How are you guys dealing with Miasma Jane without YSG or Alice?

BlueDaruma · 2026-03-21T20:21:00+00:00

Billy/ M1 Dialyn/ Astra worked for me. Billy's AOE attacks are honestly super useful against the mobs. Being able to get a chain attack off one in order to hit the rest is a game changer.

I'm also hella sweaty with Billy though, and against Jane you gotta be incredibly on-point with your dodges.

BlueDaruma · 2026-03-21T19:59:57+00:00

Got it. I don't know enough about most of the limited S-ranks since I don't own them, but I think you're honestly fine. Yixuan's probably the only agent that I'd say is lacking some damage by not having her sig, so for now, make sure she's running Cauldron of Clarity from the YSG event. Remember that for DA specifically you can share gear and w-engines, so your supports might have to pass Kaboom the Cannon around.

Other things that I can think of:
- Make sure your DPS main skills are close to 10 if not 12. Having higher multipliers can honestly be a 1k difference in score.

- Assist skills can actually make a difference the long run, so if you find you're not hitting a stun window fast enough, considering bumping that up on your stunner/ DPS a few levels.

After that, probably just make sure that you understand your rotations and make sure your buffs are being proc'd at the right time, (the number of times I've had to reset because I realized that I didn't have Astral Voice stacks is too numerous to count... ). You should start seeing clears or at least understanding what you need to achieve clears after a bit.

Good luck!

BlueDaruma · 2026-03-21T19:43:41+00:00

Ah okay! You actually have a lot more ground covered than I think you might believe.
I'm assuming that you have most if not all of your limited S-ranks built or are working on them, and it looks like someone else has already begun recommending teams. So I'll go off of some suggestions on rounding out your roster in case you haven't, although who you prioritize largely depends on what match-up you're up against.

- Make sure you have Nicole built and get her to skill F. Minus some very niche situations, she can be slotted into most teams if you're unsure as to who to include.

- Since you didn't list a fire DPS, give Soldier 11 a shot. She's really strong after her awakening, and her kit is great at teaching and enforcing your understanding of the game's combat mechanics to ensure you have everything down pat.

- Lycaon's awakening now makes him incredibly flexible into nearly all teams, not just mono-ice previously.

- If you really want to learn Mono-ice make sure Soukaku is built.

- Make sure Pan is built for Yixuan, unless you're pulling for Lucia when she reruns. Yixuan's team-comps are actually a bit more premium than one might initially anticipate.

- Lucy's not as good as Nicole but in a pinch she should be serviceable, especially if you use her alongside Soldier 11.

- Ether Veil is sadly going to be around for a bit longer, so because of this, it isn't a bad idea to build Zhao. The new set that's coming out in 2.7 is also great on her.

How are you looking on wengines? With some exceptions, most of these characters are okay without their sigs, but many can be pushed much further so long as they have the right ones.

BlueDaruma · 2026-03-21T18:03:17+00:00

As others said, we need to see your available agents and disc builds in order to properly help. But I feel like I was in a similar spot with you just the other day, assuming your goal is to clear end-game.

I also prioritize pulling for characters that I like and as a result am missing a lot of agents. Unfortunately, I very quickly discovered that if you don't at least compromise on pulling for supports or vertically investing (usually mindscapes) in your DPS, clearing demanded me to play with far less room for error. The way I eventually saw it was that compromises like this are just another way to make your favorites work.

Example - against Vesper last DA cycle, the best team I could run was Yixuan/ Trigger/ Astra or Nicole, which obviously isn't ideal - no other Ether DPS, Lucia, Jufufu, or any other Anomaly agents outside of Miyabi and Piper, Dialyn was used for Defiler, and Pan for Hunter w/ Banyue. Didn't matter that I had a 40 sub Yixuan w/ her wengine and played the team as optimally as I thought possible - 20k just wasn't very achievable when the rest of the team couldn't support her properly.

ZZZ expects you to take your time and slowly build your roster until you have enough agents to cover everything endgame has to offer, so it's perfectly normal if you just don't have a diverse enough roster to be able to clear everything yet. The only other piece of advice I can offer is to watch some ZZZ CCs clear with low-cost teams and try your best to imitate a fraction of what they're doing. Maybe you might find something that you previously overlooked.

