Valentine's Rudolf Builds and Best IVs

This is a ranking page for the hero Rudolf - Emperor of Rigel 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 Valentine's Rudolf.

Focus - Double Special Heroes (August 2020) Featured Heroes
New Year Anna [7.5/10]	Spring Idunn [9.0/10]	Valentine's Rudolf [8.5/10]	Spring Est [9.0/10]
Valentine's Alm [9.0/10]	Spring Fir [8.5/10]	Spring Bruno [7.5/10]	Valentine's Faye [9.0/10]

Valentine's Rudolf Rating and Basic Information

Overall Rating	8.5/10
Reroll Ranking (excluding Inherit Skill)	A (▶Reroll Ranking)
Ranking (including Inherit Skill)	S (▶FEH Tier List)

Rudolf - Emperor of Rigel: Basic Information

Color / Weapon Type / Move Type	Blue / Lance / Armored
Rarity	5 Star
What Kind of Character Are They?	・Weapon skill speeds up special cooldown count ・Prevents a foe's follow-up attack when Atk exceeds their's ・Multiple skills that grant bonuses to Atk/Def

Valentine's Rudolf Skills at 5★

Thorn Lance Might: 16　 Range: 1 Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count -1). At start of combat, if unit’s Atk > foe’s Atk, inflicts Atk/Def -6 on foe during combat and foe cannot make a follow-up attack.

Bonfire Cooldown Count = 3 Boosts damage dealt by 50% of unit’s Def.

Special Fighter 3 At start of combat, if unit’s HP ≥ 50%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack. )

Threat. Atk/Def 3 At start of turn, if unit is within 2 spaces of a foe, grants Atk/Def +5 to unit for 1 turn and inflicts Atk/Def -5 on foes within 2 spaces through their next actions.

Valentine's Rudolf Best IVs

Recommended IVs

Stat	Superboon/Superbane	IV Recommendation
HP (24)		★★★☆☆
Atk (26)		★★★★★
Spd (4)		★★☆☆☆
Def (11)		★★★★☆
Res (7)		★★★★☆

◯ = 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.

+Atk/-Spd

Rudolf's best IVs are +Atk and -Spd. When Rudolf's Atk exceeds that of his foes, he can prevent their follow-up attack and cast a penalty on them. Since a higher Atk will prevent most follow-up attacks, his Spd stat is not going to matter much, making it a perfect dump stat.

+Atk for a +10 merge project

If you are planning on making a +10 merge Rudolf, we recommend +Atk. With 10 merges and an asset in Atk, plus the bonus from his weapon skill, his Atk stat will grow to 66, giving him exceptional offensive capability and allowing him to prevent most foes' follow-up attacks.

Valentine's Rudolf Best Builds

Hardy Fighter Valentine's Rudolf

HOT
： Thorn Lance ： Swap ： Pavise ： -	： Close Def 4 ： Hardy Fighter 3 ： D/R Near Save 3 ： Mystic Boost 3 ： -

How to Use, Explanation

This build uses Near Save, Hardy Fighter and Pavise to consistently shield Rudolf and his team from melee damage. Mystic Boost provides sustain in the sacred seal slot. You may replace Pavise with Aegis, Close Def with Distant Def and Near Save with Far Save to protect against ranged attacks instead while preventing retaliation with the lack of Distant Counter to keep enemy units alive.

Budget Valentine's Rudolf

： Thorn Lance ： Pivot ： Bonfire ： -

： Sturdy Stance 3 ： Special Fighter 3 ： Threat. Atk/Def 3 ： Close Def 3 ： -

How to Use, Explanation

This is simply a budget build for Rudolf that allows him to brawl it out both phases of the game. Pair him up with a healer unit like Flayn, and he can definitely hold his own ground even against more recent, powerful units!

Distant Counter Valentine's Rudolf

HOT
： Thorn Lance ： Swap ： Bonfire ： -	： Distant Stance ： Special Fighter 3 ： D/R Far Save 3 ： Quick Riposte 3 ： -

How to Use, Explanation

This build uses Distant Stance and Far Save to protect allies from ranged attacks. Quick Riposte grants a follow-up on enemy phase.

