6★ Defenders#
Hoshiguma the Breacher#
| Skill | Mastery | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
 | S3M3 | Breakpoint - S3M1 | |
| S++ | S++ | ||
 | S2M3 | S+ | S |
 | S1M3 | B | B |
Rounding out the LGD summer alters, Hoshi2 is a powerful unit. She has an awful lot crammed into her kit that makes for a flexible unit who covers a lot of ground, which makes her uniquely valuable. She is the sort of unit that will end up on almost every team because she solves so many problems, often in ways that other meta units can’t. However, units like this do tend to be expensive, and Hoshi2 is one of the strongest M6s in the game, and even potentially an M9.
Both of her main skills are potential starting options, but I would favor her S3, even if you tend to favor AFK gameplay. That is a frequent general suggestion in this guide, but to be clear, her S2 is a great skill that’s worth doing! Simply though, the effects of her S3 are more impactful, more unique, and harder to replace. There’s a lot going on with it which can be daunting, but it is the source of her burst damage and utility. Easy to overlook too is the range which is notably huge for a melee unit. The DPS gain is on the average-side over Mastery, however there’s two more subtle benefits that keep it highest priority. First is the HP improvement, which is also easy to overlook, but blends with her Talent for a huge bulk increase. Second is the wind-up cost which drastically improves from 19 SP to just 8, and makes a huge difference in usability. Make special note of an S3M1 breakpoint which adds an additional attack target, and should be grabbed even if you are a heavy-duty AFK-only player.
Speaking of her AFK skill, her S2 is a remarkably powerful skill. This guide doesn’t tend to favor either AFK or laneholding skills, but in Hoshi2’s case, her S2 is so powerful that it is absolutely worth Mastery even for the sweatiest of end-game players. There are so many lanes and stages she can hold all on her own simply by existing that the power can’t be ignored. Effectively, every ~15 seconds she does very strong AoE Arts damage, which results in consistently strong sustain (since the damage is Arts damage), on top of her Talent that makes her nearly unkillable in the first place. Mastery gains on it are strong as well. While the DPS gain is slightly below average, the gain double dips on her sustain. Most important though, at S2M2 it drops the SP cost, which adds a huge amount of consistency.
Last, her S1 may be worth a look as well. It’s a cool callback to her original’s signature skill, but souped up to modern standards. The wind-up is very short, and gives her some really strong stats and a huge reflect that can trivialize some stages. However, there’s a couple flaws that suppress its value compared to her other skills. For one, reflect damage is map dependent and you’ll get better results on most maps with her other skills. For two, she doesn’t have any taunt like Penance or Młynar, which means she needs a lot more planning for those troublesome global range enemies. It’s ultimately a solid skill with some strong gains, but a relative luxury and third in line on an already expensive unit.
Sankta Miksaparato#
Grandpa phoenix is decent enough for a welfare Defender, but not particularly powerful either. It’s a bit awkward to be a 6★ Defender without some absurd utility because they look quite expensive for what you get over the lower rarities when compared to other classes, which is what ultimately holds Sankta Miksaparato back. 6★ Defenders and Medics are some of the last classes you should be investing in unless they’re a really absurd unit. With so many ultra powerful units now available, it just doesn’t make sense to invest heavily into him when a much cheaper lower rarity will suffice most of the time, especially when factoring in IS Hope costs.
However, he’s a really cool character and is still plenty usable! If you think he’s cool enough to raise, he’s a pretty decent M6 consideration thanks to strong gains on both skills, however S3 does stand above.
S3 is his main skill and where you should start Mastery. It has a lot going for it with some pretty serious Mastery gains. The buff to his bulk is notable, it cycles fast, it has a larger range to take advantage of his base Module effect, the extra ammo is an amazing buff to Lemuen if you’re running Laterano-teams, and it’s pretty decent at killing trash so your DPS can focus on the harder targets. All of those aspects improve over Mastery. It actually has a rare S3M2 breakpoint where his counter-attack interval drops by a large amount, but it isn’t labeled as a breakpoint for the grades here since that isn’t the key part of his skill and 6★ M2s are still quite expensive. However, before investing, remember that most of these roles are usually better found elsewhere. While these are all useful tools, he’s not amazing at any of them either.
His S2 might have caught your eye thanks to the revive, but it’s really just a gimmick. Revive effects always seem like they should be very powerful, but are rarely useful in practice. In Sankta Miksaparato’s case, the high ammo cost, even at S2M3, means planning is needed to actually make use of it, and if you’re putting that much planning effort into it just… don’t get him killed in the first place. It also has a very long cycle, especially compared to his S3. It rarely sees use, even in niches so it’s pretty much only a husbando skill. However, it does have a higher DEF multiplier than S3 and some pretty strong Mastery gains, so it’s not a garbage-tier skill either.
It’s worth a quick note that if you plan to use his S2 with Exu2, you should possibly avoid his mod3 upgrade. He’s a good target for Exu2’s S2 debuff which makes him shoot slower and thus conserve his revive, but the effect disappears with his mod3. However, this is a fringe consideration given the low value of his S2 in the first place.
Pass on his S1. While Defensive Recovery skills can occasionally be abused, his ATK is too low to do much damage and there’s few Operators that benefit enough from 1 ammo to justify that level of investment.
Yu#
| Skill | Mastery | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
 | S2M3 | S | S+ |
 | S3M3 | S- | A+ |
Yu has two valuable skills, and the main one really depends on the type of player you are. While his flashy S3 is often what attracts the attention, his S2 is where his true meta value lies. However, that flashy S3 value may be exactly what certain types of players want, while also finding the value S2 brings to be somewhat unnecessary, so there isn’t a one size fits all Mastery with Yu.
That said, the general suggestion for starting Mastery with Yu should still be his S2. The teleport feature on it is what makes Yu special in the meta, but it has more value than just being a gimmick to break stages with. It can stall on a short cooldown or drag enemies into your DPS unit’s range, for just two examples. It’s a highly flexible and powerful utility that no one else can do!
S2 Mastery is fairly valuable too. It doesn’t directly influence the teleport, but it does have a significant influence on how quickly he can trigger Burn, which is quite important since he is frequently teleporting multiple dangerous enemies on top of his own head. With S2M3 at ANY E2 level, he can trigger Burn in 4 seconds. At SL7, he’d need to be E2 77 to reach this breakpoint. And at E2 90 S2M3, he can manage in just 3 seconds. There’s also initial windup to consider, improving from 15 SP at SL7 to a mere 6 at M3.
Now, while this is Yu’s most meta use, it won’t appeal to everyone. An M3 is a fairly high cost for a skill that will sometimes just kill him if you aren’t careful, with a gimmick that is most valuable in advanced gameplay. For many people, the highlight of having Lappland throw flaming wolves from across the map is more in line with what they want. In that case, it’s not unreasonable to start with his S3. It is a rare case where a Caster can actually benefit from the RES reduction Burn gives since they’re the one applying the Burn in the first place through Yu’s firewall. There’s some nice ancillary benefits too since he gets a ton of bulk, global regen for everyone, and the powerful (albeit RNG dependent) effect of removing projectiles.
However, there is a major downside to consider before investing into his S3. The firewall doesn’t do any damage on its own, nor does it provide additional damage beyond the Burn trigger and RES reduction. Yu’s S3 needs a unit to take advantage of it, such as Blaze the Igniting Spark, Lappland the Decadenza, or Goldenglow. Not every Arts DPS unit is a good fit either! Two unit combos are generally low value in this game. Yu’s S3 is one of the few skills that can justify that team-building constraint, but that will still be roster and situation dependent, so S2 is the far better choice if he has to do it on his own.
