Overall Pull Priority#
September update: Pretty big update this time, with the addition of Angelina2, Thumpy, and Tragodia.
Tragodia and Angelina at Strong Pull shouldn’t be too surprising. They’re both absurd. Thumpy slots in at Lean Skip, but I actually quite like her. I think she’s the second best non-limited after Tragodia, but unfortunately the limiteds are just stacked so it’s hard to justify ranking her higher here. But, she enables a lot of creative finesse, and I could see bumping her higher after Ep17 and the MH collabs.
There is one other thing I want to be very clear about. Tragodia is a non-limited unit. He is extremely powerful and is probably the single best unit on this list still (yes, even against the limited units). However, he is more available than the limiteds (if you’re a spender, just buy him on the paid ticket), and will come right before the Persona 3 collab. It’s up to you how to balance that.
Also, although I rarely make statements ahead of time, Makoto is pretty clearly going to end up a Strong Pull when he gets added next update.
| Tier | Units |
|---|---|
| Strong Pull | Kal’tsit·Esperanta (limited), Closure, Angelina the Mellow Wish (limited), Tragodia (rerun) |
| Lean Pull | Violet Mizutsune Orchid (collab limited), Kirin R Yato (collab limited, rerun) |
| Lean Skip | Zima the Raging Tide, Thumpy |
| Strong Skip | Aphrissa |
| Meta-value 4-5★s | None |
| Niche-value 4-5★s | None |
A few important notes regarding this list:
- This list is relative value for the next six months. Almost all modern units are good enough to pull for in an absolute sense. Rather, this list is intended to help allocate pull resources for maximum return. A low ranking here does NOT mean the unit is bad, it means they’re less valuable than other upcoming units.
- Units are listed in expected release order. Order within a tier does NOT imply priority.
- Non-solo rate-up and non-limited banners such as Joint Operation, Orienteering, or Standard/Kernel banners should generally NOT be pulled on. They are not on this list because they often differ between the servers, but they also almost always give lower value than new units or reruns. On rare occasions they may be worth pulling on, however those are the exception and impossible to predict for a list like this. JO/JA banners are especially dangerous. Pull with extreme caution!
- Welfare 6★s are not included since they do not need to be pulled for. They should always be obtained to max potential for future gold certs. See the lookaheads below for if they are worth raising.
- The bar to be included in the 4-5★ section is extremely high. This does not mean most upcoming ones are bad, but the power ceiling is currently so extreme that very few are ever worth pulling for.
- I don’t mind you posting this list elsewhere, but please credit it and please please PLEASE include these footnotes. Posting just the list out of context gets all sorts of weird responses.
Pull Priority Blurbs#
Kal’tsit·Esperanta
Kal2 is a unit who is more than the sum of her parts. No individual aspect will likely blow you away, and there’s some details in her kit that can cause headaches, but when you combine her strong healing, good range, AoE True Damage, strong control, great survability, and a powerful flex skill, you have a great total package that is valuable in all sorts of gameplay.
Closure
Yet another extremely powerful Vanguard, Closure is the more powerful story-carry of the three. She has some really crazy damage and range, plus an extremely powerful DP skill that should see her viable even in advanced gameplay. The three top Vanguards all have different strengths compared to each other, but Closure is a more than worthy entrant to the competition.
Angelina the Mellow Wish
Angelina’s alter is yet our most recent of an ever growing list of absurdly broken limited units. She’s really fuckin’ good. However, unlike many of them, Angie is quite straightforward. She’s everything that makes Contrail good, but turned up to 11. Crazy good DPS against multiple-targets, and can fly making her functionally immune to most danger and mechanics. She’s not quite a Wang-tier of broken, but is definitely a can’t miss meta unit.
Tragodia
In his release article, I wrote that the design of his kit meant Tragodia was the kind of unit that would be hard to ever powercreep. And so far that looks pretty accurate. While the last year of extreme power has lowered the value of other EX units like Wisadel and even Exu2, Tragodia is still the best or second best unit in the game. His control is incredibly powerful, and multilayered. If you missed him the first time, don’t miss his rerun, unless you plan to buy him on the paid selector or value limited FOMO more.
