Should You Summon: Dragon Yule Defenders Two Scrooge Version

You are reading the Scrooge Version of this article. If you want to more poetic version, click here. Otherwise, proceed with the boring.

When Cleo first came out she was widely hailed as one of the strongest Adventurers period, and definitely the strongest Water Adventurer. A whole year has passed, and a whole lot has changed. Now, no one would claim this particular version of Cleo to be the best (though everyone agrees Gleo definitely is) and her kit is now seen as rather lackluster. 

 

The main issue as that Energy has proven to be extremely underwhelming. It is definitely a nice bonus, but it’s a hard thing to build a whole kit around. The biggest flaw in Energy is that it has no overflow: If you are at level 4 and get two more energy quickly, one just vanishes and is wasted. Plus, even with daggers rapid attack speed, needing 30 hits to get one energy level just isn’t very rewarding when you need 5 stacks for a 50% one time boost.

As for as her Skills go, Skill one is overall solid. It can Inflict Freeze, gives team energy, and has skill shift that grants crit and strength. The Energy boost is pretty meh, but the Strength and crit bonuses are nothing to sneeze at. What is too bad is that since they’re reliant on level 2 and 3, it’s hard to keep those bonuses up consistently especially since the SP cost on her Skill 1 is a little high. In contrast, her S2 has a fairly low SP cost, only a bit more than the S1, but it doesn’t do anything but decent enough damage. 

Her resistance is Stun, which is what has basically locked her out of High Brunhilda. Orsem is a 4★, perennially available, and has Burn Res, making him the far preferred Water dagger. Cleo’s last passive is an HP% STR conditional, which is perfectly adequate. 

 

All in all, Cleo’s not junk, but due to her resistance and an only OK kit she’s relegated to mostly being a collection piece. 

 

Final Verdict: No. Collectors only.

Continuing the tradition of dunking on Luca, Malora looks to be the superior Light Curse res axe for the foreseeable future, outmoding Summer Luca. Of course, Luca doesn’t see much play in HZD or other hard content, so she’s got a higher bar to clear to prove she’s usable. 

 

Early indicators are that Malora is going to end up being very, very valuable in MG, and could even break into the established 4DPS HZD meta. Her S1 being a 15% defense down automatically makes her amazing for punching bags like Roy. Even HZD can melt with that debuff on him, especially in those rapid burst phases the quad meta favors.

The rest of Malora’s kit is solid as well. Her S2 normally hits decently, but the multipliers with the Defense Down are nuts, especially since you’re factoring in a 15% defense reduction. This combined with 13% Overdrive Punisher allows Malora to chunk bosses quickly and bring on that all important break sooner. The 20% personal shield is frankly sort of irrelevant in HZD, as the whole point of that fight is to kill the boss as fast as you can, but it is at least going to provide a safety blanket. 

 

Now, on to my predictions for the Meta. I strongly suspect Malora can function as a replacement (and probably an improvement) for Yachiyo. Yachiyo is currently the “weak link” in the quad DPS meta, supplying far less DPS than the others and mostly being there for her blade Co-ability and and extra paralysis (though Fleur can keep it up mostly on her own). The question than is this: Can Malora supply more DPS than Yachiyo even lacking the Blade Co-ability? It’s too early to call this definitively, but I suspect the answer is yes. She’s also going to provide a lot of survivability because she offers a Defensive Co-ability and a shield. Her Defense Down should be able to be up for a majority of the fight, especially if she takes some Skill Haste, and that more than makes up for the lack of a blade. The only downside is that Malora will have to be in baiting range along with Fleur (who Malora could replace, but her DPS is so much higher than Yachiyo’s I just don’t see it).

 

It’s also possible that Malora could replace one G!Euden, though I find that less likely as the Sword’s ability to rush a Break and the buffs G!Euden provides are too needed. Still, it’s a possibility, and I think that those who summon for Malora to attempt mHZD won’t be disappointed. 

Final Verdict: Yes. Malora is one of the strongest Light Adventurer’s we’ve seen and very much worth getting. 

Dragonyule Xander is just as prideful as his Sword alter-ego, but he doesn’t have the goods to back it up. Frankly, his kit is bad. His S1 is fine, it’s basically a clone of Lily’s with a negligibly higher SP cost. His S2 has a really great effect, boosting Strength by 15% for 10 seconds and Energy by 1 level, but it costs a massive 9609 SP. For reference, that’s basically ⅓ again as expensive as Lily’s S2. The buffs are good, but they’ll have such poor uptime you’ll be lucky to get them more than once or twice in a standard quest. 

Strikers Energy is actively offensive. Having to defeat three enemies for two energy levels is so bad that I can’t imagine what the devs were thinking. This ability would only be slightly OK if it was 1 energy for every 1 enemy defeated, less than that it’s atrocious. And 5% Skill Haste? That’s barely noticeable. Since he also has Stun Res, Xander’s passives are all terrible. And since his Skills aren’t great, that basically leaves this king crownless. 

Final Verdict: No. For Collectors only. 

For a time, DY!Neferia at least had a little popularity as a possible pick for standard High Brunhilda, usually as an alternative to Lily. Now that Expert and Master are out though, even that’s basically gone. While Neferia does have the right resistance, the rest of her kit is completely lackluster. 