In total, the Mastery choice with Yu can get pretty nuanced if you can’t afford a full M6. There isn’t a completely wrong answer with him, but I would ultimately lean S2 if you can only afford one.
Lastly, his S1 deserves some acknowledgement. The always-on taunt is a useful tool to have at times, which gives it some value in niche clears. It can also give him a lot of bulk and counter damage against certain types of enemies. However, it can be difficult to charge and ineffective against other types. Plus Mlynar does the always-on taunt far better, so it’s best to leave Mastery for certain niches only.
Shu#
| Skill | Mastery | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
 | S3M3 | S+ | S+ |
 | S1M3 | Breakpoint - S1M1 | |
| A | A- | ||
 | S2M3 | C | C |
Shu is an extremely powerful support unit. She brings a variety of strong buff effects, massive healing, two game breaking features, and that’s all built into a reasonably bulky frame. Guardian’s have always been one of the strongest support archetypes in the game, and Shu elevates that to a new level.
Due to that elevation, her Masteries are different from most other Guardians. The non-Blemishine Guardians typically rely on their S1 for strong consistency while their S2/S3s are reserved for more situational moments when their utility is particularly applicable. However, for Shu, a lot of her consistency comes from her sown tiles which are more easily and quickly applied by her S3. In addition, it gives absolutely ridiculous healing, range, buffs, AND a game-breaking stall. It makes it one of the best support oriented skills in the game.
Unusually though, Shu’s S3’s Mastery gains are notably poor. From SL7 to S3M3 she only gets 16% more personal ATK, 5 ASPD and ATK to her buff, and a 10% reduction to SP costs. Compared to other top skills in the game (especially DPS skills) those upgrades are extremely poor. The big gain across Mastery is actually improving her stall potential, but the difference will rarely matter outside of especially advanced situations. As one of the best skills in the game, it is still extremely worth Mastery. However, if you’re early on in your Masteries, it’s better to focus on your primary DPS skills first.
Looking beyond that, her S1 is still valuable. It goes by a new name, but is identical to Saria/Nearl/Bassline’s S1. However, the value of its Mastery is reduced a bit in comparison since her S3 is so much more important. While S1 is the main go to for the other three, it’s a secondary option for Shu. The 50% threshold (which, to be clear, is a good thing) means the application of sown tiles is slower, nor can she extend them as far. As with the other units, be sure to grab the cheap and very valuable breakpoint at S1M1 at least though.
Finally is Shu’s S2. It’s a worthy skill if you’re interested in maximizing your fertile fields, but isn’t really necessary otherwise. While Saria’s S2 makes her a very worthy M9 as it provides a middle ground between her skills, Shu’s S3’s SP cost is low enough and the sown tiles strong enough that the middle ground isn’t really necessary. S3 is just far more impactful, which leaves her S2 without any special place to shine.
Jessica the Liberated#
Jessica the Liberated is one of the more flexible Defenders in the game. She has a well rounded kit that is sufficient at covering an awful lot of scenarios. As with a lot of flexible generalists, her total Mastery grades are fairly high which reflects the broad investment needed to cover a broad variety of roles. In other words, the gap between her primary and secondary skills is relatively low. However, keep in mind her individual grades are a touch low in the modern meta since both her ceiling and her role compression don’t measure up as well to the current powrcreep.
Those skills are S2 and S3, with S3 coming out ahead in general usage. They are quite different, and as said, you want flexible options in a unit built around flexibility. In fact, the differences are too many and too wide ranging to cover here without this write-up becoming a full article of its own. However, that said, her S3 is usually more impactful. S2 has higher DPS, but often struggles against DEF, while S3 has a very high DPH and a long stun that’s easy to time which allows her to tackle a wider variety of enemies.
Her S1 may be worth a look if you really like Jessica or AFK skills. Mastery drops the wind-up time by a whopping 20 seconds which is badly needed if you plan to use the skill. However, her S2 and S3 are much more impactful and have pretty forgiving cycle times, so there isn’t a lot of space for her S1 to be particularly useful.
Penance#
I’m not personally the biggest fan of Juggernauts. They’re often among the most powerful enmity (unhealable) units, but they also tend to be a bit all or nothing. When they line up well with what you need to do, they’re amazing, and when they don’t they’re just expensive dead-weight. Between the two 6★s, Penance leans more towards the DPS side of things. She uses Barriers instead of healing, which often makes her a war of attrition. If a stage is set up such that she has a steady stream of fodder to maintain her Barrier she can often essentially solo a stage. If not, she looks a lot more like that expensive liability.
While Penance does have three viable skills, her S3 is really the only one to consider for Mastery. It is by far the standout skill. It does so much and is really the “glue” that brings everything great about her kit together. It adds a massive chunk of Barrier, gives her a massive amount of attack that lets her take on extremely hard targets, and super-charges her reflect thanks to said attack boost and increased Taunt. Mastery makes a big difference here too, improving all aspects of the skill, and reducing her SP cost to a more reasonable 20 SP which can occasionally be troublesome due to her Defensive Recovery.
Secondary Mastery on Penance is unnecessary, primarily due to the fact you just give up too much by not using her S3. However, both of her other skills are potential options if you wanted to do a secondary one for waifu purposes. Many people favor her S1 because of the animation, but it’s probably the worst of the two. It’s a weird use of the rare Charged mechanic. The fact it’s Auto Activation means that the extra effect will rarely actually happen since she’ll just activate it before it can charge if something is in range. Her S2 meanwhile is probably “better” on its own merits, but is so rarely better than her S3 that there still may not be reason to do it over her S1. Secondary Mastery is more a matter of picking your own poison. In either case, it’s unnecessary.
Horn#
| Skill | Mastery | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
 | S2M3 | S- | S- |
 | S1M3 | Breakpoint - S1M1 | |
| A | A- | ||
 | S3M3 | B | B |
Horn might have the biggest disparity between her meta value and her grades in this guide. That is by no means to say she is bad. Far from it! She’s still very powerful! However, it’s been a long time since she’s been a top of the meta unit either, so being such a well graded M9 might come as a surprise. But worry not if that cost sent some shock through you at first glance. There’s quite a bit of nuance to her Masteries, and you probably won’t want to do the M9, despite her high grades, but that also means there isn’t a definite clear path either!
The first question to ask is how you want to use Horn. Generally, this guide gives a strong favor to burst skills (S2 or S3), but in Horn’s case her consistent/AFK skill, S1, is a pretty competitive skill, not to mention quite a bit easier to use. It has a breakpoint at S1M1 that reduces her SP cost and will be something you definitely want to grab even if you think you’ll favor her burst skills. Beyond that, further Mastery gives her S1 her highest DPH. Her burst skills are still going to come out ahead most of the time, but given the increasing enemy stat bloat, it’s not a large difference and more story-oriented players will find S1 to be far more consistent.
If you’re not afraid of putting in a little effort, her burst skills will probably be your preferred Masteries instead. S2 and S3 can often have fairly similar performance, which accounts for both of them having relatively high grades but you should probably favor her S2 if you’re willing to put in that extra effort. It has both more flexibility and usually a higher ceiling. A lower SP cost, ammo, the quick fire burst, as well as avoiding her HP loss if necessary, and the fact it’s her only skill which keeps her AoE when forced to block, all contribute to that flexibility. It also has a higher DPH until S3 reaches Overload. So S3 usually only outperforms it when ASPD can be stacked. In either case, Mastery mostly just adds more ATK. That’s important on a DPS unit of course, but you can easily get away with just doing one of them.
