u/Ukaskj

I haven’t quite got to grips with speed tuning – some say it’s to make Rin faster because of the Supreme, whilst others say it’s to make her slower because of the combined attack. Which of the two is actually better?

I don't understand how people think this arc is bad. Let’s break it down:

4.0 introduces the planet, the characters, and how Elation works. Sparxie as the antagonist in this arc works perfectly to show the logic of Elation and the planet itself. It’s nothing overly mind-blowing, but it gets the job done—unlike 3.0, which was unnecessarily long and dragged out.

4.1 is a setup/development arc. It starts presenting the mysteries with Ashveil as the spotlight character, which works perfectly since he’s a detective. But it also places a heavy focus on the Trailblazer and how they view being an inspiration and a celebrity through their relationship with the Cinderling. This is great to explore here because, as we know, the Trailblazer will be a martyr-like figure in the future struggle against Nanook, and they're now a world hero after the fight against IronTomb. Since Planacardia deals heavily with social media themes, this kind of introspective character development for the MC makes total sense. Overall, the arc acts as a solid bridge to the first major climax in 4.2.

4.2 is another good development arc where everyone gets something to do and the plot flows seamlessly. Wishband gets good screen time, Silver Wolf holds her ground against Asat Pramad—the main threat—living up to her newly given title as an Emanator, while Blade, Sunday, and YaoGuang (if I recall correctly) siphon Shuhu out of people. The MC has a huge moment defeating the boss at the end and gaining AHA's gaze. There isn't massive character development for the featured cast here, which felt a bit weak regarding Evanescia, but I also think it's part of what the arc is going for. I'll expand on this later.

4.3 gave Blade massive development. As someone who didn't care for him before, I absolutely loved his character arc here—he rose way up in my book. Silver Wolf, while not as central, also got good development, especially regarding how she felt about Blade's sacrifice and how the dynamics between the Stellaron Hunters actually work. Then Asat Pramad makes a huge entrance, causes absolute chaos in Planacardia, and trivializes Grafia (who was built up as the most important figure on the planet, so we expected her to be badass) like she was nothing. He even toys with a bunch of characters who are Emanators or near Emanator level as if they were random fodder. It was insanely cool.

4.4 was absolute cinema. Phenomenal development for Himeko and Asat Pramad, the genius move with the 8 questions (a brilliant way to drop lore hints), and a great boss fight. I really liked that this time it was just the Express fighting an enemy connected to their own past. Himeko’s moments were incredible, and a lot of lore was presented without feeling like a tedious infodump (cough cough 3.7).

I think the community's main criticisms regarding Planacardia boil down to two things: lack of screen time for banner characters, and Asat Pramad being defeated too easily/disappointingly.

Regarding the screen time: The story's focus simply isn't on the banner characters this time. In Amphoreus, every patch focused on banner characters as if they were the main protagonists while the MC just tagged along, only for those characters to be sidelined later. In Planacardia, the focus is on the core plot and the main leads of the version (Himeko and MC). Other characters are treated as supporting cast—they get their spotlight moment in their respective patch, but not as much overall screen time as in Amphoreus. This works well, especially since many of them are SP variants.

Disclaimer: Evanescia has been kind of neglected so far. Unlike Silver Wolf, who was already established, Eva is a brand new character of huge importance to Planacardia and hasn't gotten the spotlight she deserves yet. But since the story isn't over, this can still be fixed. Just like Silver Wolf got her moment in 4.3, Eva could shine in 4.5. Let's wait and see, but aside from her, I think everyone else got solid focus.

Regarding Asat Pramad's defeat: I don't agree that it was anticlimactic. The way things played out fits his MO completely. He isn't like Lygus, who wants to do things as efficiently as possible; he wants to cause chaos, give his opponents a fighting chance, subvert expectations, and put on a show. After all, he originally belonged to the Path of Elation, and his goal is to give Aha a worthy send-off. His plan was never to personally destroy Planacardia himself—it was to stir up chaos and release Oroboros, which succeeded since the MC ended up using the Stellaron.

A lot of people claim he should have been stronger and that losing "just" to the Astral Express makes no sense. But Himeko and YaoGuang nerfed him massively: Himeko figured out how to weaken the power he gained from people's fear, and YaoGuang sacrificed herself to nerf his probability manipulation (reminder that YaoGuang is an Emanator too). Plus, the Astral Express is incredibly strong: March is a high-level Emanator, and while Dan Heng and Welt aren't explicitly confirmed, it's safe to say they're near Emanator level. On top of that, Himeko used a legendary Trailblaze weapon that even Asat Pramad acknowledged as impressive—even if power scaling it is tricky. And despite all that, the MC still had to trigger the Stellaron to wrap up the fight.

I know it might seem underwhelming compared to IronTomb, but keep in mind Lygus had to pull off a ridiculous amount of setup to make IronTomb that powerful. His power level shouldn't be the benchmark for Lord Ravagers or Emanators in general. It's much fairer to compare Asat Pramad to Lygus, and IronTomb to Oroboros, who we'll likely see in 4.5.

Anyway, that’s my take. What are you guys thinking of the Planacardia storyline so far?

Well, I guess I need to farm more planar ornaments, right? (I hate farming these, damn it—I’ll probably keep farming until I get a good one and craft the other.) As for the boots and the orb, do the primary stats make a big difference, or can I just pick the ones with the best secondary stats? (To be honest, I was actually thinking about an HP or defense orb for more comfort.) I chose the speed boots because I thought it would be better for her to attack more often and generate more energy, but I saw there are several different opinions about this choice in the discussions, so I’m not sure what to do

EDIT: Oh, just to let you know, my team's AHA time is faster than Eva's with this configuration; from what I've seen, it makes a big difference.

Art by Otabaaa