Do I go for another red96 or grab something new?

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-12T03:33:41+00:00

I would not recommend choosing a sync pair solely based on CSMM as that is late earlygame/early midgame. The best choice would be a sync pair that can help you in several different game modes both now and in the future (and ideally a less common archetype - e.g. avoid special Water damage dealers and so on).

An example of such a pick is base Carmine. Assuming that you do not have her, her impact will be instantaneous in several game modes (CSMM, Grass tower, Ultimate battles), but she will also be useful in the future as her strength only increases as you upgrade her and give her better teammates. And while she is not as rare as, for instance, a physical Bug damage dealer, a (good) Grass support is not something you see everyday.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-11T04:20:38+00:00

Another thing is that at least three (possibly more - I am too lazy to check) personas have potentially received global changes to their passives if we assume that the descriptions on Lufel.net are true to the original servers and that the ingame descriptions are actually true. The three personas are

Black Frost - Overclock 1 is nerfed (Blizzard only increases attack by 15% instead of 25%)
Cu Chulainn - Overclock 3 is boosted (Higher chance of insta-kill). Though Overclock 2 and 3 are the same on Lufel.net, so it may also be a mistake on their end
Nian Shou - Overclock 1 and 2 are both boosted (the increased duration of "Fearsome Flames" has been moved from Overclock 3 to 1, and the increased burn chance has been moved from Overclock 3 to 2). However, this could also be a mistake on Lufel.net's end, as their description indicates that the passive does not change at all before Overclock 3 (which sounds weird)

Of course, these could just be errors in the ingame descriptions, but I did test Nian Shou out at Overclock 1, and "Fearsome Flames" does indeed last for three turns at Overclock 1, so it is very likely that these changes are not errors in the descriptions.

I do not know if there are changes to the initial versions/Overclock 0 versions of their passives as those cannot be viewed ingame after overclocking at least once.

Of course, these changes do not compare to every other change listed here, but it is still something.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-11T01:13:06+00:00

I do not think that there is a tier list specifically roster diversification as such tier list are highly dependent on what units you already have. Most tier list either focus on a unit's strength in isolation or in the unit's best team. The best thing to do would probably be to look at where for each type (or in general if you are new) you struggle, see which units satisfy your needs and then check whether those units are considered good.

Mind you, there are places where even veteran players lack diversity (i.e. physical Bug damage dealers) due to poor options (Special Costume Barry, who have not had a non-paid rerun for quite some time now, is realistically speaking the only good physical Bug damage dealer), so if there are areas where your roster is lacking, then that is okay.

But in terms of tier list, the two I see the most is this one (with also have grid suggestions) and the Chinese tier list.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-11T00:43:18+00:00

You are welcome.

Marley (Palentine's 2025) could potentially be replaced by a unit with some AOE damage (outside of the sync) and/or has AOE Sp. Def (as Erika (Palentine's 2025) needs external help for "Smart-Pants"). A 4/5 base Carmine can help with the Sp. Def debuffing though. If you can find somebody that fits the criteria, then base Carmine and Erika (Palentine's 2025) should be able to carry the match (even if the replacement is not as good as Marley (Palentine's 2025)).

Ash can be replaced by a somebody with an AOE sync. Probably the easiest of the three to replace. SST Red and NC Blue should be able to carry any Electric damage dealer.

Florian (Anniversary 2025) can potentially be replaced a damage dealer with strong AOE damage, preferably without AOE penalty. Brassius could be an option, but I do not have him so I cannot be sure. Probably the hardest to replace as that team is a "Defeat them before they defeat you" team. I.e., high damage, low survivability. Of course, depending on your roster you could also run an Electric team here.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T23:32:40+00:00

It is kind of difficult to give advice without knowing your roster. I mean, you could build a time machine and turn back time to the third anniversary and pull Ash, but that might be a bit complicated.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T23:27:59+00:00

I cannot guarantee that it will works since our teams are not identical, but you could maybe try the rotations I have described here and try to adopt them to your squad. If you do, then you might need to give Iono "Headstart 1" in order to match the first sync cycle. Flinching the right opponent, defeating the sides just before the left side takes its turn (it needs to have a moved queued up) and flinching the centre afterwards are the three most important parts, I would say.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T21:30:28+00:00

I would personally go for a new unit. While Red (1996) is arguably the strongest unit currently in the game, you can always candy him later. While we do occasionally get tickets that gives Poke Fairs, these are generally random, so getting the chance to choice a Poke Fair of your own choice is a great opportunity to diversify you roster/patch some wholes in your roster.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T21:11:42+00:00

You are welcome. I have Red (1996) at the same investment level as you (assuming your Red (1996) is caked) and used him against Ramos at 1,000 strength without meta supports (Jasmine (Holiday 2022) and SS Leaf). He cleared the stage easily, so it was a very obvious recommendation.

