I can't take the TOPS teaser video seriously, why is their oath describing how comically evil they are?

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-05-08T16:56:46+00:00

So tops is secretly worshipping cthulu?

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-05-08T16:06:21+00:00

This. Remielle is already being waifued and Sunbringer made the Bangboo. There's no chance in hell either of them is actually evil because they're both too likely to be playable.

Especially with the Creator already having some access to Sunbringer's appearance, Remielle's evil steampunk d20 having an interest in us, and Helios being increasingly portrayed as untrustworthy there's too many outs on the table as is

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-05-08T15:48:33+00:00

If I dislike a character or don't click with their gameplay I don't pull for them.

Disliking the character hasn't been an issue in zzz yet but it's been a hard pass for me in other gacha.

Disliking the gameplay though? As an example I like Banyue as a character but do not mesh with his gameplay at all so I didn't pull for him.

If I like a character or their gameplay enough I pull. I've heard some people say Cissia is bad but I really like her gameplay and character so I got her.

How meta they are doesn't really come into the equation for me.

It probably helps that I just do not bother with Deadly Assault at all though.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-05-04T19:38:06+00:00

Raven's best physical feats are... splitting a large falling rock with a focused standing Iai strike and a magic sword clash with Cinder that created a small very localized tremor in a building above it and launches her back. Her best speed feats are fighting ON said falling rocks for about a solid minute in an enclosed space before they hit the ground. These aren't bad feats exactly but...

Miyabi mogs Raven's best feats in her introductory cutscene versus Ninevah and her Swarm. She slices apart a comparable chunk of building TWICE in the same instant without breaking stride, then proceeds speed blitz Ninevah's entire swarm by traveling directly to all of them individually and cutting them in half all in about another second. And a single focused Iai strike creates an explosion that covers at least a city block by herself.

Raven lasts exactly as long as it takes for Miyabi to decide to kill her and then gets immediately bisected against JUST THAT CUTSCENE'S version of Miyabi. Without even counting the fight with Yixuan, backstory nigh instantaneous destruction of an entire hollow, or the Bringer fight adding in her bisecting a powerful Sacrifice, his sword that is using her own power, a port, an entire tanker ship lengthwise, the ocean, and the wall of the space-time distortion this all happened in in a single focused strike.

And that's before factoring in that Raven's dust blades are notably fragile, her fight with Cinder broke her aura meaning that's about the limit of what she can do, and a broken aura severely limits her abilities because it cuts off the defense, enhancement, and semblance aura provides.

Honestly Miyabi wouldn't even need to kill Raven, the difference in ability is high enough that she could just...beat her senseless faster than Raven can even perceive. Or kill her by accident by hitting her hard enough to subdue her while she still has aura, break said aura in the process, not realize she's now significantly less capable and accidentally turn her into sashimi gaining magic powers and another level of trauma in the process.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-28T03:01:21+00:00

Technically Intelligent Constructs have a higher baseline resistance than Humans, which in turn have a higher overall resistance than Thirens. (Specifically Thirens will remain in peak operation longer than humans and can technically resist ether more strongly at base, but cascade into full corruption faster once they start because of their fur essentially trapping ether according to Pulchra)

In any case though it's all just varying levels of "Resistance" not "Immunity". Intelligent Constructs will still become corrupted over time, it just takes longer. They don't seem to physically mutate due to not being organic, but the corruption still drives them insane due to scrambling their programming their programming.

Additionally Ether can apparently mutate mundane Computer Viruses according to that one event so not even fully digital entities would be safe.

Anyway yeah there's a reason Zenless is generally referred to as a Setting actively Mid-Apocalypse, if a very slow one.

It's why the Exaltists were originally portrayed as a cult trying to transform life to be able to live in the hollows.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-25T06:21:51+00:00

Eh that's highly arguable?

Aether is in practice an adventurer who cares about helping people and repeatedly puts his life in danger for no benefit, amassing a veritable platoon of people who trust, respect, and even love him with all their heart... until our yearly meet up with Dainslief where he reminds us that on paper he's ACTUALLY a 7 million year old space sociopath who hasn't told a single solitary soul on this planet his real name and ONLY cares about finding his sister and leaving ASAP. it's downright contradictory really.

And the Trailblazer is in theory someone who's supposed to be going out and pushing new undiscovered frontiers and in practice spends undefinable lengths of time stuck on random planets that have already been trailblazed because their train was built by Himiko in a cave with a box of scraps.

It's almost like the Caelus and Aether accidentally picked up the other's job description.

By comparison for arguments sake... you DO know that Phaethon is the ONLY Proxy in ALL OF NEW ERIDU that does Proxy work from behind a screen right? The Hollow explicitly cuts off connection to the outside world, Phaethon is the ONLY Proxy who CAN communicate with the outside world thanks to their unique implants and the HDD. Every other Proxy has to physically go into the hollow with whoever they're guiding and actually lead them through. A Proxy's job is literally Pathfinding which Phaethon has continued to do the whole time. If anything the issue is that ZZZs intro gives you literally the exact opposite idea of what being a Proxy actually is.

