Introduction

Nanoha is a standard 5 Star Ventus Vanguard Trekker with a focus on Ranged AoE attacks that trigger Ventus Marks to deal consistent DPS while being one of the most comfortable Trekker to play with. As of writing this guide Nanoha is currently in a spot where the endgame content and team composition isn't really fit for it. But with the upcoming release of Nazuka this might very well change and this guide will be updated to reflect that release.

With this guide you will learn what Nanoha's skills do, which ones to level up first, Talents, Builds and Teams!

Skills

So let's get through her skills beginning with her Auto Attack.

Flowers Scatter - Auto Attack

• 3-Hit auto attack sequence that throws multiple projectile that hit for minor damage.

  This auto attack is just a filler damage to help with break and can be upgraded with potentials. Nothing crazy special about them.

Flowers Dance - Normal Skill

• 2 Multi-hit AoE projectiles

• Triggers Ventus Mark

  This is your main focus on all Nanoha's kit. You will be using this skill off cooldown to trigger those Ventus Marks as it will be a good chunk of your damage. There's nothing much special about this skill by default the only warning is to be aware of your positioning to make sure you are hitting the most amount of targets with each projectile.

Flowers Bloom - Support Skill

• 12-Hit projectiles

• Triggers Ventus Mark

• Niche

  Since Nanoha is a Vanguard, You will most likely never really use this skill due to it being only for off-field Nanoha and also the fact that it deals very little damage. Therefore it is ill advised to play Nanoha Support as she will offer little to no benefit.

Flowers Thrice - Ultimate

• Buff Ultimate

• Help Trigger Marks

• Burst Window

  Nanoha's Ultimate is different from other ultimates as it's not a direct damage dealer but instead a buff to Nanoha's normal rotation. Nanoha creates 2 clones (this can be upgraded by 1) that follow her and throw higher damaging Auto Attacks that follow the same pattern as "Flowers Scatter". This ultimate can also be upgraded with a potential to make it throw out Skills equal to "Flowers Dance" with the only difference being is that these ones do not return to Nanoha.

Skill Upgrade Priority

Now that you know what her skills do, here is which one to level up first!

Skill > Auto Attack > Ultimate | Ignore Support Skill

The reason you want to go for skill first is due to not only her core potentials (The pink ones) getting increased scaling. But also because her main build is based off her Skill so you end up getting the most benefit out of it. Secondly you will want to go Auto Attacks because these will not dealing a crazy amount of damage or interacting much with the kit, are still a good chunk of your overall because they have 100% uptime so they stack overtime. Last your ultimate to help with your burst windows for example on a Boss Break. Ignore your Support skill because like I said on the skill description you won't realistically be using your Nanoha outside of the Vanguard slot so you'd be wasting resources leveling it up.

Talents

Talents aka Duplicates. Are usually not that impactful in Stella Sora (that being good or bad is up to you). Nanoha is one of the cases where none of her Talents are really that great but that you might have. So let's go through them

Like a Dream

• When a clone is on field, Nanoha's ATK% is increased by 47%

  This is not that great of a talent mostly because it offers too little of an increase in ATK% for example a level 7 Ann Support Skill offers 51% ATK which is already more than what this Talent gives and you don't need a duplicate for not to even mention that this is only active whenever Nanoha uses her ultimate so it gives a negligible buff with a condition attached to it.

Rejuvenating Spring

• Whenever Nanoha triggers a Ventus Mark she gains 20% ATK for 10 seconds

  Again not that amazing of a Talent due to it's buff once again offering very little of ATK% increase. For example Fuyuka has a very similar Talent where, whenever she triggers a Mark she gains 40% Crit DMG for 8 seconds. Crit damage is overall a much better stat than ATK% due to ATK% being oversaturated when it comes to availability for characters at higher quantities than what this Talent offers. Therefore it's value is very diminished and not something to actively go for.

Esoteric Arts

• Whenever Nanoha casts her skill she gains 40% Ventus Damage increase for 5 seconds.

  This Talent is not bad at a face value but when you look into it you find a major flaw with it. That flaw being that it doesn't buff the entire skill duration. Nanoha skill lasts around 9 seconds therefore this buff only has a 50% uptime on your skill. This feels like an oversight by the developers because why would the "On skill activation" buff not buff your entire skill.