So to summarize, the suggestion with Horn is S1M1 followed by either S1M3 or S2M3 depending on playstyle, with S3M3 as the tertiary luxury choice.
Mudrock#
I’m not personally the biggest fan of Juggernauts. They’re often among the most powerful enmity (unhealable) units, but they also tend to be a bit all or nothing. When they line up well with what you need to do, they’re amazing, and when they don’t they’re just expensive dead-weight. Between the two 6★s, Mudrock leans more towards the laneholder side of things. Her shields make for both tremendous bulk and sustain, a combination that can often let her solo hold enemies that other laneholders can’t.
For Mastery, Mudrock has two primary skills with differing roles. S2 is likely where you want to start since her laneholding tends to be her more valuable use in the modern meta. It has a very valuable breakpoint at M1 that should be done immediately. It drops the SP cost, which considering her Defensive Recovery, is very beneficial, especially for the cost. Beyond that, M2 and M3 don’t look as impressive but are still fairly important. It improves her ATK, sustain, and Stun duration. No individual improvement looks all that vital, but it totals up pretty well, and it is often important for an unhealable unit like Mudrock to clear as much as she can in fewer swings.
S3 meanwhile is her “big hitter” skill. It cycles very fast with some good control. The wind-up is rarely a problem either thanks to the MVSPD reduction. The Mastery gains on it are fairly good too with an above average gain to her ATK and Stun duration. She can deal some pretty serious damage at S3M3! In prior versions of this guide, this skill was much higher graded, however in the modern meta it looks less impressive. It doesn’t have as much sustain as her S2, and the burst from her S3 is better found elsewhere, and on units that don’t cost 34+ DP. It’s still definitely a skill worth considering, especially for as popular as Mudrock is, but it is lower in priority now and most people will find S2M3 to be sufficient.
Blemishine#
| Skill | Mastery | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
 | S2M3 | C | C+ |
 | S3M3 | C | C |
 | S1M3 | Breakpoint - S1M1 | |
| C | C | ||
These days, Blemishine is one of the weaker 6★s. Her offensive-oriented take on Guardians has always been a bit awkward, but the exploding power ceiling in the modern game has only widened that gap. While many of her fellow Guardians have managed to maintain pretty good value, Blemishine has been left pretty far behind. As far as Mastery priority goes, the situation gets even more hairy because she can potentially be quite an expensive investment to get full use out of her too!
S2 is probably the skill you’ll want to Master first. It has a tremendous amount of stall potential and strong healing on a relatively short cycle. Notably, she can heal herself with it too which her S3 can’t, which gives S2 another edge. However, Sleep is an awkward form of control and her Offensive/Defensive Recovery makes her rather inconsistent too. As far as its Masteries, the same matter makes them quite valuable. The reduced SP cost is nearly essential, both as a proportional improvement and for helping her consistency.
Her S3 used to be the secondary consideration, but is her skill that has aged the worst. Compared to her S2 which is more of a laneholding skill, her S3 is a flashier blend of DPS and HPS. However, it’s also quite flawed. Those roles are better found elsewhere these days. Her DPS has never been that great and it has a much longer charge time. Worse though is that despite a very powerful potential heal, she needs to be attacking to trigger it and she can’t even heal herself, which all just adds to her consistency problems. It’s still a reasonable consideration though. If you’ve even read this far, I assume you’re rather fond of Blemishine, and that lateral use to her S2 can still work for a waifu enjoyer, and it does have similarly powerful Mastery gains. It’s just not so valuable in the modern meta anymore.
Finally, her S1 can also be a consideration, and may even be the better secondary choice these days. The healing isn’t quite as strong, but it’s still solid, and it’s her only Auto Recovery skill which makes for far better consistency than either S2 or S3. Mastery is again strong on it too. There’s a breakpoint at M1 that will be worth grabbing regardless which reduces her SP cost. M3 further adds an extra charge which is similarly valuable, in addition to the extra ATK and healing.
Eunectes#
Back in the day, we used to cope that Eunectes was alright despite her awkward archetype because she still had great stats. But in the modern game with multitudes of good options now easily available, she looks far far worse. Even with their Modules, Duelist Defenders are just incredibly awkward to use. They have long effective cycles, and do little during the downtime. The effects when the skills are up aren’t even all that great in the modern game anymore, not to mention the sky high DP costs!
This is all to say, Eunectes’ Mastery priority is near as low as it gets among the 6★s and the best advice you should take away from this write-up is to look elsewhere. However, if you’re looking for something a bit different, she’s at least usable with a few niches here and there. The main focus should be on her S3 which has by far the biggest impact. The Mastery gains on it are fairly strong too, particularly ATK which has above average gains, and on the regeneration which doubles between SL7 and M3.
Her other skills just don’t have as big of impact as her S3, which makes the choice fairly straightforward. Instead, a Module should be the secondary investment. However, if you’re looking to get the absolute maximum out of the sexy snake, look at her S2. It has a long continuous Stun that can occasionally be very useful. However, the Mastery gains on it aren’t especially great for that purpose either so it’s a very fringe option on an already fringe and expensive 6★.
It is worth a minor note that her RA specific Module is quite good for that mode. However, it isn’t recommended to spend all the resources on Eune just for that. She’s still quite poor elsewhere and the mode is definitely beatable without her. The suggestion may change if HG ever decides to implement RA3, but until then, it should have no influence on her priority.
Nian#
The older 6★ Protectors, Nian and Hoshiguma, are units that have a tough time justifying their costs. That isn’t to say they are bad. Far from it, and at times that bulk blocking has been very valuable, and to be clear, they are better than the 4 and 5★ bulk blockers too. However, they aren’t often “three times the cost” better. Then you add in considerations like growing powercreep and the drastic difference in Hope costs in IS and you get fairly low priority, despite them being otherwise decent units. That has always been true with them, but that value gap just continues to get bigger!
For Nian, her S2 is the only skill to really consider. It improves her own bulk and has a far better cycle than her S3. The extra block comes in handy too, not to mention the Silence and Arts based reflect, which tends to be more useful than Physical due to Protector’s low ATK. But keep in mind that her gains are relatively poor too. Mastery does improve her DEF which matters, but it’s not a large improvement, nor does it make a big difference to her cycle. The gains aren’t nothing, but are more fuel to a relatively low priority.
Her S3 meanwhile is one of those weird year 1 mistake skills. It doesn’t improve her own bulk, instead improving her ATK which is… pointless. So instead relegates her to being a bad buffer on an absolutely horrific cycle. It’s one of those skills that’s best left in the past. However, it may come in rare use for niche clears. The buffs it gives can be occasionally useful in constrained clears, or can be used to allow for Aak buffing memes. Those are fairly fringe things though, so not worth general consideration.
Hoshiguma#
The older 6★ Protectors, Nian and Hoshiguma, are units that have a tough time justifying their costs. That isn’t to say they are bad. Far from it, and at times that bulk blocking has been very valuable, and to be clear, they are better than the 4 and 5★ bulk blockers too. However, they aren’t often “three times the cost” better. Then you add in considerations like growing powercreep and the drastic difference in Hope costs in IS and you get fairly low priority, despite them being otherwise decent units. That has always been true with them, but that value gap just continues to get bigger!
