^title should be Combos* :(

Hi guys, back again with another quick guide. I started an unfinished Artifact Guide for who I thought was the best commanders for each 7* artifact but what I quickly realized was that it can all be simplified down to looking for a few key skill combos for each weapon. Let's take a look at them now.

Offensive Skills Found on Weapons:

Chain Attack

Guaranteed Double when Attacking or Countering. This basically pairs with anyone, particularly those who don't already have Double Attack or Double Counter available to them. This skill is absolutely top tier.

Penetrating Attack

After dealing a killing blow on your turn, your commander can move to and attacks another unit. Note you don't have control of where they move or who they attack so it can leave them in risky situations. That said it basically gives your unit an extra turn. Pairs well with anything that will increase damage and chance to get kills (Double Attack, Reversal, MP Attack, etc). Also Expanded AoE to hit groups twice, or Expanded Range to hit from a safer distance and/or better chance someone is in range for second attack. ps: this can be a fun skill as you watch your commander run directly into the middle of a group of enemies.

First Strike

This ability let's you counter before the enemy attacks you, but my understanding is the way it works mechanically is that it actually makes it as if you're attacking them. This means Double Attack is actually better than Double Counter, and Reversal will proc as well even though you're "defending an attack". The best combination with first strike though is Forceful Blow, or knockback, which will actually make it so you hit your opponent away a lot of the time before they even get their attack in.

Expand AoE

Expand AoE is great for basically doubling (or more) your damage by hitting more than one enemy at once with your attacks. Again anything that makes you do more damage is going to pair well here (Double Attack, Reversal, MP Attack, etc). As I mentioned above, Penetrating or Guiding Attack with AoE is a great combo as well as you can set up a kill for the first attack, which damages a neighbour, and then the skill procs and you attack the neighbour and hopefully kill him as well (maybe even damaging more units too)

Guiding Attack

Very similar to Penetrating attack but you can't move to attack after the kill so there has to be another enemy in range for it to trigger. Obviously this means anyone with Expanded Range is going to be nice, but still have enemies grouped up enough that you can focus on the big damage dealing abilities too (Double Attack, Reversal, MP Attack, etc), or Expanded AoE similar to Penetrating.

Double Attack

The better half of Chain attack, only guarantees Double Attacks when attacking not countering, still a top tier skill (as you can probably tell from the fact I've listed it as pairing options for basically every other one). Again it's great with everything, and can even make some of the Status Effect attacks/passives worth using due to the fact it'll increase their chances of being applied.

Double Tactics

The same thing as above but for your casters (note only works with damaging spells, not debuffs, buffs or heals) this is going to pair well with Tactics ACC so that the attacks hit, any elemental damage increase, WIS increase, etc. Is basically the best offensive caster skill.

MP Attack

This one is neat, it allows you to hit for extra damage based on your remaining MP (the more remaining, the more damage it'll do), and then it costs 10% of your remaining MP. I've heard this damage might bypass defense but even if it doesn't I've seen it in action and it's a big increase regardless. For long fights you might want some form of Mana Regen to keep the bonus high, but otherwise the basically any of the skills so far pair great with this.

Reversal

This allows you to attack, get countered and then counter the enemy yourself. As I mentioned earlier it's great with First Strike due to the mechanics of how it works. It's also great with Double Counter or Enhanced Counter, or anything else that increases attack damage.

Forceful Blow

This skill allows you to knockback your target one space if it's open, if that space isn't open it'll actually deal more damage. Again I previously mentioned it's amazing with First Strike, and that's really the main case where it shines. Otherwise it's mostly a positional skill that can be used to open up lanes to the back line of a group of enemies.

Ignore Tactics Terrain

Another caster skill, this lets you cast elemental skills regardless of the terrain your enemy is on. This lets you use your highest damage spell, or hit everyone in range of your AoEs and can be a big boost to your damage. For some casters, like Marines, with limited spell selections, it makes it so they can even cast at all. (Note: can currently only find this on Legendary Swords or Zhuge Liang)

Expand Range

Pretty straightforward, it allows you to attack from further away, which can be a huge advantage. It can allow attacks that weren't previously possible to be possible, and/or make it so you can attack from a position where your enemy can't counter you. Pairs well with Penetrating/Guiding Attack, Expanded AoE, or any of the damage skills.

Attack Stat Switch

This is a very niche skill but is pretty necessary for some units. It lets you attack using your WIS stat instead of your ATK stat. There are some Marines in particular that make great use of this and turn them into frontline killing machines who can nuke hard with their spells as well. Pairs well with any attack skill above. Another notable skill is Peerless which gives you 100% WIS at less than 20% MP, if you can trigger that quickly (MP Shield?) than you will hit extremely hard with Stat Switch. (Currently only availabe on Legendary Swords and a few units)

Oppressive Assault

Basically makes it so you can't be countered, in reality it evades all counters. But this is a great skill to have for when you can't out range an enemy and want to damage it but won't be able to kill it. The way First Strike works it may make you unhittable when you both since their attack would count as as counter... If so that combo would definitely push this up the list a bit.

Life Steal 20%

Put it on your tank, also pairs well with someone with Good For Evil, Veteran, Second Wind or the Rage skill. They all Boost ATK when attacked or low on HP, this lets you recover some HP with big attacks. Together they will keep you alive hopefully and let you do big damage.

Various Status Effects

There are many different status effect afflicting weapons. These can be powerful when they proc but they have fairly low proc chances on the whole. Having Double Attack, Double Counter, Penetrating/Guiding Attack, Reversal, Expanded AoE, Phalanx Strike, etc that let you get extra hits on enemies can vastly improve them so that they're more reliable. The crowd-controlling ones can be particularly good.

Various Enhanced [Attack Type]

These are also great when paired with the skill that guarantees that attack type, so if you have Double Attack, Enhanced Double Attack is going to be very useful. Same with Critical Attack : Enhanced Critical, Double Counter : Enhanced Counter, etc.

So what'd I miss?