Karel Builds and Best IVs

This is a ranking page for the hero Karel - Sword Demon from the game Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH). Read on to learn the best IVs (Individual Values), best builds (Inherit Skill), weapon refinement, stats at Lv 40, and more for Karel.

Focus - Heroes with Desperation Featured Heroes
Ayra [9.0/10]	Karel [7.5/10]	Mae [7.5/10]

Karel Rating and Basic Information

Overall Rating	7.5/10
Reroll Ranking (excluding Inherit Skill)	Unranked (▶Reroll Ranking)
Ranking (including Inherit Skill)	C (▶FEH Tier List)

Karel - Sword Demon: Basic Information

Color / Weapon Type / Move Type	Red / Sword / Infantry
Rarity	5 Star
What Kind of Character Are They?	・An infantry-type sword user with very high HP ・Becomes more powerful with lower HP ・Desperation grants multiple attacks

Karel Skills at 5★

Nameless Blade Might: 16　 Range: 1 Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count -1).

Reprisal Cooldown Count = 2 Boosts damage dealt to foe by 30% of damage dealt to unit.

Defiant Atk 3 Grants Atk +7 at start of turn if unit’s HP ≤ 50%.

Desperation 3 If unit's HP ≤ 75% and unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.

Karel Best IVs

Recommended IVs

Stat	Superboon/Superbane	IV Recommendation
HP (19)		★★★☆☆
Atk (21)		★★★★☆
Spd (9)		★★★★★
Def (6)		★★☆☆☆
Res (5)		★★☆☆☆

◯ = Stat gains +4 with a superboon, ✕= Stat goes down by -4 with a superbane, - = No assets or flaws

See the IV Checker for All Units

Trait Fruits—How to Change IVs

When using an Ascendant Floret, we recommend getting the next superboon if it fits the hero. If not, consider what stat your hero needs most.

+Spd/-Def

The best IVs for Karel are +Spd and -Def. Karel relies on activating his special attack to deal lots of damage. Spd not only allows him to deal more damage through follow-up attacks, but those follow-up attacks also make specials faster to activate. This makes it the perfect offensive stat for Karel. His low Def is of less importance, so it is safe to take Def as a bane.

Karel Best Builds

Refined - Wrathful Karel

HOT
： Nameless Blade ： Reposition ： Moonbow ： -	： Atk/Spd Push 4 ： Wrath 3 ： Joint Drive Atk ： Flashing Blade 3 ： -

How to Use, Explanation

This is very similar to the Desperate Fury build. However, Desperation is replaced by Wrath 3. This means Karel will most likely take counterattacks. Rest assured that Wrath and Nameless Blade will boost Luna enough to be able to K.O. a wide range of foes.

Refined - Desperate Fury Karel

： Nameless Blade ： Reposition ： Luna ： -

： Fury 4 ： Desperation 3 ： Joint Drive Spd ： Flashing Blade 3 ： -

How to Use, Explanation

Flashing Blade 3 and Nameless Blade combines for easy Luna activations. Luna will hit extra hard thanks to Nameless Blade's special effect refine. Fury 4 helps with activating Desperation 3, and whenever that happen, odds are Karel will score a one-sided battle sequence! You could also take Moonbow if you are not confident Flashing Blade 3 will trigger.

Source Heroes for All Skills

Karel Best Weapon Refine

Effect of Karel's Refined Weapon

Exclusive Weapon Effect from Refining (Special Effect Type)
Nameless Blade	SP: 400
Might: 16　Range: 1　HP: +3 Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). Deals +10 damage when Special triggers. ：500　：200

We recommend the special effect refine for Nameless Blade

The special refine effect of Nameless Blade adds +10 damage whenever Karel activates his special. This is great as he heavily relies on Reprisal or any special he has equipped to deal tons of damage. However, it does not improve his damage when his special is offline which is his weakness so watch out for that.

With that said, there will be many instances where Karel will fail to take down opponents in competitive modes such as Arena. Depending on your team compositions and your current rank, change Karel's weapon into something else. For example, your team is in the higher echelons of the Arena and you do not have a weapon strong against armored units, which are very common in upper Arena tiers, it would be best if you would inherit a weapon like Armorsmasher+ onto Karel.

About the Weapon Refinery

Karel Stats

Stat Rankings

Neutral Stats at Lv. 40 (5★)
157
HP	47	Rank: 42/1171
Atk	30	Rank: 1072/1171
Spd	35	Rank: 557/1171
Def	25	Rank: 737/1171
Res	20	Rank: 1003/1171

Stat Values

Lv 40+10 Stats (5★)

	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
+10 Merges W/ Skill Bonuses	52	51	40	29	24	196
Lv.40 +10	52	35	40	29	24	180

Stats at Lv 40

	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
5★- Adjusted for Skills	47	46	35	25	20	173
5★ Lv.40	47	30	35	25	20	157

Initial Stats (with Skills)

	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
5★ Lv.1	19	21	9	6	5	60

Stat Comparison of Similar Heroes

Hero	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
Marisa	46	30	36	30	21	163
Lon'qu	45	29	39	22	22	157
Navarre	42	31	37	23	24	157
Karel	47	30	35	25	20	157
Ogma	47	35	34	28	13	157

Note: Stats bonuses from skills are not taken into account.

