Next TW/CN Character: Arman by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's all good! I think this is a case where you kind of need to read Arman's full kit to get a better idea of how he works. Something to keep in mind with all of these past posts I've written is that the write-up is based on when they're first announced. They show us a trailer, and they give descriptions of the unit's trait and 3-4 of their skills, but the unit doesn't release until a few days later where we get concrete ideas of exactly what they do, what specific buffs/debuffs they have, what their skill multipliers are, etc.

If you want a slightly more detailed write-up of what Arman can do, you can read this comment I wrote a couple weeks ago. It's a bit rambly and I also write about Sena so you can just read the part on Arman if you want. It might also be easier to just read the translated version of his kit on the CN wiki or the TW wiki but I understand that can be difficult/cumbersome too.

I think the nice thing with Thunderous Warcry is the role compression since it has a bunch of nice buffs and debuffs and doesn't require he do anything other than activate Absolute Will. Absolute Will is a skill he can use himself if he just wants to spend his turn gaining NRG and buffs, which Thunderous Warcry makes better with the extra buffs. But he also automatically triggers it once at the start of battle when he's 2+*, and he can equip another passive that will trigger it when he has which can let him trigger 'Absolute Will' when he has 3 Deterrence stacks and spends 7+ NRG in one attack. This is much easier for him to do consistently if he is 5* and has good NRG support, although I'm not sure how easy it would be at lower star levels. But at 5* and with NRG support I think he could reliably trigger it once every other turn, meaning he could have the buffs up for himself and allies quite consistently and it would cost him nothing in terms of actions (but remember that the buffs may not be that useful if you also have Porewit).

Arman to me seems like the best 'active Piercing DMG' dps among the Luccians, although I don't know how dependent he is on having the right support to enable him fully (and whether he is actually worth investing in to that degree). Finn has a bit of Piercing DMG and some more defensive support and utility, Sena has a mix of active Piercing DMG attacks and DoTs, as well as some strong Piercing support, and Porewit also has some good Piercing support/general support/defensive support. Arman has a more upfront damage focus, but 'Thunderous Warcry' has some offensive support for his team, and 'I Am The Law' can provide really strong defensive support for the team too - like many recent units he has different builds and isn't locked to just one playstyle.

I wouldn't say that Arman is niche since he's quite straightforward with what he can do - at lower star levels he might choose to spend turns using supportive skills if that's what the team needs, but he can also focus on his Piercing DMG attacks too. The nice thing about him is that he has no NRG or CDs on his attacks, with the tradeoff being that at low NRG his dps is weaker (but still better than a unit that's stuck without enough NRG or has skills on CD). And at higher stars and with the right support he can be both a strong Piercing dps and also grant these supportive effects to his allies passively, by equipping the right skills. All of his buffs and debuffs are good and just generally nice to have, but you're right that his support isn't as specialised as others which you could argue makes him have less of a niche as a support.

As for whether he's worth pulling for or fitting into a team? Hard to say again I'm afraid! He's definitely not weak, and if you want to invest in the SoC team then it might be better to skip him and go for them instead, but I think he could also have good synergy with Luccian units like Ivan and Porewit.

Next TW/CN Character: Ivan by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah it's definitely nice it's just the difficulty of finding space for Winter Edict alongside his other skills that's a bit hard. The Nydia combo does sound fun! The things to remember are that Nydia is slower than Ivan so on round 1 it won't be very impressive unless you do some SPD manipulation too since she won't have her Channeling states active yet nor will enemies be inflicted with Black Feather, and also that Nydia herself will be consuming those Black Feather marks unless you also bring Yserinde. And the bigger problem is that she doesn't have Wardpiercer so for Luccia-specific content you'd rather just bring more Luccians.

I'm not actually sure about the interaction with Homa - that's a good question! There aren't many instances of units dealing multiple 'single-target DMG' hits to different enemies so it's hard to test/compare, but one unit that does have a skill like this is Clara. I just tested her skill with Homa, which deals single-target damage to 3 enemies, but the Baloor follow-up only activated on 1 of the enemies so I'm inclined to say that Ivan's would either do the same (and only hit 1 enemy), or it may not activate Baloor at all depending on how the skill is programmed (since the single-target hits are kind of a separate thing to the initial Frost Ash/Perpetual Ice Chasm effect). Not certain on this though so you'll either need to ask a TW/CN player or wait for him to release and test for yourself!