In Hoshiguma’s case, both her S2 and S3 can be considerations, with the difference mostly coming down to playstyle, but with neither being terribly good investments.
For many players, her S2 is what they want. It’s a simple and easy to use skill. You just use her and she gets bulkier, and a bit pricklier. The set and forget nature of it is what appeals about Hoshiguma to many people. However, with respect to Mastery consideration, the gains on it aren’t terribly strong. The difference from SL7 to M3 is usually under 90 extra DEF, and that’s assuming you’re willing to invest a lot more into levels too. The improvement to her reflect also doesn’t matter since her ATK is too low to do much damage in the first place.
Her S3 meanwhile has far better gains and burst potential. It adds quite a lot to her bulk and lets her actually do noticeable damage. However, the cycle on it is also quite poor by modern standards. For how people generally like to use Hoshiguma, that may not be worthwhile, but that distinction isn’t something a guide like this can tell you.
Saria#
| Skill | Mastery | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
 | S3M3 | A | S |
 | S1M3 | Breakpoint - S1M1 | |
| A | A+ | ||
 | S2M3 | B- | B |
Saria is the classic example of “no easy Mastery choice but all of them”. She has three very strong skills that have variously been the best choices over time. It’s a great example of the role compression that makes Guardians so powerful, and she impressively manages to maintain her value even with a mostly direct powercreep! It all makes Saria one of the more valuable Kernel units, and a potential M9 candidate even in the modern game. Of course, that’s a lot of investment for a non-DPS unit and she isn’t as insane as she used to be either, so there’s plenty of room for nuance.
There isn’t really a clear order with Saria anymore, so we’ll go through her skills one by one.
Her S1 has historically been her better general skill. It follows the pattern of typical Guardian S1s, but with her high stats, can sustain very well. However, it’s also the skill most easily replaced by her competition, Shu. Of course, Shu is a limited though, so Saria’s S1 can absolutely still be a viable choice. As with the other Guardian S1s, it has a breakpoint at S1M1 that reduces her SP cost and a valuable M3 that adds an extra charge. If you don’t have Shu then this would be a strong starting point.
Next, her S2 is a unique value not really found in any other Guardian. It’s a short cooldown AoE heal with a big range. It has no HP threshold like her S1, but does have a noticeably lower HPS. It tends to be better for wider sustain, while S1 tends to be better for focused sustain. There just isn’t a clear distinction in value between her S1 and S2, and the best skill between them just depends on the situation. That said, Shu has no equivalent to this skill, so supposing you have her as well, S2 becomes the better option. Masteries are again fairly valuable as the SP drops at S2M3. It’s not a big drop, but on a short cooldown skill like this, it still makes a big difference.
Finally, her S3 is probably her most unique value, but it’s also her most situational. Arts amplification like this is quite rare and it stacks with existing Fragile effects which makes it unique in various buff compositions. It also has strong stall, healing, and SP generation! However, it also has an absurd year 1 SP cost which limits its value compared to her lower SP cost and more consistent skills. As said, her S3 is her most unique skill, but it leans pretty strongly towards more advanced players.
There is no one-sized fits all answer with Saria. I’ve always struggled with her in this guide for that reason! She’s simply a great unit with three great skills. Generally, if you have Shu, I would suggest S1M1 followed by S2M3 or S3M3, depending on your playstyle, with S1M3 last. If you don’t have Shu, I would suggest S1M1 followed by S1M3 or S3M3, with S2M3 last. But neither is a strong suggestion, so adjust based on your own needs and preferences.
5★ Defenders#
Cairn#
Cairn is a powerful 5★ thanks to how good Nervous Impairment is. NI is the strongest form of Elemental Injury, and she can apply it reasonably fast to enemies she’s blocking. Less so to enemies she’s not, but more on that in a moment. NI’s strength lets her be a shockingly bulky Defender. Her base DEF is decent already, plus high HP, and even some RES, then she can negate 3 enemies attacks (plus the damage) to everyone she’s blocking every 20ish seconds. It’s a pretty decent little package! However, unusually for this guide, she does not need advanced investment to do that, which suppresses her grades which would otherwise be on the high side. In fact, at a modest E2 level 23, she can trigger NI on enemies she’s blocking in a single S2 activation (10 seconds), with further investment just shortening the time or improving her secondary bulk. In fact, even at E1 level 80, she’ll trigger it before S2 cycles again!
To that effect and for this guide, S2 is her main skill, which is her only skill that helps with NI application, but Mastery does not improve her NI application at all. It remains at 10% of ATK from SL7 all the way to S2M3. Her Barrier doesn’t improve over Mastery either. Her SP and initial wind-up do improve, but not by large amounts. There aren’t many places where the 2 SP difference to her cost, or 6 SP difference to her windup will truly matter. However, her S2 does begin charging immediately (the effect is applied as a debuff rather than skill uptime) so that 2 SP can still make a difference now and then. Instead, the main gain is to her Arts damage, which is actually a decent gain of around 33% total damage. But that aspect is far from why she’s valuable, and is easy to forget even exists as part of her kit. It’s an odd case where Cairn is a great unit, but her Masteries are luxuries. Levels and her future Module will be far more valuable!
While a bit outside the scope of this guide, it’s notable that her S2 has no breakpoint in terms of how many applications it takes when she is not blocking. Regardless of Module, Masteries, or level, it always takes two S2 activations for regular enemies and elites, and always takes four for bosses except for the rare case where she is blocking something else, in which case she can get down to 3 for bosses at max investment. It’s a weird bit of design considering how tight the numbers are on the other Primal Defenders and Ritualists.
Pass on her S1, which is a relatively boring straight HP increase. It’s worse than Philae’s similar S1, which is also ungraded and also rarely, if ever, used. However, it manages to be somewhat unique still, which may have some use for the true maximialists. At full investment and with her future Module, she can reach 9161 HP which is among the highest in the game, even at the higher rarities, plus her NI Talent. However, in practical terms, there’s almost always better solutions, including her own S2 which already indirectly improves her HP, so is still an extremely fringe consideration.
Vetochki / Веточки#
Vetochki is a solid enough 5★, featuring really good bulk and sustain for her rarity, with enough offense to be a viable laneholder. However, that isn’t an in-demand role these days, and there are plentiful other options that have higher ceilings, not to mention the fact she’s unhealable with a very high DP cost. This all means she certainly isn’t a high priority investment, although she’s decent enough if you like her or play in a niche. However, even if that applies to you, be aware that she needs a lot of investment to be decent, as E2, Masteries, Modules, and levels all make a big difference!
For our purposes here, this makes S2M3 a relatively high value investment if you plan to actually use her. S2 is easily her better skill in the first place, owing largely to the Frighten effect and the fact it is Auto Recovery instead of the much worse Defensive Recovery of S1. For the Mastery, her sustain is entirely dependent on how fast she can cycle skills, so even though Mastery only reduces the SP cost by 4 SP, that still ends up being a significant difference. Further, it’s a significant contributor to her bulk. Beyond just the stat increase, which itself is meaningful, the lower SP cost allows her to trigger the Frighten effect more often. A normally small 4 SP puts in a lot of work on Vetochki.
