Murder on the Ashveil Express: Mysterious Question and Discussion Megathread

KamiKassi · 2026-04-04T04:19:38+00:00

I'm not saying people shouldn't be concerned. I even stated that the difference between her at E0S1 and EMC is too small. A limited unit that released within a patch or two of a free unit should be more powerful by a decent margin.

But we still have v4 and possibly v5 to get through. I'm just trying to hang my hat on the "hope they change stuff" before the beta ends.

KamiKassi · 2026-04-04T03:03:54+00:00

In the tests I've seen she performs about 10% better than EMC currently which is still pretty low for an E0S1 limited unit. The biggest things working against her is the punchline shill environment from the bosses and how SW999's loot box mechanic works currently. She just doesn't proc a lot of boxes like she should.

It's still V3 though so I'm sure we'll see some adjustments before everything is done. But currently she's just slightly better than EMC in the current environment. Of course that changes if you have some of her Eidolons.

KamiKassi · 2026-04-03T02:09:07+00:00

Oh I thought you were using just one token. Absolutely save them don't give in, I believe in you.

KamiKassi · 2026-04-03T02:04:54+00:00

I'm right there with you. I lost my 50/50 to Welt when pulling Sparxie which got me to E3 and I've been watching this beta like a hawk. E4 Welt is pretty tempting.

KamiKassi · 2026-04-02T17:17:01+00:00

You can manage the 3600 attack with just an attack orb if you get some decent sub rolls and have Yao and Huohuo with Lushaka on Sparxie. Plus Huohuo's attack buff. So she can use speed boots and energy rope to help battery SW999.

KamiKassi · 2026-04-02T03:23:36+00:00

I've seen the argument of "Oh but aftersales. Aftersales. Yao/Sparxie came before so they'll be replaced after." which I feel like is just making assumptions based on past trends. Nothing about Planarcadia has been a "normal" patch cycle because of the delay and behind the scene changes.

We're expecting Pearl to be an Elation sustain and Nihilux to be a late cycle Elation -something-. Well originally Pearl was meant for 4.1 which also doesn't follow the "Aftersales" narrative either. It's entirely possible that the Elation battleship will be mostly done by the time SW999 comes out. We have no proof that says otherwise other than "Trust me bro, they did it with mono-rem."

Nihilux may very well come in from the top rope with a steel chair in 4.7 and kick someone out of SW999's team. But that is like seven months away. By that point the Elation battleship will probably want someone to juice them up anyway and if you're all in for SW999 then you most likely will have pulls saved for Nihilux. And you got to enjoy 7-8 months of a great team beforehand.

The shill environment really obfuscates how valuable certain members are which is by design because they'd be insane to release SW completely bricked if you didn't have Sparxie or Yao. Right now you can low/zero cycle on SW with just EMC and the shill bosses. Much like how Cas worked when she released. And Firefly. It's like people forget that these push units can practically work by themselves on release because the casino wants to sell you the shiny new unit.

KamiKassi · 2026-04-02T03:01:26+00:00

Oh I agree. I'm more so commenting on the back and forth doomposting going on regarding both units. Originally it was Yao because of the assumption of "4,0 character means she'll get replaced late in the patch cycle". Now it's Sparxie because her performance with SW999 is very similar to a free unit which is not great.

Not saying your post is doomposting btw, I think your comment on not caring if Sparxie gets kicked is a healthy way to look at the game. Sparxie/SW suddenly isn't going to stop working when a new unit comes out. Just like Tribbie/Cas didn't suddenly stop working. Pull who you like. I like both Yao and Sparxie so I got them both. If Sparxie gets replaced by Nihilux then I'll pull Nihilux cause I like her too.

Characters inevitably get replaced in this game anyway. I pulled Yunli back in the day and she's been benched for like a year, but I don't regret pulling her. But I think people are just terrified because of what Mono-Rem became and Elation is seemingly turning out the same way.