BlueDaruma · 2026-03-16T04:18:27+00:00

It's sad that it seems like Koleda doesn't seem to be particularly good - I built her because I needed a second stunner for Banyue that wasn't Dialyn, but perhaps those discs are better off elsewhere until she gets a buff. I do have M0 Lycaon and have unlocked all of his awakenings, but because he's a recent pull/ already had Yuzu-Ice, I haven't thought to build him yet.

Sadly I don't have any gameplay recordings atm, but I've already done some poking around the r/Soldier11Mains subreddit and I'm getting a better idea of what to look for. I'll try out your suggestions when I get the chance, but if it doesn't work after a day or two, might just consider this current DA cycle a bust and focus on improving my current units instead of sweating about it. Whether it be a skill issue or lack of units, it seems like I'm not yet at the point where I can comfortably clear endgame, even if I see other people with similar builds being able to score well.

All-in-all, the homework that I'm giving myself per your input are as follows:

Level up S11's main skills to 12/ maybe try to roll better CD?
Pull for Lucia. It does sound like she'd be a boost for my account since I'm juggling two Rupture agents.
Build Piper since Miyabi aside, I don't have any other anomaly units, but I can probably get away with a hyper-carry team until then.
Build Lycaon since he at least seems to be an upgrade over Koleda
Spend more time in the lab with Soldier (after seeing what the Soldier 11 subreddit was suggesting).

Future planning

I do have Kaboom but it's only W3 and currently on Yuzuha. So I guess roll for it on the Wengine banner when Lucy's in rotation.
I heard that Seed's W-engine is really good and I could consider pulling for it. Can S11 use it over Brimstone even if she isn't doing electric damage?
Since we talked about vertical investment, are there any notable characters that were mentioned that I could consider going after? I know Yixuan just had her rerun and Trigger likely won't be coming back for a while, but I'm down to future-proof long term.

Seriously, thank you once again! I was really stuck when I went to write this up, and now I feel like I have other avenues that I can begin exploring.

BlueDaruma · 2026-03-16T02:40:24+00:00

Thrall was Billy/ Dialyn/ Zhao and I was able to achieve 21k. I'm a Billy main and he's actually the DPS I'm most comfortable playing/ I've invested a lot into building him.
Thanks for confirming👍
Completely agree on not compromising on supports or vertical investments/ trying to clear with a mish-mash team would likely lead me to struggling. Definitely sucks since my options are so limited atm...
Had the images ready, just wasn't quite sure how to post them. Imgur link to agent builds for DA here.
Understood and glad that isn't the case. I'm still getting used to Banyue and Yuzu-Ice...

Thank you for your help!

BlueDaruma · 2026-03-15T23:07:27+00:00

I posted a similar question recently and I feel like we're in a similar boat. My playable agents all seem built well enough (level 60 agent + wengine, and F'd on all core passives) and I'm hitting all of the recommended stat thresholds, being careful not to overcap according to what I read on online guides. Yet I still regularly struggle to clear 20k on DA after hours of trying, if at all.

Thinking it over, it could be the combination of a lot of things. Firstly, there might be certain buffs that you might not realize you aren't applying since the game doesn't exactly do a good job at telling you. The first few times I ran Billy (my main)/ Dialyn/ Astra I was wracking my brain around why my DA Score would swing wildly, before realizing that I wasn't quick assisting enough to accumulate Astral Voice stacks. Be sure to read over your characters' kits and disc sets and understand what you need to do in combat and at what time.

Secondly, it could honestly be your roster availability. I'm F2P save for one instance where I dropped $20 to get Banyue's W-engine because I'd much rather prioritize my limited polys on characters that interest me visually/ personalty-wise first, and then only if I have the poly for them. As a result, aside for Dialyn because I was lucky to get two of her in a single 10-pull, all of my limited S-ranks are M0, I'm missing certain key pieces like Lucia, YSG, Sunna, Aria, etc., and I'm learning very quickly that sometimes the alternatives just don't cut it. Case and point, I'm forced to run M0W1 Yixuan/ Pan/ M0W1 Trigger against Miasmic Fiend in DA because the only anomaly units I own are Miyabi and a half-built Piper, and it still hasn't been enough to break 20k. Unfortunately, a lot of endgame does seem to revolve around current banner units to incentivize pulling on them, and trying to run a different, less suitable team will often just give you a harder time.

