How to Beat Fallen Edelgard

This guide will show you how to beat Fallen Edelgard (Edelgard: Hegemon Husk) in both Arena, and Aether Raids of Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH). Learn the best units to counter Fallen Edelgard, as well as Fallen Edelgard’s weaknesses, and strategy for how to deal with Fallen Edelgard in competitive modes.

Fallen Edelgard Overview and Weaknesses

Fallen Edelgard is a 5★ focus unit from the fallen-themed Forces of Will banner. Not long after release, she made an instant impact to the meta thanks to her sheer power, juggernaut bulk, and surprising mobility.

Kit Overview

Her strength revolves around her weapon skill, Twin-Crest Power, and exclusive B skill, Armored Wall.

Twin-Crest Power

1	Special cooldown count -1 off the bat
2	If HP ≥ 25%, Inflicts -6 Atk/Def to foe and blocks follow-up attacks from Edelgard and her foe.
3	If HP ≥ 25%, transformed, and Edelgard initiates combat, she is granted another action.
4	If transformed, the weapon grants her a humble +2 Atk and Distant Counter.

Armored Wall

1	If HP ≥ 25%, accelerates her Special activation while slowing down her foe's.
2	If HP ≥ 25% restores 7 HP every time she exits combat.
3	If HP ≥ 25%, and transformed, reduces damage from foe's first attack by 40%. (During first combat in player phase or enemy phase)

These make her pretty tricky to deal with since you are dealing with her perks and strengths in both phases of battle. Without the proper knowledge and equipment, Summoners will find it very hard to deal with Fallen Edelgard.

Common Fallen Edelgard Builds in Arena & Aether Raids

These are Fallen Edelgard's most common builds, and you might see combinations of these as well.

Our solutions will mostly be geared towards countering Twin-Crest Power and Armored Wall, so you might have have less success countering her if she's using different builds.

Click to jump to a specific build

Budget Build	Galeforce Build
Svalinn Build	Unity Build

Budget Fallen Edelgard

Fallen Edelgard		HP 45		Atk 56		Spd 14		Def 44		Res 39
		： Twin-Crest Power ： Reposition ： Bonfire					： Atk/Def Ideal 4 ： Armored Wall ： Armored Stride 3 ： Mystic Boost 3

This is Edelgard's most common build! Galeforce might be superior in offense, but Bonfire makes Windsweep a neccesity on defense. You also need bulky units who can tank a Bonfire-loaded blow from Edelgard to run Null Follow-Up 3.

Lastly, you have to deal with Mystic Boost 3 disables, which increase Edel's survivability along with the heal from Armored Wall.

Galeforce Fallen Edelgard

Fallen Edelgard		HP 45		Atk 56		Spd 14		Def 44		Res 39
		： Twin-Crest Power ： Reposition ： Galeforce					： Atk/Def Ideal 4 ： Armored Wall ： Armored Stride 3 ： Atk/Def Solo 3

Don't let a Galeforce Fallen Edelgard get to you first! Eliminate her before she eliminates your units because it will get messy. Thankfully, Atk/Def Solo 3 is usually ran with Galeforce so if you get to her in the player phase, she is easier to take down.

Not having Bonfire as her Special means that the counterattack you will be taking, assuming that you are not running Windsweep or running a Null Follow-Up build, will be much easier to tank and survive.

Svalinn Fallen Edelgard

Fallen Edelgard		HP 45		Atk 56		Spd 14		Def 44		Res 39
		： Twin-Crest Power ： Reposition ： Galeforce					： Svalinn Shield ： Armored Wall ： Armored Stride 3 ： Atk/Def Solo 3

When facing against this Edelgard, your anti-armor weapons will be neutralized. This guide prefers going through her Res stat anyway, but be warned if you plan to use anti-armors against a Svalinn Shield build.

On the other hand, this actually makes it easier for someone like Shamir or Reinhardt to take her down as her Def will be less, and her offenses will be less.

Some strategies involving Reinhardt requires him to tank a hit.