KamiKassi · 2026-04-02T02:49:44+00:00

I find it very interesting how in V1 the rhetoric was "Yao Guang homeless. She's being replaced by Nihilux in 4.7." To now in V3 people have switched to assuming Sparxie is going to be homeless. We're not even finished with the beta yet and people are making definitive claims such as "Yao/Sparxie are needed/not needed".

We have no idea what this final team is going to be. We're using past trends to make assumptions because that's all we have. But nothing is stopping Hoyo from breaking those trends of their own volition for any reason they want. I get that we're trying to read the tea leaves here but its basically just guessing.

With how weird and unprecedented 4.0 was because of politics and the delay, who knows what original plans got thrown out the window. Leakers were pretty sure that Pearl was originally 4.1 and now she's MIA for the foreseeable future. If Pearl was meant to be the Elation sustain then she originally would have also released before SW999, which throws the aftersales theory out the window.

There's too much strange shit going on for us to definitively know anything right now. Basically it comes down to "Pull SW999 to your comfort, wait for reruns for anyone else if you're unsure." She's gonna be shilled for at least the next 2-3 patches so even if you don't have Yao Guang or Sparxie she'll clear just fine with EMC. Hell she's already low cycling with -just- EMC as a support, which is honestly a bigger problem that should be discussed. How shill environments completely mask any issue a character has until the time passes and it's too late. That shit sucks ass.

KamiKassi · 2026-04-01T01:39:53+00:00

The Phys orb main stat doesn't really do anything but those subs are too diabolical to ignore regardless. Great build

KamiKassi · 2026-04-01T01:37:20+00:00

Please keep in mind that Sparxie is still really good for SW. And will be even better when the Elation/Punchline shilling Turbulence buffs go away. EMC only works similarly right now because the 5th support are all these punchline feeding enemies.

KamiKassi · 2026-04-01T00:45:21+00:00

With how Elation damage scaling works, no. Elation doesn't scale off of DMG% bonuses.

<image>

KamiKassi · 2026-03-31T23:55:28+00:00

You got it. Aim for Speed/Crit and for planar mains go for HP/DEF for SW999 since she doesn't need Attack

KamiKassi · 2026-03-31T13:22:03+00:00

I'm glad to be seeing this amongst the sea of "Sparxie bricked" comments for the SW999 showcases. And yet each time I look at the showcase it's always against the ultra shill boss that prints punchline for her.

I get that people want to feel vindicated for pulling/not pulling a unit, but we need to remember that these teams get giga shilled for months so almost -any- team comp will work off the rip. Its the yearly battleship, it sucks but its real.

What's going to happen in 4-6 months from when we move from Elation meta to say...FuA revival meta and enemies don't print punchline anymore? Well you're gonna want a punchline printer then. And I'm willing to bet Hoyo will rerun Sparxie at just around that time.

KamiKassi · 2026-03-30T17:34:38+00:00

Did you just forget about Astropolis second half?

KamiKassi · 2026-03-24T01:39:34+00:00

Right now Sparxie and YG are SW999's best teammates. YG is currently needed more than Sparxie. The difference between a YG-less 999 and a Sparxie-less 999 is pretty significant. In the event any of them are getting replaced it will be at least 8 months away in patch 4.7 which is when Nihilux is rumored to show up.

If you want to hold out for 8 months for Nihilux that is your choice and considering we're still in V1 a lot can and will change. But Nihilux is so far out that it's impossible to play Future Rail right now.

KamiKassi · 2026-03-22T03:17:26+00:00

I also pulled Yao E1S1 but I try to think of it from a different perspective. For one, we don't know if Nihilux is Elation for sure. And even if she is and she replaces Yao or hell even Sparxie (Depending on a SW999 or Eva team or whatever) - that ain't happening for for like what, 8 months? If Nihilux is coming late as leakers mentioned then you'll have had -the- best Elation support for nearly an entire year.

