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9TH 7-STAR BATCH QUICK UNIT ANALYSIS (AVANT, LUNE, DOLK, RAHGAN, CHARLA, CHROME)

QUICK UNIT ANALYSIS FOR AVANT BATCH

ARDENT DAWN AVANT
Brave Frontier guides, tips and tricks - Avant

Ø  This analysis shall include comparison with Zedus since Zedus is actually the main competitor of Avant in terms of damage.

Ø  Avant has abnormally high stats, including high HP, huge-as-fuck ATK and doesn't really pay for it in DEF or REC.

Ø  40 DC, and a BB with 530% baseline damage modifier and a crit buff? If he had multi-elements or type 3 AI, he'd practically be the best arena unit in the game.

Ø  Avant LS is even better than that of Zedus. It's got better damage output than Zedus and HP to boot. Zedus would still have a niche vs crit resistant enemies, but really... Zedus has a trade-off for his damage output called no HP% that makes people have to think about how to use him in high tier raids.

Ø  Avant ES makes [Dandelga] worth 100% ATK / 50% HP / 20% DEF / 20% REC on turn 1 in the arena. There's a bonus 50% ATK if the BB gauge is full, but he can also lose up to 50% ATK as his HP goes down - not that his ATK on turn 2 matters in arena. Strictly speaking it's a pure stats ES that focuses on ATK, so it's not totally amazing. Additionally, only the 20% all stats part requires Dandelga - you can still give him something else, like Beiorg (arguably a better sphere than Dandelga and you only get 10% less HP and ATK for 20% more DEF/REC and all those side-effects)

Ø  At first, Avant's BB looks pretty generic, but you will realise that it outclasses Michele's SBB. In fact, because of his LS, Avant's BB is stronger than his SBB either neither's buffs are up. The hit count/drop checks are kinda weak, at least.

o   As Zedus' BB only effectively gives elemental weakness damage compared to his SBB, it's not nearly as important to Zedus to manage BB and SBB as it is for Avant.

Ø  Regarding Avant's SBB, the first two effects aren't huge, but still damage boosts; but he's also got a 200% BB mod buff in there. You're realistically looking at a total of 8000 more base damage when using BB as a result of this buff, but without crit chance, you can't take advantage of his LS if you haven't BB'd him first. The spark damage debuff isn't too strong outside of raids, but he's got enough on his kit already, so more is ridiculous either way.

o   Meanwhile Zedus provides 80% spark damage, 60% crit chance and 50% crit damage without needing to use his BB. If Avant's BB didn't exist or was just a weaker version of his SBB like a few recent units from JPBF, Zedus would have the better skillset up to here - but no. Alim must creep all the power.

Ø  And his UBB is practically designed to outclass Zedus as well, naturally. Having a significantly higher base damage, an only barely lower spark buff, the same crit buff, and frankly a more relevant BB modifier buff, Avant's UBB would be more effective in a greater variety of scenarios than Zedus' UBB.

Ø  Avant's the new king of damage, guys. Zedus is crying a little in the corner - OP for a single day before JP released something better. At least he's still got a niche vs crit resistance or if you can make use of his elemental weakness damage. Oh, and Zedus/Avant have almost no buff clash and would work really well together.

Ø  There's a bright side, of course - global players will get to use Zedus for about 2-3 months before Avant's gonna come along.

ICICLE MIRROR LUNE
Brave Frontier guides, tips and tricks - Lune

Ø  At a glance, she's really niche.

Ø  Seriously, these 42 cost units have really high stats. She's gonna hit nearly 3540 ATK as breaker. Oh, forgot to mention that in the Avant review - his breaker has higher ATK than Mifune too. Anyway, Lune just... isn't really suffering for this. Even her REC manages to be above average.


Ø  She won't be relevant enough in arena to replace Selena, but she's still really good if you somehow don't have a Selena.

Ø  Her LS is... weird. 80% ATK, fine. 125% elemental weakness damage to two elements, fine. 100% BB mod when dealing 10000 damage... fine. Still not overpowering other EW LS. 100% BB mod when taking 10000 damage... what?

o   It's not that it's OP, it's that by the current rules, the BB mod effects won't stack. It's in there twice, and the only thing that achieves is making it slightly harder for it to not be in effect. I mean, you're... pretty much always going to deal 10000 damage per turn. Most 7* units are capable of that with an unbuffed SBB or even BB. The extra proc when taking 10000 damage is only going to matter if you're buff wiped.

o   Note that she gives bonus elemental weakness damage to fire units. Does she hate Luly? Or does she just not want to make thunder units stronger so they can stab her in the back?

Ø  Her ES gives her some more personal elemental weakness damage, and adds 30% Ares to her BB and SBB's buff lists. Well, Ares is pretty common and elemental weakness damage is pretty niche, so it's not an amazing ES. Gives you a little more flexibility, I suppose.

