User:RT GYPHON/Earthen Miraculous Sword Units Tier List

From Len'en Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
< Evanescent Existence Units Tier List   The BotC Unit Tier List 

This is an Explanation/Analysis of all S ranked units that appeared in Earthen Miraculous Sword in Book of the Cafe. Please note that this tier list is made by one person, as such is subject to changes. If you want to check the explanation for a character that didn't appear in EMS, please use other explanation pages. How can I sound official?? I literally made this thing as a semi-shitpost - I'm not GamePress wiki staff member ffs

Legend[edit | edit source]

Given that characters might have some nuances beyond "that trait is good" or "that trait is bad" - there will be color-coding in this tier:

  • Dark Red marks a flaw that unit has that impacts their ranking
  • Dark Green marks a strength that unit has that impacts their ranking
  • Dark Blue marks a certain, consistent niche that unit has
  • Dark Yellow marks a questionable, inconsistent niche that unit has OR a flaw that is while detrimental, doesn't make character less viable
  • Gray marks a negligeable flaw that unit has

And a fair warning, while I will bring up early/mid-game in the tierlist - I'm ranking characters with endgame in mind (UNREAL difficulty, max skill levels, DEPTH 4 and max unit level) and they're ranked on how useful they are in battlefield.

B-0 Tier[edit | edit source]

These units have notable niches/roles that they excel at, but at the end of the day they're generally outclassed by the units above. They can be placed in a team either as a substitute or as a unit with clear role they must fulfill in order to win the game.

Jun Amanomiya [EMS] LeCafeUnit Icon Jun Amanomiya.png[edit | edit source]

The first new character introduced in the full version and they themselves set a rather interesting, albeit powercreeping standard for all new units coming forwards. In a vacuum however, they do end up underperforming unfortunately - but it's no denial that they can serve you right, especially at the earliest points of the game. But first, we need to look at their kit.
For their original move they have:

  • Star Umbrella "Satellite Parasol" - a 10-cell long, dual, water element, sniping move that has an overall multiplier of 210% of ATK. Its bomb properties is that it has a x1.3 bonus and has a cost of 2 bombs

And as for their traits:

  • Umbrella is an inherent that boosts DEF and S.DEF by +3 for 3 turns
  • Raincoat Between a Rock and a Hard Place is a party skill that reduces the damage taken by water element by 10% (except themselves)

It's an overall well-rounded kit, so let's dissect their strentghs and unfortuante weaknesses that they have.

Excellent Tank

This is a role that Jun excels at doing. The problem with the tanks such as Yabusame or Clause is that they have no way of redirecting attacks. While having no elemental weaknesses sounds useful for a tank, in practice it means that they can not make the enemy target them due enemy's AI prioritising elemental weaknesses; and as a consequence Yabusame and Clause are less likely to be targetted. Jun however "fixes" this as they have elemental resistances to redirect certain attacks toward themselves, mainly attacks like "Ig" which are a pure nightmare for fragile units such as Tsurubami or Kuroji. Another thing that plays into Jun's favour is theit trait - "Umbrella". While it lasts 3 turns, it gives +3 DEF and +3 S.DEF to Jun, making them essentially having more bulk than Yabusame (1013 vs 906 DEF and 885 vs 872 S.DEF; Clause has already way worse effective bulk than these two), a far useful trade-off given the relative fast pace of BotC; not to mention there are currently no skills that buff defences by +3 and is only available via ZBCs which are inconsistent.

Excellent Sniper (and overall non-passive)

Another thing that makes Jun great is that unlike previously mentioned tanks, they're not passive. The problem that these two and their contemporaries have is that beyond their bulk, they have absolutely no ways of contributing towards the pace of the game, unless you go for niche plays such as support Yabusame or healer Clause. That is because their original spells don't pay off their cast time, and mind you, 2 turns is already quite long (or in case of non DP-3 Clause: 3 turns). Jun averts this with their "Satellite Parasol", as it has no casting time (and is a first character to not have casting time spells at their base). Not only that, it's essentially a better "Abrasive Jet" thanks to a better multiplier, more flexible range, and most importantly - since Jun is a tank and can afford being at the frontlines, that means they have a far better reach.