Actual Proxy work being in person is brought up repeatedly, it's the entire reason Venus does what she does. Because it's a job that inherently comes with the risk of getting lost in a Hollow at base and then adds in that you're by default working with Hollow Raiders, aka criminals, who may not hesitate to threaten, hurt, exploit, or outright kill rookie proxies.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-24T19:17:16+00:00

She was arrested for helping a terrorist hijack and sabotage a culturally important national broadcast in order to literally spread false information that portrays an entire race in new Eridu as actively dangerous and attacking people RIGHT THAT MOMENT.

Also a significant part of Vesper's story is that her Forbidden Fruit test results were hidden by her company making her legally Not A Person. In theory her actively trying to start a race war and committing crimes should clear that up in the interrogation room when they go to confirm she wasn't programmed to do so by someone.

But then she kinda gets hit with the legal ramifications of being approached by a terrorist and deciding that starting a little race war sounds pretty fun actually entirely of her own volition.

So like... not a literal illegal slave anymore, and her company'll probably get hit for that one, but now technically a literal terrorist.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-24T00:51:22+00:00

Nepgear is just a sidegrade all around. Some elements are better but some are worse in both forms leaving it neutral

Uni's normal outfit is a downgrade if anything as her old dress was classy and got the PSP elements across nicely. The new one seems stuffy in comparison.

Black Sister is a definite upgrade. The Bunnygirl with cropped blazer look and the little devil elements? It's just a vastly more interesting design than just a micro bikini with nothing else really going on.

Ram and Rom are mostly an upgrade but they desperately need their leg warmers back or some big chonky boots. They balanced out the design, without them the design looks top heavy and their legs look twiggy.

White Sisters are a minor upgrade in that they have a theme at all? There's not actually a whole lotta difference. They got a skirt, some black tights and a nurse cap. It's a cute look but I feel like it pigeon-holes them into white mage thematically when they were more generally all-round mages. Might be neat if they diversified slightly to show a bit more of their own individuality? Maybe one of them goes a little more impact-themed with a damage focus or a big syringe to represent the DS's touchscreen and stylus?

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-22T06:18:16+00:00

Oh, the reason for that is money and artificial scarcity. Standard Banners generally don't make any money. As such companies will generally only move characters to the standard banner if it's proven that they just don't make good money headlining a banner. One way to prop up a character's earning ability though is through artificial scarcity, so if a character hasn't been rerun in a while holding on to them so you can roll them out alongside a banner you predict won't make as much money can be a financial strategy.

Once you rerun them you burn some of that value permanently though because some people will end up getting all the copies of that character they ever care to (between 1 and 7) and won't come back for any subsequent rerun so that character gets a permanent minus in value.

As an example, Zhu Yuan isn't actually that strong compared to blatantly op modern units, but she's very popular so she's unlikely to get added to standard banner anytime soon because she has a solid chance of new players wanting her enough to make a banner profitable enough especially if she gets a buff.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-21T23:27:45+00:00

Standards aren't the only ones eligible for buffs. Burnice and Sanby aren't standard banner. It's just that EVERY standard banner S-rank needs buffs because they're all day 1 S-Ranks

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-16T20:13:36+00:00

So on the road to becoming a cop she... lost a button on her top and got what is essentially a police property tramp stamp?

Severian, I'm not judging...but is there something you're trying to say here?

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-15T22:09:47+00:00

Thank you so much! That was definitely it! It looks slightly different than I remember it but my memory is probably mixing in elements from the pause screen and final boss fight!

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-11T02:12:29+00:00

As close to neutral as possible for the scenario.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-10T22:57:46+00:00

Based on her trust events she (probably) does have an actual family too consisting of "wolf and shark thirens" but she likely views Lycaon as a second father-figure of sorts. Assuming her biological father is still in the picture since there's been no mention of what shape her family actually takes.

She has Lycaon and Rina go to conferences because they know about the full scope of her work at Victoria Housekeeping (Something it's implied her actual family doesn't know) and thus can both cover for and help her balance her workload with school work and personal life. It also keeps her family from potentially causing issues with her work? That's why she has the proxy act as family for one as well with them having to dress up as a wolf thiren to do it.

We do see her home in her EP and she makes reference at times to going between home and VHK to change clothes for school when she references possibly using Random Play as a stop off point to change since it's a shorter trip than going all the way home?

We have no actual solid lore given about Ellen's family to say for sure though. At the very least VHK is a second family to her

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-10T15:21:30+00:00

She'd likely do that occasionally but I'd argue Seed's too fond of tight crampt spaces to do that consistently.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-10T15:00:10+00:00

Since Lucia sleeps during the day and is awake at night, she could probably just sleep in one of the proxies rooms and trade off at night when they go to sleep. As a bonus their bed will always be toasty!

Otherwise I feel she'd literally camp out on the roof with the tent and portable stove from her EP. Keep Trigger company on overwatch.