Ø  Her BB gives DEF ignore and 75% more elemental weakness damage to fire and water units (applies when fire attacks earth or water attacks fire). That's... pretty niche. You won't be using this BB most of the time, especially as the effects are both present on her SBB.

o   More hate on earth and fire units. The hate on fire units is probably just because Lune herself is a water unit. The hate on earth units might be because Luly laughed at her one time. Luly has a habit of laughing at inappropriate moments.

Ø  Lune's SBB keeps DEF ignore (can't really improve DEF ignore, though... just make it like, permanent like the HP buff if you want a unit to use it well), upgrades the elemental weakness damage to 125% (that's actually pretty huge, as we've never seen above 75% on SBB before and crit damage only meets par with LS on UBB) and gives her 70% spark damage. Well, there's a lot of spark damage buffers out there, but this one's only going to be used when you can make her elemental bonus matter.

o   That hate on Luly keeps going up! Or maybe the hate's directed at Farlon and Ophelia?

Ø  Finally, the UBB. This thing's... pretty extreme. 500% BB mod is a lot. 400% added to a multiplier... is a shit ton of elemental weakness damage, really. It's very niche, of course, but the damage potential is huge. Almost matches up to Avant, even! Fancy that.

o   The hatred of fire and earth is so remarkably high that I don't think we've seen a unit hate specific elements this much in the past - not even Linneth.

Ø  Ok, so... Lune's like, an incredibly niche unit that hates earth and fire units for some reason. Maybe the lore explains it, maybe she's just trying to avenge Luly and murder Luly at the same time. I don't know. Weird.

Ø  You won't be using Lune when her elemental weakness damage doesn't matter.

Ø  On the other hand, Shusui's an important RC6 boss, and against him, it does matter. Unless he's immune to elemental weakness damage...


HEAVENLY CLAYMORE DOLK
Brave Frontier guides, tips and tricks - Dolk

Ø  He has a... balanced stat spread. Standard 22 imp cap on all stats, and I guess this counts as average HP and ATK for 42 cost units these days. His DEF is particularly high, but isn't accentuated by an above average imp cap like Avant and Lune's ATK.

Ø  He works well in arena. Type2 AI is acceptable at least, 40 drop checks is great, and if you put him in slot 1 with a status immunity sphere it looks like he can help you get around that annoying status effects rule if you fail to kill stuff. Plus mitigation is strong if you fail to kill stuff too.

Ø  That LS is... surprisingly nice. This guy would've made several GGC much easier (Michele GGC? A third of their damage output is just... gone.) 35% all stats is pretty popular as well. You can take this guy as a lead into any trial, any GGC, any GQ - take him in without even reading up on them - and not be afraid of the elemental matchup. Nice for raids where bosses are multi-element, too.

o   No BC or significant damage support, but elemental weakness immunity really is useful, and you've still got a second LS slot.

Ø  His ES has a whole list of effects. 30% BC/HC drop rate added to his BB/SBB (guess he does have some BC support after all!), giving himself elemental weakness immunity even if you didn't take him as lead, and giving himself crit immunity - damage multipliers just don't work against him. OG Zelban's like a brick wall.

Ø  Annnnd his BB... shows that he's a true Zelban. A better Zelban. An OG Zelban. Zelban brought us DEF buffs. Dork brings us DEF buffs, mitigation, and status curing.

o   First mitigator that gets a DEF buff on BB. He might have no elements, but Dolk's defensive skill line-up is immense.

Ø  His SBB mixes things up a little. It keeps mitigation, but drops the rest and has two other buffs - one good, one... occasionally relevant. First up, 35% ATK -> DEF Conversion. This is always appreciable, though it's a little iffy to see it on a unit that'll mostly be using BB - you might struggle to get it up. Still, ATK -> DEF convert can be pushed to a higher level than JP BF's REC -> DEF converts, and possibly higher than Dolk's BB 130% DEF buff. Secondly, he gives us... ATK/DEF/REC down immunity. While nice, you're probably going to want to stick to his BB most turns if you don't have ailments immunity as well, and his BB cures ATK/DEF/REC down - only DEF down will bother you.

o   Still, if you can maintain his BB and SBB buffs alongside each other - Dork provides every defensive buff in the game except elemental mitigation and shields

Ø  Finally, his UBB. It's a little bland - 75% mitigation is always appreciable, but he just has a generic ATK/DEF/REC buff on the side. Of course, that synergizes well with his ATK -> DEF Conversion, but it just feels bland.

o   Your mitigator's UBB is still one of the ones that's most important in a squad, and synergizing with his SBB buff is a nice little extra. It's good, just boring.

