. This in theory makes her a big magic sponge if you're having her draw in warlocks and such.

I wanted to correct myself on something, I thought that Edelgard's personal ability post timeskip would stack with rally resistance. It doesn't. Because like Dedue's ability, it's a self rally when you wait so my bad on that. Still, the possibility of having Resistance +2 and her +4 Res when waiting still has her taking magic hits decently. Though you can access a similar combo with Dedue much earlier on Blue Lions

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31 minutes ago, Barren said:

I wanted to correct myself on something, I thought that Edelgard's personal ability post timeskip would stack with rally resistance. It doesn't. Because like Dedue's ability, it's a self rally when you wait so my bad on that. Still, the possibility of having Resistance +2 and her +4 Res when waiting still has her taking magic hits decently. Though you can access a similar combo with Dedue much earlier on Blue Lions

This got me curious, although I doubt if it'd be an efficient move, does Ward or Pure Water stack with her personal ability? For example, using Pure Water in the first turn, then in the next turn have her wait and cast Ward on her?

Edited by DriftingWaterBottle
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3 hours ago, DriftingWaterBottle said:

This got me curious, although I doubt if it'd be an efficient move, does Ward or Pure Water stack with her personal ability? For example, using Pure Water in the first turn, then in the next turn have her wait and cast Ward on her?

I think Ward or Pure Water can stack with her waiting and gaining res +4. I haven't tried it out as of yet but I am currently in my Black Eagles run so if I ever get the chance, I will see how it goes. I'm not normal mode currently since I'm just experimenting around with class ideas at the moment.

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