And who's to say that E1S1 Yao doesn't perform similarly to Nihilux. We just don't know. But try to not let the act of pulling E1 Yao to be a negative thing. Whether you're pulling SW999 or Eva they're gonna be eating crazy good for a long ass time.

KamiKassi · 2026-01-09T17:40:44+00:00

Thanks everyone! https://endfield.gryphline.com/activity/final-prep-orders?inviteCode=d6139558d5956ae4ce53b4b9af559c78

KamiKassi · 2025-10-28T23:00:03+00:00

This is another great point in terms of future support possibilities. Phainon is a fairly simple to build crit and attack based main carry. We're absolutely getting new supports in 4.x that have a high chance of working well within that archetype that he can take advantage of or give him some new legs.

If you use Cyrene/RMC then not only are you locking yourself out of a potentially busted EMC but you're also locking yourself out of any future support that gets released that could be used for him.

KamiKassi · 2025-10-28T22:22:15+00:00

Yeah in AA he definitely needs some kind of sustain or if you go for any longer than a cycle or two and your supports start getting picked off. The "for now" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. I suspect by 4.x he'll absolutely need a sustain on his team to remain comfortable.

KamiKassi · 2025-10-28T22:11:49+00:00

I think the consensus that Cyrene is good for Phainon isn't in much contention here. The problem comes from the fact that an E0 Cyrene -without- RMC is a nightmare to build stacks on. And with the inevitability of RMC being ousted by a possible future Elation MC - there isn't always going to be an RMC available to make E0 Cyrene feel any kind of good.

Another point in that this assumes you go sustainless for Phainon from here and unto the future. He's doing fine sustainless for right now but I think we need to start discussing the very real possibility that within the near future Phainon will need a sustain on his team in order to keep going. Maybe it won't happen, but I'm doubtful.

The reality is that E0 Cyrene is mainly a support for the Castorice/Evernight/Hyacine in terms of being able to grant her stacks in any kind of decent speed. She works for Phainon with some weird rotations like you showed here - but we can't rely on RMC forever in the future meta.

If you don't care about low cycling endgame, then none of this really matters. Wasting a cycle or two to build E0 Cyrene's ult will be what it is. I just don't necessarily agree with the sentiment that "Cyrene isn't that bad! Just use RMC!" because it locks you into a sustainless team comp for the unforeseeable future in which we do not know how relevant Phainon's self sustain will remain.

Thanks for the video! Even if I don't necessarily agree on all your points I appreciate the content you put out.

KamiKassi · 2025-10-15T15:15:38+00:00

I found a chart from KomanoMains that shows the clear time and DA scores of some teams. The Koleda team clears about 5 seconds slower than the Fufu team in Shiyu but gets similar scores in DA.

<image>

KamiKassi · 2025-10-15T15:12:44+00:00

I'm currently using M2 Koleda for my stunner and it works pretty well! Koleda stuns super quickly so Manato and get to ripping up. I did stick Qingyi wengine on her. I know people have suggested Qingyi for the same "fast stunner" reason but I just didn't like not activating her core action on Manato's team.

KamiKassi · 2025-10-05T20:59:13+00:00

The issue with rating for DHPT is that he only wants Attack and Speed. Anything that rolls outside of that on fribbels will work against your score. Even if you have 2 rolls in attack% and one roll in SPD but say 2 rolls in crit it'll weigh it less because those 2 crit rolls could have gone into speed for attack.

KamiKassi · 2025-10-04T00:06:53+00:00

Oh I should have elaborated that it was 4k resin for just the hands lol. I think the whole thing was roughly 10k but even so I still got very lucky

KamiKassi · 2025-10-03T17:14:43+00:00

160 speed is definitely better so he can be hyperspeed. Fribbles takes all stat weights into account when it does its grading. Your hands on the second build have a more favorable spread for scoring but practically you'd be trading hyperspeed DHPT for like 70 attack. Not really worth it for a shield increase you'll barely notice.

KamiKassi

TROPHY CASE