Unity Fallen Edelgard

Fallen Edelgard		HP 45		Atk 56		Spd 14		Def 44		Res 39
		： Twin-Crest Power ： Reposition ： Galeforce					： Atk/Def Unity ： Armored Wall ： Armored Stride 3 ： Mystic Boost 3

This is a much more expensive, thus less common, build. Avoid using debuffs when using going against this build!

Fallen Edelgard Guide Overview

Strategy Goals and Overview

Though very powerful, there are lots of ways to take down Fallen Edelgard. If you came here from Fallen Edelgard's Teams and Counters section, then you will see some of the heroes lister in the Counters section in action here!

Here you can find:

1	The mechanics that make Edelgard strong.
2	How to counter those mechanics.
3	Info you can use to customize your own Fallen Edelgard counters.

In short, we will be covering a lot of theorycrafting! Also note that we tested in controlled Aether Raids environments, and your outcome might vary slightly.

First Problem: Absurd Player Phase Power

When transformed, and backed by dancers, Fallen Edelgard is near unstoppable! She renders your fast units less effective, and her giant Atk stat coupled with her ability to attack multiple times can only be tanked by a select few. No matter her special, Galeforce, Bonfire, or any others, she is a nightmare on the field.

If she runs her native Armored Stride 3, she has amazing range that can be used to traverse through trees and similar terrain.

Solution: Attack her first

Because of all these, we recommend getting to her before she gets to you because odds are, she will take out one or two of your units.

Second Problem: 40% Damage Reduction

Okay, say you are now in position to launch an attack on Fallen Edelgard. Her damage reduction is the next hindrance you have to deal with.

Thanks to Armored Wall 3, the first attack she receives from your units will be reduced by 40%.

Solution: Hit with Supporters first

Because of this, you should avoid having your powerhouses attack her first! Have a support unit attack Edelgard first before your main offense launch their attacks.

The goal of this is to not deal huge amounts of damage, but to get rid of her damage reduction to make room for your main damage dealer once they swoop in.

You have two kinds of options when filling this spot:

Dazzling-Wrathful Staff Unit

Summer Rhys		HP 44		Atk 44		Spd 27		Def 21		Res 36
		： Pain+ ： Physic+ ： Earthfire Balm+					： Atk/Spd Push 4 ： Dazzling Staff 3 ： Savage Blow 3 ： Savage Blow 3

You can use different C and S slots, as they don't deal damage to F!Edelgard directly. Make sure you get a Wrathful Staff upgrade to deal more damage.

This unit achieves the following by attacking Fallen Edelgard:

1	Takes out her 40% damage reduction for the phase.
2	Deals some damage thanks to Pain+.
3	Preserves your score by surviving through Dazzling Staff 3.

Summer Rhys is a good example because he possesses fair Atk levels and he is easily accessible even by free players.

Heroes with Wrathful Staff 3

Poison-Sweeper Unit

Brave Lyn		HP 35		Atk 44		Spd 35		Def 18		Res 28
		： Firesweep Bow+ ： Reposition ： Moonbow					： C Duel Cavalry 4 ： Poison Strike 3 ： Hone Cavalry ： Poison Strike 3

You can go for Death Blow 4 if you don't have access to C Duel Cavalry 4 or you are running this build in Aether Raids.

This unit achieves the following by attacking Fallen Edelgard:

1	Takes out her 40% damage reduction for the phase.
2	Deals some damage thanks to a fairly high Atk stat, perhaps a pre-charged Moonbow, and double Poison Strike 3.
3	Preserves your score by surviving through Firesweep Bow+.

While Brave Lyn is not as available compared to Summer Rhys, she can be easily obtainable through the Starter Pack if you badly need her. Though there are lots more alternatives like Rath if you prefer a bow cavalry unit.

If you are in the Arena it might be better to run an infantry unit instead as C Duel Cavalry 4 is quite rare. Otherwise, it is arguable that cavalry units possess a range advantage in Aether Raids.

The Third Problem: Distant Counter and her K.O. power

The two unit classes discussed achieves lots of things, but they do not posssess raw K.O. power. You need other units that have easy access to Fallen Edelgard's weaknesses.

Main offense against Fallen Edelgard should ideally possess these abilities:

1. Have enough firepower to take her out in two actions with the help of a refresher. Or enough power to weaken Edeglard for another unit to swoop in and finish the job.
2. Survive the whole ordeal with Fallen Edelgard.