Ultimately a tank + Low Damage

Unfortunately, while Jun is the prime example of a tank done correctly in this game, tanks are pretty redundant in BotC. In a world of multi-cell attacks, tanks won't be protecting anyone unless they have a tool that SPECIFICALLY redirects hits towards themselves (like Tenkai); so while Jun can redirect some attacks towards themselves, in case of bossfights or ranged battles, Jun is just useless. Not only that, Jun is a tank, not a bulky attacker akin to Kurohebi. Their already middling ATK stat coupled with relatively low damage multiplier on their unique spell and you got a character that still doesn't accomplish much of anything. Sure, they're miles better than non-action tanks (sans Tenkai, but ironically they're also quite an actionable tank despite having no offensive tools); but it's overall better to bring a bulky attacker than a tank

Suggested Moveset + Implants[edit | edit source]

Jun is a rather middling active attacker, but due to their nice defences (+ tanks being generally redundant), it is recommended to invest into their attacking side (specifically ATK). Their best tool of trade is undoubtedly Star Umbrella "Satellite Parasol" due to its range, active nature, and additional +20% damage increase thanks to "Water/Ice Master" perk. As such it is recommended to equip Washukitsu to boost the spell's damage by 30%, even if there is trade-off of losing out on +5% ATK boost (2,959 damage w/ Washukitsu + 15% ATK imp + Level 3 ATK Buff. vs 2,367 damage w/ + 30% ATK imp. + Level 3 ATK Buff). Jun would also take advantage of something like Thunder God Sword thanks to its high multiplier and Jun's party skill that gives +10% resistance to Water/Ice element which helps against Water/Ice enemies that are generally weak to Thunder/Lightning element (though it should be noted that they will deal significantly less damage (1,918 damage) than DPS characters like Kurohebi (2,642 damage) and Jun isn't someone who necessitates support from Tsurubami OR other implants that isn't their own). Other than that you could also go for supporting set as they're in a decent speed bracket, but keep in mind unlike Yabusame, who has no weaknesses, as such isn't targeted as frequently, Jun will be subjected to Ig spam, so please use caution. Besides that, Jun isn't a character that you would be customising too much often as stated previously, their damage output is awful:

  • Any Supporting/Offensive Move
  • Any Supporting/Offensive Move
  • Thunder God Sword
  • Star Umbrella "Satellite Parasol"

---
While Jun is a prime example of a unit design done correctly, ultimately due to circumstances surrounding them, they can't shine in this game. While it is a shame that Jun is a character destined to be forgotten, they did set up a precedent for future units to follow, particularly with their party skill that affects EVERYONE, which puts everyone, whose party skill recquired a condition, at a huge disadvantage.

A-2 Tier[edit | edit source]

Now we arrive at the summit. These units are typically the best performing in their roles, be it offense or support. They are extremely valuable and are a massive staples of the teams. While there will be units that are even more powerful/versatile; these are generally the units you'll desire the most.

Lumen Celeritas [EMS] LeCafeUnit Icon Lumen Celeritas.png[edit | edit source]

Lumen is admittedly a very weird character. Before the buffs they received in 1.0.25, they were almost unusable due to their slow kit and lack of any high multiplier S.ATK options. But now with the changes applied to them, they are quite potent with the investment, but let's see what makes so unique compared to the units before them:

  • Shining Flame "Subliminal Flash" - a fan-shaped 5-cell long, melee, 3-turn charge, light element, move that has an overall multiplier of 570% of ATK and has a 30% chance of inflicting -3 Blind for 3 turns. Its bomb properties is that it has a x0.5 "bonus" and has a cost of 3 bombs. As for their flashbomb properties, it costs 8 FG and has a damage reduction of 10%

And as for their traits:

  • Idiot Hero is an inherent that boosts LUK, CRI and AVD by +1 (i.e. +10.0) for 5 turns; Note that they also acquire a bonus of +3 S.ATK for 3 turns at DEPTH 01 and Abbreviation +1 at DEPTH 04
  • Carelessly Converging Ray of Sunshine is a party skill that reduces the damage taken and increases damage dealt by light element by 8% (except themselves)

It should be obvious as to how Lumen could be potentitally pretty broken, but let's dissect the issues that you might run into if you want to use them as a potential alternative to Aoji/Hooaka.