Her S1 meanwhile is a pass for a vast majority of people, but may come in handy now and then for the true bear-lovers. While the Defensive Recovery nature of it will often mean a worse cycle, it won’t always mean a worse cycle, and there are circumstances it can be incredibly fast instead. The improved DEF may also come out ahead over S2’s Frighten in some cases. However, those circumstances are rare and she also loses any of her offensive capabilities beyond basic auto-attacks, which makes S1 extremely situational.
Philae#
Our first Primal Defender shows a pretty powerful archetype, since despite the name, they perform like a Ritualist rather than a Primal Caster. More specifically, that means Philae deals Necrosis a percentage of her ATK rather than as of damage dealt. This bypasses enemy DEF/RES and makes for easy and potent application of Necrosis. Philae does this application in a true-AoE as well, rather than just back at the attacker, which makes her a rather powerful wave-clearing unit for her rarity.
Unfortunately though, the proliferation of other Elemental types (particularly with very powerful units attached to them) has really hurt Philae’s value. While she was a unique option on her release, she’s no longer particularly special since the Elemental types are incompatible. Every new unit and every new type hurts her value more and more. Even at her own rarity, Cairn is a much better option!
Her Masteries are somewhat nuanced, but the short version is that her S2 is her best Mastery as that is where all of her offensive potency lies. The nuance comes in from the fact that the Necrosis application itself is unaffected by Mastery. She still gains a respectable amount over Mastery. She gains improvements to her non-Necrosis damage, a fairly significant improvement to her counter-ATK-boost, which is occasionally relevant in IS5, and a notable improvement to her initial wind-up which is frustratingly long (even at S2M3). However, none of those are her core feature either, so it leads to an odd balance of cost vs gain with Philae.
Her S1 may be worth a look if you really like her, however in practice, it is rarely useful. Skills of its ilk are rather rare, but it’s usually best to just play around the enemy elemental damage rather than trying to face tank it. More importantly though, by using S1 she loses all of her offensive prowess and has fairly low DEF/RES for a Defender otherwise, so it makes for an extremely situational tank.
Senshi#
Compared to the other 5★ Guardians, Senshi is a little trickier to evaluate. While he has the typical spread of short-cooldown S1 and long-cooldown S2, the gap between them is much closer than it is with Nearl or Bassline. This is because his down times are much closer (9 vs 20) but he also can’t hold charges on his S1. It makes picking a skill much trickier. On one hand, he’s an easy to justify M6, but on the other it can be hard to notice the difference between them at times! If you only do one Mastery, it’s basically a coin-flip between them, and a lot of players might not even be able to appreciate the difference.
His S1 is unusual as far as Guardian S1s go. All of the others, including the 6★s, have short cooldown charge based (except for Hung) skills that are focused solely on healing. Senshi however has a longer cooldown thanks to the extra cooking. He has no charges either, instead spending it immediately, even if the target is full health. This is because of the non-healing effect, which no other Guardian has on their S1!
This effectively means that Senshi’s S1 is a pretty poor healing skill. Despite his higher multiplier, he actually has a lower HPS than any of the others, including Gummy, plus he is far more likely to lose healing without the 50% threshold or charges that the others have. This is all in exchange for his buffs, which are the main reason to use his S1. They can be pretty nice coming out of your blocker along with some healing, but in the end, they are not especially strong buffs and the RNG (mixed with a useless +HP%) makes it less appealing.
Instead, I would suggest his S2. It’s again unique when compared to the other Guardians. At M3, it only has a 20 SP cost. He doesn’t lose time to the cooking aspect either since he directly heals during that time. The S2 cooking is a skill uptime as opposed to S1’s extra cast time. This results in a short cooldown burst healing skill that none of the other Guardians really have. Unfortunately, even in this case, his HPS is fairly low, so while Senshi is a good and usable 5★, he isn’t exactly a power house either.
It’s worth noting that S2’s Mana recovery does not come into play in the decision. It’s simply too low to matter.
Ultimately, I would suggest S1M1 > S2M3. This is because most of S1’s power is already available after the M1 breakpoint, so you get the best of both worlds without having to invest in the full M6. However, as said, that is certainly not set in stone. If you think you’ll use the buff aspect more than S2’s healing aspect (which is not especially great), a simple S1M3 is certainly not the wrong path!
Underflow#
Underflow is a decent unit for low-rarity players. She lacks quite a bit in ceiling which keeps her from being a general suggestion, but she does bring enough to her kit to be viable for certain types of players. Most notably, she can Slow for the entire duration of her S2 in a relatively wide range with passable damage. Mixed with the general utility of her archetype, that’s at least something notable.
Her S2 is of course the key to that. Masteries on it are decently valuable, although nothing too crazy. She can already reach 100% uptime Slow at SL7, but Masteries give a pretty good amount of DPS and a modest cycle improvement. They’re nothing crazy, but valuable enough to warrant at least a look for certain types of players.
Bassline#
| Skill | Mastery | Story | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
 | S1M3 | Breakpoint - S1M1 | |
| B+ | B+ | ||
 | S2M3 | None | |
Thanks to the reduction in 4★ Hope cost in IS, there’s little reason outside of niches to invest in any of the 5★ Guardians. Essentially, Gummy is better value in IS, and the 5★s aren’t better enough in the regular game to justify the costs when they’ll just get replaced in the long run. Of course, that value proposition was always questionable, and much of the value discussion around Croissant also applies to Bassline, but the situation looks even worse for the Guardians since the 6★ Guardians are also incredibly powerful, placing the 5★s in a very awkward place value-wise.
However, they are far from bad! Guardians are a really strong archetype from top to bottom (mostly) so the problem is rather a value one. If you like Bassline or play in any sort of niche, he is absolutely a totally viable investment still! In such a case, his S1 is the better choice. It’s the standard Guardian S1 which is a charge based healing which tends to come out ahead of their burst skills. Their burst just isn’t good enough to justify the downtime. They also tend to have valuable Masteries. For Bassline, he has an S1M1 breakpoint that reduces the SP cost and a valuable extra charge at S1M3, not to mention the extra healing.
You could consider his S2 as well, although it’s a much more fringe Mastery. It’s mainly used for stall since he can often sustain for the entire duration, and in Bassline’s case it has a remarkably high uptime that makes it well suited for the task. The 60 second duration is nearly a full redeployment cycle on his own, and at S2M3 it only has a 7 SP wind-up. Most players won’t find that to be particularly valuable, but there’s some out there that will find it to be an amazing skill.
Firewhistle#
Firewhistle has aged a bit better than Ashlock thanks to the fact her damage is Arts based. It can be troublesome to keep enemies in the burning tiles, but she does solid overall DPS that scales a bit better, and tends to be a bit easier to use. This is because unlike Ashlock, she can continue to carry out her burst attacks while blocking, ultimately making for a more reliable option. Of course, her DPS doesn’t measure up to modern 6★ standards and Firewhistle brings little else beyond her range so she’s still a relatively low consideration, albeit one of the better at the rarity.
In any case, Firewhistle’s S2 is the better Mastery for this adorable pyromaniac, and it gets a grade slightly greater than her overall value thanks to very strong damage gains. If you intend to use her, you will definitely want to pursue her Masteries which add almost 26% more damage to that total burn. Most players can pass on her S1. Some diehards may find use in its consistency due to S2’s long cycle, and it has similarly good damage gains, however her total DPS is quite a bit lower with S1. S2 is also better when she is forced to block. S1 only ignites the enemy hit, which is single-target when blocking while her S2 ignites the tiles for AoE damage regardless.
