Trial 007 is out, and with it comes a new mock unit, Ark! He's a great free unit for everyone to acquire, although his role is a little unique compared to what we're used to. Let's dive in and find out how the first free 7 star unit stacks up!
ORACLE KNIGHT ARK
 |
| Oracle Knight Ark |
STATS COMPARISON
| Name | HP | ATK | DEF | REC | DC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ark | 6,640 (1,100) | 2,500 (440) | 2,175 (440) | 2,088 (440) | 40 |
| Rhoa | 7,022 (1,000) | 2,731 (600) | 2,183 (300) | 2,020 (400) | 39 |
| Grahdens | 6,200 (500) | 2,250 (200) | 2,000 (200) | 1,800 (200) | 26 |
| Zenia | 6,450 (1,000) | 2,800 (520) | 2,100 (440) | 2,100 (400) | 39 / 78 |
| Toutetsu | 6,555 (1,000) | 2,777 (600) | 2,251 (300) | 1,977 (400) | 30 |
| Savia | 6,655 (1,000) | 2,761 (600) | 2,380 (300) | 2,162 (400) | 36 |
| Kalis | 6,854 (1,100) | 2,753 (600) | 2,102 (300) | 2,250 (400) | 24 |
SKILLS
- LEADER SKILL - Oracle's Ambition
- +35% to HP/ATK/DEF/REC
- +75% Spark Damage
- +70% BC Drop On Spark
- EXTRA SKILL - Knight Loved by the Gods
- 25% Chance to Heal 20% of Damage Taken
- 50% Chance to Fill 2-3 BB on Damage Taken
- ARENA AI - Type 3
- 68% BB Chance
- NORMAL ATTACK
- 20 Hits, 40 Drop Checks Total
- BRAVE BURST - X-Rave
- 26 Cost
- 22 Hits, Multi-Target, 22 Drop Checks (Per Target)
- 300% Damage +100 ATK
- +2 Hitcount on Normal Attacks for 3 Turns
- SUPER BRAVE BURST - Judgment Blade: Asterio
- 24 Cost (50 Total)
- 32 Hits, Multi-Target, 32 Drop Checks (Per Target)
- 750% to 250% Damage (Based on HP) +100 ATK
- +140% ATK for 3 Turns
- ULTIMATE BRAVE BURST - Sword of the Brave
- 25 Cost
- 26 Hits, Multi-Target, 26 Drop Checks (Per Target)
- 1,200% Damage +100 ATK
- +500% BB Modifier for 3 Turns
- Adds All Elements
OVERVIEW
Ark compares very well to most 40-cost 7 star units, and has enough advantages to make him competitive with some of the upcoming 42-cost 7 star units as well. He's a very offensively slanted unit, but his SBB doesn't provide any of the standard +Spark Damage, +Crit Chance, or +Crit Multiplier that we've come to expect out of most offensive-oriented 7 star units. Instead, he provides an entirely different way of dealing damage, focusing on enhancing normal attacks to near-SBB levels, or by relying on his incredible UBB to maximize squad damage output.
Stats: Ark's got balanced, and unremarkable, stats for a 7 star. His stats are clearly in the 40-cost range, so he can't compare with the recent-and-upcoming 42-cost batches in terms of raw stats. The only special thing to call out is that his imp caps, unlike many mock units, are of 'normal' values, so he doesn't lag behind in stats after imps like some mock units.
Leader Skill: Ark's LS is a mishmash of defensive, offensive, and BC gen functions. His closest comparison is Rhoa, whom provides a similar (and effective) mishmash. His stat increase is a monstrous +35% across the board, and alongside that is a nice +75% Spark Damage boost. His +70% BC Drop During Spark is roughly equivalent to a 1 BB Fill on Spark effect, although it must compete with BC drop resistance and is randomly distributed. Overall, this is a quality Raid and Quest LS, but it lacks damage for Arena, and it is not top-tier for durability like Grahdens or Tridon LS's.
Extra Skill: Ark's ES is a small durability and BC boost when he takes damage. Both are nice additional effects, especially the heal part, which gives Ark a small, hidden amount of more durability than most similar units.