Source Heroes for All Skills

Valentine's Rudolf Best Weapon Refine

Effect of Valentine's Rudolf's Refined Weapon

Exclusive Weapon Effect from Refining (Special Effect Type)
Thorn Lance	SP: 400
Might: 16　Range: 1　HP: 3 Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25% or unit's Atk > foe's Atk, inflicts Atk/Def-6 on foe during combat, foe cannot make a follow-up attack, and reduces damage from attacks (excluding area-of-effect Specials) by percentage = unit's Atk minus foe's Atk during combat, x 2 (min 0%, max 40%). If foe initiates combat or foe's HP ≥ 75% at start of combat, inflicts Atk/Def-5 on foe during combat, inflicts Atk-X on foe and grants Atk+X to unit during combat (X = 50% of highest total bonuses among unit and allies within 2 spaces of unit), and restores 7 HP to unit after combat. ：500　：200

We recommend the Special Effect Refine for Thorn Lance

The new special effect of Thorn Lance allows Rudolf to make offensive counters on enemy-phase turns. It helps him inflict Atk/Def-5 on enemies and can reduce their Atk further based on 50% of total bonuses of nearby allies. It also allows Rudolf to recover 7 HP every after combat.

Valentine's Rudolf Stats

Stat Rankings

Neutral Stats at Lv. 40 (5★)
180
HP	46	Rank: 71/1171
Atk	43	Rank: 207/1171
Spd	21	Rank: 1047/1171
Def	41	Rank: 75/1171
Res	29	Rank: 446/1171

Stat Values

Lv 40+10 Stats (5★)

	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
+10 Merges W/ Skill Bonuses	51	64	25	46	33	219
Lv.40 +10	51	48	25	46	33	203

Stats at Lv 40

	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
5★- Adjusted for Skills	46	59	21	41	29	196
5★ Lv.40	46	43	21	41	29	180

Initial Stats (with Skills)

	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
5★ Lv.1	24	26	4	11	7	72

Stat Comparison of Similar Heroes

Hero	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
Ice Tribe Fjorm	43	42	47	35	40	207
Ascended Amelia	45	46	46	37	33	207
Bors	51	47	34	48	25	205
Valentine's Ephraim	47	48	17	48	41	201
Winter Edelgard	46	47	17	47	44	201
Ninja Zelgius	49	47	16	47	42	201
Vigarde	46	47	30	44	29	196
Gilliam	47	44	21	48	35	195
Cervantes	50	45	31	44	25	195
Pirate Surtr	45	45	16	44	36	186
Gatrie	47	42	17	44	35	185
Winter Hilda	44	39	38	37	26	184
Benny	48	35	23	44	34	184
Valentine's Rudolf	46	43	21	41	29	180
Forsyth	47	40	20	39	33	179
Fallen Hardin	45	34	28	36	32	175
Valentine's Eliwood	47	38	32	29	29	175
Brave Hector	48	37	22	39	28	174
Kjelle	47	40	22	37	28	174
Winter Ephraim	45	41	23	36	29	174
Winter Robin	45	35	34	35	25	174
Valbar	49	35	25	38	26	173
Picnic Lukas	51	37	21	42	22	173
Gwendolyn	49	30	24	38	28	169
Effie	50	40	22	33	23	168

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

Valentine's Rudolf Roles, Strengths, and Weaknesses

Valentine's Rudolf Roles

Rudolf - Emperor of Rigel 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

Rudolf is a close ranged 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.

Rudolf Strengths

Prevents a foe's follow-up and casts a penalty when his Atk exceeds their's

Rudolf's exclusive weapon skill Thorn Lance will inflict Atk/Def-6 on the foe and prevent them from making a follow-up attack when Rudolf's Atk is greater than their's is.

Easy to trigger special skill

Thorn Lance will accelerate Special Cooldown, and Special Fighter 3 will allow his cooldown to speed up even further. With these two skills together, Rudolf will be able to trigger Bonfire and unleash heavy damage when he counterattacks an enemy who initiates combat.

Casts a penalty on nearby foes while gaining a bonus on his own stats

Rufolf's C Skill Threat Atk/Def 3 will give him Atk/Def+5 and inflict Atk/Def-5 on foes within two spaces at the start of a turn. This is an extremely strong buff skill, but just be wary that the effect will only trigger if Rudolf starts within two spaces of a foe when the turn starts.

