This was known for a while now, but now we can see for ourselves. In fact, I am having a difficult time getting this to not activate. It keeps activating when the battle starts and I'm not even sure why. "When Makoto buffs an ally" seems to also include himself as an ally. Moon Phase also seems to count as a buff. Which he is giving himself constantly. So. This may surpass the Ex Machina weapon description.

Additionally, he receives both damage buff weapons from the weapon description (shown in comments). Which, at max forge, is actually basically identical to the damage boost of the 5* weapon. So. The 4* weapon damage boost is actually technically better, because for the 5* weapon it only activates off of attacks with 4 hits, unless you have him at A1, it won't activate for S1 usage. S1 isnt his big damage, but it's still something to note.

That means the only difference between the 4 and 5 star is the 5 star giving 16.3% Crit rate (and the typical 5 star Attack difference). Which is very good! But the gap is significantly lessened, as their damage boost numbers are equal.

I and others perpetuated the thought early on that the 4 star weapon was useless. I apologize for that one. The game never ceases to humble you by showing you that you can't take what it says seriously until you test it yourself.

https://preview.redd.it/fqr6ywunvb2h1.png?width=1372&format=png&auto=webp&s=ed749ba7d17759716fa7ca1e96c7c69938144031

Maintenance Start: 2 AM UTC/10 PM EDT

Maintenance End: 8 AM UTC/4 AM EDT

SEA typically updates 8 days later

Event Timers

Event	Expires At	Note
Cycle of Fate (Revelation Cards)	Daily Reset (8 PM UTC)	Excess ink does not transfer to next event
Sea of Souls & Nightmare's Gateway	30 Minutes Prior to Maintenance Start
Crow Banner	Maintenance Start
Justine & Caroline Rerun	May 27 at 2 AM UTC
Howler Rerun	May 27 at 2 AM UTC
Astrolabe Season 5	June 3rd Daily Reset
Ange Banner	June 3rd maintenance (2 AM UTC)
The Masks We Wear Phase 1 Event Rewards	June 10th at 2 AM UTC
Shadow Hunt	June 10th at 2 AM UTC

https://preview.redd.it/geiuywade72h1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59fa49622e338f63572ae88b9a1e7998772bcfa4

Link

Only 6 options on a poll allowed unfortunately

You can make your own options in the comments

(Upvote for...)

View Poll

https://preview.redd.it/ogy20bu4we0h1.jpg?width=1320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=265cec671277915949e04a118166409b6024317c

This is first and foremost information presented to help those decide if they want a specific banner unit, this is not explicitly meta oriented. The information presented here is not written with the specific consideration of maximizing scores, clearing the highest tiers of challenge content, or of clearing Astrolabe nodes in 1 attempt each. It should serve as a starting point to understand how the unit would fit in your current roster. This will focus on how the unit works and explaining the "why" behind certain recommendations and aspects of their kit.

Information that is optimal need not be followed strictly to obtain value from the character, yet there will be a noticeable difference if you do choose to follow these recommendations or others. Information is presented here within the context of playing optimally. Do whatever you enjoy the most above anything else.

Other Starter Overviews

Justine & Caroline - 5* Limited Almighty Virtuoso

Primarily written in the context of A0 (A lot of A1 in this case), Lvl 80, Skills Lvl 10.

Read their entire kit here! Especially for the Twins, as there are many details.

General Overview

Chord. Wind Vast. Turbo. Summer Marian. Long ago, the four Strategists upheld the meta in harmony. Then, everything changed when Justine & Caroline A1R0 attacked.

Introduced for Global's half anniversary back in December in a synchronized patch with the original servers, the strength and longevity of the Twins ended up being beyond our expectations. Additionally, they were one of the first units to receive Mindscape Core in CN/TW/KR, which allows the ability to increase a unit's level to 100, and also provides additional buffs to, in theory, help the unit maintain relevance. The Twins Mindscape Core has allowed them to be a top tier unit even now 5 months-post release in those servers while at A1, and do not show signs of being any less useful. This means that the Twins will continue to be relevant in Global/SEA for a long, long time.

Rundown: Twins can be any of the 6 field Roles in the game. You alter their role by changing which of their 4 skills are assigned to S1 and S2. The skills are called Masks. You do this on the party menu when you are filling out your team. Each of their 4 skills have their own highlight; depending on which two skills are selected, you can choose from both highlights during battle, each with their own separate cool-downs (still using the shared HL gauge).