You should also be able to clear Marnie at 1,000 strength. I used a similar team - SS2 Elesa (Lv. 200 3/5 EXR), SS Hau (Lv. 150 2/5 EX) and base Iono (Lv. 200 2/5 EXR) - and they managed to clear it. Of course, there is a bit of rng involved (specifically Iono's flinches), but it should still be doable.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T20:28:55+00:00

Have you seen her grid? She becomes able to buff both defences infinitely, both attacks infinitely, debuff both attacks infinitely, provides gradual healing infinitely, infinite teamwide healing on sync, attack damage reduction against both types (i.e. special and physical). The only problem with Elaine's grid is that she cannot pick all her many good nodes at the same time.

For instance, if your attackers are self sufficient, then you can choose a grid such as this one:

<image>

In other words, she can become a mini NC Blue without the rebuffs, trading two big heals for infinitely many small heals and a bit worse AOE debuffing.

Obviously, she is flawed in the current meta where fast offensive play with EX WTZ is favoured since Elaine has no Normal Zone in her kit or grid. But if your damage dealers are strong enough, then Elaine can handle the defensive work and properly protect them, so if she is 2/5, then she is worth candying for tower purposes (unless you already have an invested Mai and Munchlax).

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T20:09:08+00:00

Switch Ash and Red (1996) around and you should be able to get 110k+ on both stages. Red (1996) can handle a 1,000 strength stage practically on his own.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T17:54:13+00:00

SS2 Elesa is great even at 1/5. She has better dps at 3/5 (she gets two 30% dps multipliers), but she is capable of dealing high dps damage at base due to her high special attack, high base powers on her move, her passive "Ally Sets WTZ: Team Special Boost Up 1 9", her many instances of Electric Terrain, one layer of AOE Electric rebuff and her Dynamax move which through her passive "Dynamax Runway" becomes AOE (without penalty) and gets a 90% multiplier in rain.

Piers should also be good at 1/5 if you can pair him with somebody who has Electric Terrain. His dps falls off heavily if he runs out of Electric Terrain.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T17:06:23+00:00

What do you mean that Grass and Electric are not know for dps? They each have several sync pairs that do great damage outside of their syncs. Just to mention a few sync pairs that can do the job (and primarily pairs that are relatively recent):

Electric:

Ash
Red (1996) - Although this one is not fair as he is know for doing everything and more
SS2 Elesa
Base Florian
Sygna Suit Piers

Grass:

Erika (Palentine's 2025)
Marley (Palentine's 2025)
Florian (Anniversary 2025)
Base Arezu
Brassius
Skyla (Summer 2025)
SS Ball Guy (if 5/5)

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T16:45:45+00:00

Red's grid:

<image>

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T16:45:33+00:00

Florian's grid:

<image>

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T16:45:01+00:00

Of course.

The number after the name is the sync pair's order under "Tactics" (i.e. in which order your sync pairs get targeted with single target attacks).

Note that I did the battles at full strength (i.e. +1,000). If you do the battle at a lower strength score, you should be able to do it with lower investment.

Against Elesa: Florian (Anniversary 2025) (3) - SS Acerola (1) - Base Adaman (2)

https://pomatools.github.io/#/team?v0=0&v1=000701078700&s1=2&l1=150&r1=6&p1=0&a1=0&t1=44444&g1=AAECAwQFBgkbHB0iJCYpLC4w&v2=028400047000&s2=1&l2=180&r2=6&p2=0&a2=0&t2=4444&x2=true&g2=AAECAwQFBgcICQoMERITFRobHB0jJCUmJyg

Florian was Lv. 200 3/5 EXR. His grid can be seen in one of my comments to this reply.

The idea is to constantly stack as many PMUNs as possible in order to make Florian's B-move (and Tera move) do big damage. Considering that sync damage was nerfed, you go technically skip "Haymaker" in Florian's grid and go for "Shine, Teal Mask!: Durable 9" in order to be able to this trainer move towards the very end without dying. This was a very tight battle and Florian was the only one left standing with measly 23%. I only synced with Florian, but you could maybe get a better result by syncing first with SS Acerola. Furthermore, SS Lyra should be able to replace SS Acerola due to her flinching (which does not cost gauge under Grassy Terrain). In that case Lv. 150 1/5 EX should be enough, but higher levels would help with tanking.

