Salem Builds and Best IVs
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☆ State of the Meta (February 2026)
This is a ranking page for the hero Salem - Dark Sage 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 Salem.
List of Contents
Salem Rating and Basic Information
| Overall Rating | 9.0/10 |
|---|---|
| Reroll Ranking (excluding Inherit Skill) |
- (▶Reroll Ranking) |
| Ranking (including Inherit Skill) |
A (▶FEH Tier List) |
Salem - Dark Sage: Basic Information
| Color / Weapon Type / Move Type | |
|---|---|
| Rarity | |
| What Kind of Character Are They? | ・Refined Dark Faith inflicts 【Discord】, and 【Panic】 onto multiple foes, grants Salem bonus stats, true damage, true DR, a guaranteed follow-up attack, a Guard effect, and can activate Sleep Style to forcefully end an opponent's action from up to 5 spaces away. |
Red
Red Tome
Infantry
4 Star
3 StarSalem Skills at 5★
|
Might: 14 Range: 2 At start of turn and after unit acts (if Canto triggers, after Canto), inflicts Atk/Res-7, 【Discord】, and 【Panic】 on closest foes and foes within 2 spaces of those foes through their next actions. Grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 to unit, unit deals +20 damage (excluding area-of-effect Specials), and reduces damage from foe's attacks by 7 during combat (excluding area-of-effect Specials). |
|
Cooldown Count = 4 Boosts damage dealt by 80% of unit’s Res. |
|
At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, grants Atk/Res+5, but if unit attacked, deals 1 damage to unit after combat. |
|
At start of turn, if any foe’s Res ≤ unit’s Res-3 and that foe is adjacent to another foe, inflicts Atk-7 on that foe through its next action. |
Atk/Res Push 3
Sabotage Atk 3Salem Best IVs
Recommended IVs
| Stat | Superboon/Superbane | IV Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| HP (17) |
|
★★★☆☆ |
| Atk (10) |
|
★★★★☆ |
| Spd (10) |
|
★★★☆☆ |
| Def (3) |
|
★★☆☆☆ |
| Res (10) |
|
★★★★★ |
◯ = 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.
Neutral IVs by default!
As a hero obtainable only through Grand Hero Battle, Salem will always have neutral IVs by default. The only way to access IVs for this unit is through using Trait Fruits.
+Atk/-Def
Salem's best IVs are +Atk and -Def. His Spd is in the middling range where increasing it by 3 may not be enough to fight against the fastest units in the metagame, thus we take an Atk boon to improve his offense as much as possible.
His Def is a dump stat and reducing it will not affect any of his hard matchups. Taking it as a bane is a safe choice.
+Atk for a +10 Merge
We recommend a +Atk IV when merging Salem up to +10 for similar reasons above. His Spd is just not high enough to compete with the fastest units.
Salem Best Builds
Support Salem
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Ice Wall
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| Updated on 02/13/2026 | |
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How to Use, Explanation
This build utilizes Salem as a pure support hero, maximizing his use of Sleep Style together with some Res-based skills to focus on aiding his allies by crippling his foes. Emblem Micaiah Ring allows for an assist use before activating Sleep Style, giving Salem that extra range to apply its effects to the best target possible.
Salem Best Weapon Refine
Effect of Salem's Refined Weapon
| Exclusive Weapon Effect from Refining (Special Effect Type) | |
|---|---|
| SP: 400 | |
| Might: 14 Range: 2 HP: At start of turn and after unit acts (if Canto triggers, after Canto), inflicts Atk/Res-7, 【Discord】, and 【Panic】 on closest foes and foes within 2 spaces of those foes through their next actions. Grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 to unit, unit deals +20 damage (excluding area-of-effect Specials), and reduces damage from foe's attacks by 7 during combat (excluding area-of-effect Specials). Grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 to unit, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack, and inflicts Special cooldown charge -1 on foe per attack during combat (only highest value applied; does not stack). Unit can use the following 【Style】: Sleep Style  ：500  ：200 |
|
Dark FaithStyle Effect
| Sleep Style |
|---|
| Unit can attack foes within 5 spaces of unit and 3 rows or 3 columns centered on unit regardless of unit's range. (Damage dealt by unit's attacks and damage from foe's attacks during that combat are reduced to 0, and foes' Savior effects will not trigger (Røkkr take at least 1 damage).) After combat, inflicts the following status on foe through their next action: "after start-of-turn skills trigger, action ends immediately" (for foes who have not yet taken an action in Summoner Duels, instead of inflicting this effect, ends their action immediately). Unit cannot move or attack structures, after-combat movement effects do not occur, unit's area-of-effect Specials cannot be triggered, and remaining movement granted from Canto is treated as 0. Unit suffers a counterattack if any of the following conditions are met: foe is armored with Range = 2, foe can counterattack regardless of unit's range, or foe's Range is the same as the distance between unit and foe. Skill effect's Range is treated as 2. Once used, this Style cannot be used for two turns. 【Style】 Change Style using the Style button at the bottom of the screen. A unit's Style is only active when that unit is taking an action. When unit is equipped with a skill that has a Style, unit will not be able to use skills like Duo Skills or Harmonized Skills. Style use is disabled when unit is deployed using Pair Up or when unit is equipped with multiple skills that have a Style. |
We heavily recommend the Special Effect Refine for Dark Faith
Salem's refined Dark Faith completely changes him as a hero, bringing him from unusable tier to being relevant and competent in today's metagame.