Ashlock#
Ashlock was a fairly nice 5★ when she came out. Her long range from a melee tile made her a fairly strong off-meta consideration. However, she hasn’t aged especially well. She’s always been a bit awkward to use since that Fortress range can be as much a hindrance as a help, not to mention losing her blocking. However, her DPH is also quite low too, so she has a tough time keeping up with the growing enemy stat bloat at times.
She’s still perfectly serviceable though, with strong DPS and range on a good cycle. S2 is her main skill with far better DPS. It has quite strong Masteries too thanks to a big interval reduction at M3, so Masteries should be considered mandatory if you actually want to use her.
S1 is a generic ATK up skill, so probably shouldn’t be something you consider. However, it does have better uptime and DPH so it could be worth a look if you’re really dedicated to maximizing her. But keep in mind that although she does maintain her blocking ability while using it, that isn’t necessarily a good thing since she loses her splash damage so can get hung up just doing basic attacks versus trash instead of lobbing shells.
Nearl#
Thanks to the reduction in 4★ Hope cost in IS, there’s little reason outside of niches to invest in any of the 5★ Guardians. Essentially, Gummy is better value in IS, and the 5★s aren’t better enough in the regular game to justify the costs when they’ll just get replaced in the long run. Of course, that value proposition was always questionable, and much of the value discussion around Croissant also applies to Nearl, but the situation looks even worse for the Guardians since the 6★ Guardians are also incredibly powerful, placing the 5★s in a very awkward place value-wise.
However, they are far from bad! Guardians are a really strong archetype from top to bottom (mostly) so the problem is rather a value one. If you like Nearl or play in any sort of niche, she is absolutely a totally viable investment still! In such a case, her S1 is the better choice. It’s the standard Guardian S1 which is a charge based healing which tends to come out ahead of their burst skills. Their burst just isn’t good enough to justify the downtime. They also tend to have valuable Masteries. For Nearl, she has an S1M1 breakpoint that reduces the SP cost and a valuable extra charge at S1M3, not to mention the extra healing.
You could consider her S2 as well, although it’s a much more fringe Mastery. It’s mainly used for stall since she can often sustain for the entire duration, however it does tend to be a bit behind Bassline’s S2 in that realm, so it’s a luxury investment even for niche players.
Croissant#
Croissant is one of the best examples of the problems that come with the 5★s. She is a fantastic Protector. In the 5★ only niche, she is an MVP. But for normal players, she straddles an awkward line. She costs twice as much as a 4★, and while she is certainly better than Cuora or Bubble, she is nowhere near twice as good! In fact, there’s vanishingly few places that Croissant can handle but Cuora or Bubble couldn’t. It ultimately makes for one of the highest graded units that you probably shouldn’t be promoting at all, an awkward moment of contradiction in this guide that is frustratingly common at the rarity.
That said, if Quaso appeals to you, her S1 is generally her better skill. The improvement to her dodge Talent is a significant contributor to her bulk, and the improvement over Mastery is meaningful, especially when paired with her Module. Mastery further enhances her cycle which can be troublesome given her Auto Activation, so S1M3 is a worthwhile investment if you plan to use her.
Although ungraded, her S2 may be worth a look also if you like Quaso (which seems likely if you’re considering her S1 and Mod3 already). It’s definitely more a “fun” investment than a practical one. She loses almost all of her amazing bulk by using it and the Defensive Recovery is troublesome, but the big hammer smash to send things into holes is great lateral use. Like many Shift skills, it gains a force increase at M3, meaning Mastery is nearly required to use it, so it’s a rather expensive gimmick.
4★ Defenders#
Bubble#
Cuora and Bubble (and Protectors at large) have always been a bit of a pain with regards to this guide. The general value of raw bulk Defenders has varied quite a bit with time, but even at the highs, the value has been questionable compared to other potential investments like DPS. Now that 4★s cost no Hope to recruit in IS, but modern DPS is just getting more and more insane, the answer is no more clear!
So the answer to whether you should invest or not is, “it depends”, but regardless, Bubble is an excellent option to fill that role. Bubble’s niche is her ATK reduction Talent, which usually results in a greater net benefit than more personal bulk, especially against hard targets and lets her be meaningful against Arts and True damage sources as well. That comes from her Talent, but her S2 is still worthwhile to supplement that. The gains on it aren’t too special, with the main benefit being to her bulk, but for the low 4★ costs, that’s not particularly a concern if you’ve already chosen to invest into her.
It’s notable that her reflect gains an improvement at S2M1. However, as far as breakpoints go, it’s fairly minor. It can matter at times, but generally most enemies that actually need tanked by a bulk defender will have enough bulk themselves that the extra won’t matter.
The full discussion of whether to choose Cuora or Bubble is a bit beyond the scope of this guide, but generally I favor Cuora for most players. Bubble has better raw tanking against tough targets, so she tends to have the higher ceiling, but Cuora’s extra block and sustain are more generally valuable. But in most cases, either will do the job perfectly fine.
Matterhorn#
Matterhorn is a rather a-typical consideration with regards to priority. RES-tanks like him are fairly rare, and useful when needed, but unlike generalists like Nightingale, are just too situational to really consider. However, the reduced Hope cost in IS means he is a free to recruit solution, in a mode that often requires specific solutions at the high end. Of course, this is still a fringe consideration. It’s not that commonly needed, there are usually multiple solutions, and few people play at the difficulty that someone more general like Cuora can’t do the job anyway! Nevertheless, Matterhorn is at least worthy of a look for some people.
If you think you’re one of them, the only skill worth considering is his S2. That skill contains his RES improvement, which is the whole reason to consider him in the first place, but even outside of that, his S1 is just a bad skill. The regen is far too low to matter (it’s not even 1%) and his S2 has far better net bulk against both Physical and Arts. The gains on S2 are pretty strong too, especially for the low 4★ costs.
Gummy / Гум#
Gummy is probably the biggest benefiter of the change to 4★ Hope costs beginning in IS#5. I probably don’t need to tell you why either. Gummy is one of those units that most people have experience with. The role compression that Guardians bring is so valuable, and Gummy is the one almost everyone has from the start! But few probably went the extra mile with investment with her. She ages out pretty quickly as your roster grows. At least, that was before IS#5 when many players began to dust her off from the back of their rosters!
That’s all a rather flowery way to say that yes, Gummy is a really good unit that might be worth Mastery consideration. She’s cheap, common, and very useful. However, there’s some nuance here. It still costs Hope to promote units in IS, the optimal play is usually to just use most of them for starting and not spend the extra to promote. That’s a discussion that’s largely absent from many 4★ write-ups in this guide due to being out of scope, but is exceedingly relevant for Gummy!
Of course though, Gummy is a great unit all around (almost all of the Guardians are well graded), and 4★s are cheap so there’s certainly nothing wrong with Mastery here. S1 should be your primary focus. The consistency of these types of skills usually comes out far ahead, and she has especially powerful gains at M3 where she gains both an extra charge and reduced SP. Meanwhile, her S2 may be worth a look for low-rarity niches. Skills of this type tend to be great for stalling, but that’s not something you should be worrying about yet if you’re using a guide like this either.
Cuora#
Cuora and Bubble (and Protectors at large) have always been a bit of a pain with regards to this guide. The general value of raw bulk Defenders has varied quite a bit with time, but even at the highs, the value has been questionable compared to other potential investments like DPS. Now that 4★s cost no Hope to recruit in IS, but modern DPS is just getting more and more insane, the answer is no more clear!