Ø  Man, the Zelban lineage has heavily watered down the skills over the years. It started with this guy - just look at his stuff! - and culminated in the modern Zelban, a man who only knows how to grant regular DEF buffs and put plants on your sword.

Ø  Dolk's really good, guys. You'll probably find yourself stuck using his BB, and it clashes with few other popular units at the moment (Libera, Nadore), but somebody will work out a squad that works with Dolk in it. Probably using Avant.

Ø  And then everything will be wonderful.

THUNDER CHAMPION RAHGAN

Brave Frontier guides, tips and tricks - Rhagan

Ø  This guy founded the dojo that trained Dilma, Nemia and Zeln. ...uh, out of those students, only one was really impressive. Maybe the Dojo was watered down, like Zelban.

Ø  More high stats, yada yada. While he maintains an average imp set, he's got a high base ATK that still brings him above 3200 ATK. Otherwise, he's a solid all-rounder.

Ø  This guy's LS and ES set him up to be an arena leader and unit. His BB doesn't carry particularly relevant buffs, but that DoT might finish off a Selena after her angel idol activates as Rahgan would survive her BB with his elemental advantage.
o   Because don't forget, ES will be activated in the new arena mode coming out soonTM

Ø  His LS takes Charis's LS and laughs at it. Well, anyway, Rahgan's LS is clearly meant for the arena. Extra hits at 50% damage (50% more damage as a multiplier, 100% more BC gen). 80% ATK (80% more damage - normal attacks are at 270% before spheres and ES). 7 BC when attacking (+lots more BC gen).
o   Better damage than Toutetsu - check. Better BC gen than Toutetsu - obviously. New meta arena lead in JPBF? Definitely.

Ø  His ES gives extra hits, so he can hit you while he hits you... while he hits you, if he's leader. Oh, an it adds a DEF ignore buff to his BB and SBB. Kinda pointless addition normally, but DEF ignore helps in arena.

Ø  Rahgan's BB is actually pretty strong for regular content, though. The DoT deals as much damage as the BB itself, and there's a hit count buff, so he can hit you while he hits you while he hits you while he hits you.
o   Hit count buffs are amazing for normal attack strategies, but Ark's got that covered, unless you don't want to use him for some reason. Alim really should've put a damage penalty on Ark's extra hits to make it so 1 hit count buff units aren't completely outclassed...
o   General reminder, hit count increases from buffs don't increase BC gen. ES, LS and sphere hit count increases do increase BC gen.

Ø  Rahgan's SBB keeps the same effects as his BB, but also has a couple nice additions - firstly, if you use it repeatedly within a wave, it'll slowly upgrade itself to nuke status, eventually reaching 1000% BB mod. Secondly, it adds a 60% DEF to ATK conversion, which can be a lot of damage if you build around it.
o   Let's keep track here - we've got Avant (130% ATK), Dork (130% DEF, 35% ATK -> DEF) and Rahgan (60% DEF -> ATK). The squad practically builds itself…

Ø  The final piece of the puzzle is Rahgan's UBB, which is also pretty huge. It has an 800% DoT, a 200% ATK buff, and an extra 2 hits (at +100% damage, the base for extra hits is +0%, which means a displayed bonus in the datamine is additional damage). Of course, this is nearly at Zenia's UBB level, and combined with his LS, ES and BB/SBB... this enables nuke strategies pretty nicely.
o   He can now hit you twice while he hits you while he hits you while he hits you while he hits you.
o   My brain hurts. Maybe Rahgan punched it too quickly.

Ø  Rahgan's said to have sealed his fist away. Probably because somebody saw how ridiculously he punches things and was all "cut that shit out, it makes everybody feel bad". I mean, look at how slowly Dilma punches things... fully buffed Rahgan would punch you 64 times in the same turn purely off his own buffs (and you could sphere/LS for 32 total more... they'd probably be self-sparking by then)

Ø  At any rate, Rahgan is the new arena meta in JPBF, but he's also very likely the new main UBB for normal attack nuke squads. This batch is ridiculous.

MERCIFUL BEACON CHARLA

Brave Frontier guides, tips and tricks - Charla

Ø  The Brit in me refuses to accept a woman called Charla. The RPG player in me who enjoyed Ar NoSurge much prefers the cuter name Sharl.
o   Ugh, thinking about it, she must be Michele's mother or something. They're both from La Veda and have names originating in France...

Ø  A flat stat spread with... a REC orientated imp cap? Damnit Alim. She still gets respectable stats, at least.

Ø  The first non-viable unit for arena in months! She doesn't AoE at all. Not even with SBB.
o   You'd think a girl with 2 weapons would know how to attack...

Ø  Her LS is 40% HP/DEF with a mix of BC related effects. Two of them struggle against the modern low drop checks and enemy BC resistance, but 40% HP is a lot of HP and she does help quite a lot with BB maintenance.
o   Quite a lot. Lack of dealing hits kinda doesn't help her tremendously, though.

