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Banner Lords
Faction Crypt · 5 of 5 seats · 17 owned bodies
The Fight▾
Faction-locked 5 seats, Banner Lords only (Warmaiden is Barbarians and is NOT eligible). ALARIC THE HOODED LEADS — only the leader's aura is live and his is the faction's only useful one: +29% Ally ATK in Faction Crypts (Ayumilove; HellHades publishes no auras). The incumbent five had no live aura at all — Stag Knight, Lady Quilen and Arndulf have none, Sir Artimage's +20% SPD is Arena-domain and dead in a crypt, and Warcaster's +23% Void C.RATE (all Battles) would buff only himself. Every stage-21 crypt boss has Almighty Immunity: no Stun/Freeze/Sleep/Provoke/Block Active Skills/Fear/True Fear, no HP-exchange or HP-balancing, and no COOLDOWN-INCREASING effects — but Decrease SPD and Decrease Turn Meter still land (Ayumilove FW guide). So Arndulf's Provoke/Fear and Preserver's 75% Freeze are wave-only, while Stag Knight's AoE 60% Dec DEF + 50% Dec ATK, Arndulf's 25% Weaken, Alaric's AoE 50% Dec ATK + 50% Dec ACC and his per-buff TM chip all work on the boss. Enemy waves here are themselves Banner Lords — Increase DEF, Counterattack, Shield, Block Damage — exactly what Warcaster blocks and steals and what Alaric strips. GAP CLOSED 2026-08-10: sustain used to be MITIGATION rather than recovery, because no owned Banner Lords champion healed or revived an ally. URSALA THE MOURNER ends that — her A3 Requiem revives EVERY dead ally at 75% HP with 50% Turn Meter and hands the whole team 60% Increase DEF and a 25% Strengthen, and her A2 pairs an AoE 75% 50% Decrease ATK with a 50% team Increase ATK on the same cast, so she is mitigation AND recovery AND a damage buff from one seat.
Team
RoleChampionNoteTier
LEADER — Aura + protection
Lugan the SteadfastSNEW Legendary (2026-07-30) — Ayumilove FW 5★ and a 38% Ally-HP Faction Crypt aura, the biggest the faction has. A2 gives everyone 60% Inc DEF + 50% Ally Protection + a Shield worth 30% of HIS MAX HP; A3 is an 80% AoE Block Active Skills that locks a crypt wave down to A1s; his passive counterattacks every time a shielded ally is hit. HP-scaled, so one stat covers his damage, his heal and the team shield6★
Lugan the SteadfastSNEW Legendary (2026-07-30) — Ayumilove FW 5★ and a 38% Ally-HP Faction Crypt aura, the biggest the faction has. A2 gives everyone 60% Inc DEF + 50% Ally Protection + a Shield worth 30% of HIS MAX HP; A3 is an 80% AoE Block Active Skills that locks a crypt wave down to A1s; his passive counterattacks every time a shielded ally is hit. HP-scaled, so one stat covers his damage, his heal and the team shield6★Dec DEF + Dec ATK (anchor)
Stag KnightSThe only 6★ body in the faction and the crypt's engine. A2 Huntmaster: AoE 70% chance of 60% Dec DEF + 50% Dec ATK for 2 turns, CD 4→3 fully booked = permanent uptime on 2-turn debuffs. HH fw_dec_def 5 / fw_dec_atk 5 (the faction's highest FW role scores), Ayumi FW 5★. A1 also carries 30% Dec SPD, which is boss-legal. Passive hands an ally 50% Inc ACC each time a debuff is resisted — a safety net, not a substitute for the ~250 ACC this crypt wants.6★
Stag KnightSThe only 6★ body in the faction and the crypt's engine. A2 Huntmaster: AoE 70% chance of 60% Dec DEF + 50% Dec ATK for 2 turns, CD 4→3 fully booked = permanent uptime on 2-turn debuffs. HH fw_dec_def 5 / fw_dec_atk 5 (the faction's highest FW role scores), Ayumi FW 5★. A1 also carries 30% Dec SPD, which is boss-legal. Passive hands an ally 50% Inc ACC each time a debuff is resisted — a safety net, not a substitute for the ~250 ACC this crypt wants.6★Damage / execute
