Anime Vanguards: Wrathful Assault Familiars & Wrath Shop Kits

Familiars are unit-bound power-ups in Anime Vanguards: Wrathful Assault. Some are general drop or shop familiars with rolling traits. Vanguard Familiars are the high-impact, unit-specific kits that rewrite how a signature unit plays. The Wrath’s End patch (September 12, 2026) put five new Vanguard Familiars in the Wrath Event shop for 1,000 Wrath Coins each. This guide explains the familiar system at a practical level, breaks down every Wrath shop familiar, and shows how to prioritize coins against Trait Rerolls, Memoria Shards, Phoenix Shards, Elemental Shards, and Corruption Crystals.

If you are still learning the Sin-drafted Shining Castle loop, read the Wrath Event Sin Guide first. Coin income, Normal versus Hard payouts, and shop pacing all come from that mode. For the season Exclusive that many players are building around, see Wrath (Assault). For gem and XP loops that keep banners and Battlepass moving while you farm coins, use Gem Farming and the Tier List Hub.

How familiars work (player-facing)

A familiar equips to a compatible unit and adds passives, actives, damage multipliers, category buffs, or summon tools. Vanguard Familiars are usually locked to one evolved form or a short family of forms. Equipping the wrong familiar on a random Secret wastes a limited shop currency. Always confirm the bound unit in the shop tooltip before you buy.

Regular familiars from raids, rifts, dungeons, legend stages, and older event shops still matter for mid-account progression. They are not obsolete just because Wrath’s End shipped five flashy Vanguard options. Think of Wrath shop familiars as finishers for units you already main, not as a shopping list for units you hope to pull next month.

Familiar stats and corruption-style crafting use currencies the Wrath shop also sells. That is why coin planning matters: every 1,000-coin familiar purchase is 1,000 coins you did not spend on Phoenix Shards, Elemental Shards, or Corruption Crystals.

Wrath Event shop: five Vanguard Familiars

All five cost 1,000 Wrath Coins. Normal clears pay 100 coins; Hard clears pay 200 coins with 10x enemy health. Ten Normal clears or five Hard clears fund one familiar before other sinks.

Holy Sword — Saber (King of Knights)

Holy Sword turns Saber into a Crimson Moon / Holy-Curse enabler. Expect Excalibur-style placement value, follow-up windows when allied Crimson Moon kits fire, and heavy damage amp for Holy and Curse partners. Buy this if Saber is already a placement you trust on Wrath Event, story pushes, or Team Battle drafts that do not ban the relevant elements.

Iron Helmet — The Falcon

Iron Helmet is built for The Falcon (Sacrifice line). It leans into Sacrificed stacks, eclipse-demon interactions, and the Unholy Transformation active. Cosmic and Berk category buffs make it a vertical investment: if Falcon is your mid-to-late board centerpiece, Iron Helmet is often the first Wrath familiar worth banking for. Cross-check Falcon’s place on the Tier List before you dump ten Hard clears into the purchase.

Blacksmith’s Hammer — The Smith (Forged)

Blacksmith’s Hammer converts The Smith into a stronger farm / craft hybrid. Yen gain from farms rises, Fire and Berk allies gain damage, and Hunter Quest becomes the active loop for Masterworks and wave yen. This is the familiar for economy-first boards and Gluttony Sin clears where farms already decide whether you upgrade on time.

Scrap Bluntsword — NotGoodGuy (Free)

Scrap Bluntsword unlocks Dragon Install, reworks Hell into a meter-spend full-range hit, and buffs Fire allies hard. Guilty Cog synergy and burn duration extensions reward players who already pilot NotGoodGuy as a sticky DPS. Skip it if the unit is sitting unevolved in storage.

Witch’s Staff — Medea (Witch of Betrayal)

Witch’s Staff adds Dragon Fang Army summons on placement, Oathbreaker-style kit depth, and upgrade-cost synergy when Sokora is present for Crimson Moon boards. Medea mains who already run summon paths on multi-lane maps get the most value—Summon Path controls from Wrath’s End pair well with staff summons.

Shop currencies beyond familiars

After the familiar you need, dump surplus Wrath Coins into evergreen sinks:

• Trait Rerolls — fuel Monarch / Ethereal / Deadeye / Fortune targets from Traits and Rerolls.
• Memoria Shards — refine exclusive Memoria such as A Beast Plays for Wrath (Assault).
• Phoenix Shards and Elemental Shards — familiar and elemental crafting loops.
• Corruption Crystals — corruption upgrades when Familial Folly or your own crafting plan needs them.

Do not buy all five familiars on day one if you still need Battlepass Tier 50. Coins and 3x Battlepass XP from the event both matter; see How to Get Wrath (Assault).

Purchase priority checklist

1. Own and regularly place the bound unit.
2. Confirm the unit still fits your Tier List role after Wrath’s End.
3. Clear Normal until Hard is stable, then double coin rate.
4. Buy one familiar, then reassess whether shards would unlock more account power.
5. Only complete the set if you actually rotate those five units across modes.

Apostles vs Vanguards also pays Wrath Coins (100 for a 25-wave clear) if you want a merge-mode break from Shining Castle—covered briefly on Team Battle and in depth on Wrath’s End.

Mode notes

• Wrath Event Pride: one-unit Sin favors a familiar-buffed hypercarry you can actually solo with.
• Gluttony: Blacksmith’s Hammer boards feel excellent because farms pay twice.
• Team Battle: read banned elements on the ready screen before locking a familiar-dependent mono-element plan.
• Story / Legend: familiar damage amps shorten clears and free gem time for Gem Farming.

Common mistakes

• Buying Iron Helmet before owning a playable Falcon.
• Spending every coin on familiars while Trait Rerolls sit at zero.
• Ignoring Hard mode forever and wondering why the shop feels expensive.
• Equipping a Vanguard Familiar, then never placing the bound unit.
• Chasing all five cosmetics of power while Battlepass Tier 50 is unfinished.

Related reading

• Wrath Event Sin Guide
• Wrath (Assault) unit page
• Gem Farming
• Tier List Hub
• Team Battle & Apostles
• Odyssey and Events
• Codes for free Trait Rerolls and Memoria Shards

Familiars are force multipliers, not a substitute for placement skill. Earn Wrath Coins with a Sin you understand, buy the familiar for the unit you already clear with, then convert leftover coins into shards that keep the rest of the roster honest.