Each of the 4 skills corresponds to 2 separate elements, and each skill has its own buff, debuff, or overall effect. Every skill functions as a 2 hit attack (1 hit of each element), with the corresponding buff/debuff of the skill simultaneously taking place (the skill that heals the team also is doing damage). The damage from the skills is not large outside of casual content, but is damage nonetheless.

As S1 and S2 are used, you gain the Facade of the corresponding Mask. At A0, you need two Facades to manually activate S3. At A1, S3 is automatically cast once the two Facades are gained. In all cases you are manually cycling between S1 and S2. If the Twins are at A0, to keep constant buff uptime, the skills must be cycled in the exact same order; if at A1, you can swap which skill comes first if you deem it necessary and still keep buff uptime (situation can arise with Healer Twins). S3 has its own buff effect corresponding to the active Role. S3 is an Almighty skill in all instances.

So to recap: S1, S2, and S3 all give different buffs/debuffs, which changes by the selected skills (for S1 and S2), and by the role (S3). You need an individual use of S1 and S2 each to use S3.

Additionally, the 2nd Passive is different depending on the role.

The buffs from S1 and S2 last 3 turns, meaning constant uptime is easy. The buff from S3 lasts two turns, which is where the discourse around Twins A1 comes from, which will be expanded on later.

Knowing there are 4 skills covering 8 elements covering 6 roles with 4 highlights - yes, that is a lot at once. However, if you think of the skill sets by role, it will stick over time. Want a buffer? Strategist role. Want AOE damage? Sweeper role. You can understand the exact details at your convenience. As you are fiddling with the skills in the party menu, their role icon will change, so you can see which 2 skills correspond to what role.

Here are their roles, ordered by tiers of usefulness, and the Masks (skills) that they correspond to:

Mask	Mask	Role
Mischief & Innocence (Fire/Ice)	Absurdity & Nonsense (Psy/Nuke)	Strategist (Tier 1)
Mischief & Innocence	Service & Admonition (Wind/Elec)	Medic (Tier 1)
Absurdity & Nonsense	Luck & Loss (Curse/Bless)	Assassin (Tier 2)
Mischief & Innocence	Luck & Loss	Sweeper (Tier 2)
Absurdity & Nonsense	Service & Admonition	Guardian (Tier 3)
Luck & Loss	Service & Admonition	Saboteur (Tier -10)

All of the roles except Saboteur are useful at their specific role. Guardian is considered lower than Medic, because while both are for sustain, Medic is more impactful buff wise to the team, while Guardian only has 10 pierce. Additionally, Guardian does inconsistent Guarding at A0. It is much better at A1.

The Strategist and Medic roles are considered the premier roles. If you did not know by now, Strategists are always highly valued due to their versatility in team comps. They are valuable as a Medic due to the aforementioned buffs, as the other very few Medics in the game do not buff to the same degree.

Originally, Assassin and Sweeper roles were not looked at very highly upon, but they can be useful. At A0, these two are rather lackluster, as they will only have two instances of their highest damage (S3), vs the 4 instances they would have at A1 in a 6 turn fight. At A1, S3 activates for the first two turns, and then every other turn afterwards. Assassin and Sweeper have the biggest benefits from A1 compared to the other roles. At A1, they still will not outdamage dedicated recent/upcoming DPS, but they are still effective for much content.

Saboteur gives -50% Defense and +25% damage taken for the enemy. Cannot all be winners. Easily the worst Saboteur in the game at A0, and barely useful at A1, still probably the worst. In reality, it's the other 5 roles vs Saboteur in terms of usefulness, looking at it broadly.

At A0, they are very good as Strategist and Medic, rather mediocre as Assassin and Sweeper, poor as Guardian, and useless as Saboteur.

At A1, they are even better as Strategist and Medic (top tier with R0), good as Assassin, Sweeper, and Guardian, and still useless as Saboteur.

They are far from useless at A0. They are noticeably better at A1.

The Twins weapon will be mentioned later, but overall it is a very good investment, though tough to consider for new players due to it being more important to round out their teams first. The Weapon possibly can not be taken full advantage of unless A1 is obtained.

Keep in mind. Anniversary is soon. Who knows what they are doing. For all we know, they powercreep them right away, though that is mostly doubtful. However, I was going to write a fake overview on April Fool's for "Joker 2". Joker 2 is now real.

