Frederick, Polite Knight

[Anacybele]

Frederick, Polite Knight

Frederick is one of the units available in the game at launch. He's one of only three axe wielding cavaliers in the game as well, making him very useful for horse teams that need an axe. For a long time, he also had the highest base Atk and Def of any cavalier unit and still has the highest Atk among them. Only Xander has higher base Def. +Def Frederick has one of the highest base Def stats period. Overall, he is the definition of a physical tank and can either wall a lot of attacks or rush in and hit like a truck. His Spd is average, and his Res is very poor. If you use him against mages, make sure he attacks and kills them first. He's strong enough to one-round a lot of them since they tend to have low Def. On occasion, he can take one hit from them, however.

His base weapon is the hammer, which does bonus damage versus armors. This makes him a good option for fighting armor teams if he keeps the hammer. He shines the most when used on horse teams with allies that can buff him with Hone Cavalry or Fortify Cavalry, particularly both. He should also carry a cavalier boosting skill himself to help his horse allies, though he does not come with one naturally. He does come with Fortify Defense though, so he can learn Fortify Cavalry easily. Hone Cavalry is not a bad option for him either, however.

Enemies to be Frederick the Wary of, however, include mainly mages, particularly red ones and speedy green ones. Linde and Delthea are two of the few blue mages that can one-round him as well. Reinhardt can sometimes kill him too, but sometimes not. Though that's because he's freaking Reinhardt. Frederick can one-shot almost any blue mage if he gets to them first though, so they're still less of a threat.

5 Star Lv. 40 Stats:
HP: 40/43/46
Atk: 32/35/38
Spd: 22/25/29
Def: 33/36/39
Res: 11/14/18

Stat Total: 153/154

Default Skills:

Weapon: Hammer+
Assist: [N/A]
Special: Luna
Passive A: [N/A]
Passive B: Wings of Mercy
Passive C: Fortify Defense

Iron Knight (Enemy Phase/Defense Build)

Spoiler

Nature: +Def, -Res/-Spd

Slaying Axe+ with Def forge
Reposition/Swap
Ignis/Bonfire
Steady Stance 3
Quick Reposte 3
Hone Cavalry/Fortify Cavalry/[flexible Passive C]
Def+3/Close Defense 3

This pretty much turns Freddy into the ultimate tank on a horse. His Def can reach 50 or more with merges with this build, particularly if a summoner S support is added as well, but this of course, isn't necessary.

Reposition - This may be more personal preference, but I find that Reposition tends to get allies out of danger more often than Swap, especially when horse units like Frederick use it. Swap feels more situational, but can still work since Frederick's job is to be a physical wall with this build, meaning he can change places with a more vulnerable unit so he can take the hit and tank it instead.

Ignis - Slaying Axe turns Ignis into a 3 cooldown skill, allowing Frederick to proc it faster, and with as ridiculously high as his Def stat is here, it will do massive damage, enough to kill even some sword units. With QR3 on enemy phase, he can proc it in one turn at times.

Steady Stance 3 - Steady Stance 3 adds 6 more Def on enemy phase!

Def+3 -This is really just personal preference, I think both it and Close Defense would work equally well, honestly. Additional defense definitely doesn't hurt here!

Pick a God and Pray! (Player Phase/Offense Build)

Spoiler

Nature: +Atk, -Res/-Spd/-HP

Brave Axe+
Reposition/Swap
Bonfire/Aether/Moonbow
Death Blow 3
Axebreaker 3/Lancebreaker 3/Wings of Mercy 3
Hone Cavalry/Fortify Cavalry/[flexible Passive C]
Atk+3/Heavy Blade

This build turns Frederick into an offensive powerhouse that will kill a lot of things on player phase.

Brave Axe+ - Allows Frederick to always hit twice on player phase and do more damage.

Bonfire - Ignis could still work here too, but Bonfire would probably get proc'd a little more often due to the effect of slaying weapons not being here this time. Aether and Moonbow should be considered for arena scoring if the Heavy Blade seal is to be used.

Death Blow 3 - Adds to the attack power on player phase, doing lots more damage.

Axebreaker 3 - Frederick will have an advantage against lance wielders and axe wielders with this, though Lancebreaker is fine too. Keeping his base Wings of Mercy can also let him save some allies. He'll quad some units too!

Atk+3 - Adds even MORE attack power! Heavy Blade will let higher arena scoring skills like Aether proc faster.

Speeding Tank (Speed Build? You'd better believe it!)

