Standard Banner: Weedy & Exusiai
The new Standard Banner features the following Operators:
Featured Operators:
| Rarity | Operator |
| 6★ |  Weedy - Pusher Specialist
 Exusiai - Anti-Air Sniper
|
| 5★ |  Leizi - Chain Caster
 Zima - Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard
 Andreana - Long-Range Sniper
|
- Based on previous patterns, it is likely but not 100% certain that the Operators for purchase in the Distinction store will be Exusiai and Zima.
- 6★ Rate-Ups have a 50% chance of appearing when pulling a 6★
- 5★ Rate-Ups have a 50% chance of appearing when pulling a 5★
Should You Pull?
Short answer: Maybe.
This banner has two terrific 6-star units—Weedy is a very powerful Pusher and Exusiai is still the best Anti-Air Sniper—but the 5-star units are more situational. Zima and Andreana are both good for some playstyles, but may not be great choices for everybody, and Leizi is pretty undertuned.
The 6-star units are good enough that it’s probably worth trying your luck at least a little, but if you’re not interested in Zima and/or Andreana as well as Weedy/ Exusiai, this banner may not be the most efficient use of your resources.
If nothing else, you may want to do Headhunt x1 on this banner until you pull a 5★ or higher Operator, since one is guaranteed in the first 10 rolls.
Quick Overview
+ Excellent Push Specialist with a lot more potential than existing Push Specialists
+ Can push from two locations by deploying her Water Cannon
+ S1 Stuns targets who get Pushed
+ S2 is a permanent buff that allows her to push multiple targets from a distance
+ S3 does true damage based on how far enemies move; with the proper setup (lots of space, Water Cannon next to Weedy, Angelina S3 active) the amount of true damage dealt is brain-melting
- Still loses some viability when there are no holes or hazards on the map, despite her DPS
- S3 is very finicky about positioning: she needs space to deploy her Water Cannon next to her and long straightaways to Push enemies away for maximum damage
- The Water Cannon is not permanent; it disappears after a short time and must be redeployed, creating downtime and costing DP
+ Devours low-DEF enemies faster than she eats apple pie
+ Very consistent damage output
+ Wildly effective when buffed by other Operators (i.e., Sora, Warfarin)
- Requires buffs to be effective against enemies with more than 600 DEF (which are increasingly common in high-end content)
+ Has “chain lightning” attacks that can jump up to 4 tiles if enemies are arranged correctly
+ Talent and innate crowd-control means she works well with no-Block strategies
= Better than a ST Caster when enemies are close together, and better than an AoE Caster when enemies are spread out, but worse when the opposite is true
= Will be getting a buff to the bounce range of her lightning in the future
- High DP cost
- Low base ATK and slow ASPD greatly reduces her potential DPS
- “Chain” range on her attacks is only 1 grid, so intentionally utilizing the bounces can be difficult
+ Terrific synergy with other Vanguards, between E2 Talent (Vanguard DP cost -1) and S2 (buffs all Vanguards and gives them +1 DP when killing an enemy)
+ Very durable; high DEF and HP for a Vanguard (and boosts her own DEF with S2)
- S2 is very strong, but it has a short duration with a long cooldown
- Low ATK
+ Usual benefits of Long-Range Snipers: huge attack range, prioritizes low-DEF enemies
+ Talent increases ASPD of Abyssal Hunter allies (i.e., Specter, Skadi)
+ S2 has decent uptime and an outrageously high ATK buff (+240% ATK at M3!)
- Usual downsides of Long-Range Snipers: very slow ASPD, does not prioritize aerial enemies
- While S2 is active, she does not attack enemies who have less than 50% health
Weedy
Weedy is a Push Specialist, and she Pushes harder than any other Push Specialist to date. For one thing, she knows better than to go it alone. From E1 onward, Weedy can deploy her Water Cannon to the field, which can also Push enemies away, albeit with lesser force. Weedy and the Water Cannon can Push in two places at once, but they work best as a team: when placed next to each other, they can activate the legendary Liquid Nitrogen Cannon in tandem, sending enemies flying to the other side of the map and melting them with tremendous Pure damage as they go.