Almost forgot, the Twins have a Global Passive. Just by having the Twins on your account, Wonder's skill levels will increase by 1. For example, Rakunda will decrease 40.7% Defense instead of 38.8%. This is the definition of bait. Another level is gained if the Twins are at A6, which would be another 2% for Rakunda. Nobody complained about it because of how insignificant it is. Hopefully they do not test the waters further.

What Does A1 Twins Actually Do?

A1 Twins is regarded as the best A1 in the game by many. However, this should not diminish their A0 into uselessness. The only tangible thing A1 does is make it so S3 is not manually cast. S3 is instead auto cast when Facades from S1 and S2 are gained. Therefore, you don't use a turn casting S3. Additionally, at the start of battle, both Facades are already gained, so they cast S3 right away when it is their turn. Here are the important points:

• S1 and S2 are always easy to keep up, as their effects last 3 turns. A1 has nothing to do with the effects from S1 and S2.
• The buffs from S3 only last two turns. With A1, they are always active.
• For Assassin & Sweeper, their big damage comes on Turns 1 and 2, then every other turn afterwards while at A1, while only every 3 turns at A0.
• In all roles, the insta-use and frequent use of S3 at A1 is very useful for clearing basic content, such as palaces, mementos.
• For Medic, they are healing more frequently at A1. You can also shift skill order to use your healing twice in a row if needed. You can not do this at A0. The DMG Dealt +43.9% will always be active as well.
• For Strategists, with S3 buff always being active, the 19.5% Crit DMG and 14.6% Skill Amp will always be active.
• In general, when there are other units that proc their own functions based on additional attacks (Yui, Violet, Sepia, etc.), the Twins A1 is useful because they act more than once a turn when they use auto S3.

Note that the numbers themselves DO NOT CHANGE. The only difference is WHEN they happen. This means that at A0 they still fit very well for 3 turn DPS and mostly well for 2 turn DPS, while they fit for any DPS at A1 (some like Berry and Summer Puppet can't exactly be called a 3 or 2 turn DPS).

This means they can live without their A1. They also have an incredibly practical and useful A1. However, if you do not care about 1st clearing Astrolabe, or endgame modes, and are overall a more casual player, A1 may not be worth it over going for upcoming characters. You gain much convenience with the Twins A1, but it is not the difference between useful and useless.

Stat Build Guide (Attack, Crit Mult, DMG Mult)

The Twins buff numbers are not directly derived from stats, but from Desire Level. Desire level is directly derived from stats. So it's creative and unique. Specifically, Attack, Crit Mult, DMG Mult. These are all rather easy numbers to reach the cap for.

Attack: 4500

Crit Mult: 190%

DMG Mult: 30%

Run a DMG Mult Moon card, Crit Mult Star card, Attack Sky card, and you're well on your way already. Should only need a few substats to reach the cap for all of it.

Skill & Passive Effect Values

It would be insanity to type this all out here. Lufel.net does a great enough job with a helpful UI to sort through their skills.

Teammate Synergies

They can be used anywhere.

If you have A1R0, they will be a top tier Strategist and Medic for a long long time. As such, they can take the place of other supports. You can do this at A0 as well, but A1R0 is a noticeably impactful combination for any team, especially once Mindscape Core is released.

Awarenesses & Weapons

A1 was described above. Their further awarenesses fall under the general category of making what they already do better.

At A6, they can activate all S3 effects from all roles at once, which is cool, if you got it like that.

The 5* Weapon:

Increase Desire level by 10%

Party Crit DMG +26% (13% per stack), Party DMG +26% (13% per stack)

This is a very powerful weapon that was not balanced for Global. However, you can see that "per stack" is written. This is because a stack is obtained when a Facade is gained, and each stack only lasts 2 turns.

Due to the A0 skill cycle, this means the full buff will only be active less than half the time, on turn 2, and then every 3 turns afterwards (2,5,8,11,14...). This is rather disappointing overall, as if you have Twins A0, you are pulling for a weapon that can not physically be maximized most of the time.

Of course, at A1, since you are constantly gaining Facades and start off with 2, these 2 stacks are always obtained. This unpleasant synergy of A1 and R0 is something that has already been underway and you will see more of it, but not to this degree.

A0R0 Twins is rare. I would appreciate fact checking on this as I can not check for myself.

Skill Rotations

A0: 1>2>3>1>2>3

A1: AutoS3+1>Auto S3+2>1>AutoS3+2>1>AutoS3+2

At A1, if you deem it necessary, you can switch the order of your S1 and S2 starting with turn 3, as buffs will always be active anyway. The only obvious scenario to consider this is for the Medic role, as if you use the healing skill on turns 2 and 3, you will fall into a cadence of healing on every single turn.