Normal Attack: Ark has an impressive 20 hits and 40 DCs, but, it comes at the cost of a very long animation. But at least the hit distribution is relatively smooth, unlike most long animations (cough Reis cough). This animation is used in all of his brave bursts, making it function like Maxwell's Endless animation; a slow hit blanket, and working best with other units with high hitcounts and slow animations.
Brave Burst: X-Rave dishes out great damage for a BB, making it an excellent Arena brave burst. It also has a the relatively unique function of +2 Hitcount on Normal Attacks, an effect not seen outside of UBB's until this point. Combined with Ark's SBB ATK boost, this allows your normal attacks to effectively deal 420% damage, putting them near SBB damage territory. This is excellent for fights that expect you to focus kill specific enemy units (Lira GGC comes to mind), or fights with significant BB filling problems. The bad news: it's almost entirely worthless in BB spam fights, as it only helps normal attacks. The interesting news: because it's a BB effect, it should stack with +hitcount effects from Selena, Quad, and Zenia UBBs, resulting in normal attacks that deal much more damage than SBBs for several turns!
Super Brave Burst: Judgment Blade: Asterio is an extremely high damage MT SBB. When Ark is at full health (which should be most of the time), he has a 750% modifier, putting him well above the standard 500% modifier used for most MT SBB's. Coupled with this high raw damage is a +140% ATK buff, which combos well with his BB. We haven't been using a lot of +ATK buffs in the 7 star era up to this point, but keep in mind that +140% ATK is only slightly worse than Lava's +200% BB Modifier for brave bursts, and, it applies to normal attacks as well!
The flaw is that +ATK boosts are still one of the weakest classes of boosts for increasing raw SBB damage, so in SBB spam squads, Ark is only slotted after you slot at least a Critical Chance booster, a Spark Damage booster, and at least one elemental changer.
Ultimate Brave Burst: Sword of Brave is one of the bigger AoE nukes in Brave Frontier, comparing well to global units Hadaron and Zenia, and only being clearly beaten by units with huge Critical Damage UBBs (Yuura, Nemethgear, Ultor). With a solid 1,200% modifier, it also adds EVERY element, and +500% BB modifier for 3 turns! This makes Sword of the Brave competitive with the global powerhouse Zenia, depending on how many elemental advantages you gain from it. But, while being very consistent and strong, it does not add as much raw crazy damage as Nemethgear or Yuura, simply because those units apply huge damage multipliers (Yuura's UBB adds 450% Critical Damage multipler!). Sword of the Brave is very potent, but it's not as crazy as the few units with UBBs that add huge damage multipliers.
COMPARISONS
vs Rhoa
- Rhoa is a 42-cost unit that has a very similar leader role as Ark. Both have +HP and +ATK on their LS, with Ark adding slightly more stats. Rhoa only provides +50% Spark damage compared to Ark's +75%, but Rhoa's BB Fill on Spark is stronger / more reliable than Ark's +70% BC Drop on Spark effect. Net result; Ark provides slightly more stats and damage on LS, but Rhoa provides better BB filling. When comparing SBB's, Rhoa's provides more overall damage, as his 70% Spark Damage boost is superior to Ark's +140% ATK boost. Rhoa's UBB, while a reasonably high-damage UBB in it's own right, simply can't compare to Ark's however (but almost no UBB can...). While the two units can stack their effects, in terms of slot efficiency, Rhoa contributes more than Ark, with the exception of Ark's crazy-damaging UBB.
vs Grahdens
- Grahdens remains a top-tier leader for content involving light/dark bosses. While Ark's LS provides more damage and BB filling, Grahdens -15% Light/Dark damage is still just too good to pass up against many harder bosses that tax durability to the limit. Grahdens also still has his impressive +6 BB Fill/Turn on his SBB, shoring up his overall BC generation when compared to Ark. Ark still wins in damage, especially when factoring in UBBs, but Grahdens provides more durability and slightly better BC generation for a single slot than Ark. In the case of non-Light/Dark bosses however, Ark proves superior, especially if you can get BB Fill/Turn from another unit.