These are some options that you can run for this role:

Stats listed here are Neutral IVs, Lv. 40, no merges, no flowers. This applies to all units listed here.

Adept Raven Tome

Fallen Lyon		HP 40		Atk 57		Spd 16		Def 32		Res 35
		： Blood Tome ： Reposition ： Moonbow					： Triangle Adept 3 ： Windsweep 3 ： Rouse Atk/Res 3 ： Atk/Spd Solo 3

Blood Tome and Triangle Adept 3 is ran to exploit Edelgard's colorless attribute. Windsweep 3 is picked so to protect Fallen Lyon from Edelgard's lethal attacks. Rouse Atk/Res 3 standard and Atk/Spd Solo 3 is picked up to make sure Windsweep triggers as some Edelgard copies can outspeed him, but you can go for other Spd-raising seals too.

Bulky NFU Unit

Sothis		HP 41		Atk 50		Spd 39		Def 32		Res 27
		： Sublime Surge ： Reposition ： Sirius					： Swift Sparrow 3 ： Null Follow-Up 3 ： Time's Pulse 3 ： Flashing Blade 3

Sothis does not really carry any specific abilities, aside from her inherent characteristics, that make her a direct counter against Fallen Edelgard, but this example just goes to illustrate that, potentially, any of your reliable units bulky enough to take a hit from Fallen Edelgard, can Null Follow-Up 3 and prove to be a great, reliable option.

Though in most situations, Sothis cannot tank a Bonfire-loaded attack from Edelgard. You might need to buff her, or significantly debuff Edelgard, have some form of damage reduction to stand a chance. Galeforce copies, however, can be easily taken down by units like this.

She will also potentially have trouble if Edelgard is running Mystic Boost 3 versus Atk/Def Solo 3 for the Sacred Seal. Since Galeforce is commonly ran with Atk/Def Solo 3, and Bonfire with Mystic Boost 3, it can be said that this NFU unit only works against Galeforce sets.

Though if there are Mystic Boost sets that run Galeforce, then Sothis can get a K.O. depending on her merges and supports.

Specific Units

Shamir

Shamir		HP 41		Atk 54		Spd 40		Def 25		Res 24
		： Survivalist Bow ： Reposition ： Moonbow					： Atk/Spd Solo 4 ： Null Follow-Up 3 ： Rouse Atk/Spd 3 ： Quickened Pulse

Shamir is also a Null Follow-Up 3 user, but instead of bulk to survive the counterattack, she relies on Survivalist Bow's ability to avoid a counterattack:

This means that her base kit already possesses a huge threat to Fallen Edelgard! Slap the very available Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal on her and the Hegemon Husk will also eat Moonbow or Ruptured Sky! This is because her bow also takes off a counter in her Special cooldown. A (2) two-counter Special will already be available at the first hit from her. This implies that Edelgard's ability to slow down Specials will be somewhat countered.

Do take note that Survivalist Bow's ability to block a counterattack only works if she meets a Solo condition and if Edelgard's HP ≥ 80%. So Shamir needs to deal enough damage in her first battle, to be able to take out Edelgard in her next strike or else she will take a counterattack that she will most likely not survive.

Windsweep Summer Byleth (F)

Summer Byleth (F)		HP 40		Atk 50		Spd 42		Def 16		Res 21
		： Sun's Percussors ： Reposition ： Ruptured Sky					： Atk/Spd Push 4 ： Windsweep 3 ： Spd/Res Rein 3 ： Quickened Pulse

Summer Byleth (F) is hands down one of the most reliable units to take down Fallen Edelgard:

1. She possesses amazing magic firepower that goes through Edelgard's inferior Res stat.
2. Sun's Percussors cancels out Windsweep's consequence of no follow-up attacks. This allows Summer Byleth (F) to hit Edelgard with two strikes without taking an answer.
3. Quickened Pulse and Sun's Percussors combine to activate Ruptured Sky or Moonbow upon the first strike so Edelgard's ability to slow down Specials will be somewhat countered.