Violet Mizutsune Orchid
Orchid2 is a Fast-Redeploy Sniper that ends up being quite flexible. She can be deployed to melee tiles, and has a pretty big range and multiple-targets. Considering that Snipers have tended to struggle in Advanced content, this flexibility has actually given Orchid2 a leg up, especially in IS#7. In some strange (i.e. Advanced) ways, she could actually be the best Sniper! However, that says more about the state of Snipers than it does about Orchid2. Although she’s great, her DPS isn’t as crazy and we’ve gotten used to, and many other upcoming units will be more valuable. Despite that, as a collab unit, you probably don’t want to miss out on her.
Kirin R Yato
In years past, Yato2 has shown the problem with meta units being in collabs. She is by far the best FRD in the game, but was forever locked to new players. FRDs tend to retain some of their value (relatively) even as the power increases and Yato2 is still a top-tier unit. Her DPS has waned a bit, but her utility more than makes up for it still to this day. If you don’t already have her, you probably don’t want to miss your chance to pick her up!
Zima the Raging Tide
She has a very powerful and easy to use AFK skill that will appeal to many people, with a powerful nuke skill to flex to. However, her ceiling is relatively low. There’s a lot of AFK units now so her S2 is nothing new, and she does nothing off-skill when using S3.
Aphrissa
Aprissa is a decent unit and a creative twist on the Blast Caster archetype. I personally love her kit design! However, the archetype is also innately underpowered. Her S3 has the numbers behind it to keep up, but is still pretty far behind the top Casters, and her other two skills don’t have the numbers, which kills a lot of potential flexibility.
Unit & Masteries Lookaheads#
Episode 17 - Critical Phase Transition#
Estimated Release: October
Kal’tsit· Esperanta#
6★ · Limited Gacha
Boy, I have some things to say about Kal coming back already. The game in general has had a problem with stakes for a while now, and even though her return was known immediately, it still makes me roll my eyes that it happened so quickly. So much for drama! That should make a nice story rant when the time comes.
In any case, Kal2 is a bit more muted than the recent wave of insane 6★s. That isn’t to say she’s bad, of course. Far from it! She is a very comfortable unit to use, and probably the best Medic we currently have. However, it’s a bit surprising given her story relevance that she is a little clunkier to use and not quite as bloated as you might expect.
There’s some interesting nuance to her skills, but unlike Closure, her best Mastery is clearly S2. There’s a mechanical clunkiness to it where shots can be wasted or spent where you don’t want them, but the numbers are high enough that it rarely matters. In the end it’s still a good amount of AoE True Damage, a long Slow, and a lot of healing. However, it does pay the damage tax by being True Damage so isn’t quite as crazy as we’re used to, so will likely be graded a bit off the top-tier (but still high S).
Meanwhile, her S3 is an extremely powerful skill, but it’s much more situational. It won’t be necessary or viable in a lot of situations, and requires some thought to use. More important for the guide though, the Mastery gains on it don’t really matter for its main use. They aren’t nothing, and they will definitely matter in Advanced situations, but for a lot of players, Mastery will be a luxury.
tl;dr S2 (mid to high-S) > S3 (lower than the value of the skill, probably low-A or B). Pass on S1, although it may have some use if Take-Off ever becomes a more necessary mechanic.
Closure#
6★ · Gacha
Closure is the most powerful unit in this patch (in my opinion anyway), and I think she’s one of the most interesting to discuss in quite a while. In addition to the comparison to the already existing extremely powerful Vanguards, there’s an interesting debate around her skills, with valid considerations in either direction! It makes her quite fun to think and write about. Alas, I am limited on space here!
For the comp to Ines and SA2, I’ll be very brief (for now) and say that I think Closure is the much better “daily driver”. Her downsides don’t matter as much in typical story stages and her DPS is quite a bit higher. For Advanced content though, I think the other two pull out ahead, although Closure will still have the potential for some great value there as well. It’s actually a pretty nice bit of design work that all three manage to be top-tier while being good at very different things.