Ø  Her ES makes her immune to ailments and gives her an angel idol. Now, normally angel idol units are OP in arena, but her skillset means she's not even arena viable. Reminds me of Ivris.
o   Maybe she's Ivris/Themis' mother, then? Lore plz confirm.

Ø  This BB is a BB that helps fill up many bars. Offering a decently-sized burst heal, top tier HP regen, ailments curing, top tier BB gauge regen and some burst heal to the BB gauge as well... she'll fix you up after you get hurt or tired. The burst heal actually gets a high benefit from her REC, and her REC is huge to begin with...
o   Alim should've gone for broke and given her instant OD fill as well. Well, using a BB fills a little OD gauge naturally, but at this point I don't care about balance anymore. Alim clearly don't.

Ø  Her SBB drops the healer act and becomes significantly more offensive. She'll grant your squad 60% crit chance, 75% crit damage (more than we've seen on any BB/SBB), 100% spark damage (more than we've seen on any BB/SBB), a BC fill on spark buff (more than the last one we've seen - in fact, this fills more BC on average per spark than the typical leader skills) and some more instant BC fill.
o   The trade-offs this girl's been given for not attacking are huge. She's just outclassed the strongest level of SBB buffs seen on 3 different buffs. The way she works, though, she'll never benefit from any of these. Everybody else has to do the work.

Ø  Her UBB continues the tradition of not dealing damage, but feels more like her BB - the only offensive benefit is BC gen. Still, it's got 3 turns of 50% mitigation (remember UBB stacking and it's fine), full HP regen, 50 BC regen and the chance-based angel idol.
o   I'm not really a fan of the chance-based angel idol, but mitigation's nice, and being confident that only BB drain and curse can prevent you from using SBB for 3 turns is pretty neat, I guess.

Ø  So this girl is... is... she provides all of these buffs, and they're like... OP and stuff. But she never actually attacks, just sits in the back making everybody else attack better.

Ø  She's actually the first unit since Vertri to not have any attack type BB. And, of course, she practically outclasses him - only realistically lacking ailments immunity in the comparison.

CALAMITY STEEL CHROME

Brave Frontier guides, tips and tricks - Chrome

Ø  Apparently we're saying goodbye to Rhoa now. It looks like Chrome taught Elza how to Scythe, too.
o   Though it's a little weird a man with two scythes has a lower hit count on SBB than a girl with one.

Ø  More offensive stat spreads for everybody who wants to deal damage! He's pretty much identical to Avant and Lune statwise. Maybe a little more DEF than them.

Ø  Usable in the arena without any standout features other than his drop checks. One of those units that has an ES that just doesn't matter there. Dark has a lot of units with similar arena capabilities, to be honest.

Ø  His LS replaces Rhoa's. Still got the 30% HP, still got the spark BC gen, but 50% more spark damage frankly outclasses 30% ATK from Rhoa. He'll make a good buddy for Avant in raids, it seems.

Ø  His ES gives him a liiiittle bit more spark BC and spark damage. He's all about sparking.

Ø  Chrome's BB is... well, I heard you like spark damage and spark BC, so I'm gonna just double up on my LS. Oh, and have some elemental weakness damage vs Light units on the side. It's not the focus of Chrome's existence like it is for Lune, though - he's great even when you can't make use of the elemental weakness boost.
o   We've seen these buffs with much better values on the batch's light unit, but she doesn't attack. Having one more unit attacking migh make the difference better in Chrome's favour..

Ø  As for his SBB, well... it's just a little bit better. Not much. The spark damage goes up by 10%, the spark BC and elemental weakness damage stay the same, and he gets the spark damage increasing debuff. Which is weak, but fuck it, we need to replace Rhoa harder.
o   As it's not much better, he's happy using his BB when he needs to, though. Frankly speaking, his BB is already good enough that I would've thought it was an SBB if the BB modifier wasn't 300%.

Ø  Finally, Chrome's UBB is another one of those silly tier damage ones. The spark damage debuff returns, but now increases spark damage by 100% and doesn't have a chance of failing (value: 100%. Value of the BB/SBB version: 6.25%. The UBB version is huge.). If that wasn't enough spark damage, well, here's another bonus for you: 130% spark damage! Enjoy it. Oh, and there's 300% BB mod as well. Gotta make those hits bigger before we spark them, now.
o   This is literally Rhoa's UBB but better.

Ø  So, uh. Elza and Alice's uncle was pretty badass. Doesn't look like Alice learned anything from him, though.

Ø  This guy's seriously strong, though. Rhoa's only advantage over him is elements... kinda like Griff's only major advantage over Avant, and Krantz's only major advantage over Dolk...

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