INSANE Damage + Utility Potential

Something that you'll immediately see is their high S.ATK stat of 817, which is further boosted by their inherent +3 S.ATK boost, meaning they have effectively the highest S.ATK stat in the game. And this isn't Tsubakura situation either since they have a surprisingly decent bulk: relatively high HP stat of 2421, which is a bit below Kurohebi's stat of 2486 HP (an already considered-to-be-bulky character); and S.DEF and DEF stats are at 510+, which is while not a lot, is better than something like Kuroji's pathetic 480+ defences; not to mention their implant boosts their S.DEF by 25%, which slightly mitigates "Abrasive Jet" damage (as they're weak to Water and Dark elements). Not only that, if you manage to land a critical attack, they can deal even more damage. And with the recent buff of having +1 "Abbreviation" locked behind DP-4, they can be potentially EXTREMELY NASTY with majority of attacks, now that their offensive stats are not lacking (as their ATK stat is tied with Shou's) and they have high LUK stats which heavily aids them in dealing aforementioned crits and debuffs to be nigh guaranteed (such as infamous "Slug Crossroads" that not only has insane multipliers, but also increased paralysis chance with +50% with allowed debuffs + cherry on top is that you get 3 of them for free); not to mention their other perks such as Light/Holy Master and Almaghest Epidisc that boost their base unique spell damage to the highest degrees. However it is merely a potential, so let's discuss the drawbacks that hold them back.

Needs investment to be broken

The nature of Abbreviation is that it reduces the charge time for spells by number of turns, and in Lumen's case it's one turn of charge reduced, AND because it's universal reduction (and not condition based reduction like Santa's), it means theorethically, every move becomes free to use for Lumen. However, the issue becomes "how far would you want to go to make Lumen OP?". As a gacha game, the resources are highly valued, and while Lumen will certainly pay off that cost thanks to their high offensive stats, getting those resources can be a pain in the arse. To extract a spell, you need 300 DISCs, either unit DISCs or S-DISCs - and getting those is the definition of pain. To get Aoji's unque spells, you need 600 if you want "Current Wave" + 1-turn "Blue Wind", and I doubt anyone has insane amount of luck to get 6 dupes of Aoji given how stingy the game is with its pulls (+ being the game that benefits from player saving up, so that's another factor as player would rather pull on limited banners for featured characters/recipes/employees); and if you don't want "Blue Wind" since you would be losing out on decent nuking option in "Subliminal Flash", that's still 300 DISCs. Another best option for Lumen in form of infamous "Slug Crossroads" is even more ridiculous given the fact that Shou isn't even a general unit to begin with (and there's currently no way of obtaining them), but also you would be undermining Lumen's best trait of not needing offensive support as "Attack Command" will override their 3-turn duration, as such making Lumen another unit that needs Tsurubami's support. But there are S-DISCs, right? Surely they will solve the problem. Ha, no. To get to 300 S-DISC requirement, let's break down how many S-DISCs you'll get per week:

  1. Guaranteed 5 Discs from Normal Shop, as they're pretty cheap here (5 total per week)
  2. Guaranteed 14 Discs per week, provided you'll do dailies every day (19 total per week; max for average player)
  3. Possibly 5 Discs from Ink Gem Shop, provided that player isn't interested in pulling for their desired drop from gacha (24 per week)
  4. Possibly 5 Discs from Advertisment Shop, provided player isn't interested in buying tickets for limited gacha machines (29 per week)
  5. Provided that the player isn't interested in limited tickets, you may use AD-bonuses to have three daily clears, which would give 6 discs per day, gving total 42 Discs instead of 14 (57 Discs if we're considering that optimisation)

