Main Quest Chapter 7

I was going to make a snarky comment about Lifewonders taking ‘end of May’ extremely literally, but they beat me to the punch:

I’m still interested to see what they intend on doing with the new hero attribute typing (though I’m a little annoyed I have to update my table-generating script with a new type already); I’m really hoping that it’s not a flat multiplier to everything (because you can achieve the same through unit stats), but I’m not really sure what design space there is in the current rock-paper-scissors model.

I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. Or, more accurately, in a week, once enough people have rolled him to populate either of the wikis with details.

Distant Gendarme

Apologies for the delay on this one; life got in the way.

Not much to talk about in terms of the event itself – farm, trade for items, rinse and repeat. Despite my lack of time this month, I was still able to (mostly) clear the shop out again:

Since I still haven’t used any of the forget-me-nots I’ve acquired over the past events, I skipped picking them up this time.

One benefit to writing this gacha review so late is that the unit stats have been released. Let’s get started:

	Durga (3★)		Durga (4★)
Attack Type	Blow	1x Damage	Thrust	0.55x Damage
HP	5544		6155
Atk	4281	4281.0 (Single target)	5124	2818.2 (Single target)
Default Skill	Apply Acceleration to self		Apply Acceleration to self
	After Moving	50%	After Moving	50%
Skill 1	Apply Limit to self		Apply Limit to self
	After Moving	50%	After Moving	50%
Skill 2	Penetrate evasion		Penetrate evasion
	When Attacking	100%	When Attacking	100%
Skill 3	Blows self back 1 square. Increase vertical moving distance		Blows self back 1 square. Increase vertical moving distance
	When Attacking	50%	When Attacking	50%
Charge Skill	Apply Limit to nearby allies and self		Apply Limit to nearby allies and self
	Ranged		Snipe

Limit is a new buff that increases a unit’s attack the less health they have, and this gacha is showcasing it. Fortunately, it’s pretty strong, particularly when it’s coupled with Guts (conveniently, also featured in this gacha).
Aside from getting Limit on move, Durga is reasonably underwhelming: Acceleration is still not worth moving for (though it’s a nice bonus for moving to activate Limit), and ignoring evasion and moving back one square on attack is niche.

Her charge skill applying Limit to nearby allies is good, and has potential as a team spike, particularly for tough end-dungeon bosses.

	Ikutoshi (4★)
Attack Type	Slash	0.45x Damage
HP	7599
Atk	3607	1623.15 (Single target)
Default Skill	Apply Encouragement to adjacent allies and self. Deal increased damage to enemies with Athlete
	Phase Start	66%
Skill 1	Apply Limit to self
	After Moving	50%
Skill 2	Apply Insight to adjacent allies (not including self)
	After Moving	35%
Skill 3	Apply Attack Up to self
	Phase Start	50%
Charge Skill	Apply Status Barrier to nearby allies and self
	Magic

Aside from a mildly useless default skill, Ikutoshi is a solid unit. Limit and Insight on move is a good combo, Attack Up is a good buff (4 turns is a great duration), and Status Barrier is becoming almost necessary in some of the more recent dungeons.

	Shuten (4★)
Attack Type	Slash	0.45x Damage
HP	6799
Atk	4362	1962.9 (Single target)
Default Skill	Apply Encouragement to adjacent allies and self. Deal increased damage to enemies with Athlete
	Phase Start	66%
Skill 1	Apply Diamond to self
	Phase Start	50%
Skill 2	Apply Herculean Strength to self
	Phase Start	50%
Skill 3	Apply Attack Up and CP increase to adjacent allies
	After Moving	40%
Charge Skill	Apply Fervor to nearby allies and self
	Wide Slash

Oof. Like Ikutoshi, he’s got a pretty underwhelming default skill. Also like Ikutoshi, the rest of him is good enough to make up for it. Giving himself both Diamond and Herculean Strength at Phase Start is really strong. Buffing allies with Attack Up is good too, and his charge skill doubles down on the damage buffs, giving Fervor to both him and allies.

I feel that this variant of Shuten could be described as a more consistent (but less burst-y) Beach Asterius. Considering how strong Asterius is, this bodes well for Shuten.

	Zao (5★)
Attack Type	Magic	0.28x Damage
HP	9103
Atk	3847	1077.16 (Single target)
Default Skill	Apply Diamond to self
	Phase Start	50%
Skill 1	Apply Guts to adjacent allies
	When Attacking	15%
Skill 2	Apply Fighting Spirit to neighbouring allies 3 cells in front
	Phase Start	35%
Skill 3	Apply Nullify Buff to enemy. Deal extra damage to enemies with Mountain Dweller
	When Attacking	35%
Charge Skill	Apply Guts and CP increase to allies within two squares horizontally and vertically (including self)
	Magic

Compared to his 3 and 4 star variants, this version of Zao is actually worth running. Diamond continues to be good, granting Guts to adjacent allies on a normal skill is a first (and good, especially at a 30% chance), Fighting Spirit is a decent buff, and shutting down enemy buffs is usually welcome (especially on a magic attack).
I feel that his charge skill is a bit uninspired, but it’s still a strong skill.

All told, I think this is quite a strong lineup.

Of course, now that the event is almost over, LW have announced their next intermediate event: the release of the 7th part of the main story, and with it will come a new set of Clash! Berserkers! quests, and a new gacha (with yet another new card attribute, ‘Hero’; I’m not holding my breath on that one).