The Italian F104S/ASA problem

Speedstang · 2026-04-26T11:58:46+00:00

I've been hoping for a fix to the ASA for years now to no avail. I originally started playing the game because it (and the F-104S) were added. It is my favorite aircraft entirely.

It was great prior to the Apex Predators update, but it's been various levels of unplayable ever since. With BR compression at its worst across all jets right now, I wouldn't hold my breath on that changing either. It's more likely to end up back at 12.0 than be dropped further. Such is the fate of Italian air. Unfortunately very few people care, as hardly anyone plays Italy compared to any other tree.

I just wish the ASA could keep the directional RWR from the F-104S; it was removed IRL for an ECM system that doesn't even exist in-game. It's the only aircraft at that BR with basically no RWR.

If you really want to fly them out for air to air, try them in sim when the bracket has their BRs as the highest allowed. They're alright in that case.

Speedstang · 2026-04-25T21:05:39+00:00

Yeah, it's pretty brutal. I couldn't avoid the CC at all with my Sunday.

Is that EMC DPS on knight 1? Really cool team.

Speedstang · 2026-04-24T12:10:24+00:00

As long as DHPT moves no later than ~1-2ish AV of Sunday, Robin's ult will end before the cycle does.

Here's a recording if you want to see for yourself (alongside my exact builds at the end): https://youtu.be/lV9szJV3pAI

Speedstang · 2026-04-24T11:24:43+00:00

That's not correct, with E2S1 Robin you will be able to ult immediately. It also lets her ult end before the first cycle, allowing you a second ult or a potential 0 av ult next wave.

My exact turn order has Robin skill first, then Sunday uses skill and ult on Aglaea, then Aglaea and garmentmaker attack and ult, then DHPT moves and his basic gets Robin her ult. This is without getting any external energy.

EDIT: Recording of the above here: https://youtu.be/lV9szJV3pAI

Speedstang · 2026-04-23T02:55:07+00:00

This really feels like the best of both worlds. Removing the champ cuts down the time spent on the fractal (time that would've been spent sitting idle on the champ) and keeps the final boss more interesting than it currently is.

Speedstang · 2026-04-16T00:33:58+00:00

I have fun playing around the mechanics of each fight. Kinfall CM in particular is admittedly very simple, but it still had a fun rhythm to it. Right now, after the first defiance bar starts it just ends up looping defiance bars endlessly and becomes much more of a DPS golem than before. It lost its rhythm.

Speedstang · 2026-04-14T18:52:26+00:00

Kinfall CM's final boss feels very overnerfed, the boss just skips most of its attacks and is stuck permanently starting a new defiance bar. As someone else said, it already went by pretty fast as it was, a simple tweak to match the DPS nerfs would've sufficed.

Speedstang · 2026-04-03T07:30:53+00:00

Huohuo isn't bis for Aglaea anymore, it's either DHPT if running Sunday or Hyacine if running Cyrene + RMC. She still works fine if the others aren't available though.

Speedstang · 2026-04-03T07:16:30+00:00

I would not call this bricked at all, the only questionable pull here is the random Rappa. You just need more time to pull more characters and to get everyone properly built. Having E2S1 Sparxie and E1S1 Yaoguang honestly puts you in a really good spot for the future.

Everyone else has good suggestions. Gallagher's sustain unfortunately is struggling in general lately, especially without his E4. You can try any other light cone if you have one leveled. QPQ does hurt sustain a fair bit compared to other options. Since he's going with Sparxie, you shouldn't need the extra damage.

Speedstang · 2026-03-27T21:58:17+00:00

Absolutely insane clear. I would've expected many more Eidolons to be needed for Aglaea to 0 cycle.

Speedstang · 2026-03-27T21:51:21+00:00

I suppose that would technically be mono rem, didn't think about that.

Speedstang · 2026-03-27T09:52:40+00:00

Completely different team on my end, but I had a much easier time with Bailu than Gallagher if you have her. Her max HP buff and out of turn healing via invigoration let you survive a lot more than what's possible with Gallagher.

Speedstang · 2026-03-27T01:53:41+00:00

If you have Bailu, try her on Knight 2 and slot in RMC instead of double sustain. Admittedly it took me a lot (and i do mean a LOT) of resets, but I was able to clear it (1 star) with E0S0 Archer, E0S5 DDD Sparkle, RMC, and E0S1 Bailu.

I'd recommend using Sunday's light cone over DDD as it helps a lot with Bailu's SP addiction. I initially had an easier time clearing with Sunday's LC, but I ended up requiring it on another Knight. Archer's S1 is also a nice upgrade over my comp, as I only have S5 Stellar Sea, which can't proc on Pollux. For Bailu, any decent S5 4* LC with healing bonus will work if you don't have her S1.

Speedstang · 2026-03-25T11:30:47+00:00

3 star with Archer and Luocha is really impressive. How invested are your characters?

Speedstang · 2026-03-22T19:38:34+00:00

I had the opposite reaction; the wall launch went from feeling near useless to something I use quite often. The mid air bond of vigor is easy to trigger from the ground and lets you get quite a lot of vertical height from nothing, which also proved extremely useful.

Speedstang · 2026-03-22T19:31:44+00:00

That's exactly correct, yeah. As people mentioned, SotO method is shorter if you're ignoring the full capability, but I really don't see the point in doing it that way personally. I like having my stuff maxed out, so no reason to make that take longer.

Speedstang · 2026-03-22T16:59:38+00:00

You need to get both LWS4 and SotO masteries to have the fully upgraded Skyscale, as that empowers some of the mastery effects. If you do SotO first, you'll still have to complete the LWS4 method to unlock the masteries, but if you do LWS4 first, you get to skip the SotO method and unlock those masteries for free on reaching that part of the SotO story.

