AironBuild and Guide

Airon is a Reason Affinity Support, who focuses on protecting a single target while cycling turns very quickly.

Skill 1

Airon hits a single target twice for low damage with a good chance to inflict [DEF-] for 1 turn. The first hit transfers the debuffs from the Animus protected by [Lion’s Guard] to the targeted enemy, while the second hit increases the protected Animus’ Turn Meter by 25-40%.

Although Airon can spam S2 and S3 thanks to their naturally low CD, as a PVP-oriented Animus, it’s still recommended to level up S1 to get the SPD nodes as well as the Turn Meter buff upgrade at level 5. Nonetheless, this skill takes lower priority compared to the other two.

Skill 2

Airon applies the unique [Lion’s Guard] buff to one of his teammates, lasting 3 turns and also grants them a [Shield] equal to 30% of the target’s max HP. After using this skill, Airon gets an extra turn. Once fully leveled up, [Lion’s Guard] is applied for 1 turn at battle start to the lowest max HP ally.

[Lion’s Guard] is a unique, un-interactable buff that reduces damage taken by an extra 25% and shares the rest of the damage taken by the target with Airon, who receives 40% of the damage. Whenever the ally with Lion’s Guard actively uses a skill (meaning whenever they take their turn and press a skill), Airon’s turn Meter increases by 30%. There can only be 1 active Lion’s Guard at a time on each side of the battlefield and the buff is removed upon Airon’s death.

This is Airon’s bread and butter skill, with every skill in his kit revolving around the Lion’s Guard effect. For this reason and because of the rather slow nature of Airon’s teams, it is vital to get the skill to level 5 to protect your most fragile teammate right from the start. Very high priority.

Skill 3

Airon attacks a single target, with a high chance to transfer the debuffs on the [Lion’s Guard] target to the enemy, while transferring the buffs on the enemy to the [Lion’s Guard] target. On top of that, the attack has a high chance to steal 35-50% Turn Meter from the enemy and give it to the [Lion’s Guard] target.

It goes without saying, but a big part of Airon’s kit revolves around spamming the S2+S3 combo, so reducing the skill’s CD to align with S2 is critical. Just like S2, get this skill to level 5 as soon as possible.

PVE

Although Airon’s kit is impressive and he’s got some of the more sought-after tools, like massive Turn Meter generation for your main DPS, he struggles a lot due to the competition he faces. With a heavy focus on speeding up a single ally, Airon is infringing on Lily’s turf and she’s having none of it. Unlike Lily, the rest of Airon’s utility is defensive in nature, since debuff transfer acts as a purify in most cases and Lion’s Guard trades extra Assists for great DMG reduction. This works against Airon for the most part because PVE heavily favors offense, making it hard to justify a slot in most scenarios, as you would still need a teamwide defensive Support/Sustain alongside him. 

PVP

PVP is where Airon’s kit truly shines, bringing yet another layer of defenses to already bulky teams, but also acting as a bodyguard to a single, squishier ally. Depending on the meta, the spammable debuff transfers get amazing value, not only purifying a teammate every turn but even debuffing Airon’s attack target, killing two birds with one stone. The very short CD on the S2+S3 combo also gives Airon a lot of agency, allowing him to get rid of his own debuffs faster, changing his focus mid-fight very easily and even accelerating his own Shell’s use frequency. If all of that wasn’t enough, Airon gives massive amounts of Turn Meter to your most valuable ally as well as himself.

Be careful however since Airon is extremely weak to [Block] debuffs and hard CCs, as those can stop his entire gimmick and turn him into a sitting duck for a couple of turns. In the same way, CD increase can completely mess up your game plan, since Airon cannot apply his Lion’s Guard unless he actively uses S2 outside of the 1-turn effect on battle start. His relatively slow speed is neither a pro nor a con, since he wants to play after the opponent’s Debuffer but before his own Lion’s Guard target.

Conclusion

Airon is a solid addition to the game, offering more ways to protect your team’s key Animuses and improving their turn cycling. His abilities to become a bodyguard and dedicated buffer prove especially useful in most PVP gamemodes, reinforcing multiple strategies without redefining the meta. This comes with the downside of having few opportunities to see play in PVE, as his kit is simply not designed for farming or scoring in general.