Refined Dark Faith inflicts Atk/Res-7, 【Discord】, and 【Panic】 onto multiple foes at the start of each turn and after each of Salem's actions, and grants Salem Atk/Spd/Def/Res+10, +20 bonus true damage, +7 bonus true damage reduction, a guaranteed follow-up attack, and a Guard effect.
More importantly, refined Dark Faith enables Sleep Style, allowing Salem to attack up to five spaces away (within 3 rows and 3 columns) while ignoring 【Savior】. During Sleep Style, all damage dealt is reduced to zero, allowing Salem to apply its effects safely without fear of retaliation, similar to Legendary Elise's Freeze Style.
After using Sleep Style, Salem inflicts the 【End Action】 negative status which forces enemies to end their actions immediately after their start-of-turn skills trigger!
Sleep Style is incredibly powerful, allowing Salem to pick and choose his opponents and virtually render them useless during enemy phase by forcefully ending their actions. However, Sleep Style can only be used once every two turns, making it require careful planning in order to maximize its effects.
Salem Stats
Stat Rankings
| Neutral Stats at Lv. 40 (5★) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 171 | ||
| HP | 
41 |
Rank: 342/1350 |
| Atk | 
38 |
Rank: 510/1350 |
| Spd | 
36 |
Rank: 493/1350 |
| Def | 
18 |
Rank: 1024/1350 |
| Res | 
38 |
Rank: 127/1350 |
Stat Values
Lv 40+10 Stats (5★)
Stats at Lv 40
| HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5★- Adjusted for Skills | 41 | 50 | 36 | 18 | 38 | 183 |
| 5★ Lv.40 | 41 | 38 | 36 | 18 | 38 | 171 |
| 4★ Lv.40 | 38 | 36 | 34 | 16 | 35 | 159 |
| 3★ Lv.40 | 37 | 34 | 32 | 15 | 34 | 152 |
Initial Stats (with Skills)
| HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5★ Lv.1 | 17 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 62 |
| 4★ Lv.1 | 16 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 55 |
| 3★ Lv.1 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 51 |
Stat Comparison of Similar Heroes
| Hero |
HP |
Atk |
Spd |
Def |
Res |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 46 | 48 | 24 | 32 | 188 | |
| 40 | 46 | 45 | 36 | 16 | 183 | |
| 40 | 43 | 45 | 25 | 30 | 183 | |
| 39 | 43 | 45 | 24 | 31 | 182 | |
| 38 | 41 | 46 | 20 | 32 | 177 | |
| 39 | 44 | 36 | 25 | 32 | 176 | |
 Salem
|
41 | 38 | 36 | 18 | 38 | 171 |
| 40 | 38 | 42 | 27 | 24 | 171 | |
| 43 | 40 | 36 | 21 | 31 | 171 | |
| 38 | 37 | 33 | 23 | 35 | 166 | |
| 38 | 36 | 35 | 21 | 36 | 166 | |
| 41 | 37 | 39 | 26 | 23 | 166 | |
| 45 | 35 | 39 | 19 | 27 | 165 | |
| 36 | 42 | 40 | 19 | 28 | 165 | |
| 40 | 40 | 39 | 21 | 25 | 165 | |
| 38 | 30 | 34 | 27 | 23 | 152 | |
| 39 | 35 | 35 | 21 | 21 | 151 | |
| 37 | 33 | 34 | 20 | 26 | 150 | |
| 33 | 34 | 31 | 17 | 33 | 148 | |
| 39 | 32 | 34 | 23 | 20 | 148 | |
| 34 | 32 | 34 | 15 | 32 | 147 |
Summer Nino
Young Robin (M)
Nabata Tormod
Hayato
Sage Nino
Rearmed Ophelia
Hugh
Pelleas
Ewan
Miranda
Azelle
Erk
Nyx
Brave Lysithea
Gharnef
Bridal Tharja
Morgan (M)
Arvis
Tharja
KatarinaNote: Stats bonuses from skills are not taken into account.
Salem Roles, Strengths, and Weaknesses
Salem 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 / 
ResplendentSalem is a ranged magic attacker (range = 2). Therefore, when not accounting for the Weapon Triangle, the amount of damage he/she deals will be equivalent to his/her Atk minus the foe's Res stat.