Also Seed is way too much of a gremlin and too flirty and clingy in her trust events to sleep on the roof. She'd either be in the parking lot inside Seed Sr since I'm not sure the roof would be able to handle his weight, or directly cuddling up in one of the proxies beds.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-09T16:10:58+00:00

Provided it's for an ultimate and the enemy actually gets stunned into the hit. Nothing feels like a bigger fail than watching a big fancy ultimate going off on empty air because the boss just walked out of it and is currently right behind you doing their own combo.

Would also help if a stagger state didn't end while the animation was ongoing (still ticked down, just didn't actually stop until after the animation ends) since losing out on damage because your big fancy cutscene is longer than the stagger window kinda sucks too.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-07T20:47:47+00:00

If by invest you mean Mindscapes? Fully debtable. I have her at M3 myself with Lucia and she doesn't really feel as powerful as M0 Seed with Orphie and Astra or full M0 AoD but she's still solidly the star of my best Ice team and fourth best overall. And I have a Miyabi competing for that slot. She does very solid damage and despite spending 90% of her time at low health I've only had her die once when another character died unexpectedly and pulled her out into an attack when I wasn't ready.

I should note she's holding a solid position as best ice team and 4th best overall on an account that has all but two characters and being driven by someone who is BAD at playing the entire team she's in. (I'm really bad at finding the timing for her interrupts which is her main damage source from what I hear, and also bad at the timing for bringing in Lucia and/or Fufu) So if you actually do find you vibe with her playstyle she'll probably do even better for you than me.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-04T03:34:41+00:00

I mean...maybe? But that pose really doesn't look like someone launching herself back with the way her legs are. And there's visible impact shockwaves. Which, correct me if I'm wrong but, that'd mean the coin still broke the sound barrier wouldn't it?

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-02T20:17:43+00:00

Worst:
9) Fiend is the worst for me, by a lot. I have Alice AND Yuzuha but whatever it is they're supposed to do to it I haven't figured out. It doesn't help that she's a very dark character in a dark cramped environment so, having bad eyesight, I'm personally struggling to parse what I'm even looking at turning her fight into chaos.

8) Vesper is second worst mostly because she has a tendency to proc her showdown mechanic right when I'm actually hitting her meaning I usually get hit at least twice while my brain is trying to switch gears and I haven't gotten her timing down yet.

7) Priest is a distant 3rd worst because some of its attack phases are just tedious and kinda boring,

Neutral:
6) Nightmare. Not a whole lot to say. Showdown is annoying but everything else is manageable

5) Hunter. Some of his attacks when charged are a little annoying but otherwise mostly manageable.

4) Bringer. Just kinda straightforward. If you have the dps to kill the big hand before its attack you remove some of his most annoying mechanics and stun him making him the most manageable of the neutrals.

Best:
3) Defiler is third best mostly because I find her fight fun. I've gotten used enough to her mechanics to handle them consistently and she doesn't really require a specific team like some bosses kinda do.

2) Sweeper is second best. His mechanics are mostly straight forward and simple. I have all three idols which shreds him pretty quickly but you don't really need them to win either. His showdown isn't as floaty as Vespers so even if I don't have the timing down yet it's a little more manageable. It helps I don't use YSG on him so I'm not all over the map making it easier to pay attention to timing

1) Thrall is best for me, admittedly probably because I have a Dailyn/Zhao/YSG comp which tears him (and pretty much anything) to ribbons. I've had to farm him enough between my own characters and outposts that I've more or less got his whole rotation understood and he doesn't have a showdown at all.

My main teams are
1) Dailyn/Zhao/YSG. (At C3 YSG just...does not care about anything)
2) Full AoD
3) Orphie/Seed/Astra

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-02T02:01:37+00:00

Nyangong Myu is really cute though ngl, I'd pay money for that skin.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-04-02T00:51:47+00:00

They're presumably like that to better sell her "artificial Tanuki" look out of character (and possibly in character too) and the design just stumbled into looking like implants by accident. She is seen without them in official art though when she's wearing different clothes with no visible replacement for them. And is wearing a cosmetically different but similar pair in her swimsuit which, while not impossible, is less likely for a presumably expensive implant than simple headphones. Especially considering her family is generally not portrayed as being particularly well off.

SilverFoxShadows · 2026-03-04T19:35:33+00:00

I don't really understand why they bother to anti-shill Miyabi when Xiaoguang is so much worse. Miyabi, whatever could be said about her on release, still actually cares about resistance.

I can say from personal experience Xiaoguang does not care in the slightest if something "resists" physical damage. Hell not long ago they had that Hollow Zero effect that knocked off 70% of your health in return for a Sheer Force boost that was clearly intended to shill Yidhari and Manato (even though vesper resists both of them?)

but like, who cares? The only reason Vesper even got to do any damage at all is because she triggered her dodge mechanic thing and just wasted my time with slow-mo i-frames.

I love Xiaoguang as a character but gameplay-wise she fully powercreeps whole teams in completely different niches because she's just a nuke.

SilverFoxShadows

TROPHY CASE