So, if we're considering unoptimised strategy, it will take 16 weeks to get to 300 DISC requirement for one spell extraction (that's almost 4 months!!), and if we consider the most optimised S-DISC mining strategy, which will only be viable if player isn't intrested in using AD tickets, it'll take 6 weeks (more than one month). Doubling that, we'll get a grotesque picture of 32 weeks in average playthrough (more than 7 months) and 11 weeks (2,5 moths). And don't get me started on spell enhancements! So yeah, when you're committed to invest into them, they will become the scariest monster BotC has ever seen (they would be S-3 for a reason, as they would be free not only spewing powerful attacks, but also inflict nasty debuffs if they're allowed), but dear lord would I like to pray for your sanity. There is however a bit of a budget version in "Monochrome Ray" if you extract them from Rei-kun (as their DISCs are accessible via April Fools Stage), and likewise with Ig, you would be losing out on damage bonuses.

Great Sniper

Now that we went over the costs, let's move on to their greatest option as a special attacker - Ig. Ig is a hit or miss move, while it will serve you greatly as an early game option, it will ultimately fall out of fashion rather quickly since by then you would have access to better 1-turn charge options; being homing is their only plus. There was occasoinal Clause who used this move, but that was more of a joke option than anything due to their pitiful S.ATK, but now that we have Lumen - Ig is pretty much their solid. While it won't be receiving any bonuses from DEPTH perks, it is still a surprisingly high damaging move, even if it falls behind Hooaka's "Samidare Boiler" (3,111 Lumen!damage compared to 5,810 Hooaka!damage without implants), plus since it's homing, Lumen can just chill at the back of the stage, not fearing any Abrasive Jets that might come their way. And if we hypothesize, "Current Blast" and "Monochrome Ray" will also be their beloved friend when it comes to sniping, as its major downside (that being narrow charging move) will be negated with abbreviation, and Lumen will deal 5,634 (with S.ATK boosting implants on "Current Blast") damage as they will receive 10% damage increase from Trick system ("Monochrome Ray" will deal 4,667 damage). And their MP is plentiful, so they wouldn't worry about burning their MP supplies! However...

Tendency to Burn Out + Lack of Active Options

You need to take into account their turn count. While BotC is relatively fast paced game, in longer fights Lumen will suffer, as outside of abbreviation they're a very slow-paced unit. If Lumen has Ig + Current Blast, they will be stuck with 1-turn charge attacks, and these moves suffer heavily from their charge-based nature, especially "Current Blast". And Lumen can't be consistent fast nuke since 1-turn or 2-turn attacks can be used only once in abbreviation window. That's because the tools they have access to are not good. This is essentially Kuroji's problem, where the tools that they can use are don't deal too much damage due to low multipliers. And general S.ATK attacks are not great - the only solid options for Lumen are: "Charge Beam" (224% of S.ATK; has 5-cell lentgh), "Abrasive Jet" (147% of S.ATK; has 10-cell length). As you can see, the multipliers are on a lower end, especially compared to "Thunder God Sword/Gensokick" (345% of ATK) and "Crimson Lotus Sword" (Overall 263% of ATK (134% of ATK per hit)); has 3-cell width). So unfortunately, they can't use their high S.ATK consistently on that front due to the tools they have access to at their disposal when things go overboard for them. Sure, you may rectify this by giving them "Samidare Boiler", but it is a huge investment and you would be sacrificing "Current Blast". But what about their original move? Well...

Awkward Range for a Nuke

Lumen is clearly designed to be a nuke character, a character that dishes out a ton of damage to multiple enemies in one turn. When we take this definition of the nuke, Lumen is better nuke than Aoji in terms of damage when it comes to the charged attack meta (more on that later); as Lumen deals 9,205 damage compared to 5,702 damage (calculations might be inaccurate + counting for signature implants). The problem? Their range is not that great to say the least. Sure, their range is not awful, hell, it's actually quite usable (compare that to Hooaka's awful "Steam Eruption"), it's just less convenient than Aoji's circle which can be launched from afar. While their attack is wide, it being melee does put Lumen in a bit of danger, especially if you're not careful with Abrasive Jets. Aoji on the other hand just can stay out of trouble and be only bothered by ranged attacks that aren't even effective against them + benefit of having a higher raw bulk than Lumen (even if they're aided with Almagest Epidisc). Again, it's something that you should be be careful with, but when it is ready, be ready for a devastating damage that Lumen delivers to their foes.