For her skills, there’s two lines of thinking between her S2 and S3. One camp (the more populous one) favors her S2 which can practically dump out your entire roster in the first few seconds of a stage. The DP refund aspect makes the effective DP generation truly insane. However, it’s restricted to the 3x3 square around her drone which I think is more limiting than people realize. The other camp (the one I’m in) favors her S3 which has some great DPS (not even “for a Vanguard”, it’s just great!) on top of some really powerful and flexible range. However, that’s less about what Vanguards are typically used for.
Of course, the simple solution to this is “just do both”. Both are going to be high S-tier graded skills. However, if you can only afford one, it’s largely a philosophical question.
tl;dr S2 and S3 both high S-tier grades. I favor S3, but many favor S2. Plan to do both in either case. Pass on her S1 which just isn’t as valuable as her other skills.
Crackborne#
5★ · Gacha
I like her visual design, but compared to the evolution from Philae to Cairn, Crackborne feels pretty uninspired. She’s really just Philae but with weaker damage in exchange for a faster trigger and cycle. She doesn’t have Philae’s delay between pulses, which results in the faster trigger, and she can begin recycling her SP immediately since the effect is treated as a “buff” (rather than skill uptime). However, the damage difference is large (5k on Corrosion versus 12k on Necrosis) and triggering it means she loses her bulk, so this is a trade-off that doesn’t often work well. Corrosion also doesn’t synergize with her role as a Defender at all. For an already niche 5★, being a sidegrade (at best) to a red cert OP isn’t great. However, it is still AoE true-ish damage on a relatively fast cycle, so she is still usable, and should still end up graded.
tl;dr S2 graded, but under Philae’s S2. S1 ungraded and is a waifu only skill since Philae’s S1 is also better and also ungraded.
Vij / Viy / Вий#
6★ · Welfare
Vij (or maybe Viy, idk) continues the recent trend of 6★ Welfares which are not exactly bad, but aren’t really special either. He’s fine and functional if you like him, but expensive, and doesn’t do anything unique that can’t be found elsewhere already. In Vij’s case he just does damage, but doesn’t even do it as well as Ebenholz, so one has to wonder why he even exists as he is at all. I dislike his design too because his kit has a ton of words for what’s basically just damage! This all means he’ll be relatively low graded, likely a bit below Sankta Miksaparato and Astgenne the Lightchaser who at least have some niche value. Generally, his S3 will be his main skill since it does quite a bit more overall damage, but his S2 has better ST damage which will make it worth pursuing if you really want to use him. However, the damage isn’t impressive enough to be a general consideration.
tl;dr S3 (likely low-B) > S2 (likely mid-C). Pass on S1.
Thunder in the Azure Dream - Monster Hunter 2#
Estimated Release: November
Violet Mizutsune Orchid#
6★ · Collab Limited Gacha
Orchid2 is a very interesting unit that I’m personally quite pleased with, however she is a fair bit off of the top level of DPS we’ve gotten used to, which may leave some people disappointed. Similar to April (❤️), her faster redeployment and semi-invulnerability leads to a lot of unexpected flexibility. Orchid2 then brings that a step further by being able to be deployed on melee tiles too! While certainly not earth-shattering, that’s still fairly novel and potentially powerful, depending on the map.
Orchird2 will likely be a graded M9, but S2 is the standout. The DPH on it is nothing special, but it does a lot of AoE damage in a huge area (a questionable design choice for “arrows” but that’s a rant for another day) and is the skill that has her survivability on it, an aspect notably missing from the other two skills. You won’t be killing many boss enemies with it, but it’s a skill that will handle the rest of the map with relative ease.