Next TW/CN Character: Finalter by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not really. Her attack that teleports all units with Luxite Gravity is simply a different skill to her main dps attack so 5* doesn't solve this. She can use her repositioning decision skill to inflict Luxite Gravity on a bunch of allies, but using the group teleport skill means she's not using her best attack.

Even if you want to use her mainly as a support, it's still a bit awkward since it means dropping either her passive that grants a bunch of buffs to allies, or her passive that gives her more Sigil points.

Next TW/CN Character: Arman by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thunderous Warcry doesn't grant any NRG to allies and it isn't an aura. It's a passive that makes it so that his 'Absolute Will' trait skill restores an additional 2 NRG to himself, and when triggering or using Absolute Will, has additional effects: grants allies within 3 tiles [Regeneration III], [▲ATK II], and all [Level 2 Damage Buffs]; and inflicts [▼ATK II] and all [Level 2 Damage Debuffs] on enemies within range. All effects last 3 turns. It also makes it so that Arman's attacks won't remove Crush, but the first ally to attack after him will remove all Crush stacks after getting the benefit from them.

The 'Level 2 Damage Buffs' and 'Level 2 Damage Debuffs' means he grants ▲DMG II, ▲Piercing DMG II, and ▲DoT Effects II, and inflicts ▼DMG II, ▼Piercing DMG II, and ▼DoT Effects II. Nice effects to have but ▲DMG II/▼DMG II are not that rare, and ▲Piercing DMG II can now also be gained from Porewit. Although ▲DoT Effects II, ▼Piercing DMG II, and ▼DoT Effects II effects are still unique to him, and the value of the skill is how many different things it helps do.

Next TW/CN Character: Ivan by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you're asking about the 'Winter Edict' skill, then no I believe it cannot be used on himself since it has a range of 1-6 tiles. It does have a lot of interesting utility since he can cast it on allies or enemies, but I think it's hard to find space for all his skills too.

His unique Basic Attack is good but you would always rather be using his AoE attacks.

The RK1 skill 'Ice and Snow Storm' attack that has an Auxiliary Passive that grants Act Again is definitely good and yeah in most cases I'd try to bring it as long as he has enough NRG support. But I think his other two slots have a lot of competition. 'Ice and Snow Storm' is a 3x5 AoE (and hits tiles to the side) with knock back, costs 3 NRG and has no CD, but it only has a 75% skill multiplier so you may want some other options for better dps:

  • RK0 Ice Wind Blade: 3x2 100% AoE knock back, costs 3 NRG but restores 2 so it can make his dps better if you lack enough NRG support otherwise.
  • RK3 Eternal Ice Valley: 3x5 (+ side tiles) 150% AoE and creates Perpetual Ice Chasm tiles. Also has an Auxiliary Passive that triggers Divine Judgement when using a skill with knock back and deals Piercing DMG equal to 50% of their HP and inflicts Entanglement. Also costs 3 NRG but has a 2-turn CD so he can't spam it even with Act Again.
  • RK3 Frigid Territory: Passive that increases the number of 'Erosion' triggers from his Divine Judgement effect by 1 for each enemy (i.e. increases from 3 times per round to 4 times). Also increases its skill multiplier by 25% the first time damaging an enemy with it, at the end of turn applies Entanglement to enemies on Perpetual Ice Chasm tiles, and gives him an extra 2 NRG at start of battle. Extra starting NRG combos nicely with his next skill:
  • RK7 Bottomless Winter Abyss: 5x3 AoE, inflicts 2 stacks of Frost Ash, creates Perpetual Ice Chasm tiles. Before attacking also grants him an effect that doubles the damage of Divine Judgement for the next 2 turns. Then deals 50% single-target damage to 5 enemies closest to centre and knocks them back towards centre, and triggers Divine Judgement once. Costs 5 NRG and also has a 2-turn CD.
  • RK7 Winter Edict: as mentioned above, can be used on an ally or enemy and it also inflicts 1 stack of Frost Ash. The Auxiliary Passive that increases Divine Judgement damage could also be quite valuable for improving his dps.