Gimped Bomb Damage

This is admittedly extremely stupid addition to their kit if it is one. Basically, while the Bomb bonus written in percentages, it is fair to say that it's more of a damage multiplier for said skill if used as a bomb. If one thinks that 50% bonus is +50% damage bonus to the bomb; in actuality this is a nerf to Lumen and their bomb skill ironically HALVES their damage. This is absolutely stupefying considering we don't have any means to increase our bomb count (and mind you, you only have 5 bombs PER STAGE). Again, looking at their +3 S.ATK being locked behind DEPTH 1, as opposed to DEPTH 3, and bombs being also locked behind DEPTH 1 - Lumen SHOULD'VE been the character who benefitted from bombs the most, but that's not the case. However there is also a certain oddity with Lumen that player will notice

RNG-Heavy Kit

This is a consequence of their inherent trait which currently has the effects only unique to them. It increases LUK, CRI and AVD stats by whopping +10; and take into account the fact that LUK impacts both CRI and AVD and the chance of inflicting debuffs (WHICH LUMEN CAN ABSOLUTELY DO) - and you have a character that can inflict such effects far more often than your regular unit. Lumen will crit far more often, avoid attacks far more, and almost guarantee to inflict debuffs to the enemy if the enemy is weak to them (combined with Lumen's tendency to avoid attacks when combined with nasty -3 Blind, and you got quite an annoying bugger). However, ultimately, their kit is too RNG reliant (with only net positive being increased debuff chance) - and you can't hold out on RNG miraculously cheating you out of tough situations.

Suggested Moveset + Implants[edit | edit source]

Lumen is a character that is brimming with potential, it's just you need to think about how are you using and how much are you willing to replace spells, as stated previously, it's not a cheap venture that's for sure.

Let's start with their base unique move "Shining Flame "Subliminal Flash"": and there are two ways to go about it, either full-on commitment build (i.e. with Epicyclical Disc of Almagest equipped, which with full potential (including +15% S.ATK) would deal 11,759 damage) or generalist build (i.e. Sapphire of Ravermos + Bullet [A] equipped, which with full potential would deal 10,142 damage). Now you would think that going for commitment build would be better as you would deal much more damage with "Shining Flame "Subliminal Flash"", but it might not be true for Lumen as established earlier, it's not exactly their best option and is generally used as a finisher more than anything. There are 3 more options that you can select from, starting with "Slinking "Slug Crossroads"".

"Slinking "Slug Crossroads"" is an infamously busted move which becomes even more broken with Lumen as it becomes spammable for 3 turns due to removing 1-turn charge (more spammable than their bomb variant!). Range problems? Gone - it's instantenous, so you would be hitting as many opponents as you like and not worry about opponents moving into one of the sour spots. Paralysis? Plentiful - Lumen has naturally high luck, so they have an increased affliction chance. Damage? Surprisingly solid - they share the same ATK stat as Shou who is an original user of the move. The only downside is that you would be investing on their inferior stat and that you would be reliant on support (as Tsurubami's "Attack Command" (which boosts ATK and S.ATK by +3 for one turn) overrides their 3-turn +3 S.ATK). With max investment + Sea Hare Hat, you would deal 5,233 damage every turn, which would be 15,699 damage on a single target, which is pretty insane and is better than "Shining Flame "Subliminal Flash"" as a whole due to its better range and utility. Overall it's Lumen's best option, but it is pretty expensive and abandons Lumen's best trait of not needing support.