Spoiler

Nature: +Spd, -Res/-HP

Slaying Axe+ with Speed forge
Reposition/Swap
Luna/Bonfire/Ignis/Moonbow/Aether
Fury 3/Life and Death 3
Renewal 3/Brash Assault 3/Desperation 3/Hit and Run/Wings of Mercy 3/[flexible B Passive]
Fortify Cavalry/Hone Cavalry/[flexible C Passive]
Spd+3

Yes, Frederick can surprisingly be fast! With +Spd he has 29 speed at base, which becomes 38 with the additional speed added by some of the skills above! With buffs and merges, that goes even higher!

Luna/Bonfire/Ignis - Frederick's natural Luna or the Def based specials are probably preferred, but the other specials I listed definitely work here too.

Fury - Great on lots of units, this adds the needed speed for this build. Life and Death 3 can work too, if you don't mind lowering Freddy's defenses.

Renewal 3 - Helps recover the Fury damage! Brash Assault and Desperation are fine options as well since they synergize with Fury. Wings of Mercy and Hit and Run can work too. Really, lots of things can go in this slot for this build, though a few are probably slightly better than others.

Fortify Cavalry - Probably the better option here for Frederick since he wants his ally to give him speed buffs with skills like Hone Cavalry. But Hone Cavalry itself and some other buffing skills can work fine too.

Spd+3 - Always need the extra speed for a speed build!

Armor Slayer (Budget Build)

Spoiler

Nature: +Atk/+Def, -Res/-Spd/-HP

Slaying Hammer+ with Atk or Def forge
Reposition/Swap
Luna/Bonfire/Ignis
Atk+3/Def+3
Axebreaker 3/Lancebreaker 3/Wings of Mercy 3
Hone Cavalry/Fortify Cavalry
Atk+3/Def+3

This is a less expensive but still effective build that can work okay despite not being the strongest. All of these skills should be easy to get since they either come from 3-4 star units or are skills Frederick already has naturally. All you need is enough SP!

Anyone that has other build ideas to add to this post, feel free to let me know and I'll credit you. :)

Edited February 2, 2018 by Anacybele

[Emerson]

8 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Steady Stance 3 - Steady Breath technically would let Frederick tank more on enemy phase AND proc Ignis faster, but Steady Stance 3 is easier to access due to the Black Knight being a free unit and Steady Breath only being available on CYL/Brave Ike.

Quick reminder that Steady Breath is locked to Melee Infantry and Armor units only. Unfortunately, Frederick cannot have Steady Breath.

[Anacybele]

1 minute ago, Emerson said:

Quick reminder that Steady Breath is locked to Melee Infantry and Armor units only. Unfortunately, Frederick cannot have Steady Breath.

Oh, yes, that's right. Blame Arcanite for bringing it up while we were discussing Frederick builds awhile back. lol I'll edit that out.

[XRay]

22 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Pick a God and Pray! (Player Phase/Offense Build)

You may also want to consider Heavy Blade-Aether/Moonbow for scoring or potentially activating Specials twice (!!!) in one round with the right Breaker.

I second Wings of Mercy; it is great especially with Player Phase Desperation teammates, as it can reduce the team's reliance on Dancers/Singers. With the right teammates, I do not think Frederick really needs a combat B slot since anything he cannot kill in two hits should probably be handled by a teammate anyways.

Edited February 2, 2018 by XRay

[Anacybele]

1 minute ago, XRay said:

You may also want to consider Heavy Blade-Aether/Moonbow for scoring or potentially activating Specials twice (!!!) in one round with the right Breaker.

I second Wings of Mercy; it is great especially with Player Phase Desperation teammates, as it can reduce the team's reliance on Dancers/Singers. With the right teammates, I do not think Frederick needs a combat B slot since anything he cannot kill in two hits should probably be handled by a teammate anyways.

Not bad ideas! Thanks. :) This is my first time making a thread like this, so I'll take all the advice I can get.

[Johann]

Wings of Mercy on a beast like Frederick is pretty potent on defensive teams, too.

Quickened Pulse + Heavy Blade + Galeforce + Brave Axe could work quite well in Arena settings. Alternatively, a bulkier Frederick like yours could perhaps as easily get the cooldown on Galeforce just from taking hits without a scratch.

For Support partners, I have him with Ursula, though I generally think any mage cavalry makes a powerful partner.

[Anacybele]

8 minutes ago, Johann said:

Wings of Mercy on a beast like Frederick is pretty potent on defensive teams, too.

Quickened Pulse + Heavy Blade + Galeforce + Brave Axe could work quite well in Arena settings. Alternatively, a bulkier Frederick like yours could perhaps as easily get the cooldown on Galeforce just from taking hits without a scratch.

For Support partners, I have him with Ursula, though I generally think any mage cavalry makes a powerful partner.

Yeah, not bad ideas, but I love the insane damage Ignis does. XD I guess this is down to personal preference though.