Powerful at tanking attacks and counter attacking

Rudolf's skills combined together make him great at tanking a foe's attacks and then hitting back hard with a counterattack. When the foe initiates combat, that foe will take an Atk/Def-6 penalty if their Atk is lower than Rudolf's, then Rudolf will counterattack with a Bonfire. If that does not finish them off, Threat. Atk/Def will lower their stats in the player phase, allowing Rudolf to finish the job.

Rudolf Weaknesses

Weak to armor effective weapons

As an armored unit, Rudolf will take 1.5x damage from weapons that are effective on armored units, such as Heavy Spear and Hammer. Be sure and check what weapons your opponents are using beforehand.

Heroes with Effective Skills - Stats and Ratings

Should you Unlock Potential?

Should You Unlock Potential for this Hero?	Cannot Unlock Potential

Rudolf - Emperor of Rigel Only Appears as a 5 Star Hero!

Rudolf - Emperor of Rigel only appears as a 5 Star Hero. We will include whether or not you should Unlock Potential for Rudolf - Emperor of Rigel if a 4 Star version is released!

Unlock Potential Tier List

Valentine's Rudolf - List of Skills

Weapons

Skill Name	Might	Range	Effect	Learned At
Iron Lance	6	1	No Effect	5★
Steel Lance	8	1	No Effect	5★
Silver Lance	11	1	No Effect	5★
Thorn Lance	16	1	Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count -1). At start of combat, if unit’s Atk > foe’s Atk, inflicts Atk/Def -6 on foe during combat and foe cannot make a follow-up attack.	5★

Assists

This Hero has no Assist skills that can be learned.

Specials

Skill Name	Effect	Learned At
Glowing Ember	(Cooldown Count = 4) Boosts damage dealt by 50% of unit’s Def.	5★
Bonfire	(Cooldown Count = 3) Boosts damage dealt by 50% of unit’s Def.	5★

Passives

Skill Name	Effect	Learned At
Special Fighter 1	At start of combat, if unit’s HP ≥ 90%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Des not stack. )	5★
Special Fighter 2	At start of combat, if unit’s HP ≥ 70%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack. )	5★
Special Fighter 3	At start of combat, if unit’s HP ≥ 50%, grants Special cooldown charge +1 to unit and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack. )	5★
Threat. Atk/Def 1	At start of turn, inflicts Atk/Def-3 on foes within 2 spaces through their next actions.	5★
Threat. Atk/Def 2	At start of turn, inflicts Atk/Def-4 on foes within 2 spaces through their next actions.	5★
Threat. Atk/Def 3	At start of turn, if unit is within 2 spaces of a foe, grants Atk/Def +5 to unit for 1 turn and inflicts Atk/Def -5 on foes within 2 spaces through their next actions.	5★

Valentine's Rudolf as a Source Hero

Value of Skills	★★★★★

Inheriting Special Fighter or Threat Atk/Def

Rudolf can be used to inherit the skills Special Fighter and Threat Atk/Def. However, as Rudolf is a rare Special Hero, think hard about your decision before you recklessly fodder him off.

List of Source Heroes

The Top Source Heroes

How to Get Valentine's Rudolf / Illustrations / Voice Actor / Quotes

How to Get Valentine's Rudolf

Obtained through a Special Summoning Event!

Valentine's Rudolf is a limited time Hero who can be pulled from a Special Heroes Summoning Event. They do not appear in regular summons.

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)	Taylor Henry
Illustrator	Miyamoto Satoru
Appears In	Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (Gaiden)

FEH: Related Guides

Focus: Double Special Heroes (August 2020)

Heroes from Focus - Double Special Heroes (August 2020)
New Year Anna [7.5/10]	Spring Idunn [9.0/10]	Valentine's Rudolf [8.5/10]	Spring Est [9.0/10]
Valentine's Alm [9.0/10]	Spring Fir [8.5/10]	Spring Bruno [7.5/10]	Valentine's Faye [9.0/10]

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All Types of Blue Weapons

Close-Range	Ranged
Lance	Blue Tome
Blue Breath	Blue Dagger
Blue Beast	Blue Bow