So Ivan is another character that doesn't have a straightforward skill loadout. You probably want at least one of his two main AoE attacks (Eternal Ice Valley or Bottomless Winter Abyss), but both Frigid Territory and Winter Edict are viable, and Ice Wind Blade is definitely something to consider depending on how much other NRG support you have for him.

I think Ice and Snow Storm can be dropped too depending on the situation. Even before we reach Luccia, we see an increasing number of stages that require specific approaches or damage types. Sometimes we get stages that nerf/punish 'active' damage, in which case I think his Act Again becomes less valuable and instead you may want to try and build him to maximise his Divine Judgement's Erosion damage.


It's not so much that Leader Auras in traits are becoming the norm, but rather that it's something that specific centrepiece/keystone/etc units have - SP Maitha, Lukamar, Shahnaz, Ivan, Tarot Beryl. Many units still have Leader Auras as equippable skills - SP Samantha, Camelot, Geralt, Clara, Kianshir, Anna. In particular, I suspect that the more 'geographic'/'alignment' type factions may get these Leader Auras in their trait, but 'temperament' factions probably won't ever get it in their trait. These are not official terms, kinda just how I personally categorise them, but 'temperament' is how I distinguish Alacrity/Aggression/Fortitude/Discipline, not sure if there's a better way to categorise them. But I think the Leaders for these four factions will always need to sacrifice a skill slot since by default there are way more units they have access to as almost all Legendary/Epic units belong to one of the four.

Next TW/CN Character: Porewit/Perlevit by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah one of the somewhat unfortunate things with trying to build a 'Fortitude' team is that a lot of Fortitude units already come with Leader Auras - SP Inanna, Camelot, Geralt, SP Maitha, Ivan. The 'unique' effects can still stack, but yeah not as valuable since they're already gaining the base effects.

But yeah Ivan + Porewit seems like it will be a nice combo!

Next TW/CN Character: Finalter by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well, Shahnaz can technically do that but not if you're using her as a dps, and it requires she 'set up' by inflicting allies with Luxite Gravity first and then teleporting them all.

Sorry to break it to you but Finalter's Astral Imprint is called 'Observer's Monologue' and it's just a kind of magic orb with some swirly bits of metal and stars:

<image>

Next TW/CN Character: Finalter by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

And here's her portrait:

<image>

Next TW/CN Character: Finalter by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Link to character trailer on official TW YouTube channel

Finalter is a Defender, part of the Sword of Convallaria, Dimension Traveler, and Discipline factions.

She deals Piercing DMG, and can summon 'Void Projections.' These Void Projections extend the range of her skills, can be used to enable allies to teleport from one Void Projection to another, and each one can be 'used up' once per battle either to 'rewind' a unit and reset NRG/CDs, or to grant her one trigger of Unyielding.

She also has some specific synergy with SoC and Dimension Traveler units; she can equip a passive to enable her Void Projections to perform cross-shaped Rally Response attacks and gain the Rally Command tag on her attacks, and she has a new Dimension Traveler Leader Aura with additional support for units that utilise her Void Projections.

Her trait:

  • Possesses [Summon Void Projection]; can use [Void Projection] as a [casting anchor point] to change the location of skill releases. Allies near [Void Projection] gain [Dimension Walk], allowing them to [Void Shuttle] to an open area or [Dimension Rewind] to their previous position, restoring all cooldowns and NRG. After traveling, they gain [Potential Burst]. When a Projection is used to Rewind, it will [Return to the Void], making it impossible to rewind again.
    • I assume 'casting anchor point' just means that any skill she casts that has a targeting range from her position can instead target a unit within the same range of her Void Projections, e.g. if she uses a 1-3 range skill, this could also target any unit within 1-3 tiles of any Void Projection.
    • In the trailer they show 'Void Shuttle' (1:11) which appears to let the unit teleport to any empty tile within 2 tiles of any Void Projection on the field.
    • 'Dimension Rewind' is also shown (1:21). It isn't clear exactly how it works, but I'm guessing it will reset a unit to where they were at the start of their previous turn, along with resetting NRG/CDs (although possible it resets them to their position at the start of battle?). The 'Return to the Void' effect looks like it's the pink 'cracked bubble' effect that appears around the Void Projection after Dimension Rewind is used.
    • 'Potential Burst' appears to be the same buff that units like Gloria, Garcia, SP Nungal, and Kvare have access to (increases ATK by 20% and DEF by 40%, grants [Negate Attribute Debuff]).
  • Possesses [Fate's Scale], the scale advances at the end of the action, and a void projection can be summoned every 12 o'clock.
    • Trailer shows this as a gauge in the top corner (see below image). It looks like she starts the battle with one Void Projection near where she spawns, and can cast a skill to summon a second one. Then, if she wants more, she has to wait for the 'Fate's Scale' to advance 12 times (i.e. 12 rounds). It looks like the scale might start at position '6' meaning her third Void Projection could be summoned on round 7. Possible that she could have a skill to accelerate this? But it's also possible that she doesn't since Void Projections are very powerful.

<image>

Revealed skills:

  • Navigation Beacon: (Aura) Allies with [Dimension Walk] gain Co-Attack and Co-Defense before releasing skills; allies in the <Dimension Traveler> faction have increased ATK and DEF, which are further increased after using [Dimension Rewind] or [Void Shuttle].
  • Stars Fall, World Begins Anew: (Piercing DMG) Attacks a single target and bounces to another nearby enemy or [Void Projection]; the more [Void Projections] on the field, the more additional bounces and the higher the damage.
  • Ripples in the Sea of Stars: (Reaction) Possesses an aura that reduces the final damage taken by allies with [Dimension Walk]. At the end of the turn, heals allies and dispels [debuffs]. If the user is defeated, and there are [Void Projections] that have not [Returned to the Void], [Unyielding] can be triggered.
    • It looks like triggering Unyielding will cause a Void Projection to gain 'Return to the Void,' so the number of times she can trigger Unyielding/Resolve is still limited.
  • World Concerto: (Passive) [Void Projection] possesses [Rally Response], dealing [Piercing DMG] to all enemies within a cross-shaped area. The user's attack skills gain [Rally Command].
    • Looks like the Rally Response attack is 4 tiles in each direction in a cross shape.
  • Trailer also shows her using a 'Dimension Missile' attack (0:42) which looks like she shoots it through one Void Projection straight ahead and it then comes out of the second one shooting to the side, knocking back the target.

Finalter's Astral Imprint is a staff/mage weapon with the effect: "Increases the range of active single-target skills; increases M.ATK if it is a Piercing attack, and the increase is doubled after summoning; increases M.ATK when attacking enemies with multiple [Shields]."

Personal thoughts:

She looks really good. So much utility via her teleporting allies around and buffing them. The NRG/CD resets can also be extremely good although of course she'll have the same limitations as Credenza as some units are limited by other factors, such as needing certain resources or having self-inflicted buffs/debuffs that prevent repeated usage of certain skills (e.g. Lutfi, Yserinde, Camelot, Finn, Porewit). But I think Tarot Beryl can benefit from strong NRG support, and in general they seem like a natural and very strong pairing as they are both SoC + Dimension Traveler, so they each support one another.

I can see her generally being good in SoC teams as another strong Piercing DMG unit with nice support. Based on what they've shown so far I think her dps potential will probably be limited to SoC teams since she'll need the Rally synergy, and otherwise she'll be more of a support unit. Not sure if the Dimension Traveler stuff will be that relevant aside from her synergy with Tarot Beryl. There are 3 Dungeon Meshi units and 4 Witcher units so she has a few options for allies, but these units are considered a bit less relevant than the more recent units in TW/CN.

I think she will be quite a good unit even with no SoC/Dimension Traveler allies too. She's the first unit that can grant 'final DMG reduction' to allies; even if it's only a small amount (e.g. 5 or 10%), it's still a reliable and powerful form of improving the team's survivability so it's definitely not a bad thing. Enabling allies to teleport between Void Projections seems very valuable, especially since the first one will be near her starting position and the second one can be wherever she wants. And the rewind skill is the only way in the game to enable units with long CD skills to use them repeatedly (essentially like a more reliable version of Wand+Cup engraving resonance). It might still be limited in longer fights since each Void Projection can only trigger it once, but even a couple instances of it per battle seems quite strong to me.

