Overview

Flier teams have a myriad of buffs which allow them to perform well in any given situation. The most core buffs are of course, Hone and Fortify Fliers, though fliers are also very good at utilizing their unique movement to stack buffs like Goad and Ward fliers. In addition, fliers also come with several weapons and skills available to them that can further buff their teammates, such as Camilla’s Axe, Hagoita, Kadomatsu, and Link skills.

Who has buffs and what do they do?

Hone Fliers is only available on 5 star fliers, namely Hinoka, Halloween Nowi, New Year Azura, and Summer Camilla. Of these fliers, only one of them is not seasonal-locked, and so Hone Fliers is unfortunately one of the rarest buff skills in the game. By contrast, Fortify Fliers can be found on the 3 star Caeda and the 5 star Summer Corrin, making it far more accessible. Hone and Fortify Fliers buff Atk/Spd and Def/Res by +6/+6 on-screen buffs respectively, meaning that only the highest buff to any stat will apply. The units also have to begin their turns next to one another for the buff to be applied.

Goad Fliers is also found on the 3 star Palla, tying it with Fortify Fliers as the most accessible buff skill. It’s also on Summer Innes and Spring Kagero. Meanwhile, Ward Fliers was previously 5 star locked on Minerva and New Year Camilla, but can now be found on the 4 star Shigure. Goad and Ward Fliers buff Atk/Spd and Def/Res by +4/+4 “in-combat” buffs, meaning that these buffs can be stacked as long as the subject is within 2 tiles of the units with the buffs.

Buff Application

For example, if you were to run Cordelia with Hinoka and New Year Azura and placed both units with Hone Fliers next to Cordelia at the beginning of their turn, Cordelia would only get +6 Atk/+6 Spd. However, if you placed Palla and Hinoka next to Cordelia, then you would get +10 Atk/+10 Spd when entering combat, though tapping Cordelia’s stats would only show +6/+6. And finally, if you placed three Pallas around Cordelia, you would receive +12/+12 in-combat, though Cordelia’s stats outside of combat would not show anything at all.

Here, Cordelia only starts with +6/+6 to Attack and Speed, despite beginning her turn next to Hinoka and New Year Azura, who both have Hone Fliers.

Cordelia begins an attack! Here, she does 42 damage when she is buffed by Hinoka’s Hone Fliers and outside of Palla’s Goad Fliers range.

Here, she does 46 damage! This is because she is within 2 tiles of Palla, who has the Goad Fliers skill.

Here is an example of how the Goad Fliers (and Ward Fliers) skill works. Every unit within the red boxes will get an invisible +4/+4 to Attack and Speed when in combat. This means that in this image Hinoka gets a buff, but Cordelia and New Year Azura do not.

A Helpful Tip

In order to maximize efficiency, offensive buffs are best in the C slot of Enemy Phase units, while defensive buffs tend to work best in the C slot of Player Phase units. Flier units are also the only non-infantry movement type to have dancer units as of August 2018, all with buffs included in their default weapons. This, plus Camilla’s weapon refine, encourages flier teams to incorporate units who are solely focused on team utility and buffing.

Debuff Interactions

Just as your units have the capacity to buff one another, enemy units have the ability to debuff your units. The majority of debuffs, such as Ploys, Threatens, and Chills, do not negate buffs, but are applied on top of any buff already in play on that unit. For example, a unit with Defense Ploy will reduce your unit’s Defense by -5. If you have Fortify Fliers applied to them (which again, is +6/+6) then their Defense stat will ultimately be buffed +1.

However, there are debuffs that turn your unit’s buffs against them- namely, those brought along by Panic Ploy, Skadi, and Spectral Tome. All of these skills or weapons have the effect of inverting your unit’s buffs into debuffs, so be very careful when fighting opponents with these abilities!