After that, there’s a relatively interesting decision between her remaining skills. S1 will actually be the “better” choice. Low-SP Charge-based skills always tend to be good, and its stronger ST damage gives her a good and consistent source of damage, on top of some strong Mastery gains. S3 meanwhile is the “flashier” skill and will certainly have some value, especially against “giant” boss types, but anyone who has used Fartooth will know that the straight line range is surprisingly restrictive and the wind-up time leaves her vulnerable. People who favor getting the most use out of Orchid2 should do S1 second, while people who want more “broad” use out of her should favor S3. Probably anyway. I haven’t exactly decided how to handle the nuance in terms of grades or recommendations.
tl;dr S2 the highest priority, likely mid to lower S-tier. After that it gets nuanced, if you bother to do a second at all, but both S1 and S3 will be graded.
Zinogre S Catapult#
5★ · Collab Limited Gacha
Although she’s a bit disappointing design-wise, only granting generic 5★ DPS with the Mercenary gimmick instead of some more interesting interaction, Catapult2 is decent enough to be usable if you want. She has enough DPS, and some flexibility between her two skills that she is more than functional. She’s not a special quantity either, however. S1 is a decent AoE and hit-count skill, while S2 provides a much bigger and viable burst on a relatively low cooldown. However, as said, her DPS isn’t a special-tier and the DP cost is a steep price when better DPS options exist at the rarity. The 5★ Guards are a pretty decent group already, so even her niche potential is relatively muted. Still, it’s enough that she should pick up some grades.
tl;dr If you plan to use her, you’ll need to Master both skills. S2 will probably be slightly higher, but both roughly in the B-tier.
Bolivar Diagnosed#
Estimated Release: December
Aphrissa#
6★ · Gacha
Blast Casters are a funny archetype. In the early going, Ifrit was one of the best Casters in the game, because there were only two, and it took a long time for another reasonable Caster to come out. Ifrit also retained some of her value as time went on because she had a huge amount of RES-shred. That all hid the fact that, at their core, Blast Casters actually suck. Their long attack interval meant low DPS, and their restrictive range caused more problems than it solved. Of course, the Blast Casters after were 5★s during a time when almost all 5★s sucked so it wasn’t too shocking, but now we have another 6★ Blast Caster who just shows those assumptions are unfortunately true. A Blast Caster sucks unless they have some really pumped up numbers or some really great utility.
That whole digression is for a point, because that summarizes the skill selection for Aphrissa. Only her S3 has the numbers or utility to actually be useful. And it’s actually a good skill so will be decently graded! It does solid DPS and expands her device usage that can lead to some really creative play. I’m actually a big fan of the design! However, her S1 and S2, despite having some utility, just don’t have the numbers to back them, and they feel really bad to use, especially by modern DPS standards.
In total, she herself is just alright. She’s not bad, because the game power level is extremely high right now (no one is bad right now), but as of her release, she does seem like the weakest 6★ ahead of us on global. However, I will say that I actually really love her kit design. I’m surprised the whole device-changing-direction thing got some pushback because I think it’s a really creative exploration of the archetype!
tl;dr S3 is her main skill and should get a decent grade (low-S). S1 and S2 may be useful to simps, but are pretty weak DPS-wise, and will probably be ungraded, or low-graded at best.
Pedro#
5★ · Gacha
Pedro is yet another disappointing iteration of the recent 5★s. He teases a brand new archetype that one can imagine on a busted 6★ in a few months, but is unimpressive himself. For whatever reason, HG just undertunes the rarity, especially recently, and the result is yet another entirely skippable 5★. The idea behind the archetype is that it adds an effect to the target. The effect itself does nothing initially but lasts until some sort of trigger happens, and when it does, the effect finally happens. In Pedro’s case, his S1 does some additional damage when an enemy takes Arts damage, and his S2 heals when the friendly falls below 50% HP. He actually has some decent numbers here, but it’s a situation where why would you bother when other units do the same thing (or better), even at his own rarity, without the extra hoops to jump through? The result is a unit who is probably usable if you want, but feels very gimmicky, even for off-meta players.
