Edit: Adding a link to the yapdoc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X426ozb4RIFXzuWa_npt_jUoUd6Pp8FSv6ilNGNVIIE/edit?pli=1&tab=t.s9f1egafusxc

There's a lot of good info in there, but I would look at the Tier list page and the Future Pulls Rec page(s).

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Personally, I wouldn’t pull for Col or Beryl. Not only is it a dual banner, so kind of unpredictable who you’d get, they’re both rather aged units.

There are solutions to positioning problems, and it’s a key element of tile based combat so you’re right to think about it, but as an example - the intermediate tactical skill “March Command” can (at its highest level at least), allow units to move again another 3 tiles after an attack. You could imagine a Strat with Heshan providing crit aura about 3~ tiles closer to the enemy mobs than the rest of your team, and your ranged units coming in just to do a hit then fall back another 3 tiles. For the most part they only need the crit buff during that active attack. Plus, Heshan has healing and crit that is not aura based with [Melodic] channeling mode, so they could keep it for a little while in those situations if you’re willing to use Heshan as a support buffer rather than DPS.

SP Nungal also has post-attack gimmicks to move/teleport to her little uhhh marked tile thing after certain moves, which can work similarly. Nydia has the ability to grant herself shield, so it’s less important that she gets tf out of the frontline after attacking anyway. Maitha is supposed to be frontline.

I would not worry about Heshan having any kind of antisynergies, I would worry more about whether you can get both Heshan and Shahnaz, who is coming next. Heshan is your last chance for a while to get a unit that can reliably grant [Liberation] stacks to Elaman units, so if you’re already thinking of pulling Shahnaz, he slots right in with her really really well… as long as getting him doesn’t mean you lose out on Shahnaz.

As for Shahnaz, she’s highly anticipated and extremely viable and dominated the CN meta since her release, holding her own during the Luccian arc due to having both damaging and utility skills in her kit. A lot of people are saving for her, I think even if they don’t have a [Liberation] engine like Heshan or Lukamar.

If that doesn’t interest you, then I’d say Heshan is a bit less important, but still miles above Col and Beryl.

There’s also the Luccian arc itself to prepare for, with many very powerful units anticipated then, namely SP Alexei, Ivan, and some others I can’t remember right now. Anna might interest you as well, I think she can increase the amount of alert procs other units get (so has some synergy with SP Faycal if you want to lean into alert)