Sir ArtimageFA3 Unshakable Valor ignores 30% of the target's DEF and, on a kill, snowballs UNREMOVABLE 50% Inc ATK + 30% Inc C.DMG for 2 turns — the faction's cleanest wave-clearing engine. A2 Ring True strips all debuffs from himself then AoEs (CD 4→3 booked), which is how he survives debuff waves in a comp with no healer. HH fw_damage 4, Ayumi FW 4★. NOT the second shred: HH scores him fw_dec_def 1 / fw_dec_atk 1 because his 60% Dec DEF is a 40%-chance rider on the first A1 hit only.4★
Sir ArtimageFA3 Unshakable Valor ignores 30% of the target's DEF and, on a kill, snowballs UNREMOVABLE 50% Inc ATK + 30% Inc C.DMG for 2 turns — the faction's cleanest wave-clearing engine. A2 Ring True strips all debuffs from himself then AoEs (CD 4→3 booked), which is how he survives debuff waves in a comp with no healer. HH fw_damage 4, Ayumi FW 4★. NOT the second shred: HH scores him fw_dec_def 1 / fw_dec_atk 1 because his 60% Dec DEF is a 40%-chance rider on the first A1 hit only.4★Dec DEF + Weaken + buff denial
Dorothy GaleS6★ BUILT — SWAP from Arndulf (audit 2026-09-01). THIS CLOSES THE CRYPT'S OWN NAMED POINT OF FAILURE: the role-coverage lever reads 'decreaseDef — Stag Knight 5 and NOBODY ELSE, the comp's single point of failure', and Dorothy's A2 Windstorm lands a 75%-chance 60% Decrease DEF on ALL enemies for 2 turns — a second, independent source — plus a 75% 50% Decrease ACC on the same cast. She also answers this crypt's other stated problem: the enemy waves here are themselves Banner Lords carrying Increase DEF, Counterattack, Shield and Block Damage, and her A1 strips a buff at 75% while her A3 Furious Tornado steals ALL enemy buffs and spreads them to her own team — the job Warcaster currently sits on the bench for. She covers Arndulf's contribution directly: his headline is a 75% AoE 25% Weaken, which her A1 also carries at 75%, plus a Fear rider and a Provoke that are BOTH wave-only under stage-21 Almighty Immunity. THE DECISIVE FACTOR IS BUILD STATE: Dorothy is 6★ and BUILT, and this faction has exactly one other 6★ (Stag Knight), with Lugan at 5★ and the rest at 4★. Her gear plan is ACC-first, and this record says ACC 'is the tax that decides this crypt'. COST: Arndulf is the DEF-scaled front body the squishier attackers hide behind and Dorothy is a Support — Lugan's 50% Ally Protection covers part of that. LEAD STAYS LUGAN: her +19% Ally SPD (all battles) is weaker than his 38% Ally HP in Faction Crypts for a crypt that dies rather than stalls. NOTE HellHades publishes no FW-role ratings for her yet — only fw_primary Control — so her curated fwRoles are kit inferences.6★
Dorothy GaleS6★ BUILT — SWAP from Arndulf (audit 2026-09-01). THIS CLOSES THE CRYPT'S OWN NAMED POINT OF FAILURE: the role-coverage lever reads 'decreaseDef — Stag Knight 5 and NOBODY ELSE, the comp's single point of failure', and Dorothy's A2 Windstorm lands a 75%-chance 60% Decrease DEF on ALL enemies for 2 turns — a second, independent source — plus a 75% 50% Decrease ACC on the same cast. She also answers this crypt's other stated problem: the enemy waves here are themselves Banner Lords carrying Increase DEF, Counterattack, Shield and Block Damage, and her A1 strips a buff at 75% while her A3 Furious Tornado steals ALL enemy buffs and spreads them to her own team — the job Warcaster currently sits on the bench for. She covers Arndulf's contribution directly: his headline is a 75% AoE 25% Weaken, which her A1 also carries at 75%, plus a Fear rider and a Provoke that are BOTH wave-only under stage-21 Almighty Immunity. THE DECISIVE FACTOR IS BUILD STATE: Dorothy is 6★ and BUILT, and this faction has exactly one other 6★ (Stag Knight), with Lugan at 5★ and the rest at 4★. Her gear plan is ACC-first, and this record says ACC 'is the tax that decides this crypt'. COST: Arndulf is the DEF-scaled front body the squishier attackers hide behind and Dorothy is a Support — Lugan's 50% Ally Protection covers part of that. LEAD STAYS LUGAN: her +19% Ally SPD (all battles) is weaker than his 38% Ally HP in Faction Crypts for a crypt that dies rather than stalls. NOTE HellHades publishes no FW-role ratings for her yet — only fw_primary Control — so her curated fwRoles are kit inferences.6★Sustain / revive + Dec ATK