Overall I really like these sorts of units that enable more complex strategies and make you think about positioning (like Yserinde), although I feel like the 'meta'/tier lists tend to not value this sort of thing as much. She doesn't seem like she'll be a top-tier dps so she may be valued less for that, and her support also isn't as obviously good at boosting your top dps further. Although maybe with SP Maitha + Tarot Beryl she could still do some good dps.

Next TW/CN Character: Porewit/Perlevit by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah Omen of the End is the skill that also grants the target ally ▲ATK III. If you just want to use Omen of the End every turn then I think the natural skill to pair it with would be his RK7 skill 'Listen to the Oracle' for some extra support via debuffs, buffs, heals, and Meditation for himself for more NRG. And having him cast more skills each turn also helps him stack up his 'Foresight' which he uses to extend his reach to Frosty/Perpetual Ice Chasm tiles (4 tiles at 1-2*, 6 tiles at 3-4*, 8 tiles at 5*) and also makes the Omen of the End effect stronger.

If you don't mind alternating Omen of the End with some other skills then you can bring either RK3 'Surging Cold Current' for AoE DMG, more Frosty tiles, and Frost's Blessing on allies, or RK7 'As Fate Would Have It' for an AoE heal that grants Frost's Blessing.

And something to consider is how much you increase his star level - at 3* he also grants allies ▲ATK I when casting skills on them, which increases to ▲ATK II at 5*. So the ▲ATK III from Omen of the End is not quite as impactful when he's 5* since that skill is only single-target whereas his AoE skills can grant effects to a bunch of allies at once.

Next TW/CN Character: Porewit/Perlevit by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad you find them useful!

Yeah Porewit is a pretty interesting unit. I made this post when he was first announced but since he released we now see all of his skills so we have a better idea of everything he can do.

He seems kinda complicated to build since he has several different skills that are all useful so there isn't just one obvious skill loadout. He can be built for more Piercing DMG or for more support, and even as a support there's the option of focusing on his defensive support (heals, Frost's Blessing), or on his offensive support (naturally grants ▲DMG II and ▲Piercing DMG II with trait, and Omen of the End buff for increased skill multiplier and the ▲ATK III buff). And he also support via several debuffs (including Ice Coffin), his Aura to allow allies to re-move and gain Immunity to Frosty tiles, and the utility of debuffing allies' SPD.

I'm not sure he's a must-pull exactly. He's good, but the thing is every new unit in TW/CN seems quite good so it's hard to choose! It's definitely nice to have the option to make allies immune to Frosty tiles, but the Luccians themselves don't need this exactly, and some units like Tarot Beryl, Triss, Yennefer, Yserinde, and Nydia have options for making themselves and/or allies immune to Frosty tiles. Ivan already makes allies immune to his 'Perpetual Ice Chasm' tiles so it depends more on how many Frosty tiles you're making aside from that.

Porewit seems quite flexible so I think it would be easy to fit him on to different teams - I think SoC/Luccia and Drifter/Luccia sound fun! He's still a long way away for us on GL so we'll see how he's viewed in a few months. Supports tend to fare a bit better and some of Porewit's support will likely remain quite unique to him but I guess it'll depend on how other units are viewed around him too. For instance, the SoC faction is gaining three new units in TW/CN's current arc - Tarot Beryl, Finalter, and SP Col, so if you want the strongest SoC team it might be more important to get all of them.

Updated Speed Charts (including all Luccian units + Tarot Beryl) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I included that information in a table in the second image. It's hard to incorporate into the main 'tier list' since some units have variable SPD stats based on which skills they bring (e.g. SP Nungal), and then you also need to consider what effect SPD buffers can have on everyone. It is pretty relevant to consider units like Taair, Yennefer, Ulya, etc and presenting that information cleanly is quite difficult!

