Charles

Charles is an Earth Knight bruiser who fights primarily one target at a time. His basic Slash hits a single enemy with a chance to strip a buff and a 50% chance to follow up with an extra Smash, and his effect chance doubles when he himself is carrying three or more buffs. Smash is a single-target multi-hit that heals him through lifesteal and pushes the whole team's Combat Readiness for faster turns. His only wide attack is Faithful Strike, which hits all enemies, grants the team an Attack buff, gives Charles counterattack for two turns, and deals more damage the fewer enemies remain — making him a sustained duelist and tempo-setter rather than a one-shot cleaver.

Counters

• Buff-stacking and shield-reliant enemies — His Slash can strip a buff on hit, and that strip chance doubles once Charles himself is holding three or more buffs, so he can peel away the attack boosts, barriers, and stacked protections that defensive or buff-hungry teams lean on.
• Heavy single-target threats and tanks — His whole kit funnels into one enemy — Slash plus its 50% bonus Smash and the lifesteal multi-hit Smash let him grind down a single durable target while healing himself, so he wins prolonged duels against bruisers and walls.
• Aggressive attackers who hit back into him — Faithful Strike grants Charles counterattack for two turns, so opponents who keep swinging at him feed him free retaliation strikes and let him punish attrition trades.
• Small or whittled-down enemy teams — Faithful Strike scales up as enemies become fewer, so once the opposing side is reduced to three or fewer units, his AoE blast hits noticeably harder and helps him close out the fight.

counterLady of the Scales60%counterSpirit Eye Celine55%counterPerfumer Byblis63%counterEstelle57%counterMoon Bunny Dominiel60%

Countered by

• Counter-attack denial — A large part of his pressure comes from the counterattack he grants himself on Faithful Strike; enemies that prevent or ignore counterattacks shut down that free retaliation damage.
• Wound and unhealable effects — Smash sustains him by absorbing damage dealt as health, so applying an anti-heal effect cuts off his lifesteal and lets him be burned down.
• Buff removal and buff theft — He relies on carrying buffs — his strip chance even doubles when he holds three or more — so enemies that dispel or steal his buffs both weaken his offense and rob him of the Attack and counterattack buffs he leans on.
• Spread-out, full-size teams — His only multi-target hit, Faithful Strike, deals less damage the more enemies are alive, and the rest of his kit only strikes one target, so against a full team of healthy enemies his wide damage is comparatively soft and he must pick them off slowly.

counterHarsetti56%counterMort61%counterStraze56%counterAfternoon Soak Flan54%counterBlood Blade Karin53%

Who counters Charles? — full guide ›