Revelation Cards

Lufel.net

Nativity + Power: A peculiar set made just for the Twins that doesn't do much for them. Increases desire level by 5%, a minimal thing. Power 4 set does very little.

Freedom + Disappointment: Great for DPS and overall skill damage. It makes sense to use this card set even if you are not running Twins as DPS.

Wonder Dagger

Whatever the DPS wants if support.

Plasma Blade: This is an Almighty dagger made for Crow. This dagger can only be a solid consideration for DPS Twins - however, the conditions are only easy to meet with Crow. Since the Twins are mostly used as support, and the dagger's only other use is with Crow, Plasma Blade has poor value overall for the Twins.

If you do use this dagger for DPS Twins, you must either have two other party members of the same element, or have Sandalphon equipped. You must meet one of these conditions to get some use out of the dagger, and if you force both conditions, you can get the most out of it.

Otherwise, use Ex Machina with Sandalphon in the first position.

Wonder Persona

Whatever the DPS wants if support.

Observe Najox Build Guide as usual for a better visual of this.

Summary Table

+	-
They can take on all 6 field roles.	A0: Only great at 2 roles (Strategist, Medic). Usable as Assassin, Sweeper, but subpar. Barely considerable as Guardian (when you could just run Medic), never considerable as Saboteur
Strong R0 (26% Crit DMG, 26% overall DMG)	If someone else can prove that R0 can not be taken advantage of fully while the Twins are at A0, this is a terrible practice that hopefully does not continue to this degree. You can already see it with Makoto Yuki, but if the Twins can not maximize their own weapon even half of the time that is just excessive.
A1 allows stomping of palace and mementos content with little difficulty. A1 Sweeper Twins is notorious for brute forcing content especially in Astrolabe	A1
Combination of A1R0 has incredible longevity, potentially the most valuable investment in the game.
Valuable to have a unit that does all roles as a new player	It presents a conundrum, as while they can be great at (almost) every role at A1, a new player may find themselves strapped for jewels without luck if they go for A1. It is still a very valuable long term investment, but remember you are playing the game now and not later.

Been poring over Yukari's kit and I am not understanding how she is useful. I am either missing something or she is not useful at all at A0, so I'm leaning towards me being wrong.

A0:

Going off of lufelnet rotation of 1>2>3>2>3>2.

She restores 35 theurgy energy on turns 3 and 5, ok.

I THINK Makoto starts with 35 theurgy energy himself. This may be the failure point of my whole understanding as I'm not 100% about this.

If he starts with 35, and gains 35 every turn, then he would have 100 Theurgy by turn 3, use theurgy turn 3, ok. Would repeat for turns 4-6, use theurgy on turn 6.

With Yukari at A0 giving 35 energy on turn 3 this would do nothing, because she would recharge his Theurgy to 100 (5 overcap), and on Makoto's turn, since he can not overcap his own Theurgy, nothing would happen. He would use theurgy on turn 3 anyway and Yukari charging it for him contributes to nothing.

Yukari next restores theurgy on turn 5. So.. great, Makoto can use theurgy on turn 5 instead of turn 6? What does that do

A1:

The rotation changes for Yukari A1, saying 2>3>2>3>2>3.

Theurgy is used instead of s1 to inflict wind erosion, ok. In this rotation, I can see how Yukari would be useful. If S3 is used 3 times, Makoto can use theurgy every 2 turns, instead of every 3 turns. I'd find it rather ridiculous if she needs to be A1 to be effective. Therefore, I again conclude I must be wrong about something and need assistance

Her buff numbers are already nothing special, so I don't know if the extra theurgy for makoto would even be better than another support, but that's not what I'm looking at currently.

https://preview.redd.it/5ipt0o8sclyg1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=4746fd307da3f5a4d899716357bc3267d7919aa5

This is first and foremost information presented to help those decide if they want a specific banner unit, this is not explicitly meta oriented. The information presented here is not written with the specific consideration of maximizing scores, clearing the highest tiers of challenge content, or of clearing Astrolabe nodes in 1 attempt each. It should serve as a starting point to understand how the unit would fit in your current roster. This will focus on how the unit works and explaining the "why" behind certain recommendations and aspects of their kit.