"Shitodo Card "Blue Wind"" is a solid, albeit shaky option. It will be inferior damage-wise thanks to lower multiplier and not receiving "Light/Divine Master" bonus, or to be precise 7,599 damage (as it receives +25% damage bonus from Sapphire of Ravermos). Keep in mind that in context of 3-turn L-1 abreviation, you can only cast this move once. While you can use after it some kind of finisher, it is still an inferior option that is only carried by its range, which is more convenient than melee range of "Shining Flame "Subliminal Flash"" (which has an added utility of inflicting L-3 Blind, which "Shitodo Card "Blue Wind"" just doesn't). Overall a very fringe pick.

And now onto potentially funny pick "Nativity "Santa Nova"", this is even more less damaging than "Shitodo Card "Blue Wind"" (4,165 damage with highest possible investment), and as of writing of this section, doesn't exist currently - but its most attractive trait is its utility. Freeze is borderline fatal status ailment that prevents unit from acting, so having an increased chance to inflict it is always good (plus it's more reliable than paralysis which only has a chance of preventing unit from attacking). Again, it's not that super recommended, but it a rather hilarious choice if you got that dog in you.

But we only described their Slot-4 spells, there are plenty of moves to choose in other slots as well.

For Slot-3: "Current Wave "Current Blast"" is always recommended. Its high multiplier (380% of S.ATK), range (20 tiles in lentgh), being in "Trick" catergory and instantenous nature when paired with Lumen makes it an ideal choice when it comes Slot-3 move (5,634 with all possible boosts) as it allows them to keep out of trouble and overall a better investment of 300 DISCs than "Shitodo Card "Blue Wind"". There is also "Hot and Cold "Samidare Boiler"" to consider if you want longevity into your play. It will deal less damage (4,246 damage with implants compared to its original owner's 7,377 with implants), but since this move is insantenous regardless, it prevents Lumen from becoming a sitting duck when it comes to offenses. Though it should be noted that "Hot and Cold "Samidare Boiler"" will put Lumen in potential danger since they will be in the range of "Abrasive Jet".

For Slot-2 and Slot-1 there are several options:

The best one and the most accessible is "Monochrome Ray", specifically via Rei-kun extraction. While it is inferior to "Current Wave "Current Blast"" in terms of damage and utility (as it only hits neutrally), it is way more accessible, as such can substitute it for a while.

The second best move for either Slot-1 or Slot-2 is surprisingly "Petite Heal" due to it scaling off of S.ATK and Lumen having naturally high S.ATK. On average they would heal around ~30% up to ~60% of HP, which is not a small margin and is a rather interesting direction to take Lumen to in case of a really long and tough battle as it doesn't have a charge time, meaning Lumen can have some longevity after 3-turn abreviation boost. And on the topic of healing, naturally there will be a question of "Noel Heal" as a Slot-4 option, and it is pretty solid, but you would be trading a lot of damage and it becomes a "playstyle" territory. Only thing you need to have is 100 DISCs from either Yabusame or Clause, which are more feasible to get.

For other moves there are "Ig" and "Charge Beam", these are rather fringe, but very budget options. Ig is useful for safekeeping Lumen and not having shave off distance on particularly large stages. With "Ig" Lumen is largely unaffected by Abrasive Jet and can attack from a distance, but it will deal less damage than "Monochrome Ray" (and "Monochrome Ray" can hit multiple opponents and having a decent range to make "Ig" redundant). "Charge Beam" can provide some longevity to the team, however it will deal peanuts and its range is inferior in every way. Overall those are less desireable, yet budgetary options.

  • Monochrome Ray/Petite Heal/Ig
  • Monochrome Ray/Petite Heal/Ig
  • Current Wave "Current Blast"
  • Slinking "Slug Crossrads"/Shining Flame "Subliminal Flash/Noel Heal
    ---
Pre-1.0.25 Lumen

What could've been a great unit that could've rival Hooaka is ultimately thwarted by the circumstances around them (and a weird gimp that shouldn't be here). If they had access to better tools, they could've netted a solid A-1 spot; hell, if you really want to commit to it, they could be a lower-end A-2 since their damage potential, is again, very potent and should not be taken lightly. But as it stands, they're A-0 at best.