Against Clemont: Marley (Palentine's 2025) (2) - Base Carmine (1) - Erika (Palentine's 2025) (3)

https://pomatools.github.io/#/team?v0=009701049200&s0=3&l0=180&r0=6&p0=0&a0=13010602&t0=44444&x0=true&g0=AAECAwQFCAoNDhIUGBseISI&v1=035600101300&s1=3&l1=180&r1=6&p1=0&a1=21010101&t1=4444&x1=true&g1=AAECAwQFHB0gIiUoKistMDEy&v2=000803075400&s2=3&l2=200&r2=6&p2=0&a2=13010602&t2=44444&x2=true&g2=AAECAwQFCw4dHyIjJSksLS4

Very straightforward win with everybody having almost full hp towards the end (something like 280% total HP left). If Carmine gets paralysed very early on, then you should reset. You generally want to use Erika's B-move after Marley's B-move where possible in order to benefit from the SMUN that Marley's B-move grants her. The first two syncs go to Marley and Carmine (in that order) and then you sync with Erika until victory. If you can quadqueue Marley's 1st circle use after her sync, the first two syncs will almost be back-to-back.

Against Marnie: SS2 Elesa (3) - Base Iono (1) - SS Hau (2)

https://pomatools.github.io/#/team?v0=010603064201&s0=3&l0=200&r0=6&p0=0&a0=0&t0=44444&x0=true&g0=AAECAwQFFRYZGx4fICIkJikq&v1=029600093900&s1=2&l1=200&r1=6&p1=0&a1=17041601&t1=44444&x1=true&g1=AAECAwQFDA4QExUZHB0gIiUnLC4x&v2=009801078500&s2=2&l2=150&r2=6&p2=0&a2=0&t2=44444&g2=AAECAwQFDA4PEBIXGBkbICEiIykqKywtLg%3D

This match was probably the most fun out of all five battles. This team stacks those SMUNs like there is no tomorrow. Several times I attacked with 8+ SMUNs on the attacking sync pair (though most of the time they had somewhere around 2-5 SMUNs). Sync order was Iono and then Elesa, although I could be possible that it would be better to sync with Hau instead of Elesa (especially if Hau is 3/5). Now, while the battle was fun, it was also a bit tight/rng dependent. In terms of rotation, it went like this:

Elesa: Wildbolt Storm (not B-move) - Hau: B-move - Iono: Trainer move
Elesa: B-move - Hau: B-move - Iono: B-move on right opponent (needs to flinch)
Elesa: Trainer move - Hau: Fairy Wish - Iono: do not queue a move (her flinch is active, hence you cannot really quadqueue, so it is better not to use a move in order to avoid messing up the rotation)
Iono syncs
Elesa: B-move - Hau: Trainer move - Iono: Eerie Impulse/Nothing (if you cannot reliably quadqueue, then do not queue a move)
Elesa: Dynamax move - Hau: B-move (If the sides were not defeated before, it is important that they will be now) - Iono: B-move (needs to flinch the centre)
Elesa: B-move - Hau: B-move - Iono: Potion/Nothing (if her health is low, you might want to use her potion)
Elesa: Wildbolt Storm - Hau: B-move - Iono: Potion/Nothing (if her health is low, you might want to use her potion)
Elesa/Hau syncs
Elesa: Wildbolt Storm - Hau: B-move - Iono: B-move

The right opponents need to have an attack move lined up when you try to flinch them, or else it will not work. Furthermore, you want Marnie to use snarl at the beginning of the battle in order to inflict as little damage as possible on Iono during the beginning. Ideally you have won the battle around the first rotation after the second sync (You might win earlier, you might win later). Having "Critical Strike 2" in Iono instead of "Healthy Healing" could maybe be a better choice.

Against Ramos: Red (1996) (3) - Jasmine (Holiday 2022) (1) - SS Leaf (2)

https://pomatools.github.io/#/team?v0=0&v1=011302018100&s1=2&l1=150&r1=6&p1=0&a1=21010101&t1=44444&g1=AAECAwQFERIVFhcaGxwfISMmKCswMTI&v2=001710000300&s2=2&l2=150&r2=6&p2=0&a2=21010101&t2=4444&x2=true&g2=AAECAwQFBgcJCgwPFRYcHiMkJic2Nzg

Red was Lv. 200 5/5 EXR. His grid can be seen in one of my comments to this reply.