Circulation of Wind

• Whenever Nanoha hits a target with an Auto Attack, she gains 22% Auto Attack Damage increase for 6 seconds.

  Once again the Talent itself is not bad in idea but just offers to little of value to make it worth getting. A mere 22% increase in Auto Attack Damage is a bit of a joke specially when compared to potentials from outside or even emblems which give 30% Auto Attack Damage increase at purple rank and you can have 3 of these. So this Talent which requires a lot more effort to obtain and money is weaker than a simple game mechanic that your character obtains for free.

Ninja Creed

• Nanoha deals increased damage to Elite or higher tier enemies by 24%

  This is the generic Talent 5 that most Trekkers have. Which is not bad by default but not exactly a crazy Talent that changes a lot. Being a simple damage increase and not changing her rotation or kit by any means.

Builds

Nanoha has 2 builds she can go. With current preference shifting towards skill but not having much difference in general mostly due to content currently out not being great for Nanoha. So whichever build you go you won't be making a wrong choice.

Auto Attack Build

• Single Target Damage

• High Attack Speed

• Better for Boss Content

  Nanoha

  

  Blossom Flurry

  This build is focused on throwing as many auto attacks possible to get high DPS on a singular target without thinking too much about positioning or mark application, overall just "Random Bulls!$#" go kind of build. So if you don't wanna think too much and still deal a solid amount of damage you will want the following potentials.

  Nanoha

  

  Growth Tempest

  Lv. 6

  After Nanoha deals multiple instances of Auto Attack DMG, deals additional AoE Ventus DMG.

  

  Blossom Flurry

  Lv. 6

  After casting the Main Skill, Nanoha fires additional shurikens with her Auto Attacks.

  

  Gale Rage

  Lv. 6

  Each time Nanoha throws the sunflower shuriken, increases ATK SPD and Auto Attack DMG.

  

  Sky Piercer

  Lv. 6

  When casting the Main Skill, increases Base ATK.

  

  Phantom Follower

  Lv. 6

  Each mirror image increases Nanoha's Auto Attack DMG.

  

  Sun Chaser

  Lv. 6

  When Nanoha deals DMG, there is a chance to increase her ATK SPD and Base ATK.

  

  Infinite Shade

  Lv. 6

  Increases Nanoha's Ultimate DMG. The Ultimate will summon more mirror images.

  

  Wind Whispers

  Lv. 6

  Increases Nanoha's Base ATK and the duration of mirror images.

• Growth Tempest to help with DPS because you will be throwing a lot of Auto Attacks, so having this burst of damage is a nice a addition as well as a slight help to AoE.

• Blossom Flurry to throw more Auto Attacks to help proc (activate) "Growth Tempest" as well as just a nice help to damage and AoE even if it's a minor AoE damage.

• Gale Rage for a big bonus on Auto Attack Damage and Attack Speed which is the main potential that allows this build to even function. Therefore it must be maxed and if not it causes an noticeable decrease in performance.

• Sky Piercer is just a generic ATK% increase that is actually noticeable and has 100% uptime.

• Phantom Follower another buff to help with burst windows by giving a solid Auto Attack Damage increase per clone created by the ultimate.

• Sun Chaser is a VERY strong potential and while it is a RNG buff, you are throwing out so many hits of damage that overall it ends up being up almost 100% of the time.

• Infinite Shade is key to help the "Phantom Follower" potential previously mentioned increase your Auto Attack Damage. This potential does not need to be maxed as you are mostly interested on the fact that it gives you another clone for your ultimate

• Wind Whispers once again is a potential just to help upkeep the buffs that your clones offer you by increasing their duration and giving a minor ATK% increase.

  Overall this build will be mostly used when you don't really care to think too much about the mechanics involved with Nanoha and instead you just want a simple, easy to play and effective build.

Disks (Auto Attack Build)

Sadly Auto Attack builds are not quite supported by a lot of disks for ventus. Therefore there is a limited quantity of viable disks for this build. Those being the following.

• Daylight Garden (5 Star Nanoha Signature) - This is the most obvious choice since it's literally the only Ventus Disk that directly buffs Auto Attack Damage. Not only that, it offers a great buffs of Ventus Damage Increase and also debuffs towards the enemy that makes them take increased Ventus Damage.