Post-1.0.25 Lumen

With the new acquisition of buff in form of Abbreviation, Lumen has an insane potential to be absolutely broken. However what locks them to the unfortunate A-0 placement is the simple fact that they're extremely high cost. While you would get to that point eventually, by now there would be far dangerous units out there and Lumen would by now be a slightly outdated unit depending on a powercreep (as we saw with Shou). Plus while they can compete with Hooaka, they lack the utility that Hooaka has in form of having Fire-Water element attacks. Ultimately, Lumen is the character who you want to commit to in order to make them great

S-0 Tier[edit | edit source]

These units are creme-de-la-creme of BotC. They either offer extremely high utility, boast high damage, or have traits that are extremely desireable to see on a unit. With these units you generally can't go wrong, as they have a high value and can be safely put on a team without any issue.

Shou Amanamori [EMS] LeCafeUnit Icon Shou Amanomori.png[edit | edit source]

Looking at that slug, you would think they would be a mediocre unit, forever damned into obscurity - especially if you're familiar with the source material. However, taking their source material into consideration (i.e. playing the games) - you would be familiar with how much of a powerhouse this little slug is: and their appearance in BotC doesn't disappoint. However, to have an idea as to why this slug is such a menace, let's take a look at their kit.

  • Slinking "Slug Crossroad" - a wide grid 7-cell long, melee, 1-turn charge, water element, move that has an overall multiplier of 429% of ATK (143% per hit; 3-hit) and has a 10% chance of inflicting -1 Paralysys for 3 turns each hit (~27% overall chance). Its bomb properties is that it has a x1.1 bonus and has a cost of 2 bombs. As for their flashbomb properties, it costs 5 FG and has a damage reduction of 25.0%

And as for their traits:

  • Sea Hare is an inherent that cuts water/ice damage taken by 60%
  • Walking Lubricant is a party skill that increases damage dealt by water element by 10% (except for themselves)

It should be clear by the move's description as to why Shou is a bad news, but since this is an explanation page, let's dissect their traits to figure out WHY EXACTLY Shou is extremely powerful unit.

Slinking "Slug Crossroad"

We have seen the cases where units were carried entirely by their moves plenty of times. Hooaka got their "Samidare Boiler", Tsurubami has their "Attack Command" and Tenkai possesses their "Melopepon". Shou is no exception, and in fact, possesses the best move in the entire game - "Slinking "Slug Crossroad"". Let's list the reasons as to why this move is so great, as it has a lot of them:

  • It has insane multipliers of 429% of ATK, just below "Steam Eruption" (467% of S.ATK) and "Super Nova" (492% of S.ATK); which are not great moves that have bad users that can't take advantage of them (unlike Shou who can take advantage of it)
    • "Steam Eruption" is a melee attack, so it has at most 2 cells in lentgh + 2-turn charge which is bad, especially for someone who is fragile like Hooaka who can't afford being in the frontlines.
    • "Super Nova" has 3-turn charge (which is extremely long), and only character that reduces this count to 2 is rather pathetic unit that can't take too much benefit from it.
  • Is multi-hit, and with multi-hit you have a chance to inflict crits, which would increase your damage (or alternatively in case of a miss, you would lose less damage.
  • Has a great range, while it has gaps that can be annoying if the enemy gets in them; overall having six 7-cell lines (three horizontal and three vertical) is great - especially with nice prediction to boot
  • Has a short charge time of one turn, which is already insane by this move's standards, given how much this move delivers already.
  • Has a chance to inflict paralysys, which is a nasty status effect that has a chance of not being able to act that turn. Sure, the chance isn't stellar (only ~27% percent) and it's not applicable for the majority of UNREAL content; however, with the introduction of Lumen's stage, the debuffs would finally take their play - and if we take the boosted chance (typically +50% chance boost for the status effects enemy is weak to); the chance to afflict paralysis is now around ~93% percent, which almost a guarantee. And while the 10% chance of it actually triggering is quite small to rely on, if it does activate; the bought time is extremely valuable

As you can see, this move has a ton of traits packed in one move - and it's possessed by Shou of all characters. Should this tool be in the possession of someone, like Rei-kun, and you get the broken move.