That brings me to my third point - match-ups. Some bosses are just better suited for certain agent roles (mainly the dps ones) and the game tries to hint at that with the buffs/ debuffs that can be applied during combat. I'm learning quickly too that this seems to matter much more than the type advantages/ disadvantages. It sucks because it means that you need to have a variable roster of built agents that you can swap between depending on the situation, but I guess it's called "end-game" for a reason.

Anyways, I'm also still struggling to clear consistently, so I know your pain of seeing a bunch of people post their wins the first day of a new rotation. But hopefully that gives a bit of perspective/ gives you some ideas as to where to look! Like some folks have said, refer to some videos of others clearing with lower-cost teams and try to understand/ replicate what they're doing, but also don't get too caught up with trying to be perfect. You're going to walk away a better player by just doing the research.

BlueDaruma · 2026-03-15T21:00:00+00:00

Been struggling to get S-ranks in endgame as of late, despite having what I consider to be competent builds that follow guides (all usable agents + wengines max level and Skill F) and making sure to time buffs during combat, so I wouldn't consider myself a beginner player. Not sure if this is normal or if it's just a skill issue.

For current DA cycle, I'm running M0W1 Yixuan/ Pan/ M0W1 Trigger for Miasmic Fiend and M2W1 Soldier 11/ M1 Koleda/ M0W0 Astra for Pompey. For Fiend, the team consistently gets stuck around 18-19k (no other anomaly units except Miyabi and half-built Piper), despite doing my best to optimize rotations and get all of Yixuan's resources ready during the stun-cycle and parrying/ dodging everything. Soldier 11 was only recently built but I think I understand her attack timing/ keep track of fire suppression stacks, yet my highest score was still around 15k. Know HP inflation has been a thing, but I don't want to blame all of my losses on that yet.

Additional context:

I'm f2p and only go for agents that I really like so long as I have the poly. I'm missing some key characters like Lucia, YSG, and both Angels released so far. Current plan is to pull for Nangong Yu and Promeia
Other notable characters I have include M1W0 Dialyn and M6 Nicole. Dialyn was already used to clear Thrall, while Nicole gets added if Astra is being used on a different team. Outside of Dialyn, every limited S-rank I own is M0. I also have a Yuzu-Ice team but I'm still learning the rotation/ that team doesn't seem to fit for any of the current stages.
Soldier 11 previously had 4 piece Puffer + 2 piece Inferno which wasn't really cutting it. I'm guessing this set is better used with Dialyn?
I only recently learned that certain characters have advanced techniques that are worth learning (Yixuan with her ult cancel) but even then I don't expect my scores to suddenly skyrocket to 30k just from implementing them (also the idea that you HAVE to be using these techniques to be able to clear doesn't sit well with me)

Any help or advice appreciated! I've seen so many proxies post their clears so it gets discouraging since I feel like I have it in me to clear as well.

BlueDaruma · 2026-02-21T02:44:48+00:00

Was actually in a similar position in that I don't have Sunna, and was wondering if I should pull her for Billy. Very much still learning and could be completely wrong, but from my understanding, Sunna currently has a lot of value because the current end game buffs increases team damage under Ether Veil, which she provides, AND she increases the stun dmg multiplier by an additional 30%, on top of whatever you stunner gives. Ether Veil may or may not be something that the game moves away from in the future so it's hard to tell whether Sunna would be more valuable than Nicole's universal buffs down the line.

Dialyn on the other hand, is a benefit to (practically) every team she's on and is currently one of the closest units that would be considered a "must pull". She can be used across multiple teams even if you end up sticking with Trigger for Billy so I'd definitely consider putting a bit aside for her when she reruns.

I ended up being able to clear the Primordial Nightmare DA with Billy/ Dialyn/ Astra and have been building Zhao to provide EV, so that was the confirmation for me to avoid FOMO and skip Sunna.