• New Star Prelude (5 Star A Finale Echoing Event) - Quite possibly one of the best disks currently out for Ventus as it takes advantage of the fact that Ventus Teams have an easy way to obtain almost 100% uptime on shields therefore be able to take full advantage of the buffs associated with this disk without worrying about the conditioning factor of the disk.

• Emerald Dream (4 Star Gacha) - This is the best 3rd option sadly for this build. As all other 5 Star Disks currently out only offer buffs to Skill damage. Which is not needed for this build.

Skill Build

• Great AoE

• Great Mark Trigger

  Nanoha

  

  Bloom Dance

  This build focuses on making as many hits of your skill to trigger as many Ventus Marks as possible to get consistent stream AoE damage. Requiring You to have your positioning in mind to get the most value out of it. While the builds works on Single Target content such as Boss Blitz. It mostly shines on content such as Menace Arena and Cataclysm Survivors. So if you want to get a strong AoE builds you will want the following potentials.

  Nanoha

  

  Whirling Blade

  Lv. 6

  The sunflower shuriken can deal DMG multiple times.

  

  Bloom Dance

  Lv. 6

  Increases sunflower shuriken's DMG and Attack Range.

  

  Blossom Shower

  Lv. 6

  When casting the Main Skill, the clones fire sunflower shurikens.

  

  Sky Piercer

  Lv. 6

  When casting the Main Skill, increases Base ATK.

  

  Distant Prayer

  Lv. 6

  The farther the sunflower shuriken is from Nanoha, the more DMG it deals.

  

  Splendid Vortex

  Lv. 6

  When the Main Skill triggers Ventus Mark, increases Skill DMG.

  

  Blooming Flowers

  Lv. 6

  When Nanoha triggers Ventus Mark, increases her Base ATK.

  

  Infinite Shade

  Lv. 6

  Increases Nanoha's Ultimate DMG. The Ultimate will summon more mirror images.

• Whirling Blade to cause your skill to hit multiple times therefore trigger Ventus Mark multiple times which will be a noticeable burst of damage.

• Bloom Dance to buff your skills range and damage, making it easier to hit and feel stronger

• Blossom Shower to help with AoE and damage due to it's very high scaling and also once again to help trigger Ventus Marks.

• Sky Piercer as just a nice generic buff that has 100% uptime.

• Distant Prayer to take advantage of your range by increasing the damage of sunflower shurikens (this includes Blossom Shower shurikens)

• Splendid Vortex to obtain essentially a free Skill Damage buff since you will be triggering a lot of Ventus Marks anyways.

• Blooming Vortex for the same reason as Splendid Vortex.

• Infinite Shade to help with Blossom Shower and also to help with triggering Ventus Marks.

  Overall this will be Nanoha's most popular build as it uses everything her kit offers at the cost of having to think a bit more than the previous build. When it comes to a damage difference it won't be really noticeable with only slight shifts when it comes to single target content vs AoE content.

Disks (Skill Build)

Skill Build has the benefit over "Auto Attack Build" in this section due to it actually being supported by a variety of disks which makes it easier to build.

• Daylight Garden (5 Star Nanoha Signature) - Like before this is the obvious choice for Nanoha as it buffs every aspect of her kit. Going from Auto Attack Damage increase to Skill Damage increase to Ventus Damage Increases and Ventus Damage Taken to enemies. Just overall the go to Disk.

• New Star Prelude (5 Star A Finale Echoing Event) - Quite possibly one of the best disks currently out for Ventus as it takes advantage of the fact that Ventus Teams have an easy way to obtain almost 100% uptime on shields therefore be able to take full advantage of the buffs associated with this disk without worrying about the conditioning factor of the disk.

• Tranquil Retreat (4 Star Gacha) - One of the highest Skill Damage Increase options currently out for Ventus with a condition that is easily met due to the amount of shielding that Ventus Teams have access to.

• Unknown Fragrance (4 Star Gacha) - Another alright option for skill damage although with an awkward condition of having to take damage to obtain a Ventus Damage increase.

Teams

With the release of Nazuka , Nanoha now has 2 viable teams that you can use. However keep in mind that the Nazuka team is leagues stronger than the other team.