Information that is optimal need not be followed strictly to obtain value from the character, yet there will be a noticeable difference if you do choose to follow these recommendations or others. Information is presented here within the context of playing optimally. Do whatever you enjoy first and foremost.

Ange- 5* Limited Elucidator (Navigator)

Read her kit here! The post focuses on the most prominent sections of a kit, some modifiers or effects may not be mentioned

Sources: Lufel.net

General Overview

Relevant Stat Cap (S1, S3): A0 ATK = 4600, Skill Mindscape Lvl 5 = ATK 5060

Effects: +ATK, +DMG, +Pierce, Ally Extra Turn, small sustain

Ange (or more accurately, ANGE), the one with the Quite Loud voice, has finally arrived to usher us into 4.0.

Long story short, Ange is an Elucidator. If you care about the power of your account at all, there is no reason to skip an Elucidator or a Strategist (Turbo being somewhat of an exception as she is an eventual standard). It is an objective fact that pulling Ange is a benefit to anyone's account vs not pulling Ange.

Any way is a valid way to play. If you are more nonchalant, the game does not uninstall itself if you do not pull Ange. You can still clear content if you do not pull Ange. If the question "what should I pull to make my teams better" ever occurred to you even slightly, pull Ange.

Firstly, no, Ange's A1 and 5* weapon are not needed to make her good. They do not change how she functions. Like with any Elucidator or Strategist (minus Chord's weapon as it is powerful for 6-turn battles), early investment makes them better at what they do, and since they can be used in any team, the investment has inherent value. However, the buff numbers themselves provided by Ange's A1 and R0 are not significant enough to warrant chasing over saving for other units or to alter your already made pull plan. The only instance where Ange's A1 can be considered required is if you are intense about Sea of Souls and Nightmare's Gateway, as it is most significant in those modes.

Ange provides ATK and DMG buffs for the team, with her most notable buff being Pierce. In rough terms, is a stronger DEF Down. You should try to stack Pierce and DEF Down as often as possible. Pierce becomes more prominent with a handful of units giving it to themselves. Ange can provide 24% Pierce for the entire party easily from Turn 3 onwards. Her A1 allows this to be from Turn 1 onwards, which is why it is great for endgame modes, but outside of those modes this part of the A1 is not significant.

Ange gains Musical Notes with every S1 usage, and at the start of every ally action. Every Musical Note provides Pierce permanently, and her S3 spends Musical Notes. If you follow the simple 1>3 rotation (3>1 from Turn 1 for A1), you will have enough Musical Notes for S3 to always be maximized.

Her key trait is having the ability to grant extra turns. This is called Da Capo, previously known as Myriad Song. At A0, she can only grant up to two extra turns a battle, but after the first usage, Wonder must act 7 times to refresh the usage, not including if he himself ever gets an extra turn. This means in endgame modes, Da Capo can only be used once. At A6, Ange gains two usages of Da Capo from the start of battle. Da Capo is able to be used at the start of battle, but it should be used when all ally buffs and enemy debuffs are applied. This is typically turn 6 for a 2-turn DPS, but can also be turn 4 depending on the composition.

Da Capo does NOT rewind Highlight/Theurgy usage. The more turns allies take, the most charge to these meters occur, so they can be available more often, but it is not possible to use those skills one after another with Da Capo.

While just one extra turn may seem a rather strange thing to be excited over if you haven't looked into her before, keep in mind two things: DPS kits become more diverse and do not consistently revolve around their Highlight, and Chord cannot activate Theurgy for the P3 cast, unless a massive change is made. Allowing a DPS an entire extra turn of dealing out their highest damage is significant. It is especially significant for DPS who revolve around gaining stacks and dealing out burst damage in that way, which will be seen soon with Makoto Yuki, and previously with Frostgale Kotone and Haru. Those two previous DPS are good examples because the core of their kits is not their Highlight. Even if the core of a kit for any DPS is Highlight, it's still strong to have an Extra Turn. In those teams, you would use Chord, and you can just use Da Capo on Chord herself since you can't rewind Highlights.

Should you pull Ange? Yes. Can you live without her if you personally don't really want her? Yes. Though you'll struggle quite a lot in that instance if you don't have Oracle at least. There will always be powercreep eventually, it is just much more difficult to powercreep Elucidators and Strategists, which is why the SEES cast was specifically made to not have Chord be a top option. One day, they will do the same to Ange. Whenever they figure out how. Which will come first, a straight powercreep to Ange or to Summer Marian?