Karel Roles, Strengths, and Weaknesses

Karel Roles

Karel - Sword Demon Roles
Close-Physical	Ranged-Physical	Close-Magic	Ranged-Magic
Physical Wall	Magic Wall	Effective Weapon	Movement Assist
Exclusive Skill	All-Range Counter	Recovery	Refresher
Legendary	Mythic	Duo / Harmonized	Resplendent

Karel is a close physical attacker (range = 1). Therefore, when not accounting for the Weapon Triangle, the amount of damage he deals will be equivalent to his Atk minus the foe's Def stat.

Karel Strengths

Karel's Weapons Speeds-up Special

The weapons that Karel has native access to such as Nameless Blade accelerates his special trigger (cooldown count -1). This makes it easier for him to utilize his special skill, Reprisal Take note that Nameless Blade's special refine effect grants additional pure damage. Pure damage cannot be reduced by stats. This provides Karel with some match-up potential against units with very high defensive stats.

Huge power boosts upon hitting HP thresholds

Reprisal boosts damage depending on how much damage Karel has taken while Defiant Atk 3 and Desperation 3 are only activated upon hitting HP ≤ 50% and HP ≤ 75% respectively. Karel will be monstrous at HP ≤ 50%, but obviously, that comes with its downsides. It is discussed in the weaknesses section down below.

Extremely High HP Stat

Karel is in the top class of sword infantry heroes in terms of his HP stat. His Def stat is quite decent, so it might be hard to take him out with physical attacks. This also makes him less susceptible to the effects of Panic Ploy 3. It also opens up skills like Wind Boost 3 to his kit as those kinds of skills rely on HP.

In relation to his special and other skills, it allows him to be at lower HP percentages without being in knock-out range of foes.

Karel Weaknesses

Skills are reliant on being at low HP thresholds

Reprisal, Defiant Atk 3 and Desperation 3 are all reliant on Karel being at low HP for them to take effect. This requires some set-up that might not be feasible in many situations. Be mindful that using Karel's base kit requires some set-up and strategy for you to be able to reap its full power!

Low Res

Karel's Res only sits at 20 at Lv.40. This makes it easy for magic users to take him out. Be mindful of Karel's positioning in relation to magical units that can easily take him out.

Should you Unlock Potential?

Should You Unlock Potential for this Hero?	Cannot Unlock Potential

Karel - Sword Demon Only Appears as a 5 Star Hero!

Karel - Sword Demon only appears as a 5 Star Hero. We will include whether or not you should Unlock Potential for Karel - Sword Demon if a 4 Star version is released!

Unlock Potential Tier List

Karel - List of Skills

Weapons

Skill Name	Might	Range	Effect	Learned At
Iron Sword	6	1	No Effect	5★
Steel Sword	8	1	No Effect	5★
Wo Dao	9	1	Deals +10 damage when Special triggers.	5★
Wo Dao+	13	1	Deals +10 damage when Special triggers.	5★
Nameless Blade	16	1	Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count -1).	5★

Assists

This Hero has no Assist skills that can be learned.

Specials

Skill Name	Effect	Learned At
Retribution	(Cooldown Count = 3) Boosts damage dealt to foe by 30% of damage dealt to unit.	5★
Reprisal	(Cooldown Count = 2) Boosts damage dealt to foe by 30% of damage dealt to unit.	5★

Passives

Skill Name	Effect	Learned At
Defiant Atk 1	Grants Atk +3 at start of turn if unit’s HP ≤ 50%.	5★
Defiant Atk 2	Grants Atk +5 at start of turn if unit’s HP ≤ 50%.	5★
Defiant Atk 3	Grants Atk +7 at start of turn if unit’s HP ≤ 50%.	5★
Desperation 1	If unit's HP ≤ 25% and unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.	5★
Desperation 2	If unit's HP ≤ 50% and unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.	5★
Desperation 3	If unit's HP ≤ 75% and unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.	5★

Karel as a Source Hero

Value of Skills	★★☆☆☆

Inheriting Wo Dao+ or Atk/Spd Link 3

Karel can be used to inherit the skills Wo Dao+ or Defiant Atk 3. Take note that Defiant Atk 3 can be inherited from 4★ units! Make sure to consider all your resources before fodderring Karel off for this skill!

• List of Source Heroes
• The Best Fodder Units

How to Get Karel / Illustrations / Voice Actor / Quotes

How to Get Karel

Obtain Through Regular Summon

Karel is a Hero who can be pulled from any summon.

Note: Not currently a featured hero in any Summon events.

Current Focuses and Which You Should Pull From

Voice Actor and Illustrator Information

Voice Actor (English)	Bryce Papenbrook
Illustrator	Kita Senri (北千里)
Appears In	Fire Emblem (The Blazing Blade)

Illustration

Quotes: Special Triggered

Special Triggered Quotes are voice lines that play upon activating a Special attack.

Lv 40 5★ Dialogue

Lv 40 5★ Dialogue become available when a hero attains Lv. 40 at 5★ rarity.

FEH: Related Guides

Focus: Heroes with Desperation

Heroes from Focus - Heroes with Desperation
Ayra [9.0/10]	Karel [7.5/10]	Mae [7.5/10]

See All Red Heroes

▶︎Return to the Red Heroes Page

All Types of Red Weapons

Close-Range	Ranged
Sword	Red Tome
Red Breath	Red Dagger
Red Beast	Red Bow