Since both teams share the same 2nd slot we are going over it first, that being Ann . This is a bit of an obvious choice. She is a stronger buffer and even better when paired with fellow Ventus Trekkers to make enemies take increased Ventus Damage. So for that you will want the following potentials.

Ann Potentials

Ann

Wind Banish

Lv. 6

The wall of wind will constantly attack nearby targets. Also increases their Ventus DMG Taken.

Downwind Journey

Lv. 6

When the main Trekker's projectiles pass through the wall of wind, increases their Ventus DMG.

Windgate Barrier

Lv. 6

When casting the Support Skill, increases the main Trekker's Base ATK.

Wind Erosion Havoc

Lv. 6

Increases the Ventus DMG Taken of targets near the wall of wind.

Forest Princess' Blessing

Lv. 6

There is a chance to increase the Ventus DMG dealt by a random ally.

Turbulent Flow

Lv. 6

When the Support Skill deals DMG, increases targets' Ventus DMG Taken.

Speed Surge

Lv. 6

When the main Trekker passes through the wall of wind, increases her ATK SPD and Ventus DMG.

Violent Current

Lv. 6

When a wall of wind is on the battlefield, increases the main Trekker's Base ATK.

• Wind Banish for the Ventus Mark application and also the Ventus Damage Taken debuff.

• Downwind Journey for the Ventus Damage increase to projectiles that goes through the wind walls although keep in mind your positioning while using this Potential.

• Windgate Barrier for an easy to obtain ATK% buff.

• Wind Erosion Havoc for a VERY strong Ventus Damage Taken debuff.

• Forest Princess' Blessing while it is RNG, it's always active, meaning that any Ventus Damage has the possible increase of up to 155% at potential level 6

• Turbulent Flow another easy to apply debuff that makes enemies take increased Ventus Damage.

• Speed Surge for a nice buff to Attack Speed and Ventus Damage with a minor condition of walking through the wind wall which is not an issue at all.

• Violent Currrent for once again an easy to obtain ATK% buff which requires a minor condition of having a wind wall present on the field.

Now time to talk about the 3rd slot. With the choice being between Nazuka and Canace .

This is why I said the difference between these 2 teams is significant. Nazuka has already shown on release to be out damaging Nanoha herself while also debuffing enemies to make them take Increased Ventus Damage. With Canace barely justifying her placement in the team by having good Ventus Mark application, decent buff / debuffs but non existant damage.

This guide will still contain her potentials so don't worry if you didn't pull for Nazuka you still have an option.

Nazuka Potentials

But first let's start with Nazuka potentials. (This is very early on testing and is subject to change with further testing).

Nazuka

Flower Formation: Waves

Lv. 6

Increases the duration of Flower Formation.After casting the skill, when another friendly Ventus unit deals DMG to a target outside Flower Formation, creates another Flower Formation.

Flower Formation: Turbulent

Lv. 6

When another friendly Ventus unit deals DMG to targets caught in Flower Formation, Flower Formation deals additional DMG.

Flower Formation: Blast

Lv. 6

Increases the Flower Formation's Ventus DMG. When the Flower Formation dissipates, deals DMG and inflicts Ventus Mark: Breeze.

Almighty Leader

Lv. 6

Increases all Vanguard and Versatile Ventus Trekkers' Ventus DMG in the squad.

Flower Formation: Erosion

Lv. 6

When Flower Formation deals DMG, increases the target's Ventus DMG Taken.

Maelstrom

Lv. 6

Increases Ultimate's DMG. When the Ultimate deals DMG, increases the target's Ventus DMG Taken.

Aeolus's Blessing

Lv. 6

When casting the Ultimate, increases Nazuka's Ventus DMG and the tornado's duration.

Self-Improvement

Lv. 6

When there is a Flower Formation on the battlefield, increases Nazuka's Skill DMG.

• Flower Formation: Waves for the increased consistency of her flower formation by adding more Flower Formations after hitting enemies that are outside of a Flower Formation with other Ventus Teammates while also increasing the default duration of the Flower Formations.

• Flower Formation: Turbulent for big bursts of AoE damage that gets activated by other Ventus Teammates.

• Flower Formation: Blast to increase Flower Formations base damage while giving it an additional burst of damage whenever a Flower Formation disappears and also makes it so that Flower Formations can inflict Ventus Marks.