Salem Strengths
Refined Dark Faith ends foe's actions
Salem's new refined Dark Faith completely changes him as a hero, bringing him from unusable tier to being relevant and competent in today's metagame.
Refined Dark Faith inflicts Atk/Res-7, 【Discord】, and 【Panic】 onto multiple foes at the start of each turn and after each of Salem's actions, and grants Salem Atk/Spd/Def/Res+10, +20 bonus true damage, +7 bonus true damage reduction, a guaranteed follow-up attack, and a Guard effect.
More importantly, refined Dark Faith enables Sleep Style, allowing Salem to attack up to five spaces away (within 3 rows and 3 columns), After using Sleep Style, Salem inflicts the 【End Action】 negative status which forces enemies to end their actions immediately after their start-of-turn skills trigger!
Sleep Style is incredibly powerful, allowing Salem to pick and choose his opponents and virtually render them useless during enemy phase by forcefully ending their actions. However, Sleep Style can only be used once every two turns, making it require careful planning in order to maximize its effects.
Salem Weaknesses
Low Defense
Salem has a base Def stat of 18, which leaves him highly vulnerable to getting defeated in one hit by strong physical attackers.
Keep him away from physical damage weapons at all costs!
Should you Unlock Potential?
| Should You Unlock Potential for this Hero? |
|
|---|
We Recommend You Unlock Potential for Salem - Dark Sage!
We recommend that you use Unlock Potential to bring Salem - Dark Sage from 4 Stars to 5 Stars. Salem - Dark Sage is a very useful fast red tome infantry, so we recommend you Unlock Potential for Salem - Dark Sage if your team lacks a strong fast red tome infantry.
Salem - List of Skills
Weapons
| Skill Name | Might | Range | Effect | Learned At |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | No Effect | 3★ | |
| 6 | 2 | No Effect | 3★ | |
| 8 | 2 | If unit is not adjacent to an ally, inflicts penalty on foe's Atk/Res during combat = 5 + any current penalty on each of those stats. Calculates each stat penalty independently. | 3★ | |
| 12 | 2 | If unit is not adjacent to an ally, inflicts penalty on foe's Atk/Res during combat = 5 + any current penalty on each of those stats. Calculates each stat penalty independently. | 5★ | |
| 14 | 2 | At start of turn and after unit acts (if Canto triggers, after Canto), inflicts Atk/Res-7, 【Discord】, and 【Panic】 on closest foes and foes within 2 spaces of those foes through their next actions. Grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 to unit, unit deals +20 damage (excluding area-of-effect Specials), and reduces damage from foe's attacks by 7 during combat (excluding area-of-effect Specials). |
5★ |
Assists
| This Hero has no Assist skills that can be learned. |
Specials
| Skill Name | Effect | Learned At |
|---|---|---|
| (Cooldown Count = 4) Boosts damage dealt by 50% of unit’s Res. | 3★ | |
| (Cooldown Count = 4) Boosts damage dealt by 80% of unit’s Res. | 4★ |
Passives
| Skill Name | Effect | Learned At |
|---|---|---|
| At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, grants Atk/Res+3, but if unit attacked, deals 1 damage to unit after combat. | 3★ | |
| At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, grants Atk/Res+4, but if unit attacked, deals 1 damage to unit after combat. | 3★ | |
| At start of combat, if unit's HP = 100%, grants Atk/Res+5, but if unit attacked, deals 1 damage to unit after combat. | 4★ | |
| At start of turn, if any foe’s Res ≤ unit’s Res-3 and that foe is adjacent to another foe, inflicts Atk-3 on that foe through its next action. | 3★ | |
| At start of turn, if any foe’s Res ≤ unit’s Res-3 and that foe is adjacent to another foe, inflicts Atk-5 on that foe through its next action. | 4★ | |
| At start of turn, if any foe’s Res ≤ unit’s Res-3 and that foe is adjacent to another foe, inflicts Atk-7 on that foe through its next action. | 5★ |
Atk/Res Push 1
Atk/Res Push 2
Sabotage Atk 1
Sabotage Atk 2Salem as a Source Hero
| Value of Skills | ★★☆☆☆ |
|---|
Salem has Rauðrvulture+, Atk/Res Push 3, and Sabotage Atk 3 as inheritable options.
Rauðrvulture+ is a great inheritable red tome, and Atk/Res Push 3 can be used as pre-inheritance for the rarer Atk/Res Push 4.
| List of Source Heroes | The Best Fodder Units |
How to Get Salem / Illustrations / Voice Actor / Quotes
How to Get Salem
Obtain through a Grand Hero Battle
Salem is a Hero who, for a limited time, can be obtained through completing a Grand Hero Battle for the first time. They do not appear in regular summons. After the event has ended, they can be obtained by using Heroic Grails.
Voice Actor and Illustrator Information
| Voice Actor (English) |
Paul Cartwright |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Yoneko |
| Appears In |
Illustration
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FEH: Related Guides
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 |
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