Weedy is subject to the same basic limitations as other Push Specialists, in that Pushing tends to be strongest on maps with instant-death pits and loses some of its luster otherwise. However, Weedy’s kit is so strong that you may not even notice this in most cases. She’s durable, she hits multiple targets, she can be deployed on ground or ranged grids, she Pushes with the force of a semi, and her damage potential is astronomical. Throw in the versatility of the Water Cannon and bonus SP when it’s deployed next to her (thanks to her E2 Talent) and Weedy is one heck of a complete package.
I recommend pulling for Weedy. She’s noticeably better than Shaw or FEater.
Exusiai
Do you have enemies? Do you want those enemies to be filled with bullets? Then look no further than Exusiai, the apple-pie-obsessed angel with more bullets than her gun knows what to do with.
Exusiai absolutely terrorizes any content where enemies have less than 600 DEF. Her cheap DP cost and enormous DPS output make her a convenient artillery cannon for just about any stage. As enemies get more than 600 DEF, Exusiai’s damage potential falls off sharply. However, her multiple-hitting attacks mean that she benefits more from ATK buffs than just about any other Operator. Bolstered by the buffs of Operators like Warfarin and Sora, Exusiai can tear a hole in the fabric of space/time itself.
I recommend pulling for (or buying!) Exusiai.
Leizi
Leizi is the first of the Chain Casters, an archetype whose attacks bounce from enemy to enemy, dancing across the field and inflicting damage all the way. Leizi adds a Slow effect to her chain lightning strikes and bonus damage from her Talent, which increases her ATK when hitting unblocked enemies. Between her Talent and her Trait’s Slow effect, Leizi is a natural fit for a no-Block strategy, and her special chaining attacks give her a unique reach as compared to other Caster Operators.
“Unique” certainly describes Leizi, but “unique” does not equal “good.” Her archetype falls somewhere between a ST Caster and an AoE Caster, and unfortunately this means she suffers the downsides of both. Her ATK is lower than an AoE Caster and her ASPD is slower than a ST Caster (and her attacks become less powerful every time they bounce, except when her S2 is active), so her DPS is often terrible. Her Talent’s ATK buff against unblocked enemies does not make up the difference, especially with her low base ATK, and she has no utility other than the brief Slow from her Trait.
On some stages, where steady streams of enemies are funneling through long chokepoints, Leizi’s attacks can bounce up the enemy ranks and give her pretty impressive range. Otherwise, it’s too easy for the chain lightning to end its chain prematurely, and the overall low DPS means it’s rarely worth the effort.
I don’t recommend pulling for Leizi.
Zima
Zima is a strong Operator, but her power is a little more niche than Vanguards like Texas or Myrtle. Zima’s big selling point is the way she multiplies the power of other Vanguards. Her E2 Talent reduces their DP cost, helping you set up quickly at the start of a fight, and her S2 is a massive buffet of buffs (a buff-et, if you will!) that increases the ATK, DEF, and DP generation of all allied Vanguards.
When used alongside other Vanguards, Zima’s potency can add up to become quite astounding. However, when only one Vanguard is needed or her buffs can’t be fully taken advantage of, then Zima can be quickly outclassed.
I don’t recommend pulling for Zima, but she’s worth raising if you like using multiple Vanguards as your frontline (she’s not necessary if you’re only using Vanguards for their DP generation).
Andreana
Andreana is something of an odd duck (er, octopus?) Long-Range Snipers are an odd archetype to begin with: they have huge attack range and very high base ATK, but their ASPD is so slow that they may have a hard time accomplishing much on some maps. On paper, Andreana sounds like she makes this problem even worse due to the limitations of her S2: the Skill dramatically increases her ATK, but prevents her from targeting any enemies that have less than 50% of their HP remaining.
In a way, however, these limitations work perfectly with the limitations of being a Long-Range Sniper. Because Andreana attacks slowly, frontloading her damage with the S2 attack buff gives her a lot more bang for her buck. Weak enemies can go from “over half health” to “dead” in a single S2 shot anyway, and stronger enemies go down a lot faster after a few “+240% ATK” shots to the head. (Don’t use her against the Avenger-type enemies that power up at low health, though. Bad idea. Very bad idea.)
Andreana isn’t very special while her S2 isn’t active, and because of her S2’s limitations, there are plenty of other Operators who can boast more consistent damage. However, between her enormous attack range and the truly ridiculous damage spikes she can inflict when used correctly, Andreana can fill an interesting niche on your squad.
I don’t recommend pulling for Andreana, but she can be worth raising if you pull her.