• Almighty Leader for a nice generic buff to Versatile / Vanguard Ventus Trekkers, increasing their Ventus Damage.

• Flower Formation: Erosion for a strong Ventus Damage Taken debuff that gets applied for each hit of a Flower Formation.

• Maelstrom for yet another Ventus Damage Taken debuff that can help your other Ventus Teammates or your already placed Flower Formations.

• Aeolus's Blessing for a Ventus Damage increase buff to Nazuka while also increasing the duration of the tornados.

• Self-Improvement for another selfish Skill Damage buff for Nazuka whenever a Flower Formation is on-Field

  Overall while these buffs can help Nanoha with the Ventus Damage Taken debuffs, they are very much Nazuka focused as she will be the main damage source on this team so focusing on her damage will be preferable.

Canace Potentials

While being the weaker option, Canace is still a viable option for Nanoha. So here's the potentials you will want!

Canace

Grants Efficient Delving

Lv. 6

Reduces Laurel Wreath's Attack Interval. Also increases its DMG.

Grants Speedup Notion

Lv. 6

Increases Canace's Skill DMG and the rotation speed of the Laurel Wreath.

Conclusion Analysis

Lv. 6

Increases Laurel Wreath's DMG. After breaking a target's Resilience, increases the target's Ventus DMG Taken.

Structure Analysis

Lv. 6

When the Laurel Wreath deals DMG, increases the targets' Ventus DMG Taken.

Storm Eye Expansion

Lv. 6

With each full spin of the Laurel Wreath, increases the main Trekker's Base ATK.

• Grants Efficient Delving for more hit counts on skill to help with Ventus Mark application and the Structure Analysis debuff

• Grants Speedup Notion for faster rotations and therefore more hit count for mark application and the Structure Analysis debuff

• Conclusion Analysis for a burst window Ventus Damage Taken debuff on break.

• Structure Analysis for a solid Ventus Damage Taken debuff on hit of your skill.

• Storm Eye Expansion for an okay ATK% buff to your main trekker.

  Canace overall does focus more on her skill Ventus Mark Application than direct buffs to her team but she still offers a lot less than Nazuka and is noticeable downgrade.

Emblems

Emblems are the main gate for investment in a Trekker and being essential to maximize their damage. But they can be somewhat complicated due to each emblem slot having their own set of stat limitations. Nazuna however has somewhat simple emblem choices.

Emblem Level 70 - Ventus Damage | Ventus Pen | Crit Rate | Skill Damage / Crit Damage / Auto Attack Damage

• For Level 70 the first 3 stats is the main go for stats. With the last 3 being build dependent. If you are "Skill Bukd", then Skill Damage, if you are "Auto Attack Build" then Auto Attack Damage. But if you prefer a more generic stats that can help either build you can go Crit Damage

Emblem Level 80 - Ventus Damage | Ventus Pen / ATK% | Crit Rate | Main Skill Level +2 3 / Skill Damage / Crit Damage

• Similar stats for level 80 with the Main difference being that the Level 80 emblem allows you to get additional levels on your Main Skill to better improve your Core Potentials and the skill's damage itself. However for Nazuka, the increase in Main Skill is actually to improve the Core Potentials for the "Auto Attack Build" because the "Skill Build" Core Potentials do not scale with skill levels. But it is still a valid choice for the "Skill Build" however you can also slot Skill Damage or Crit Damage.

Emblem Level 90 - Ventus Damage | ATK% / Skill Damage / Auto Attack Damage | Crit Rate | Gale Rage +2 3 / Splendid Vortex +2 3 / Sky Piercer +2 3

• Again mostly the same for Level 90 Emblem Stat wise with the main difference being the addition of direct potential levels and the removal of the Ignis Pen stat. Which the ideal would be Gale Rage for "Auto Attack Build" , "Splendid Vortex" for "Skill Build" and "Sky Piercer" as the generic "work on any build" stat.

Overall Thoughts

Nanoha is an alright DPS that is a comfortable pick due to her ranged however the current meta in endgame is very unfavourable to her. prefering single target damage over AoE, which is Nanoha's main preference. Luckily with the release of Nazuka, Nanoha got a big boost in team damage but still remains in shaky ground with high likelyhood of getting powercrept by future Ventus Vanguard Trekkers.

Thanks for reading!
And I hope you enjoy playing Nanoha!