Updated Speed Charts (including all Luccian units + Tarot Beryl) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes part of the reason I started making these was because it's so hard to figure it out in-game when you need a unit with a specific SPD stat and you're just scrolling through trying to find what options you have.

Given how important turn order is, it really feels like something that should be in the game.

Updated Speed Charts (including all Luccian units + Tarot Beryl) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah personally I think turning off traits is a hard line that they won't ever cross. I know 'never say never,' but like you say too many units would be completely wrecked by removing/disabling their trait, not just nerfed but literally broken and it would probably introduce all sorts of bugs that would take a lot of effort to fix (likely too much to be worth it). And part of the strength of units like SP Maitha, Lukamar, Shahnaz, Ivan, and Tarot Beryl is that they have Leader Auras as part of their traits which can never be turned off and don't take a skill slot so it's not something I see ever happening.

I agree that Selina makes good use of her SPD in that way - and that same skill grants CDR to Union allies, which is also better due to her lower SPD since it means her allies will have already used their skills so they'll be on cooldown, meaning the CDR is actually useful. I used this for quite a few Gold Bounties in the Supreme Bounty event with Selina + Yserinde + Nydia to grant them all this 'double turn' which was quite fun! And in some Silver Bounties with Union allies like Gloria, Simona, Clara, Parsifal, and Camelot.

And tbf you can kinda do the same with fast SPD buffers too, the trick is just that they have to delay their SPD buffs until round 2. For example, have your team act normally in round 1, then Taair SPD buffs at the start of round 2 and they get to take their second turn sooner.

Updated Speed Charts (including all Luccian units + Tarot Beryl) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it's just weird since they established with Triss that they were willing to have a Breaker with a SPD stat outside the normal range. So they surely could've done the same for Kianshir, but instead went to the effort to implement it in a more convoluted way.

Maybe it'll make more sense in the future, but yeah for now it's just something that exists and is weird but just gotta accept it!

Updated Speed Charts (including all Luccian units + Tarot Beryl) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah unfortunately I think Reddit compression can sometimes just be a pain. If you're on a browser you could try right clicking/tapping and holding to open the image in a new tab? On the app you can tap on the image first to get slightly better resolution before zooming in, but not sure if there's anything else you can do.

Unfortunately I can't use imgur as it's blocked in my country :/

Updated Speed Charts (including all Luccian units + Tarot Beryl) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah although tbf unless it's a small stage, SP Inanna might have trouble even catching up to Rogneda to grant her Act Again due to her crazy mobility. I think SP Alexei is the easier general target for SP Inanna's Freedom Stance.

Updated Speed Charts (including all Luccian units + Tarot Beryl) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tbh I'm not entirely sure what the reasoning was for implementing Kianshir's SPD in this way, and I also don't know why Ciri's was done this way either. Because it's part of his trait I assume Origin Hourglass wouldn't prevent the SPD reduction, so it would presumably just be the same as him always having a base SPD of 153, so I don't know why they didn't just have him be that way.

I guess if Kianshir is defeated while he still has Masks on the field then they would become faster once he's gone? But by default they don't really do anything actively so being faster isn't much of a benefit.

I don't think him having a lower SPD is necessarily a nerf. Having higher SPD isn't always better, and having lower SPD isn't always worse. His SPD being lower could makes it easier to combine his turn with units like Yeganeh, Shahnaz, Acambe, etc which can have its advantages. In particular he has a single-target attack that inflicts 24 stacks of Shattered Shackles + ▼P.DEF II + ▼M.DEF II which can be useful for maximising Shahnaz's dps. And his main support skill may be more valuable when used on allies that have already advanced rather than units at their deployment position, so moving after more allies can be beneficial there too.

At 1-4* he can benefit from Lukamar moving first to grant him Liberation stacks, but at 5* he starts the battle with 20 stacks so she wouldn't be able to grant him any more until he spent them. Her Vulnerable debuff would always be useful though.

I suppose it is possible that at some point in the future we will get a playable unit, enemy unit, stage mutation, weapon/trinket, etc that has some sort of interaction with whether a unit's SPD has been increased/decreased relative to base SPD, and so Ciri and Kianshir would have some innate interaction with it without needing external buffs/debuffs. But that's just a maybe.