Her S1 is fairly weak, being a line damage shot with no other effects, but it charges quickly enough to mostly make up for that. Her S2, however, is pretty bad. When used, your next two Force Strikes will give a 10% shield to nearby allies. A 10% shield really isn’t much, and the fact that you also have to be close is even worse. These days Bows have pretty good Force Strikes and their favor wyrmprint Forest Bonds encourages their use, so that isn’t the drawback as much as a weak limited area shield is. This is made even worse when one of her passives is 25% Skill Damage, so she really would have appreciated a damaging S2 over this mess. 

Once again her last passive is wasted, being Flurry Freezer. Randomly inflicting Freeze at a 10% chance is terrible even if most challenging bosses weren’t immune to Freeze. All in all, it adds up to a chilly reception for the frozen queen. 

Final Verdict: No. Collectors only. 

Like Malora, Xainfried's Dragonyule alt is better than the previous years offerings. However, DY!Cleo was a higher bar to clear, and while DY!Xainfried might be better than DY!Xander or Neferia, he's still not all that great. 

The issue is actually Noelle, who with a name like that you would think would be a shoe in for a Christmas Themed alt. But I digress. Anyway, DY!Xainfried is a Wind Wand support. He has an S1 that boosts wind attuned Adventurer's crit rate by 20% for 15 seconds. Alright, stop right there. He's just not as good as Noelle. She gives 25% Strength for 15 seconds. If I have to pick a Wind wand, I'll either use her or Maribelle, not Xainfried. 

The rest of his kit is similarly disappointing. His S2 deals damage and raises the Dragon Gage similar to G!Mym, but frankly it’s not enough to save him. More Dragon time is nice, but in HMC you save your dragons for specific points in the fight most of the time and getting there a bit faster simply is not worth the trade off of losing that 25% Strength, especially as supports favor Freyja and not a damage dealing dragon. 

The other small improvement is that Xainfried has Primed Strength over Primed Defense which is OK, but even in solo content still doesn't make him better than Noelle. He also has Dragon Claws, which is frankly bad on a support, and much worse than the Buff Time that Noelle has. The Bog res is fine, but it’s been proven that you don’t need it to succeed in HMC so it’s neither here nor there. 

This is all really too bad, because if Xainfried were a different weapon type, or maybe went all in on the dragon support, or basically wasn’t just an inferior version of Noelle, he could have been an interesting support option. As is, he’s dead on arrival and is outclassed by another 4★ Adventurer with the exact same weapon and role. 

Final Verdict: No. Xainfried is a pale reflection of a better heroine.

As a crit dragon, DY!Jeanne is OK. She’s not as good as Water Siren for most Adventurers (H!Oddetta and Laranoa are the only notable ones) and she’s also typically not as good as Leviathan due to his stellar attack multipliers and ability to inflict Bog.

Still, DY!Jeanne is completely usable. She can certainly be used to clear the hardest content, but frankly it’s hard to recommend you either pull for her or invest enough to MUB her as a limited Dragon essentially will need to be MUB with stones which are scarce. If you do get her and manage to MUB, you can confidently use her knowing she’s perfectly adequate. 

Final Verdict: Maybe. DY!Jeanne is damned by faint praise. 

As a paralysis Punisher Dragon, I could almost guarantee that Corsaint Phoenix would see a ton of usage in MG, if it wasn’t for the fact that Light is mostly garbage and most people use a rainbow team to clear the later levels. Still, she’s a good pairing for Fleur and Yachiyo, two of the better Light Adventures, and if you are using those two your whole team can likely benefit from near constant Paralysis up time. 

The other problem lies in the fact that the Quad DPS meta is highly reliant on Cupid’s heal to be successful. You might be able to replace one or two Cupids with Phoenix, but you certainly can’t replace all of them. Plus, Cupid offers a very relevant crit buff in addition to his heal, and the damage and cleanse that Phoenix offers just isn’t as good even with Paralysis tacked on. 

Still, Phoenix is undeniably powerful and can definitely find a use in high end content, so she can be worth acquiring. Do keep in mind that she’s not limited, and as such you can take your time getting hold of her and unbinding. 

FInal Verdict: Maybe. Phoenix is good, but likely won’t replace Cupid. 

About the Rates

• Standard 4% rates.
• Adventurers and DY!Jeanne are limited. Corsaint Phoenix however is not, and has gone into the permanent pool.
• DY!Cleo and DY!Malora share a 1% rate and are at .5% each. 
• DY!Jeanne and Corsaint Phoenix share a 1.6% rate and are at .8% each. 
• The 4★ Adventurers Nefaria, Xander, and Xainfried are each at 1.75%. 
• Also Lindwurm is on the banner at 1.75% as well, but she's plenty forgettable. 

Final Verdict: Maybe. There's at least some good stuff, but not all of it. 

DY!Malora is quite the stocking stuffer, and both of the dragons are at least good. However, DY!Cleo is sadly ineffective, as are Xainfried, Xander and Nefaria. If you must get Malora this is a decent enough time to pull, but otherwise I'd recommend you not invest too heavily.