Overall Pull Priority#
August update: The only new thing this update is Aphrissa joining the list as Strong Skip. She actually isn’t bad (no one is) but lacks anything that would make her a compelling pull option, especially just before a limited banner. Additionally, I’ve decided not to move either Orchid2 or Yato2 yet. The reasoning here is that removing Wang/Chen3 clears the list up a lot, but the summer limited banner will likely cause a large shift, and I don’t want to move them one update only to have to move them back the next. So expect a much larger update next patch.
| Tier | Units |
|---|---|
| Strong Pull | Kal’tsit·Esperanta (limited), Closure |
| Lean Pull | Violet Mizutsune Orchid (collab limited), Kirin R Yato (collab limited, rerun) |
| Lean Skip | Zima the Raging Tide, Bellone |
| Strong Skip | Necrass (rerun), 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.
Violet Mizutsune Orchid
Orchid2 is a Fast-Redeploy Sniper that can deploy to melee tiles. That makes her very flexible and reasonably powerful. However, her DPS isn’t as crazy as we’re used to so she’s not quite as impactful as many recent 6★s, nor is she as flexible as her fellow MH 6★, Yato2.
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.
Bellone
Bellone has really high ST DPS and strong DEF-shred, meaning he will rip up a lot of stages and enemies. He has a really high floor that will appeal to some people, with just enough high end value to warrant at least a look. However, he is far less versatile than many other DPS units, including several upcoming ones. That makes him tricky to recommend. Older players will already have better options, and newer players will get better value from their pulls saving for the better options.
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.
Necrass
She’s a powerful general unit, but has a much lower ceiling than the other upcoming top dogs. If her summon gets stat-checked, she’s just raw damage, and while her damage is good, it’s not special either. She’s a solid carry sort of unit, but we have a lot of those now with higher ceilings.
Unit & Masteries Lookaheads#
People, A People#
Estimated Release: September
Zima the Raging Tide#
6★ · Gacha
Oh Zima. Do I love you because you’re the kind of alter that I love to see? Or do I hate you because your main value is raising the bar on braindead gameplay? In any case, it’s getting a lot harder to write these lookaheads. There’s a lot more nuance to these units than there used to be. There hasn’t been a “bad” 6★ in a couple years now, and it’s really difficult to convey the nuance in a paragraph or two. In Zima2’s case, she’s a strong unit, but with a relatively low ceiling. Her S2 charges shockingly fast, and gives her some pretty insane stats, with an always-on DEF higher than most Defenders. You don’t even have to press the button to activate it either! I guess HG knows what AFK players really want. Then she has a highlight reel nuke skill too with her S3 for some flexible wave clearing use.
However, these ultimately mean she has a pretty low ceiling. Well, relative to the modern 6★s anyway. Her S3 nuke looks impressive due to its crazy DPH, and many people will remember her killing Patriot in a single-cycle. However, its total damage is on the low side, so even with its relatively low SP cost, it feels unimpressive in tougher content. Worse, she does very little off skill, often leaving her very exposed. These sorts of one-use nukes just don’t have the value they used to (looking at you Degenbrecher). Meanwhile, while her S2 is a great and fast charging AFK skill, it’s still just an AFK skill and we have a ton of those now. Zima is definitely far from a bad unit, but she’s likely to be graded a bit lower than some people might expect. There are a number of people out there that view her as a top-tier unit, but my view of her is much more restrained.
tl;dr S2 > S3. Both will be on the high end of grades, but a bit off the top. S2 likely mid-low S and S3 likely low-S or high-A.
Укусик / Ukusik#
5★ · Gacha
I love how HG drips in a child now and then. No, not for that reason you sicko. I love it because it’s a nice reminder every now and then about how truly fucked Terra is. Anyway, Ukusik is a pretty neat unit for the creative type players. She’s not the first unit who can provide an on-demand Camouflage, but the existing options are much less effective at it than she is. Heavyrain has a really restrictive range, and natively being a blocker reduces her effectiveness at the role. Despite those flaws, Heavyrain has seen decent niche usage over the years, so I’m pretty optimistic about Ukusik! However, that’s pretty far from a meta consideration, especially since there are just so many already decent Medics who do the healing job much better. Further, she doesn’t need anything beyond E1 to do that job since the camo duration doesn’t change after SL7, so the extra promotions are only for some extra healing that isn’t her key value, and some cycling/initial SP improvements that most people will never notice.
tl;dr S2 is a good skill and will be graded, but lower than its value due to the gains not mattering for her primary purpose. Only look towards S1 if you really want to use her over other options since it is only a basic healing skill.
Ботани / Botani#
5★ · Welfare
Botani is our first source of friendly Corrosion. First, Corrosion itself ends up being relatively weak compared to the other elements. It does less damage per burst, seemingly with the intent of faster cycling. That isn’t bad, but ends up meaning most things will die before the debuff comes into play, and in an era of the game where there’s so much crazy DPS, that just isn’t overly special. Botani herself though ends up being a sidegrade to Valarqvin, who does already see some use in non-6★ niches, so she’s not exactly bad, although certainly not a meta consideration. Botani can trigger Corrosion three times per S2 activation, which gives her greater damage than Valarqvin per activation (15k vs 12k) on top of the debuff, plus her longer range. However, Botani cycles far worse and without the control benefits Valarqvin has, and often loses her damage advantage against bosses. If you aren’t the sort of player who has already raised and gotten use out of Valarqvin, Botani will be no different, especially with insanely meta and incompatible units like Tragodia and Yu out there, but she may have some use for a few players or if you just happen to like her.
tl;dr S2 low-C grade, similar to Valarqvin. Pass on S1. The SP cost is shorter than the Corrosion cooldown, so she wastes activations and it’s slower than it might appear. It could have some value for the true extremists though.
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.