It is worth noting that due to Summer Byleth (F)'s sheer power and access to direct counters against Edelgard's strengths, she doesn't need a buffer unit to take out the damage reduction. She just needs to land an attack, get refreshed, and land another strike again.

If you need a consistent, reliable counter to Fallen Edelgard, Summer Byleth (F) is one of your best bets.

Windsweep Reinhardt

Reinhardt		HP 38		Atk 41		Spd 18		Def 27		Res 25
		： Dire Thunder ： Reposition ： Moonbow					： Death Blow 4 ： Windsweep 3 ： Joint Hone Atk ： Chill Res 3

In some circumstances against Galeforce Edelgards, Reinhardt can take a counterattack and survive. So you may not need Windsweep to survive in some situations. However, Windsweep is a reliable cheap option as you can get it from the Heroic Grail shop (Joshua). It would not cost much for you to run it.

Reinhardt posssesses the following qualities that make him a reliable counter against Fallen Edelgard:

1. His weapon allows him to strike twice, allowing him to dish out huge damage against Edelgard's inferior Res stat.
2. Can run Windsweep 3 to prevent Edelgard from dishing out a counterattack. This allows him to survive.
3. He has great reach that helps him to initiate against Edelgard's good mobility.
4. He is easily available and easy to merge allowing for Summoners to obtain a stronger copy.

Keep in mind that Reinhardt needs to outspeed Edelgard for Windsweep to work. He will be able to most of the time depending on the merges, but have a contingency for when this happens. It is nothing a simple Rally Atk/Spd+ would fix!

Premium Young Innes

Young Innes		HP 43		Atk 51		Spd 38		Def 26		Res 27
		： Bow of Frelia ： Reposition ： Ruptured Sky					： Swift Sparrow 3 ： Null Follow-Up 3 ： Time's Pulse 3 ： Blade Session 3

Young Innes' bow has a built-in Deadeye that ignores Edelgard's damage reduction and tests prove that even in low investment levels, he can take out Edelgard with enough support. This is great as Young Innes is readily available for F2P Summoners.

Mid-Investment Boey

Boey		HP 45		Atk 48		Spd 28		Def 33		Res 19
		： Inscribed Tome ： Rally Spd/Def+ ： Ignis					： Triangle Adept 3 ： Lull Atk/Res 3 ： Atk Smoke 3 ： Quick Riposte 3

This Boey copy has 1 merge, 5 flower upgrades, and an Atk boon.

Boey does not need much premium fodder to work against Edelgard. The most important pieces to this Boey are the Special Refine Inscribed Tome, a cheap Triangle Adept 3 skill, and the readily available Quick Riposte 3 Sacred Seal. His job is to tank both Fallen Edelgard hits and return damage. Thanks to Inscribed Tome, he will be able to return heavy-damaging blows to the Hegemon Husk.

Other piece options to consider are:

1. G Duel Infantry 4 will work for scoring and it will still be enough for Boey to survive hits. Stance skills can also work.
2. Chill Res 3 is a good budget option for the B slot. Chill Atk 3 also works.
3. Pulse Smoke 3 & Joint Drive Atk are some premium skills for the C slot.

The Ideal Refresher-Assist

Most of the main offense units shown above will need a second attack to finish off Fallen Edelgard. This means that you need a reliable dancer to refresh them. They should ideally be equipped with tools that make the fight versus Edelgard a bit easier too.

Legendary Azura

Legendary Azura		HP 33		Atk 44		Spd 38		Def 17		Res 24
		： Prayer Wheel ： Gray Waves ： Moonbow					： B Duel Flying 3 ： Chill Res 3 ： Atk Tactic 3 ： Blaze Dance 3

Legendary Azura is a consensus staple for players as she is a reliable flier-dancer that also greatly boosts her allies' offensive prowess. She is available on a consistent basis on Mythic / Legendary banners so watch out for her in those opportunities!

If you do not have access to Azura, Peony or the other álfar make good substitutes too.

Reyson

Reyson		HP 37		Atk 43		Spd 37		Def 24		Res 26
		： Heron Wing ： Dance ： Miracle					： Triangle Adept 3 ： Chill Res 3 ： Odd Atk Wave 3 ： Blaze Dance 3

Reyson lacks the offense boost Azura has, but he's got great reach and has a built-in heal that can keep your team healthy before facing off with the Hegemon Husk. This build also equips him with the ability to boost offense which is very important.