Fuuka hasn't been mentioned because she functions completely differently with her own gimmick, so a direct comparison isn't easily possible. Will leave that to future me in 6 months.

Skill & Passive Effect Values

These values represent the effects of skills when the skill is leveled up to 10, and when the relevant stat cap for the unit is reached.

In an instance where a skill does not have a cap and scales infinitely based off of a given stat, the skill effect value assumes the highest stat cap for simplicity and will be marked with a * indicating the value can be higher if the given stat is higher than the recommended value.

Read the full descriptions on the lufel.net page linked above.

Skill	Effect value (Max Skill Lvl)
S1 (Winged Canon)	Party +35% DMG (2 Turns), Gain 4 Musical Notes
S2 (Prayer Refrain)	Remove 1 Debuff from Party, Party restore HP 1140*. This skill should not be manually used. Automatically activates when 12 Musical notes are gained.
S3 (Melody of Steps)	Party ATK +634. Party Pierce Rate +12%, Party ATK +12%. Must be used when 12 musical notes are obtained to reach. Consistent if rotation followed.
Passive 1 (Crescendo)	Ally ATK +36% during Da Capo
Passive 2 (Heavenly Voice)	Party Pierce +12%. +1% per every Musical note stack. Permanent even though S3 spends Musical Note stacks
Elucidator Stat Buff	+20% of Elucidator Stats to allies (some such as SPD excluded)
A0 Unique Ability: Da Capo	Remove 1 debuff for 1 ally; after their action, grant ally an extra turn maintaining the exact state the ally was in before they acted. Does NOT immediately refresh Highlight/Theurgy, though by nature more ally actions = more charge, so HL/T can be available sooner. Da Capo is only available twice at A0; the second usage is locked behind 7 Wonder turns excluding extra turns, so it can not be used in a 6 turn battle more than once until Ange A6.
A0 Innate Trait	Gain 1 Musical Note at the start of each ally action

Awareness & Weapons

Investment	Effect
4* Weapon	Ange own attack +42%
5* Weapon	+.7% damage for team per Musical note for up to 8.4% DMG permanently (12 stacks). +15.3% Crit Damage (12 stacks).
A1	S3 available turn 1; 12% Crit rate for party with S3. Max Musical Notes from Turn 1.
A6	Da Capo usages at the start of battle +1

Ange's 4 star weapon doesn't do much besides give her some more attack to give to the party. Her 5 star weapon was a topic of much discussion. At the end of the day, if you value 8.4% DMG and 15.3% Crit DMG more than investing in any other character, that's up to you.

As mentioned, A1 is most useful for endgame modes. Being able to use S3 on turn 1 barely matters anywhere else. Due to having max musical notes from the start as well, this means the pierce buffs will be active from turn 1 instead of turn 3. The 12% Crit rate for the team - any team you ever run with her - is good, but again, is the 12% Crit rate worth the jewels? Your decision.

It should also be mentioned her A1 and 5* Weapon have direct synergy, something that can also be seen with Makoto Yuki. Since A1 immediately gives max musical stacks, the effects of the 5* Weapon are also immediately maximized.

Good value investment since they can be used anywhere, but not massively impactful for a team in a given instance. Only basically required for hardcore endgame players. Can't stress that enough.

Skill Rotation

Lufel.net

A0: - >1>3>1>3>1

A1: 3>1>3>1>3>1

There is not much thought to be had here or anything to explain. Da Capo can be used whenever you want, but ideally whenever the buffs/debuffs are all applied.

Revelation Cards

Lufel.net

Hope + Labor vs Integrity + Labor. Labor cards are always useful as they provide a HP, ATK, DEF +8% buff to all allies when the cards are used by an Elucidator.

Hope give 5% Pierce to the targeted ally, though for only one turn, most impactful if you are really close to capping defense reduction.

Integrity is interesting as it increases HP, ATK, DEF by 2% for each ally with the same element. Mono teams aren't much of a thing now, but supposedly they will be in the distant future.

It is much less common to have teams that share the same element, so Hope is more easily taken advantage of. If you do manage to have a full mono team, the difference between the cardsets wouldn't be very noticeable anyway to anyone not seriously considering damage numbers.

Wonder Dagger

Whatever the DPS wants.

Wonder Persona

Whatever the DPS wants.

