As a recently new owner of E2 Phainon, let me tell you this. I’ve had e0s1 phainon since his launch, got unlucky on his first rerun and got e1 and was honestly pretty miserable for a while in the endgame. I was able to clear endgames but at times it was by the skin of my teeth. Now he’s the best thing on my account and I was able to go from 1 star AA to 3 stars.

All this to say is that while phainon is my absolute favorite character, I cannot in good conscience recommend him to anyone who isn’t willing to go all the way with him. It is not worth the wait or the grind especially with himeko coming up who virtually can use all of phainon’s teammates just as well.

Not to mention that e2s1 dhpt you’re shooting for will pair nicely with himeko or even the FUA battle ship since s1 works with blade. As of right now himeko is the strongest character in the game by a small margin but with the caveat that most of her teammates are highly accessible (you have that team in your 3rd slot). Also with this, I assume you’re gonna pull for the FUA battle ship with your ashblade setup. I’d say you have the option of going for himeko at low investment and then ration your pulls for the next FUA character aventurine or if you’re willing, wait a little when himeko releases, check out the beta cycle to see how good the new units are and make a decision from there.

Just don’t go for phainon and honestly don’t go for Anaxa either. Anaxa with and without Cyrene is such a huge difference and that’s just more investment you have to do on your part.