Ursala the MournerVIN for Warcaster (audit 2026-08-10) — she closes the gap this crypt's own levers called its one real problem. 4★, exactly the star level Warcaster sat at, so the swap costs nothing in build state; HH 8/10 against his 6/10, with FW sustain 5/5 AND decreaseAtk 5/5 where he scores 4 and 1. A3 Requiem revives all dead allies at 75% HP with half a Turn Meter plus team 60% Inc DEF and 25% Strengthen (CD 6→5 booked); A2 Waves of Grief is AoE 50% Dec ATK at 75% (books to 100%) plus a 50% team Inc ATK. What the swap gives up is Warcaster's AoE Block Buffs and his 1-turn team Block Damage — acceptable because Lugan's A3 already strips 2 turns off every enemy buff and blocks active skills, which covers the same enemy Banner Lords buff package. Needs ~250 ACC for the Dec ATK; her own 24% SPD aura is Doom-Tower-scoped and inert here.5★
Ursala the MournerVIN for Warcaster (audit 2026-08-10) — she closes the gap this crypt's own levers called its one real problem. 4★, exactly the star level Warcaster sat at, so the swap costs nothing in build state; HH 8/10 against his 6/10, with FW sustain 5/5 AND decreaseAtk 5/5 where he scores 4 and 1. A3 Requiem revives all dead allies at 75% HP with half a Turn Meter plus team 60% Inc DEF and 25% Strengthen (CD 6→5 booked); A2 Waves of Grief is AoE 50% Dec ATK at 75% (books to 100%) plus a 50% team Inc ATK. What the swap gives up is Warcaster's AoE Block Buffs and his 1-turn team Block Damage — acceptable because Lugan's A3 already strips 2 turns off every enemy buff and blocks active skills, which covers the same enemy Banner Lords buff package. Needs ~250 ACC for the Dec ATK; her own 24% SPD aura is Doom-Tower-scoped and inert here.5★Role coverage
- SDamageRiscarm, Halberdier, Cataphract, Preserver, Valerie, Stag Knight, Lady Quilen, Sir Artimage, Alaric the Hooded, Arndulf, Lugan the Steadfast, Rowan, Giscard the Sigiled, Hordin
- SDecrease ATKStag Knight, Alaric the Hooded, Ursala the Mourner, Giscard the Sigiled
- SDecrease DEFStag Knight, Dorothy Gale
- SControlPreserver, Arndulf, Lugan the Steadfast, Rowan, Giscard the Sigiled, Dorothy Gale
- FTM ManipLady Quilen, Ursala the Mourner
- SSustainValerie, Lady Quilen, Warcaster, Lugan the Steadfast, Ursala the Mourner, Giscard the Sigiled
Levers
- ›SEAT CHANGE 2026-09-01: DOROTHY GALE replaces Arndulf and closes the single point of failure this record names — 'decreaseDef: Stag Knight 5 and NOBODY ELSE'. Her A2 is a 75%-chance AoE 60% Decrease DEF, a second independent shred source, and her A1/A3 buff strip answers the Banner Lords waves' own Increase DEF / Counterattack / Shield / Block Damage package. She is 6★ BUILT in a faction whose only other 6★ is Stag Knight. Arndulf goes to the bench: his Weaken is duplicated by her A1, and his Fear and Provoke are wave-only under Almighty Immunity.
- ›SEAT CHANGE 2026-08-10: URSALA THE MOURNER replaces Warcaster. This crypt's recorded gap was 'no owned Banner Lords champion heals or revives an ally' — she does both, from a seat that also carries the faction's second AoE Decrease ATK and a team Increase ATK. Both are 4★, so it is a free upgrade. HH 8/10 vs 6/10; FW sustain 5 vs 4 and decreaseAtk 5 vs 1. Note the record already flagged that HH's sustain 4 on Warcaster was reading Block Damage as sustain — he has no heal in his kit at all.