So the answer to whether you should invest or not is, “it depends”, but regardless, Cuora is an excellent option to fill that role. Fully invested, she reached a pretty ridiculous amount of DEF, particularly for her rarity. Many people will already know her S2 is her best skill since she is so common in the early game. She’s a unit most people already know well! But notably for our purposes here, the Mastery gains on it are fairly good too. It gains a large amount of DEF, but notably gains extra regen at M3 which is quite a nice boost. It also happens to be relatively cheap now too since Loxic Kohl has been devalued.
The full discussion of whether to choose Cuora or Bubble is a bit beyond the scope of this guide, but generally I favor Cuora for most players. Bubble has better raw tanking against tough targets, so she tends to have the higher ceiling, but Cuora’s extra block and sustain are more generally valuable. But in most cases, either will do the job perfectly fine.
4★ and 5★ Ungraded Defenders#
Cement#
Duelist Defenders do not have an easy go of things. One-block with high DP cost and their Trait restrictions (even with Modules) puts all of them in a tough spot across the board, yet their stats are often high enough that they manage to at least carve out meaningful niche usage. In Cement’s case, she has actually found some use with her S2 in her raw defensive bulk which is remarkably high at peak. Now, that is rarely an essential thing, and a relatively high SP cost (compounded by the Duelist Trait) further shrinks that potential niche. While her bulk is powerful at peak, it shrinks and has a rather long downtime which can make it tricky for stalling heavy hitters. However, it is viable enough to give her some use in various non-6★ niches, or if she appeals to you.
If Cement is a favorite, you could consider her S1 as well for everyday use. It has a pretty nice effect, but the Trait restriction means it’s unreliable as a DPS skill. Unlike her S2, it has very little niche value so most people won’t want to bother, however.
Czerny#
Czerny is a rare example of a reflect tank. While that’s almost always worse than just normal DPS, it has given him some niche use now and then. He’s still quite fringe even by niche standards, and is less generally viable as an Arts tank, but is certainly usable if you like him or are looking for something a little different.
If that interests you, his main skill is his S2 which plays better into the reflect gimmick. It has a rare bit of taunt at the rarity which can pull in those reflects, while continually amping up his damage until he reaches a big pop at the end. Mastery makes a pretty big difference to his damage too. Pass on his S1 which will have generally worse outcomes than his S2. The improved RES is mostly a wash to S2’s HP. The ATK can help with his reflect in some cases, but again S2 will generally have higher damage. So the main benefit is just uptime. That may be worth it to some extreme maximalists, but for most, will never get used.
Shalem#
Shalem gives up on any RES tanking you might expect from an Arts Protector, aside from a very modest HP improvement, for pure damage, along with a rare bit of RES debuffing. He’s decent enough at it to be usable if you like but is pretty far off-meta. Even when he was new, he was more trouble than he was worth, and looks even worse now on top of both skills having some drawbacks, so he’s only a desire tier of unit now and doesn’t have a particularly compelling niche value either.
If he appeals to you, both skills are potentially options depending on what you want out of him. S2 is probably the better choice since it usually has a far higher damage output and good range that can even hit aerial enemies. There’s three problems with it though. The first is Defensive Recovery, which makes it inconsistent in many stages. The second is the random nature of the attacks which can further cause consistency problems if there are a lot of enemies. And the third is, of course, the health drain which additionally needs to be managed.
His S1 meanwhile is a bit more reliable, but has a lower ceiling. The damage is only slightly higher than the much cheaper Dur-Nar (who is also ungraded), and the range is much more restrictive than his S2. However, it is Auto Recovery which can give it the edge. It also has pretty valuable Masteries thanks to an interval reduction at S1M3. Ultimately, Shalem is the sort of unit that it’s tricky to make a definitive suggestion for, so you’ll have to adjust to your own needs or why you may be raising him in the first place.
It’s worth a quick note that Shalem’s IS#2 specific buff isn’t worth considering. It only adds more damage, but nowhere near enough to make him generally viable or change the general assessment.
Aurora#
Duelist Defenders do not have an easy go of things. One-block with high DP cost and their Trait restrictions (even with Modules) puts all of them in a tough spot across the board, yet their stats are often high enough that they manage to at least carve out meaningful niche usage. In Aurora’s¹ case it’s with her damage via her S2. True to the archetype name, it makes her a fairly competent low-rarity elite duelist. With it, she can hit incredibly hard on a rapid and flexible cycle, and the combination of Cold/Freeze makes her surprisingly tanky as well. Of course, all the flaws of the archetype remain, plus she is reliant on the enemy not being Freeze immune which rules out most bosses. It means Aurora is very much a niche unit that a vast majority of people shouldn’t invest into, but she is one of the more competent ungraded units.
Pass on her S1, which is a frustrating relic of the era. It could actually be a great skill, allowing strong fast cycling bulk, but a lot of 5★s from this time had drawbacks on their kits for no reason, and Aurora’s S1 is one such victim. The self Stun kills any value the skill could potentially have since she would just end up leaking anything you’d actually want to use her to block.
¹ This is Snowshine if you’re coming here from Endfield. I’m as shocked as you are, but bringing an off-meta 5★ into the new game is one of the reasons HG is so based.
Heavyrain#
Heavyrain’s gimmick is applying Camouflage to others. That has given her some rare niche use now and then. Additionally, she’s a pretty decent tank in her own right, so can be a viable promotion if you like her. However, there’s two major problems. The first is uptime which makes her rather vulnerable for a Protector and limits the value of her niche. The second is simply that the Protector group is very strong, and you’ll get a lot more value out of Cuora or Bubble instead who are cheaper, free to recruit in IS, and actually better tanks too. These two facts ultimately means there isn’t a lot of meta or even niche reason to raise her.
But as said, she isn’t bad and does have some use, and if she appeals to her, her value is tied to her S2. Mastery on it is fairly valuable. On top of the stat improvements, she gains both uptime and a large SP cost improvement. That cycle time is troublesome, so those are big upgrades to making effective use out of her.
Pass on her S1. It’s odd that she has it since it’s more similar to a Guardian S1, but in any case, is much less usable than her S2. The fact the Camouflage isn’t controllable makes it pretty useless for niche value, and the healing is far too low to ever matter.
Blitz#
Blitz is a surprisingly strong unit in certain niches, almost enough so to justify some Mastery grades on both skills! However, niches he fits in are relatively rare, and he can be hard to use or appreciate in general teams, which holds back a lot of his value¹.
If you happen to play in one of those niches, or just particularly like him or Rainbow 6, both skills are options, but S1 will tend to be the more valuable skill and Mastery. The Stun on it is very powerful, hitting everyone in a pretty large range on a great uptime that sees it part of several stall comps. Mastery is particularly valuable since at S1M3, that Stun is available immediately on deployment and that’s on top of a longer Stun and lower SP cost. Further, it’s often overlooked, but the skill has Silence on it as well, and at S1M3, he is a rare source of it that can be easily helidropped. It’s unfortunate that it has a per deployment limit though, which can be very troublesome for inexperienced players.
It’s less special, but his S2 is also a fairly strong niche skill. The Stun is longer, but more limited, however he does some remarkably strong damage for a Defender while using it. The DPH is on the low side though, even when fully maximized. It also has a weak cycle time and much weaker Mastery gains, so is a luxury for niche use when compared to his S1.
