Buffer

Type	Icon	Name	SP	Required	Description
B		Buffer 4	300	Shield Pulse 3	At the start of turn 1, if foe's attack can trigger unit's Special, grants Special cooldown count-2. Inflicts Spd/Def-4 on foe during combat. If a skill compares unit's Spd to a foe's or ally's Spd, treats unit's Spd as if granted +7. If unit's Spd > foe's Spd, reduces damage from attacks during combat and from area-of-effect Specials (excluding Røkkr area-of-effect Specials) by percentage = difference between stats × 5 (max 50%).
Cannot use:

Effects[]

Effects	Targets	Conditions
Map effects
Special cooldown count-2	Unit	At start of turn 1 if Unit has a Defensive Special
Combat effects
Spd/Def-4	Foe	—
【Phantom】 Spd+7	Unit	—
Reduces damage by X% (max: 50%) X = 5 x ( Unit's Spd - Foe's Spd) from attacks & Non-Røkkr AoE Specials	Unit	Unit's Spd > Foe's Spd

Buffer's cooldown count changing effect will not trigger if the unit is inflicted with False Start, unless False Start is removed by a skill such as Dream Deliverer.
Cooldown count changes from skills that activate at the same time as Buffer (at start of turn) are not considered in Buffer's conditions.^[1] Skills such as Infantry Pulse 4, Buffer 4, and Odd Pulse Tie 3 will have their effects stack.
The stat reduction that can be applied during combat by Buffer is considered a temporary debuff.

Effects that select units based on stats, such as Chill Def/Res 3, directly select the unit with the appropriate stat(s); they do not compare the team's units pairwise to decide which unit has the highest or lowest stat(s).
- Effects that check if a unit could make follow-up by decreasing the Spd difference, such as Potent Follow, are not affected by 【Phantom】 Spd effects.
- Effects that alter the Spd difference, such as Frozen, are not affected by 【Phantom】 Spd effects.
- Buffer stacks with other 【Phantom】 Spd effects.
  - For example, if both Null C-Avoid and Phantom Spd 3's effects trigger the unit with both skills will have their Spd treated as if granted +17.

The Area-of-effect Special damage-reduction effect is calculated after Area-of-effect Specials and damage boosting effects that trigger before combat such as Treachery and Dominance.
- "Reduces damage by X%" effects stack multiplicatively, unlike interactions related to the weapon-triangle, such as Triangle Adept and the weapon-triangle advantage boost.
  - For example, if both Dodge and Spurn 4 trigger, the maximum total damage-reduction is 64% instead of 80%, since the two skills reduce the damage to (1 − 40%) × (1 − 40%) = 36% of the original damage.
- Non-Special "reduces damage by X%" effects that reduce damage from Area-of-effect Specials can be neutralized or reduced only out of combat.
- For more information, see Damage calculation.

Unit	Skill chain
Edward: Blade of Justice	Shield Pulse 1 5	Shield Pulse 2 5	Shield Pulse 3 5	Buffer 4 5
Severa: Secret Dreamer	Shield Pulse 1 5	Shield Pulse 2 5	Shield Pulse 3 5	Buffer 4 5

Start	End	Event	Skill
2023-12-07	2023-12-25	Book VIII: Ratatoskr and More	Buffer 4
2024-04-30	2024-05-14	Mythic Heroes - Loki	Buffer 4
2024-06-07	2024-06-28	Attuned Micaiah & Sothe	Buffer 4
2024-10-02	2024-10-10	Book VIII Revival: Ratatoskr and More	Buffer 4
2024-10-30	2024-11-15	Mythic Heroes - Hræsvelgr	Buffer 4
2025-03-20	2025-04-07	Focus: Heroes with Finish Skills	Buffer 4
2025-06-09	2025-06-14	Book VIII Revival: Ratatoskr and More	Buffer 4
2025-06-15	2025-06-20	Revival: Attuned Micaiah & Sothe	Buffer 4

Start	End	Hero	Currency
2024-03-06T05:00:00Z		Severa: Secret Dreamer	Divine Code: Part 5
2025-03-06T05:00:00Z		Edward: Blade of Justice	Divine Code: Part 6