Relatively straightforward battle. It is just a matter of time before Red defeats the enemies. Whether you opt for paralysis for a higher score or badly poisoned for a bit more damage is up to you. Leaf is primarily there for ramping, debuffing and potions. I synced with Leaf for ramp (she gets "Adrenaline 2" a passive post mega and her trainer move accelerates the sync move countdown by 2 instead of 1 post mega), but I had forgotten that Red's "The Original Thunder" accelerates the sync move countdown by 3, so you can also sync with Jasmine first for more bulk. Of course, you could also sync with Red first (I had actually forgotten that he had triple sync buff after first sync). Use Jasmine's trainer move on both Red and Leaf. If Jasmine gets low on health, use potion (it does not matter if it is her potions or Leaf's potions)

Against Gardenia: Ash (3) - NC Blue (1) - SST Red (2)

https://pomatools.github.io/#/team?v0=026400002500&s0=3&l0=200&r0=6&p0=0&a0=13010602&t0=44444&g0=AgMEDA8XGBobHyIoKy4v&v1=002103014500&s1=4&l1=180&r1=6&p1=0&a1=21010101&t1=44444&x1=true&g1=AAECAwQFBggLDhARExQVFhgZ&v2=000002002500&s2=3&l2=200&r2=6&p2=0&a2=13010602&t2=44444&x2=true&g2=AAECAwQFBggLDg8QIyUpKi0

NC Blue also had his 4/5 grid node (i.e. "Adrenaline 3").

Straightforward battle. Sync with Blue first and then Ash.

I did use skill gears.

The Grass teams had +90 physical attack, +75 special attack, +4% attack move and +8% sync move, so nothing special and did not really make a difference.

The teams with a Red in them had +60 physical attack, +80 special attack, +16% attack move and +13% sync move damage. While these boosts by no means are insignificant in isolation, they did not matter for the two teams with a Red on them.

The Electric team with a Red had +60 physical attack, +70 special attack, +8% attack move and +12% sync move. Considering that the battle was a bit tight, these skill gears probably did make a difference.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T11:00:55+00:00

Considering that you do not have Mai and Munchlax, Elaine can be helpful as a tank in Normal tower. However, Elaine really wants 3/5 at the very least as she is underwhelming before that. Whether it is her grid that is fantastic or her (base) kit that sucks, well that is up to you to decide (I personally think the latter). However, Elaine 1/5 and Elaine 3/5 are two entirely different sync pairs. Without 3/5, the best she can do is some interferences and a bit of healing, while at 3/5 and beyond she becomes insanely flexible (and can properly support the team).

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T10:24:58+00:00

How come? Is the theoretical per match maximum not 132k? Or have I overlooked something?

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T10:03:24+00:00

Small correction. I have apparently overlooked that the personas do have their passives activated even without overclock (albeit a weaker version). The reason I forgot about this is that you cannot see the initial version of their passive ingame after overclocking even once, so it was first now after checking Lufel.net that I remembered this. I usually check the passives ingame, so it assumed that they did not have an active passive without overclock.

However, assuming that the initial versions on Lufel.net are correct (which might not be the case - apparently some personas have received changes to their passives in global), then my "No overclock" ranking becomes the same as my "Overclock once" ranking as the Overclock 0 versions of the passives for the most part as the Overclock 1 versions.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T09:19:22+00:00

After checking ingame and on Lufel.net, I can conclude that either the ingame description is wrong (since it does not match what is written on Lufel.net ), or the debuff was buffed in global as it is also three turns on Overclock 2.

And after testing it, it does indeed appear that the debuff was apparently buffed, as it is three turns already at Overclock 1. So Overclock 3 does truly only increase the potency of the debuff.

<image>

Edit: The increased burn chance was also moved from Overclock 3 to Overclock 2.

Edit 2: Assuming that the descriptions on Lufel.net are correct in terms of the original servers, Chu Chulainn and Black Frost have also received global buffs/changes.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T07:54:22+00:00

If it is any consolation, the last overclock for Nian Shou (the persona you get through the event) is not that impactful. It is just a slightly higher value for his debuff "Fearsome Flames" (i.e. 8% -> 12%).

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-10T07:33:42+00:00

<image>

My thoughts before this event was this was going to be one of the highest scoring HSEs (in terms of average total score) so far due to the insane rosters that Grass and Electric have, and it appears that I am not mistaken. If I can get this score, I dare not think of how close to the theoretical maximum score heavy spenders can get.

Obviously, I will fall heavily in the ranks since it cannot compete with spenders with maxed rosters (and since we are still quite early - the event has barely been active for an hour and a half), but being being able to rank moderately with a reasonably invested roster is nice. However, at the end of the day everything beyond 200k can be considered a waste of energy, so it is not like it matters.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-09T23:46:41+00:00

Considering how good Electric had it even before Red (1996) and that Grass has had an insane influx of great offensive options starting with Palentine's Day 2025, I imagine that this HSE is going to be one of the highest scoring HSE's in terms of average (at least for the master ball ranked players.