Oh yeah, Frederick likes magic partners the most, I think, since they tend to have high Res and can bait mages away from him if need be. Though I S supported him with Seth, I often pair him with Reinhardt too, as all three are my main horse team along with Abel.

On non-horse teams though, I like using him with a high-Res ally or two.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Anacybele

[Johann]

2 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Yeah, not bad ideas, but I love the insane damage Ignis does. XD I guess this is down to personal preference though.

Oh yeah, Frederick likes magic partners the most, I think, since they tend to have high Res and can bait mages away from him if need be. Though I S supported him with Seth, I often pair him with Reinhardt too, as all three are my main horse team along with Abel.

On non-horse teams though, I like using him with a high-Res ally or two.

Yeah, I guess it's a matter of either squeezing in an extra kill with Galeforce, or killing someone he normally wouldn't with Ignis. Even with Bonfire, I usually don't get to use his special or even need it when I do if I'm running him in Arena with a proper team.

[Anacybele]

1 minute ago, Johann said:

Yeah, I guess it's a matter of either squeezing in an extra kill with Galeforce, or killing someone he normally wouldn't with Ignis. Even with Bonfire, I usually don't get to use his special or even need it when I do if I'm running him in Arena with a proper team.

Yep, pretty much.

[Frosty]

Ahh... Speedy Frederick or as I nickname it... "Horse Emblem Minerva: Frederick Edition!"

While mine is neutral; I will be merging him on a +SPD Frederick. Can't say no to tank that can reach 48 SPD with full Cavalry boosting shenanigans.

That variant also has a Player-phase version that uses Life and Death 3 instead of Fury which can hit 40 SPD (50 with Hone+Goad combo). Now that's where he needs to be really wary of mages and manaketes.

Neutral's not bad; but still going to merge him since mine is sitting at 34 base SPD (44 with full Cavalry boosting shenanigans.). Also mine is partnered with Ursula.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Frosty

[Ice Dragon]

Frederick still has a respectable 31 Def with Life and Death 3 equipped, and it's now a skill available at 4-star rarity due to Sothe. I think Life and Death 3 can use a mention in the Spd build since that brings him up to 46 Spd after a Hone Cavalry buff (40 Spd unbuffed).

[Anacybele]

2 hours ago, Ice Dragon said:

Frederick still has a respectable 31 Def with Life and Death 3 equipped, and it's now a skill available at 4-star rarity due to Sothe. I think Life and Death 3 can use a mention in the Spd build since that brings him up to 46 Spd after a Hone Cavalry buff (40 Spd unbuffed).

Yeah, that is true. I considered it, but wasn't sure if lowering his defenses was the best idea since his res already sucks regardless. But sure, I'll mention that!

[Johann]

Hmm... Frederick's a good candidate for Earth Blessing and a pretty natural compliment to Vanguard Ike, especially since he can get a lot out of Def Tactic.

[Anacybele]

Yeah, but I'd like to give mine a fire blessing because of his thing for fire. lol Hopefully the first fire legendary hero we get is a cool one that would go well with him too!

[Johann]

5 hours ago, Anacybele said:

Yeah, but I'd like to give mine a fire blessing because of his thing for fire. lol Hopefully the first fire legendary hero we get is a cool one that would go well with him too!

Ah, but let us not forget his thing for pebbles! Waiting to see what the Fire hero is like is a pretty prudent move though.

[Anacybele]

7 hours ago, Johann said:

Ah, but let us not forget his thing for pebbles! Waiting to see what the Fire hero is like is a pretty prudent move though.

I know. lol But I also don't have any earth blessings anymore since the only one I got went to Summer Freddy. :P He works well with RD Ike too though!

[Rezzy]

Looks like my Brave Frederick is pretty similar, with Brave Axe+, Swap, Luna, Death Blow 3, WoM3, and Fortify Cavalry.

I tend to switch my Seals around a lot, but when he gets one, it's usually +Atk.

I should probably replace Luna with Bonfire, I've just been lazy since mine is -Def, and he comes with Luna natively.  I think if I merge him, it will give him +1 to HP and Atk.

[Arcanite]

On 2/1/2018 at 9:29 PM, Anacybele said:

Blame Arcanite

Arcanite is the new Takumi confirmed

I didnt realize you made a build page for Frederick 

I gotta say you did a pretty excellent job on these builds... nice 
You definitely know your freddy inside and out lol

[Anacybele]

6 minutes ago, Arcanite said:

Arcanite is the new Takumi confirmed

I didnt realize you made a build page for Frederick 

I gotta say you did a pretty excellent job on these builds... nice 
You definitely know your freddy inside and out lol

Sorry. XD

And yeah, I did wind up studying him a lot more than I thought I would. lol Now I just need to learn more about Summer Freddy so I can make a thread for him!