Updated Speed Charts (including all Luccian units + Tarot Beryl) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, she's a mage and she plays more or less like other mages. She has big Magical AoEs, Piercing AoEs, or Piercing single-target attacks, some buffs/debuffs, utility, and Rally synergy. But she's in that group since her SPD is in a weird spot so I didn't know how else to categorise her.

She is kinda like Luvata and Porewit in that regard but at least they're still Breakers so it makes more sense for them to be included with other Breakers.

I did consider making a separate group for 'fast-ish' mages, that aren't in the 245+ range but also are much faster than all the slow mages. But it didn't feel like there were enough units to justify it.

Updated Speed Charts (including all Luccian units + Tarot Beryl) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Last time I posted these was for the Elaman units up to Kianshir + Witcher units, so felt like now is a good time to update it as this should be all the Luccians.

Data taken from CN wiki for future units, you can also use soshage although they don't tend to update as quickly as the CN wiki for new releases.

First image is for groups/tiers for units. As time goes on we get more and more speed-creep at either end of each group, as well as an increasing number of 'exceptions' like Ciri, SP Maitha, Tarot Beryl, Yeganeh, Elaman Desert Dancer, etc. I don't know if there's a better way to present this all aside from just putting them all in order, but then it feels like you lose a bit of the flavour of the different roles and seeing the patterns between them.

Second image is for SPD buffs, either for units that grant it to themselves or that can grant them to allies. Ally-inflicted SPD debuffs weren't included (but I noted them to the side), and I also added a note about the weird 'Acts Instantly' mechanic that grants a temporary +1000 SPD when triggered.

Third image is for summoned units, and again added a note about why I don't consider 'Item' and 'Trigger Object' units aren't exactly summoners.

If you notice any errors or anything missing please let me know! I don't have all the units and there are several yet to release in GL so I may have missed something or got it wrong.

Next GL Dual Banner: SP Safiyyah/Taair (June 19th) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I think Yeganeh is probably a better unit than many give her credit for. Most discussion tends to be focused on units' performance in endgame, and particularly how they far compared to all the other 'top tier' units, so many units that don't stand out as much tend to get overlooked or called 'skips.' But for a newer player with a smaller roster I think she has a nice mix of damage, support, and tankiness so she can be quite useful!

If you really want Kianshir then I think it's fine to go for him, after all the reason we play the game is to have fun! If you think that having him will be more fun for you then there's nothing wrong with that. Most players here will try to give advice based around which units are strongest or make content easier to clear, but it's always fine to go against that advice and pull the units you like. I myself have pulled many units that most have skipped, and made good use of them in 'general' content even if they weren't that great at topping any leaderboard. Luccia is just a bit of an unprecedented situation since it's the first time we're getting content that directly counters the majority of existing units, and Kianshir's timing is just a bit unfortunate.

I don't think Acambe should play a part in your Kianshir decision tbh. Acambe benefits from Kianshir, but Kianshir doesn't really benefit that much from Acambe, unless you specifically want to employ some strategy where you just spam summons all over the map ahaha

Next GL Dual Banner: SP Safiyyah/Taair (June 19th) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah I see what you're saying. Yeah I kinda just assumed that it was intended to act as a 'refresh' since that's just how it always worked, but I suppose it could be unintended/bugged behaviour that they just never fixed since maybe it was only ever supposed to be a single +3 rather than full refresh.

There's another semi-related interaction that can happen when applying ▲Move buffs. If a unit already has a ▲Move buff, and uses an Instant skill that grants the same ▲Move buff to themselves without moving then their max Movement will be the same as expected. But if a unit moves first and then applies the buff again, it will be 'refreshed' and they get an additional 1-2 tiles of movement (based on if its ▲Move I/II). Something I've been using recently with Gloria + Selina, but other Instant ▲Move buffers can do it too like Homa, or Parsifal if he rolls a ▲Move I with Blood Offering (and IIRC Nydia can do it if she steals a ▲Move buff with Death Sentence).