Summary Table

+	-
Elucidator that can be used effectively anywhere. Does not require anything beyond A0 to be a top tier pick.	There is really not a reason to not pull Ange for anyone who cares about the power of their account. Maybe if you have highly sensitive ears.
Decent DMG and ATK Buffs, very useful Pierce buffs when combined with other sources of Pierce/DEF Down.
The extra turn provided by Da Capo is a boon to any 4.X units (does not repeat Highlight/Theurgy). You can just use Da Capo on Chord for Highlight focused teams.
A small amount of sustain is helpful to eke out annoying battles such as those in SoS.

https://preview.redd.it/ptj4q9b2bdyg1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=3290e6ea9512f9049c8160d3b256105f4885b6d7

This is first and foremost information presented to help those decide if they want a specific banner unit, this is not explicitly meta oriented. The information presented here is not written with the specific consideration of maximizing scores, clearing the highest tiers of challenge content, or of clearing Astrolabe nodes in 1 attempt each. It should serve as a starting point to understand how the unit would fit in your current roster. This will focus on how the unit works and explaining the "why" behind certain recommendations and aspects of their kit.

Information that is optimal need not be followed strictly to obtain value from the character, yet there will be a noticeable difference if you do choose to follow these recommendations or others. Information is presented here within the context of playing optimally. Do whatever you enjoy first and foremost.

Luce - 4* Standard Bless Strategist (Buffer)

Read his kit here! The post focuses on the most prominent sections of a kit, some modifiers or effects may not be mentioned

Sources: Lufel.net

General

Luce is the new Phantom Thief and as such is introduced to the game as a 4*. He can be obtained through gacha even if you did not yet reach Chapter 5.

Luce follows the pattern of Strategists being all-purpose units, and does so actually by having the capability of buffing a significant number of major stats in the game. However, the buff numbers themselves are not high, due to his being a 4*. Due to this, he is only a good starter unit, and a good burner unit for Astrolabe. For those who have multiple supports on their account, Luce won't see much real use. In the future, Fuuka is introduced who can swap in a 5th party member for one turn, and Luce at A6 fits nicely into this - but again would only be worthwhile if someone at that point lacks better options.

Luce provides +35.1% DMG and 2 Blessing for all allies with S1, +36.6% DEF and immunity to a few ailments with S2 for one ally, whereas S3 is where his diverse buffing capability comes into play. S3 has four variants known as Improvs representing the four different buffs, and Luce can freely (awkwardly cycle through) swap into each Improv on his turn. Each improv represents one of the four core elements, and the elemental ailment of the specific element tied to the improv can be applied when he deals damage with S1 - though the buffs themselves have nothing to do with any element beyond that.

Improvs:

Blazing Passion (Fire): Damage-over-time (DoT) +14%, Ailment Accuracy +30%

Chilling Intensity (Ice): Technical Proficiency +655; ally Technical ATK +20%

Electrifying Performance (Elec): Main target Crit DMG +24.4%

Tempestuous Drama (Wind): Main target Pierce +12%

The buffs initially last for only two turns. At A6, they last for four turns. You should be cycling between S1>S3, so keeping constant uptime for multiple buffs is not possible before A6. You can keep two buffs up at A6 from turn 4 onwards. There may be very creative scenarios where you use S3 more often, but due to the DMG buff from S1 and Blessing, a scenario is not obvious.

This is due to what Blessing does for Luce's Passive 1; for each stack of Blessing, ally DMG dealt increases by 5%, up to 25%, and S1 gives two to all allies at a time. However, blessing only lasts two turns, so unless you have other sources of blessing, it is not possible to take advantage of this passive fully. Additionally**, Blessing stacks are tracked independently, so duration of stacks do not reset when further Blessings are gained**. His Highlight also gives a blessing, granting 2 more upon A4 - but his highlight is terrible so using it just for that isn't worth it. The DMG buff from S1 alone though combined with the few Blessing stacks, especially when combined with the 5* weapon which gives another 11% DMG buff for just a single blessing stack, makes following the 1>3 rotation make sense. Again though, it may be possible to discover some niche case to break from the rotation.

Additionally, A1 Luce gives even further +DMG buffs, up to +15%, for each stack of Blessing, +3% per stack. Another Again though, it is hard to keep Blessing stacks up without other sources.

Overall, Luce serves as a budget option for any DPS, while having specific budget buffs for any DoT unit, Haru, Fox, Firecracker Rin. He is the only other character so far that provides Technical Proficiency for Rin. In reality, Luce is the blueprint for Summer Marian, who follows this exact same concept of "buff everything" but dramatically elevates it.