He is also very F2P accessible as he is available in the 4★ and 3★ pools.

Plegian Dorothea

Plegian Dorothea		HP 37		Atk 55		Spd 35		Def 16		Res 26
		： Fell Candelabra ： Dance ： Moonbow					： Swift Impact ： Firestorm Dance 2 ： Goad Fliers ： Chill Res 3

Plegian Dorothea is not as available as the previous recommendations, but she is a great choice especially if you are using a Three Houses unit like Shamir. Thanks to her Harmonized Skill, she can refresh Three Houses units multiple times in a phase!

Her native Fell Candelabra and Firestorm Dance 2 work well too in debuffing Edelgard while buffing your main offenses.

The Fourth Problem: Armored Wall Healing

Edelgard's exclusive B skill, Armored Wall includes an ability that will heal her for 7 HP when she exits combat. This might not seem much, but when you take into consideration that she can engage multiple instances of combat with her kit, Galeforce, and more with a refresher-assist unit, this adds up.

This only gets worse when she is equipped with the Mystic Boost 3 Sacred Seal, which will heal 6 HP more. This adds up for a total of 13 HP healed everytime she exits combat. This is definitely one of the reason why Edelgard is so hard to deal with and though this mechanic will already be covered by the raw power of the builds above, this will be illustrated above, you might want to bring tools to counter it directly if they are available.

Fatal Smoke

Heroes with Fatal Smoke
Summer Freyja Valentine's Líf Summer Shamir Legendary Sigurd	Fatal Smoke 3

Fatal Smoke 3 is a fairly new C skill that disables healing until a unit's next action in an area-of-effect. This means it is fairly easy to land and the C skill is not the most expensive slot so this is pretty convenient to have on your team if you are expecting Fallen Edelgards on your way.

The only problem is that as of June 2021, it is only available on 2 heroes making it pretty rare. Do not worry, though, as you will be completely capable of taking her down even if you do not possess this skill.

The Fifth Problem: Her Ability to Slow Specials

Heroes that can run Quickened Pulse
Shamir Summer Byleth (F)	Quickened Pulse

Unless you have tools to fight against Edelgard's ability to slowdown Specials, it will be hard to land a Special attack on her if you do are not able to plan your phases correctly. In the heat of an Arena match or Aether Raids, it will be pretty hard to time a Special correctly so a cheap, and simple solution you can use is to slap the Quickened Pulse Sacred Seal on your main offense that has a Special cooldown reduction on their prf. weapon while carrying a (2) two-turn Special like Moonbow or the beast-effective Ruptured Sky.

Teams are totally capable of taking out Fallen Edelgard even without landing a Special on her even Shamir and Summer Byleth (F) aren't reliant on Quickened Pulse for a good chance, so this is just an option that you might want to explore.

Important tools

Those are all the major hindrances or mechanics that you need to deal with in order to deal with most builds of Fallen Edelgard. Again, the examples given are not requirements, but they do help. Here are some other tools that can help you take down Edelgard. Hopefully, enough are available for you to run effective offenses against the Hegemon Husk.

Tools against Fallen Edelgard
Quickened Pulse	Helps main offense land Specials
Fatal Smoke 3	AoE skill that disables healing.
Pulse Smoke 3	This premium skill makes sure Fallen Edelgard never activates her Specials. Very good tool for allowing units to tank her hits.
Rally Atk/Spd+ Rally Atk/Def+ Rally Up Atk+	Helps buff up units. Can be used with Ruse skills which also helps to slow her Specials.
Smite Shove	Helps initiate gainst Edelgard's good mobility
Chill Def 3 Chill Res 3	Helps weaken Edelgard. Easy to land as her defensive stats are pretty high.
Atk Opening 3 Hone Atk 3	Helps buff up main offense units! You have other options such as Wave skills but those are bad in A.R.
Poison Strike 3 Savage Blow 3 Pain+ Blazing Wind	Helps chip-off HP from Edelgard. Take note that Savage Blow 3 does not work against the wielder's direct target.
Deadeye	Greatly boosts the wielder's damage and ignores damage reduction.
Structures and Defensive Terrain	In Aether Raids, you have the luxury of using offensive structures. You can even deliberately trigger enemy Bolt Traps to soften the Hegemon. In the Arena, all you have are Defensive Tiles to your advantage.