¹ At least to those that still need a guide like this. The players most likely to get use out of him already know it.
Asbestos#
While not exactly a bad unit, Asbestos is a unit whose numbers were never especially great and now only looks worse. She is typically used as a DPS unit since she can do AoE Arts damage from a melee tile on high skill uptime, but her damage just isn’t impressive enough to be a general consideration. She also has lateral use as a RES tank, but that’s a very niche thing, nor is she the best choice for the role.
Her main skill is typically her S2, the DPS skill with those previously mentioned benefits. However, as said, her DPS just isn’t high enough to warrant general consideration due to the interval increase. It also improves her DEF which is an odd choice. It’s not bad exactly, but doesn’t play into her niches either. It makes her both a decent RES and DEF tank, but not great at either. However, do make note of a valuable breakpoint at S2M1 that expands her range.
Probably pass on her S1. It’s her Arts tanking skill, however that’s a lot more fringe. Notably, the cheaper and useful in IS Matterhorn has a better net Arts reduction too. Asbestos can pull ahead with uptime thanks to her Talent, but that’s an expensive and fringe thing on an expensive and fringe unit.
Hung#
Hung is a decent unit by simple virtue of being a Guardian. If you like him and just want a blocker that heals, he is certainly functional. However, Guardian’s are plentiful and Hung is the least useful of them. Even the lower rarity Gummy is far more valuable! This is primarily because of his Defensive Recovery. While there are some cases where such skills charge very fast, in most, they are slow and inconsistent which makes Hung far less reliable than any of the other options.
If Hung does interest you though, both of his skills are options, although his S2 is the better one. Mastery on it drastically reduces his initial wind-up, and at S2M3 it’s a mere 2 SP, so it’s available very quickly for better net effects even despite the Defensive Recovery nature. It has two other notable aspects that give it some rare niche value. First, it’s a rare Guardian skill that improves his own DEF so he can be quite a bit more tanky than his contemporaries. Second, he doesn’t deal damage during it which can be valuable in various stall comps. Bassline does fill this role much better thanks to his uptime, but they are often cycled together if it’s necessary in the first place. These are quite fringe considerations though.
Meanwhile, his S1 can be viable and Mastery makes it instantly available, but there’s a few flaws. It charges relatively slowly for the effect, which is much weaker than his S2. It also has no HP threshold like most other Guardian S1s, meaning a lot of the healing ends up wasted. It can still be useful for the sake of consistency since S2’s charge time can be long, but just has a lower impact in regular use.
Bison#
Bison is actually a really solid Physical tank. However, it’s not a vital role in the first place, he doesn’t have a lot of niche over the 6★s, the 4★ competition is extremely stiff, and even within the 5★s, Croissant is preferred. Basically, he’s decent but there’s a ton of better competition and he doesn’t have a special value over them except for a tiny bit with his taunt. So while decent, he’s not at all a recommended promotion.
If he appeals to you though, S2 is his main skill for Mastery. He gains quite a bit of DEF which makes the cost worthwhile if you plan to use him, but the other gains on it are negligible. It’s a slightly flawed skill though, thanks to a high SP cost and a very high initial wind-up. That can actually give some room for his S1, despite being an otherwise generic skill. However, that is a very fringe consideration on an already fringe promotion.
A very fringe, and now also dated, alternative use for him is as Welfare Aak enabler using his S2 and mod3. However, this is now something barely worth acknowledging. Aak buffing is rarely used these days (Mon3tr is better without the drawbacks) and even if Aak specifically interests you, there are multiple other freely available options too. However, if you are one of the very rare few who specifically wants to use both Aak and Bison, the DEF share effect improves only at S2M3.
Vulcan#
It can be easy to overlook the flaws of an archetype when the 6★s (Mudrock and Penance) are so powerful. Unfortunately for Vulcan, that inability to be healed sticks out much more when you consider her high SP costs. She has no sustain outside of her skill uptime, so the large downtime makes her very hard to use. Most of the time, you’ll get a single skill use out of her before she ultimately gets killed by attrition. She is certainly not for the faint of heart.
That said, if you wanted to raise her, it’s usually best to go with her S2. The archetype lends itself more towards solo adventures rather than stalling, and, as the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. With S2, Vulcan can dish out some solid damage in tandem with really strong sustain. This can be pretty decent with only 10 SP initial windup at M3, but once the first activation is over, the base cycling is abysmal. Her S1 is also pretty decent, but more flawed. She has no killing potential with it, so is only really good for short term stalling, since again, she’ll just die during the downtime. In normal bulk blocking cases, it’ll be better to use more typical options that can actually be healed like Cuora instead. However, her self sustain during the uptime is really strong, so may find some use now and then for maximalists.
Liskarm#
Liskarm is an odd unit. She’s one of the most common SP batteries for various meme, niche, or advanced clears, and is still unmatched in that role. However, in regular content she’s pretty clunky, and generally inferior to many other Defenders, both at her own rarity and at the less expensive 4★ rarity. Further, as far as this guide goes, since that role comes from her Talent. Her skills don’t usually matter, and can even be a hindrance!
If you want to Master one of her skills, S1 is probably the choice. The uptime is usually pretty bad, but it does total some nice bulk thanks to the blocked damage. However, Auto Activation makes placing that damage block difficult, and the bad uptime makes her inconsistent. The block also prevents her Talent from triggering, so there are times when Mastery could even be undesirable, although in those cases you can just bring S2 instead!
S2 could be something to consider as well, but is ungraded. She can do alright Arts DPS at range, but the high Defensive Recovery SP cost, low-uptime (and RNG) control, and self-stun mean it’s a waifu only skill in the modern game.
Lutonada#
Enmity (unhealable) operators need a special level of “oomph” to justify their use. This is particularly a problem for lower rarity iterations like Lutonada. She isn’t a bad unit per se, however she lacks the impact that might justify her over more typical options, not to mention Juggernaut’s high DP cost. In other words, she doesn’t do enough that’s special to justify the downsides.
Should you want to promote Lutonada regardless, then her S2 is the clear choice. Her S1 is a generic (and bad) Attack Recovery Power Strike skill. The high DPH on S1 may have some value to true low-rarity min-maxers, but in general her S2 just wins by default and it has some pretty significant stat gains over Mastery. The DPS is fairly low, but the washing machine and true-AoE give it some situational potential at least. However, something to note is that the Force level does NOT improve over Mastery. At S2M3 it is still a rudimentary Force level of 0 and will Shift only the lightest enemies. While the stat gains are significant and will make the skill feel better to use, Mastery does not fundamentally change the skill if you find her unappealing already at SL7.
Dur-Nar#
There’s not a lot of compelling reason to ever pursue Mastery with Dur-Nar. She’s a useful enough early unit since she does AoE Arts damage from a melee tile, but has almost no ceiling. Her damage doesn’t scale, she’s not especially tanky, and has no niche upside. This is especially true when compared to the other 4★ Defenders who are all quite valuable! Further promotion beyond a very basic SL7 is almost entirely a waifu matter.
If you do love the snack smuggler though, S2 is her main skill. While being Defensive Recovery is a huge drawback, it’s superior to S1 in every other way and has much better results. Mastery drops that troublesome SP cost pretty significantly too. S1 is a generic ATK up skill which should generally not be considered, but if you really love her, the Auto Recovery does mean it can occasionally be the better choice, especially since the ST DPS is the same.