Awarenesses & Weapons (& ailment accuracy for Luce)

Luce has an event 4* weapon alongside his normal 4* weapon. The event 4* weapon would be good for a team that needs ailment accuracy especially when combined with Fire Improv S3. Both weapons give ailment accuracy to Luce, but the normal 4* weapon only gives it to him and not the team. So both weapons do very little for the team.

For Luce, Ailment accuracy only helps with his own applying of elemental ailments (Burn, Shock, Freeze, Windswept). Being able to apply Shock, which effectively increases the Crit Rate of an attack on the enemy by 10%, would be the most useful one. Again this is most helpful for those without better options. The ailment accuracy goal for Luce is also 100%, as he boosts his own ATK based on ailment accuracy, but such a thing would only matter for early game. Running an AA star card to reach this goal, and also help with applying ailments if desired, would be sensible.

Luce's 5* weapon provides 11% damage to the team and 21% attack. Small buffs, but more than the 4* weapons give, and they give next to nothing.

Luce's A1 as mentioned gives further +DMG with Blessing, A2 decreases ally damage taken, A4 gives more blessing stacks with HL, and A6 allows buffs to last 4 turns. The A6 is most significant.

Skill Rotations - others can exist

1>3>1>3>1>3

Rotation logic described above.

Revelation Cards

Good old Trust+ Prosperity vs Creation + Reconciliation. T+P most notable for HL charge (doesn't stack), most effective in 6 turn battles (and gives +8% DMG when skill used on ally), while C+R gives +12% DMG for ally with lowest speed notably. C+R gives speed to the user, which helps as you ideally want Luce to act faster than your DPS at minimum, 1st or 2nd to give the Blessing stacks to everyone so it can be taken advantage of.

Wonder Dagger

Whatever the DPS wants

Persona

Whatever the DPS wants

Summary Table

+	-
He is Free and Free is We	Has very little use outside of being a throwaway unit for Astrolabe for those who already have supports filling out their teams
Great unit for newer players. Diverse buffs with S3 that make him a passable budget substitute for 5* limited supports, mainly when at A6. Usable for Fuuka in the future (by then, anyone playing now will have better options)	Even at A6, there is no way to constantly keep more than 1 S3 buff active in a 6 turn battle. You can have 2 buffs active for turns 4, 5, 6 and onwards at A6. When not at A6, you can only stick to 1 buff at a time if you follow the rotation
His pierce buff is most notable. His +12%, when combined with Ange's +24% and further sources, can make a difference with proper planning	Leon still exists and still provides a lot of value at A6R0
Specific budget buffs for any DoT unit, Haru, Firecracker Rin, Fox	Blessing stacks are impossible to keep up without other sources of blessing
He's just a cool guy
BECOME A FREAK

For those that are not aware/forgot, unless some monumental change is made, Chord does not activate Theurgy for the P3 cast when Catchy Hook is used. She does give a small damage amp to Theurgy (20%), still has her highlight and attack buff, but she won't be a go-to choice for P3 characters. Her mindscape core in the future gives more damage amp to Theurgy, but it still wouldn't outperform more fitting supports. So, unless you literally do not have better options, Chord is not a top pick for Makoto, Akihiko, or Aigis. Or for Shinji if he is a DPS. Mitsuru is a sub-dps but if you decide to run her as a primary (not her intended use) the same thing applies.

So far, Chord is a top pick for two future units, Berry and >!RCloser.!<

Berry's highlight is a significant part of her damage, and Berry's A0 (+25% DoT at 3 stacks), A2, A6 can not be taken fully advantage of in a 6 turn battle until turn 6 without Chord, as Berry using her Highlight gives herself stacks needed to activate conditions. >!RCloser!< simply has her damage significantly revolved around her own highlight. If they ever release more future units that revolve around highlight, Chord will still be relevant. Unless they make a Chord 2 who does more for highlights than she does.

For other future non p3 DPS, Chord can still be used to activate highlight, as there is still nothing wrong with two stronger extra highlights. However, mechanics become more diverse, so while Chord is better for these units compared to her use for the P3 cast, as of right now she is not a top pick for any future units besides the two mentioned.

It's been a while since I've repeated it, but I'm a Global player only and as such my knowledge only comes from reading and watching things often over the past year, so while I feel confident in what I present, there is the chance I missed something that can be corrected by a CN player as I haven't experienced such content myself yet. Even in such a case, starting dialogues is still useful.