Also, I’d be remiss to not mention the absurdity of his base skill. He has class specific training. Yet he’s the first and only one, and he can’t well train himself. And even when there are more in the future, it still won’t be better than Logos or Irene. And requires an expensive 5★ E2 promotion on an otherwise mediocre unit. I know not every unit can have a great base skill, but come on HG!
tl;dr Very likely ungraded. Both skills are options since they have differing roles but similar considerations (are both bad). S2 will be better though since S1 is just bad conditional DPS.
IS#7#
Estimated Release: December
Mechanist#
6★ · Welfare
As with Raidian, Mechanist is the IS#7 Welfare unit and is raised entirely by playing IS#7. As such, he won’t be graded like other units. In fact, his Masteries are even easier to obtain than Raidian’s are so there’s even less pressure! Still, the skill discussion is useful, so that will still be here.
While his skills are easier to level up than Raidian’s, he’s actually much more restrained. He’s still a good unit, and is especially good in IS#7 (as expected), but isn’t nearly as insane as his IS#6 counterpart. The work tends to split between his S2 and his S3 since they excel at different things. His S2 is his “bulk” skill which is valuable because of how it interacts with his Talent 2. This gives him a rare niche of totally negating multiple big hits, which can situationally make him the best tanking option. However, it has a long downtime and relatively poor damage, so isn’t as effective if the big hit tanking isn’t called for. Meanwhile, his S3 is his primary DPS skill, allowing for long range bombardment for solid damage, and a mini-Ulpianus S3. It’s nothing too crazy though, as far as DPS skills go, especially since the interval can be frustratingly long. Last, his S1 is the least useful skill, however thanks to the Sentinel Defender’s short interval, it cycles pretty fast so can be a decent laneholding skill, despite only having 3 ammo. It definitely makes it more consistent than his other skills, but that’s not useful all that often either. It’s a good thing the Mastery is free!
tl;dr Mechanist won’t be graded since he’s raised through playing IS#7. However, his main skills are split use between S2 and S3, with occasional S1 use.
Till the Lands Become an Orange#
Estimated Release: mid-Jan
Angelina the Mellow Wish#
6★ · Gacha Limited
Are we tired of limited 6★ Specialists that are incredibly broken yet (this was written before the P3 Collab units were revealed, lmao)? Apparently the playerbase isn’t. Personally, I am completely unshocked that our first 6★ Skyranger is utterly broken. Angelina the Mellow Wish is basically a 6★ Contrail (we don’t talk about Tippi), and Contrail is one of the best 4★s in the game. She (Angelina that is, although this applies to Contrail too) does a ton of damage to multiple targets with good control and fast cycles, all while being totally safe from most damage. Then, because she’s a limited 6★, she gets to do a bunch of other broken stuff too, like ridiculous sustain (8% is absurd), zooming around the map, and ammo combined with the hover gimmick. And it really is kind of that simple. Angie2 really is that good and has a high likelihood of being the next EX-caliber unit. And she doesn’t even have her Module yet!
S3 is her main skill and will be graded S++ for both Story and Advanced. It’s rare I say such things in advance. More than once I’ve had egg on my face from a bad early call, but it’s as clear as it gets here. The ammo mechanic on a Skyranger is incredibly powerful since she’ll just stay floating if needed, or can be turned off early to time the cycles. It also has an incredible DPH. And if the raw power wasn’t enough to justify the grade, she also has strong gains on it too. Meanwhile her S2 is valuable too, but is more situational. It has better control, a faster cycle, and can even have more DPS depending on the number of targets and enemy DEF. On a unit as powerful as Angie2, that’s well worth the M6, although her S3 will be the go to most of the time if resources are tight. Probably pass on her S1. The 60s uptime is the highest among her skills, so it might have some use for the maximalists, but S2 only has a 4 second wind-up and both other skills badly out DPS it, which makes her S1 much more situational.
tl;dr S3 is an easy S++/S++. S2 lower, but well graded, likely A-tier. S1 ungraded waifu-tier.