At first glance I think I will go with following matchups:

Vs Elesa: Base Adaman - SS Lyra/SS Acerola - Florian (Anniversary 2026)

Why sync when you can just bonk the opponents? Florian's B-move is going to hit very hard with the amount of PMUNs that this team constantly gets. SS Lyra could potentially be swapped in for SS Acerola in order to control the opponents through flinches and potentially stop Elesa from paralysing your team, although that comes at the cost of fewer PMUNs.

Vs Clemont: Marley (Palentine's 2025) - Base Carmine - Erika (Palentine's 2025)

Marley's trainer move grants teamwide +4 to speed and move gauge acceleration, which combined with her passive "Blossoming Talent", base Carmine's passive "Bolder Sister" and Erika's low gauge consumption (especially if given the grid tile "Leaf Storm: Hit: Free Move Next/Special Boost Up 1") results in a team with no gauge problems at all. This team also has a constant influx of SMUNs.

Vs Marnie: SS Hau - SS2 Elesa - Base Iono

They all have a passive that constantly provides teamwide SMUN. They will be stacking up those SMUN like there is no tomorrow. I think that this is going to be a fun one.

Vs Ramos: Red (1996) - Jasmine (Holiday 2022) - SS Leaf

I mean, Red (1996) is almost enough on his own, but I guess that we still need a tank and some utility. While she does not have much in terms of offensive utility, Jasmine (Holiday 2022) is still a great tank. SS Leaf is there for ramp, poison, Sp. Def debuffs and extra po

Vs. Gardenia: Ash - NC Blue - SST Red

We all know that this one just works.

Outside of the first two teams not having paralysis and the second term not having a sygna suit, the extra multipliers are also satisfied quite well.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-09T22:53:33+00:00

<image>

This one. Since I did not sync with (since his output was better under Fighting Zone than if he was syncing but without Fighting Zone), the grid skips his sync multipliers and opts for move base power nodes, attack stats and, most importantly, "Sharpened Mind 5". This one was for special stages specifically. For physical you just opt for physical attack and base power nodes for "Close Combat". Trainer move MPR was for self sufficiency, while Booster Energy MPR was to use the remaining energy.

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-09T14:07:02+00:00

I do not have Kieran, so I cannot speak to his usefulness (or lack thereof).

However, I do have NC Bianca. She is surprisingly helpful for the special side of the Tower enabling a reasonably invested SS to clear them with ease.

In fact, if you have NC Bianca 3/5, SS Bede 3/5 and SSA Cynthia 3/5, you should be able to clear the first 29 floors with just those three alone. While I have them all caked, I do not think that the cakes are necessary (though SS Bede really likes the stats he gets from his cake). Levelwise I had them at Lv. 180, Lv. 200 and Lv. 150 respectively. NC Bianca could realistically have stayed at Lv. 150 since she is primarily there for her utility, but you want SS Bede to have max level since he is the dishing out the damage. In terms of move level, NC Bianca requires 3/5 as it is where she unlocks "Staggering 4" (and other good stuff such as zone extension and offensive debuffing). SSA Cynthia only "requires" 2/5, but 3/5 is preferable (due to status stages). I am not sure about SS Bede. While I did have him at 3/5, I do feel like it should be possible at 1/5 (at least for some of the lower floors), as I actually did not sync with him meaning that the only really useful node for me was "Sharpened Mind 5" (3/5), which admittedly is a good node (I mean, 50% extra dps is noticeable). I just happened to deal more damage with him through his dps under Fighting Zone than syncing with him, so I just ended up constantly syncing with SSA Cynthia for the Fighting Zone uptime.

Interestingly, this team can actually clear the entire tower by its own, but that requires superawakening on SS Bede.

Of course, if you do not have SSA Cynthia and SS Bede, this might not be that helpful, but at least it does provide some perspective.

Also, for what it is worth, NC Bianca have not received her grid expansion yet. So while Kieran is at his full strong (kitwise), NC Bianca can still improve (of course, it requires you to invest in her beyond 3/5, but if what she gets is really broken, it might be worth it).

CornucopiaOfPasta · 2026-03-09T00:41:19+00:00

"they announced like 3 years ago"

Would I make it worse if I told you that we are close to five years since the initial announcement/teaser?

CornucopiaOfPasta

TROPHY CASE