Sword of Convallaria — Items

Best all-round mage trinket — Large magic damage and magic AoE damage. Comes in the same pack as Shield of Justice. The all-round best mage trinket.

Trinket · sustain — A trinket that protects the wearer's HP pool and healing received — community guides use it on units whose HP swings low by design.

+HP + counter damage — +10% max HP and +25% strike-back (counter) damage. Fits a very wide range of units, especially anything with a counter passive.

Alert-damage item — The only item that boosts alert (overwatch) damage — niche, but unique.

Buffs while isolated — +12% attack and defense and +20% crit chance while the wearer is away from allies. Excellent on mobile units that charge in or flank.

Speed control — Provides speed / turn-order control. Extremely rare and extremely powerful where a unit can use it.

Dual attack + debuff immunity — Grants a dual attack and debuff immunity to the holder.

Trinket · attack + shield, any unit — Grants both physical and magic attack and a shield when equipped. Usable by almost every unit in the game and can be moved freely between them. Worth running even at one star.

one-time -50% magic DMG taken — Instant: decreases magic damage taken by 50%, one time, for two turns. Cheap insurance against a big magic hit — magic damage is generally the harder-hitting type in SoC.

Staff · flat +10% magic attack — A flat +10% magic attack, which multiplies every source of magic damage a unit deals. The default free-to-play wand for any mage.

Axe · sustain build — An axe used in a self-sustaining melee build — community guides pair it with Cooling Powder on Rawiyah.

Staff · +magic attack, +1 range — A staff: +magic attack and +1 range on single-target attacks. The extra range is a high-value effect on a back-line caster, and extends range-based kits such as Yennefer's teleports and summons.

Sword · defense while shielded — A sword: +10% max HP, and while the wielder has a shield, +40% defense and −10% damage taken. Easy to keep active now that shields are common — a strong pick for a sword-wielding tank.

Bow · flat damage increase — A bow: a flat damage increase with no activation condition. Called an automatic pick for any bow user by community build guides.

+10% HP, attack from HP — +10% max HP and bonus attack that scales from max HP. A no-frills sword for physical units that scale off HP.

Staff · healing + dispel on skill — A staff: +15% healing effect, and cleanses a debuff from the wielder whenever they use a skill. The benchmark weapon for a staff-wielding healer.

Sword · +HP, move-down on hit — +HP, and single-target attacks inflict Move Down I for one turn. Good on a tank you want sticking to a target rather than letting it run.

Solid physical dagger — A dependable physical-attack weapon with no awkward activation condition — good filler on most physical units until a signature is available.

Stacking magic attack + healing — Builds stacking magic attack and healing over a fight. One of the strongest healer weapons in the game.

~+32% attack — Roughly +32% attack — a clean, large stat stick for an archer.

Easy physical + crit trigger — Easy-to-trigger physical attack and crit damage — excellent on counter and alert units that hit outside their own turn.

Energy + act again — Reduces Credenza's own HP, restores energy, and lets her act again. Effectively irreplaceable on her.

Shahnaz signature — Shahnaz's signature weapon — magic-attack scaling tuned to her kit.

Magic attack for shield mages — A large magic-attack boost geared toward mages that generate or sit behind shields.

Crit for out-of-turn mage hits — Grants crit chance and crit damage to any out-of-turn magic attack — huge on reaction / alert mages.

SP Alexei / Ivan / Arman — The signature weapons for the Lucian units (SP Alexei, Ivan, Arman) are all-round strong — attack, survivability and utility together. Note that any 'Ward Piercer' line on Lucian gear only works against specific enemies in specific content; treat it as not present.

Finelia / Sophia support weapon — A support-tuned signature (Finelia / Sophia line) — healing and magic-attack scaling.

Yennefer signature — Yennefer's signature — magic-attack scaling and control tuned to her kit.

Single-target magic + out-of-turn DR — Single-target magic attack, plus damage reduction while acting out of turn. Built for Momo.

~50% crit damage — Adds roughly +50% crit damage. A large multiplier for any crit-based magic carry.

Near-100% crit for archers — Pushes crit chance toward 100% for any archer that holds it.

HP + piercing damage — Max HP and piercing damage. The piercing scales off HP, so it works well on other bulky physical units too.

Energy provision — Provide energy over a fight — good on units that are chronically starved for NRG.

Skeleton Spear / Pendant Halbert / Double-Sided Halbert — The three Legendary spears are roughly equal — solid, reliable stat sticks for spear users, none of them exceptional.

AoE-magic-damage only — AoE-magic-damage mage weapons and nothing else. Fine as a stopgap; replace with a multiplier weapon when you can.

High-ground conditional — Its bonus needs a high-ground attack — again, too situational to rely on.

Ends your turn on use — The effect is strong but using it ends the unit's turn instead of being instant, which removes most of the value.

Back-attack conditional — Its bonus needs a back attack to fire, a condition that comes up too rarely to build around.

Ends your turn on use — Same problem as Berserker's Incense — a non-instant activation that ends the turn.

Replace fast — Cheap AoE-damage or single-stat weapons. Fine for a brand-new account, but replace them as soon as a universal Legendary or a signature is available.