Thumpy#
6★ · Gacha
Compared to her limited roadtrip partner and banner mate, Thumpy is much more restrained. Of course, like everyone within the last year or so, that does not mean bad. Thumpy is, in fact, great, and that’s not just the bunny lover in me coping. However, competing in elements with Tragodia, and after a solid but totally free Defender in Mechanist, puts Thumpy in a tough spot priority-wise. She’s ultimately a bit like Yu. She’s an extremely bulky lane-holder type unit, with a lot of potential creativity for those who enjoy that sort of gameplay.
Thumpy has two very good skills, and the priority between them will depend on what you want out of her. S2 will be her daily driver skill. It cycles far more reliably and will do more damage, on average, since S3 doesn’t actually do more Corrosion beyond the ATK up. The range on it is also very strong, allowing for a lot of flexibility in placement. However, it isn’t incredibly high ceiling, owing in part to Corrosion’s awkwardness relative to the other elemental types. It will be a key high priority skill for anyone who wants to regularly use her, but for those who are extremely meta-minded, S3 will probably be the first target instead. There’s far more to say on it than can fit into a single (supposedly) short lookahead, but suffice to say it’s by far the most unique “shifter” skill we’ve gotten and it opens up all sorts of wild and chaotic strategies. It also happens to make her incredibly bulky and a good debuffer on certain enemies thanks to the extremely high-uptime. However, all of those features are also fairly situational. Pass on her S1. It might have some rare use now and then, but since it’s stuck at a basic Force level, those situations will be far and few between.
I can’t wait to make jokes about Thumpy blowing her glue all over the place.
tl;dr Well graded M6, but not quite as high as many recent 6★s. Both likely in mid-low-S or high-A. Favor S2 for daily use and S3 for unique use.
Jacinta#
5★ · Gacha
A great many 5★s have made me sad over the years. I’ve long come to accept the B-team just has no idea what they’re doing and some of the 5★s will simply be bad. Yet, somehow, they find new ways to overcome my acceptance and make me sad all over again. Jacinta feels like a personal insult. I just cannot fathom the logic behind making a gacha unit on a limited banner and member of a good, but dated, archetype with a dominant 4★, worse than a 2.5 year old WELFARE unit of the same rarity and archetype, Wanqing. And that’s just within her own archetype. Matsukiri is also a welfare of the same rarity, and is miles better! And of course this happens when we finally get a full Rim Billiton event! It doesn’t just feel bad, it feels cruel.
Anyway, yes, Jacinta is bad. Standard Bearers are one of those archetypes that are usable no matter what though, and that certainly applies to Jacinta here. She’ll still be decently graded, as all flags are, however, she’s likely to have the lowest grades of all of them. She slightly mixes things up with a longer S2 than the rest, but her numbers are worse in almost all regards, and her utility is nowhere near as good. The one bit of cope here is that her Aerial Sanctuary is actually a respectably high number. That will be an extremely situational thing, but it’s at least within the realm of possibility she’ll be valuable in some specific events here and there.
tl;dr Both skills graded, but under Wanqing (low B or C-tier likely). There are many 4 and 5★ Vanguard skills you should raise ahead of her.
Timeslot#
5★ · Welfare
Timeslot is similar to Jacinta in all of the wrong ways. She’s a 5★ in a good archetype, but is worse than the older existing options, including a similar welfare. She’s just a racoon instead of a bunny, so it’s less personally insulting, but it is still pretty depressing. Timeslot at least attempts to build on a new idea, leaning more into the niche of Mech-Accord Casters where they can continue to attack enemies that walk out of their range, which is surprisingly underrepresented (unless you count global range anyway). She even adds a bit of control too. However, her DPS isn’t as good as Rockrock’s and her control isn’t as good as Kjera’s, leaving her in an awkward middle ground. And that’s before even considering the low value of 5★ Casters in the first place. Still, like Jacinta, the archetype is good enough that she’ll still end up graded since they’re natively the best non-6★ DPS Casters. With her S2 anyway. Her S1 is a generic ATK up skill, which is something she oddly shares in common with Rockrock and Kjera, and is just as useless.
tl;dr S2 graded under Kjera (mid-B or C). Avoid S1.