Jack of All Trades (Defensive)

Another thing that makes Shou great is that their stats are all around pretty nice, essentially being a defensive Kurohebi (who mind you, is already a great character). While their ATK stat isn't stellar of 653, it is better than the tank contemporaries + it can be boosted by CMs and implants (for example, with "Bullet B" equipped, Shou has 750 ATK, which is slightly below base Kurohebi at 766 ATK); and speaking of tanks - they're also pretty bulky. Their DEF stat is 707 (883 with their signature implant), S.DEF is 681 and HP stat of 2683; so they're capable of weathering some hits coming towards their way. However, there is one flaw that Shou has

Awful Weaknesses

Shou is weak to Fire and Thunder, which is awfully common in enemy encounters. The most notable is Ig which Shou will eat those for days - as despite their bulk, since S.DEF is lower stat (it doesn't help that the "Ig" is a homing move, meaning it's impossible to dodge it (unless you're praying for avoid chance, which will likely never happen)). Not only that, Thunder Shot has decent range for semi-melee character like Shou; and Shou would definitely hate it in the frontlines thanks to "Thunder God Sword" and "Crimson Lotus Sword" being so common. But beyond that, this is their only flaw. Sure, early game, they would be dealing a lot less damage due to their abyssmal S.ATK stat and "Abrasive Jet" being so common; but in mid-to-late game, their S.ATK stat just doesn't matter

Suggested Moveset + Implants[edit | edit source]

Shou really is a unit who is solely carried by their one tool - that is their "Slug Crossroad". And given that defense-stat boosting generally don't have a high value (as this game prioritises Offense first), "Sea Hare Hat" is an ideal choice for this slug, since it will give a substantial boost to their already high damage potential (since they hit multi-hit, as such their multipliers will proc several times); and to further optimise damage, you can run any ATK boosting implant, even "Washukitsu" will do you favours as it will do more damage than full-on ATK investment (4,320 DMG ("BCN Knife" and "Bullet B") vs 4,572 DMG ("Washukitsu" and "Sea Hare Hat")); but it is generally recommended to use "+15% ATK" implant alongisde "Sea Hare Hat" for maximum damage optimisation. However, if you're worried about surviviability (read "Ig"); running "Almagest's Epicyclic Disc" alongside their signature implant is also a semi-valid option, as it will help you negate some of the damage received by "Ig" (as Shou will have 851 S.DEF; slightly lagging behind Yabusame's 871 S.DEF after their inherent trait), but it should be noted that isn't consistent, as any opponent with 1,060+ S.ATK (which is common in UNREAL stages) will K.O. Shou even after "Almagest's Epicyclic Disc" boost, not to mention there are several Ig users that will target Shou, that, while they won't have as high S.ATK to take them down in one hit, going for one opponent will surely kill Shou in 2-3 hits. Other than that, it is hard to recommend a moveset for Shou, as stated previously, their ATK stat is middling and S.ATK is abysmal; and their reliance on charged move also crippled their support potential (not that they need it). They're genuienly a unit that only needs one move to exist, and that move just happens to be extremely good

  • Any Move
  • Any Move
  • Any Move
  • Slinking "Slug Crossroad"

---
When Shou first released, it set a rather scary precedent. Before Shou, debuff characters were middling at best due to having low multipliers and debuffs being non-existent in UNREAL - the only exception being Rei-kun, but even then they still used better tools than "Vomit Punch" (40% chance to inflict -2 S.DEF and DEF separately) and "Rei-kun Beam" (4% chance to inflict -2 Burn per hit; ~80% in total). But now with Shou - it's another story. It seemed like JynX wanted to rectify the problem of debuff characters being unviable by upping their damage output + Shou in the end still had offensive stats on the lower end - the problem is that he overtuned the character. It is undeniable that Shou is extremely potent character and in great hands they can be an unstoppable monster