vs Zenia
- Zenia, the global damage monstrosity, competes very well with Ark. In terms of LS, Zenia has the same BB Fill on Spark effect as Rhoa, which is still better than Ark's effect. Ark gives +35% to all stats and a nice 75% Spark Damage boost, which contributes about 10% less total damage than Zenia's LS, but in return, offers MUCH better durability. In terms of SBB's though, Zenia's overloaded SBB is far superior to Ark's SBB, providing much more overall damage. Zenia's UBB, while still incredibly good, is actually outclassed by Ark's UBB in most cases. In general, Zenia's SBB and UBB are strong enough to make her the superior non-lead unit, but as a leader, Ark's +stats is hard to pass up when facing harder-hitting enemies. Good news: the two combo incredibly well, as their boosts stack, and Ark lead with Zenia sub is an incredibly potent combination. Even more ridiculous; Zenia's UBB combos with Ark's BB and SBB, resulting in +4 hitcount and +390% ATK on normal attacks! This combo puts your normal attack damage through the roof, surpassing the raw damage of many UBBs!
vs Toutetsu
- Toutetsu never really had his day in the sun, and now that Ark is out, he's largely replaced. While Toutetsu still has the better LS for Arena, his BB, SBB, and UBB are largely out-classed by Ark's. Toutetsu's SBB DoT adds some nice damage, but thanks to Ark often pulling in 750% modifiers on his SBB, the two have nearly identical SBB damage. They have the same +140% ATK boost, but Ark has nearly double the hits on his SBB than Toutetsu, making it very hard for Toutetsu to compete against the Oracle Knight. This is one of the few units that Ark nearly completely replaces, with the exception of Toutetsu's role as an Arena lead.
vs Savia
- Savia is a unit from the future who also offers a 140% ATK boost on her SBB. She also has +30% HP and ATK on her LS, putting her in roughly the same role niche as Ark. The good news is that Ark holds up extremely well against Savia; Savia has a few extra benefits on her SBB than Ark, but overall, she's not a clearly superior unit. While +ATK boosts aren't really in high demand in the current meta, it's nice to see that Ark won't be phased out of usage in the next few 42-cost batches.
vs Kalis
- Kalis is an upcoming Dark unit that increases normal hits on both his BB, SBB, and even on his LS. The flaw with Kalis is that his BB/SBB only increase hitcount by +1, and Ark increases it by +2. Kalis's LS does provide an extra +1 hit at 50% damage, but his LS has no +HP or other major effects, giving Ark an slot efficiency advantage. However, Kalis's trumpcard is his 60% DEF -> ATK conversion, which stacks with +ATK boosts, and allows you to achieve much higher ATK values than with just Ark. While Ark is still more slot efficient, Kalis has more upward potential, as if you pair him with a +ATK boost unit (like Ark!), you can push your normal hit damage to values even greater than your SBB damage.
ROLE PERFORMANCE
- Sustained Boss Fights - Excellent. His LS is almost top-tier, just below Grahdens / Tridon. His BB and SBB allow normal attacks to contribute much more damage and BC than they normally would.
- Raids - Above Average. His LS is still excellent, but Ark's SBB isn't as valuable as other units like Rhoa, Griff, or Zenia. He's good to bring for his UBB, but his overall kit is slightly below top-tier for a Raid squad that's trying to maximize SBB spam damage.
- Arena - Excellent as a non-lead unit, Average as a lead unit. His BB cost is a little on the high side, his AI, normal attack, and BB damage are top-tier for Arena.
- Frontier Hunter - Above Average. Ark's got a lot of hits on his SBB and his LS is good for Terminus grinding, but he's got weak potential on a Middle-farming squad that favors sheer SBB spam damage with spark and critical boosts.
- General / Lead - Above Average. Ark's not top-tier in damage, not top-tier in survivability, but he's a great mix of the two. He's a little lackluster in the faces of powerhouses Griff and Rhoa, but still strong enough to not be a major handicap.
TYPING
- Lord - The best and worst typing for Ark, in Global at least, since it's his only typing!
- Anima > Guardian > Lord > Breaker > Oracle if we somehow get Mystery Frogs in Global.
(Source: reddit)
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