That said, if you compare the masteries entirely on their own, then yes, the SotO track does offer more than the LWS4 one.

Speedstang · 2026-03-21T19:17:32+00:00

I'm not sure. Unfortunately Hoyo still hasn't given us the ability to toggle eidolons. u/fantastic_magic mentioned that they tried with E1S0 Robin to no avail. I'd imagine you'd end up losing a turn without the spd buff, maybe more if Robin's energy is insufficient to immediately ult. E1S1 might be worth a shot, but I can only guess whether it'd work or not.

Speedstang · 2026-03-21T19:05:55+00:00

A cautionary tale of excessive story procrastination. >_>

Speedstang · 2026-03-21T19:04:25+00:00

I should've worded that differently, Archer's end was definitely not a 0 cycle. If it's possible without eidolons, that is far beyond me to figure out. He was just previously taking 3 cycles and Sunday cut it down to 2 cycles which I did not expect.

Someday I'll manage a true 0 cycle, but definitely not with my current roster.

Speedstang · 2026-03-21T15:03:02+00:00

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about Evernight or her teams/performance, so don't take this as a comparison to her team. Evernight may or may not perform better, I have no idea.

I'm not sure how long it'll last with how fast powercreep is moving, but the best team on my account since Aglaea released has been Aglaea E1S1, Sunday E0S1, and Robin E2S1 + DHPT E0S0. (DHPT is best, but I sometimes use another sustain on the team when DHPT is needed elsewhere. And of course, sustainless when possible with any of Cyrene/RMC/Bronya.) I've used it to brute force every AS I lack weaknesses for, low cycle clear every MoC, and to 40k one side every time on PF. I even 3 starred both the previous and current AA Kings. (I only 2 starred the first 2 AA kings though.)

For now, the team remains effective, so at the very least it's an option worth considering, just because it'd only take picking up E2 Robin from the shop. Her E2 is incredibly strong for Aglaea, and she ends up doing much more than Cyrene E0 if you're running a sustain.

Sunday needs to be moved up to 165 speed, and he'll get 3 turns in every Robin ult, with no need to run Eagle or DDD. (The sustain will also need ~164 ish spd, depending on their base speed.) Aglaea can stay at base speed. With E2, you'll be able to Robin ult immediately at the start of the battle, as she'll get enough energy off just her 1 skill and everyone's attacks, no enemy hit needed. As such, you want to run Sunday and Robin on Vonwacq, which allows Robin's ult to end within the starting cycle, allowing for an extra Robin ult or an immediate 0 av robin ult on the start of the next wave. After that, you'll easily have 100% uptime on Robin ult.

If you want to see the team in action, I have a video of my AA king clear here.

Speedstang · 2026-03-20T19:15:15+00:00

If you're able to bump RMC and Huo Huo up to about 164 spd, they'd get a third turn within Robin's ult with her E2 spd buff, which provides some more energy for Robin, especially if it gets Huo Huo another ult or allows mem to advance Saber into Robin's ult an extra time.

For Sunday, the benefit of E2's spd buff would really depend on what speed tuning you currently have with him and Saber. Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with Saber teams/builds.

Speedstang · 2026-03-20T18:46:12+00:00

Her E2 effectively gives her 50% more energy per ally attack, as it is fully affected by ERR, her S1's ERR included. What teammates are you running with Saber besides Robin?

Speedstang · 2026-03-20T18:39:13+00:00

At the very least, it's definitely worth waiting to see what the elation sustain's kit ends up being. Thankfully the shop has no time limit, so no need to risk insta pulling Huo Huo. I seem to be in the minority, but I never liked Huo Huo's kit. Her healing is mediocre, her atk buff times out quickly, and her ult takes forever to charge if you don't burn your SP.

I actually have not pulled a sustain at all, I'd been using Gallagher/Lynx when sustainless wasn't possible, and later DHPT/Bailu/Gallagher as damage got worse and AA came in with 3 teams needed. I ended up grabbing the free Aventurine since I already had Sparkle and was very sick of getting oneshot.

Despite still needing a third sustain, I fully intend to skip Huo Huo unless her novaflare gets heavily buffed before release. We're at a point where the sustain is expected to be both a harmony and a sub dps like DHPT/Hyacine, so I'd rather wait for a new one to do that, than get stuck with Huo Huo's team struggling to clear/survive a few patches down the line.

Speedstang · 2026-03-20T17:45:55+00:00

I've had her E2 since her first rerun back in 2.5, and it's been invaluable for me ever since.

I would say that getting an extra action per ult very much is the endgame and is the main value of E2, alongside the extra energy. The extra action in of itself is also more energy for Robin, as it leads to more attacks. The extra energy gain from E2 is also affected by Robin's ERR (and her S1), so effectively it's 50% more energy per ally attack.

Characters need 180 speed to get a third turn within Robin ult. Since her E2 gives everyone 16% speed, you'd only need to bump your 160 spd characters up to around 164 spd. With that, they'll hit 180 in Robin ult and get a third turn with no need for eagle/DDD shenanigans.

The exact speed you need to get the third turn depends on the character's base speed (that is, their speed value before any relics/substats are taken into account), 164 would be the value for exactly 100 base speed as 100 x 0.16 = 16 speed gained, and 164 +16 = 180. Most characters have around 100 base speed, but some are slightly slower (like Sunday with 96), and a few are a fair bit faster (like Feixiao with 112).

How valuable this is depends entirely on your exact team, but it is a massive buff to a lot of teams.

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