- ›AURA DECISION, and it is genuinely close. Lugan keeps the LEAD on 38% Ally HP in Faction Crypts. The challenger is ROWAN (new 2026-08-10), whose aura is +50 Ally ACC in Faction Crypts — and this crypt's own lever says ACC 'is the tax that decides' it, with Stag Knight, Ursala and Alaric all wanting ~250. A flat +50 pays a fifth of that for four champions and frees their substats for HP, DEF and SPD. The reason she does not lead: only a SEATED champion's aura applies, Rowan is HH 5/10, and seating her means benching a 4-damage body. VERDICT: keep Lugan, and revisit ONLY if you can see debuffs actually being resisted at crypt 21 — that is the observable that flips it.
- ›ROLE COVERAGE of the new five: damage — Sir Artimage 4, Arndulf 4, Stag Knight 4. decreaseAtk — Stag Knight 5, Ursala 5. decreaseDef — Stag Knight 5 and NOBODY ELSE, the comp's single point of failure. control — Lugan 4, Arndulf 3. tmManip — Ursala 2, Sir Artimage 2, and this is the faction's thinnest role. sustain — Lugan 5, Ursala 5. The tmManip hole is what the Archmage Hellmut chase is for.
- ›Every stage-21 crypt boss has Almighty Immunity — no Stun/Freeze/Sleep/Provoke/Block Active Skills/Fear/True Fear, no HP-exchange or HP-balancing, no cooldown-increasing effects — but Decrease SPD and Decrease Turn Meter still land (Ayumilove FW guide). So Arndulf's Provoke/Fear and Lugan's Block Active Skills are WAVE-only, while Stag Knight's AoE Dec DEF + Dec ATK, Arndulf's 25% Weaken and Ursala's Dec ATK all work on the boss. Her revive is boss-stage insurance in a way none of the wave tools are.
- ›Team Ideal = these same five seats. No owned body displaces any of them at full build; the whole Now→Ideal gap is build state. Stag Knight (6★) is still the only finished seat; Lugan is 5★ and the other three are 4★.
- ›Book order: Stag Knight A2 Huntmaster fully booked (70%→95%, CD 4→3) is the floor — it also pays for Fire Knight, Iron Twins and Minotaur. Then Ursala A2 Waves of Grief (four chance books take the Dec ATK 75%→100%, plus CD −1) and A3 Requiem CD 6→5; Sir Artimage A2 CD −1 (4→3) + the A1 +10% chance book; Arndulf A2 CD 4→3 and A3 CD 5→3; Lugan's A2 CD 4→3.
- ›ACC is the tax that decides this crypt: Stag Knight ~250 for the 70%-base AoE, Ursala ~250 so the Dec ATK sticks, Alaric real ACC for his 75%-base Dec ATK/Dec ACC. Arndulf and Sir Artimage can run the 190 dungeon band.
- ›Second chase, obtainable rather than luck-gated: ARCHMAGE HELLMUT (Banner Lords/Magic/Epic, Ayumi FW 5★, HH fw_cc 5 / fw_tm_control 4) from 100 Doom Tower Secret Room fragments — he fills the tmManip hole the role-coverage lever names. His aura is Arena-domain, so he would never lead here.
- ›BENCH: WARCASTER stays the buff-denial answer if a specific wave's Increase DEF / Counterattack / Shield package is what ends runs — his A2 Sealing Strike is AoE Block Buffs at 50% (75% booked, CD 4→3). A SECOND Warcaster arrived 2026-08-10: feed it into the first for a guaranteed skill upgrade, since his A3 −2 CD and A2 −1 CD are the whole kit. ROWAN is the +50 crypt ACC aura body (see the aura lever) and a SPD-scaling multi-hit attacker whose A1 damage formula is literally 1.9 + SPD/100. ALARIC THE HOODED is the +29% Ally ATK crypt aura and a 4-damage body. LADY QUILEN returns on pure wave floors where kills are cheap. VALERIE is the +22% Ally HP crypt aura. RISCARM and PRESERVER are early-game depth.
- ›ARNDULF ON THE BENCH (2026-09-01): DEF-scaled front body, and the swap-in when the comp needs a durable body to absorb wave AoE rather than a second shred. His A2 Daunting Violence 75% AoE 25% Weaken still lands on the boss; the 25% Fear rider and his 20% A1 Provoke are wave-only.
Bench
Sources:HellHadesAyumiLove