All these help with other threats too so don't worry about your team being too geared against a specific foe.

Other Offensive Options

Units that are also great against Fallen Edelgard that are not previously discussed on this page.

Heroes with Fatal Smoke
Legendary Sigurd Valentine's Líf	Possesses the discussed Fatal Smoke 3 among other tools.
Byleth (M) Byleth (F)	Can easily land Ruptured Sky Thanks to their prf. weapon.
Ninja Lyn	If ran with Windsweep, she can easily rain down daggers to take out Edelgard with the help of dancers and her Duo Skill.
Picnic Flora	If she is able to initiate properly (maybe with the help of something like Smite, she can definitely do damage with Sæhrímnir
Fallen Dimitri	Can initiate easily with Odd Tempest 3, and hits very hard with Vengeful Lance and the rest of his kit. Also blocks counterattacks thanks to Murderous Lion. In some ways, he is a direct counter to Edelgard and rightfully so as rivals from the Three Houses title.
Shinon	Great Atk/Def and has access to the anti-damage reduction Deadeye.
Fallen Edelgard	If all else fails, you can just commission yourself your very own Fallen Edelgard. If your copy gets the first swipe, she can definitely take out other copies of Edelgards. Make sure to put on Mystic Boost 3 on your copy as it gives her the upper hand.

Hegemon Husk vs Hegemon Husk

When fighting fire with fire, it is usually the first one that hits that wins. When running this strategy, do not slack off the discussed strategies. The enemy will still be much easier to deal with if your copy is backed by strategy and support.

Demo Scenarios vs. Edelgard

Here are some demo tests that illustrate some of the strategies discussed against Edelgard here. These tests are done in a bare, and controlled Aether Raids keep. Both of the fortresses are of the same level as to not interfere much with the results. Of course it will be near impossible to generate similar conditions in a real match, but these scenarios will give you an idea on how things are ideally done.

The Fallen Edelgard copy here is +5 Dragonflowers and is on bonus season, which means +10 HP and +4 Atk/Spd/Res/Def

The Sheer Power of Summer Byleth (F)

This scenario shows how effective Summer Byleth (F) is in taking out Fallen Edelgard.

Null Follow-Up on a Bulky Unit

This scenario shows how Null Follow-Up 3 on a well-invested, well supported unit can take out Fallen Edelgard.

Shamir, another NFU user

A well-invested Shamir can take out Fallen Edelgard in many scenarios thanks to NFU and her Prf. weapon skill.

Fallen Lyon, Raven Windsweeper

The main star of the show here is Windsweep 3 as it can be used to avoid taking damage from the low-Spd Fallen Edelgard.

High-investment Reinhardt, ol' reliable

Reinhardt, a very accessible F2P favorite can be built to take out the Hegemon Husk!

Fallen Edelgard in Aether Raids

As suggested above, The Arena is much more bare when compared to the Aether Raids. The following will be a brief discussion of the possible situations you will find yourself in Aether Raids against Fallen Edelgard.

Corner Fallen Edelgard Setup

Some Aether Keeps have the Hegemon Husk at the corner, locked by buildings as this will be a convenient way to keep her transformed. Even if she is not mobile, players would still have to go through her to win the stage so in some ways, this works. However, this makes her much more easier to take down compared to the one example below. If you play these kinds of stages well, you may have 1, 2, or even 3 phases to take her down and that is more than enough.

Dancers and Fallen Edelgard Setup

This is an ideal defense setup revolving around Fallen Edelgard. She is out free with a couple of beasts and dragons that make it easy for her to be transformed. Two of her allies are refresher-assists too that allow her to cause more damage to your teams.

Having said all of that, it is going to be hard to deal with this kind of defense. It will vary from stage to stage on how you will take her down with all of your tools, but one thing you should try and aim to do is take her out in the event that she is not transformed because she will not have access to some of her tools in that moment.

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