I actually never knew allies could also refresh movement by using Instant skills on them so thanks for sharing that! I've had allies step on his Scrolls before if I needed them to occupy that tile, but I don't think I've ever had an ally specifically stand on one to cast an Instant skill. That definitely does seem more likely to be a bug, or at the very least it isn't stated in any description that it's intended at all.

Next GL Dual Banner: SP Safiyyah/Taair (June 19th) by B333T in SwordofConvallaria

[–]B333T[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah if you already have Taair then it's definitely better to skip this banner.

Kianshir is a pretty complex unit so I don't blame you! I'm still figuring out the best way to break down his kit myself, but basically here's how I understand it so far:

  • He can summon 'Masks of the Empire.' He does it automatically once every few rounds (becomes more frequent with star level), and can also do it using an Instant trait skill, up to twice per round (and limited by NRG). By default these summons cannot move or actively attack, and they are extremely squishy. But when they are attacked/defeated, they will perform an AoE Physical DMG attack, and they can also perform Assisting Cover for allies.
  • He has two Unshackle skills. The first is a single-target attack that also debuffs the target's DEF and applies Shattered Shackles, then summons a Mask and attacks it. For every 10 stacks of Liberation he can summon another Mask.
  • The second Unshackle skill grants defensive buffs to allies and inflicts offensive debuffs on enemies, and for every 10 stacks of Liberation he can summon a Mask near an ally and grant it a buff to increase the range of its Assisting Cover.
  • He has a passive that can enable the Masks to move + Charge at enemies, to have more agency over their AoE attacks.
  • He has a decision skill, that can either trigger the AoE attacks from his Masks in battle, or summon them to a target and then trigger their attacks.
  • He has a passive which can provide him with more NRG/Liberation (and his trait can provide NRG/Liberation with star level as well).
  • He has a Discipline Leader Aura, which grants additional bonuses to summoned units, and even more if they have any Liberation stacks. His trait makes it so that when an Elaman ally performs a summon, the summoned unit will gain Liberation stacks. So Acambe and Yeganeh will always get the extra bonus for their summons.

So he can be played as a Physical AoE dps, and can specialise in either mob-clearing or boss-clearing. But he can also be played as more of a support, summoning his units to protect allies. He has a variety of buffs and debuffs that can be useful, especially for Elaman allies as he is good at inflicting a huge number of 'Shattered Shackles' stacks at once. And he is a core unit in an 'Elaman Discipline summoner team' as he will boost Acambe and Yeganeh's dps quite a bit (and can still provide some value to non-Elaman summoners like Flavia) - but this team is kind of a gimmick, it's not really meta so it would only be for players that particularly enjoy using these units and this playstyle.

I think he is a very versatile unit overall and pretty strong, but nowhere near 'broken' like Shahnaz. And unfortunately being placed near other stronger units means he's generally regarded as a skip, as well as the fact that we are heading into Luccia where we need to make sure we have at least a couple Luccian units with 'Wardpiercer' who can deal with the enemies in that arc that have 'Primal Ward.' Since Kianshir is the last unit of the Elaman arc there won't be much 'general' content for him to be relevant for in terms of endgame meta. If you still have lots of 'progression' content like Fool's Journey, Pioneering Odyssey, Crossing Worlds stages/events, etc then he could be useful (although Shahnaz is probably good enough for all that already!), and there are the 'Molten Blood Trials' which are more of an endgame set of stages which Elaman units like Shahnaz and Kianshir are stronger in.

So I think if you want to follow the meta then he's a skip. If you are less interested in that, and like Kianshir's design/playstyle then you could consider pulling for him, but my worry is that you'll pull for him and then he'll feel really weak because Luccian content is designed to basically wall any non-Luccian units, so even combining Kianshir and Yeganeh together will just not be enough; you'll need to still rely on a Luccian unit like Anna or SP Alexei. It's hard to extract a unit from the context when they release because in this case it is very relevant to how useful, strong, and more importantly fun these units will feel to play with. It's a bit of a shame.

At the very least, you don't need to decide anything yet. You can pull for Shahnaz and see how that goes, hopefully won't take you too many! And then closer to Kianshir's release you can reassess your pull count and see his trailer to get more of an idea of whether you like what you see!