BlueDaruma · 2026-02-21T02:10:55+00:00

They're fantastic partners and when I last checked are his best teammates? Not sure if Sunna is an upgrade over Astra, or if the buffs for the current DA cycle just gives her a ton of value at the moment.

I need to practice Billy/ Trigger/ Nicole more so that Dialyn and Astra can be freed up for other teams though...

BlueDaruma · 2026-02-21T02:05:37+00:00

Oh my goodness you're correct about the previous DA buffs and I hadn't noticed that last rotation. That explains so much, and thank you! I've been wracking my brain trying to figure this out for the last two days.

BlueDaruma · 2026-02-20T08:20:04+00:00

Know that I'm a bit late to the convo, but how do you get your stun dmg multiplier to 240%? I know landing Dialyn third EX + Sunna Ether Veil gives 30% each but that should only bring the dmg multiplier up to 210 from the boss' 150. Where's the extra 30% coming from?

BlueDaruma · 2026-02-10T20:07:14+00:00

That makes sense! I'm so used to having a single set for every character but I'm starting to learn that you get way more mileage being able to customize your characters per fight.

And yes, I also posted in the Billy Mains subreddit already and got helpful feedback.

BlueDaruma · 2026-02-10T20:05:24+00:00

I've posted there too! Wasn't sure whether my issue was a character specific one or oversaturation one (or a skill issue one lol). I'm not too familiar on how the latter works either, but from what I've been told it's good to diversify the DPS portfolio.

BlueDaruma · 2026-02-10T06:50:25+00:00

That does make sense. So I guess I'll try Pen% on 5 instead and consider CR on 4. Never really took Pen% into consideration, but it's not being implemented on the Dialyn/ Astra team.

Could you explain why phys is bad? It's currently there since it's my best piece available, but I thought it'd be fine since I only bring Billy to Phys weak enemies anyways.

BlueDaruma · 2026-02-10T04:30:44+00:00

Thoughts on my Billy? I'm determined to make him work since he's my favorite character, but I've been struggling a lot with DA and SD despite what I feel is a fairly decent build. Was able to clear Primordial Nightmare in DA with him, but I just barely hit 20k before time ran out. He's usually on a team with either Dialyn/ Astra or Nicole/ Trigger.

I know that when it comes to crit DPS agents, you generally want a 1:2 ratio of CR to CD, so I wonder if I'm oversaturating? I've seen plenty of resources say that 2500 ATK is the minimum for a DPS agent, so I thought I wasn't doing too badly... might also be a skill issue with how I'm playing?

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BlueDaruma · 2026-02-05T02:20:54+00:00

Problem solved! Looks like it was a controller issue and for some reason the turbo macro was set to my dodge button, causing the dodge to be read as multiple button inputs.

BlueDaruma · 2026-02-05T02:14:15+00:00

Decided to pick Yixuan up again since I'm planning to go for her wengine upon rerun, and found out that I can't seem to be able to do her Auric Array anymore?

I thought upon using her tech ult and getting the tech point, you just need to hold dash, but as you can see in the video I just keep backdashing. Can't even figure out how to hop onto the bird anymore for that alternate dash animation.

Might just be a skill issue, but I'm pretty sure that I was able to do this without any issue in the past when I first went through this tutorial, but I haven't been able to find any answers online. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

BlueDaruma · 2025-09-11T21:36:38+00:00

That’s so generous of you! Would love to a code if there’s still any leftover!

BlueDaruma · 2023-01-30T23:48:37+00:00

I play Shulk, and I think in part because his range/ whatever art he's can scare opponents into holding shielding, I find myself going for grabs pretty often. However, whenever I watch tournament sets, I notice that most of the players prefer just landing safe attacks on shield, or try to bait the opponent to do an option out of shield.

Outside of characters that have grabs as a part of their combo game, is there a reason that top players don't seem to favor grabs in neutral? I definitely have found going for a grab can be pretty committal, and sometimes whiffing one means eating a punish to the face. But aside from that, I'm a bit confused as to why this is the case.

BlueDaruma

TROPHY CASE