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Should You Summon: Madcap Misfits

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Stirring Shadows Act II

Warning: Contains Yandere

Disclaimer: The opinions below are written by GamePress and do not actually reflect Nintendo, Cygames, or the fairy Notte's opinions (probably. If they do, it was a coincidence).

Well hello again, darlings! Notte is, ah, indisposed right now-

THERE IS NO NOTTE, ONLY ZUUL!

Erm, yes, quite. Well anyway, it’s time for another Summon Showcase, and naturally I’ll be taking over for dearest Notte as she recovers from her, er, experiences with the Ancient One. Don’t forget the salt, Heinwald! And perhaps a few extra holy symbols while you’re at it. Anywho, let’s start with the Adventurers!

I'm gonna getcha one way

Ah, young love. It’s good to see that someone’s finally taken a healthy interest in dearest Luca. I must say, Chelsea’s tactics do seem quite effective. I may have to take notes to get dearest Euden to finally be mine. Though I think the bear trap is a bit much.

When Cygames said they were giving us new characters with unique kits, I’m tempted to think that was their way of saying there were going to try to pass up Gala Cleo in power level. It’s too soon to say if Chelsea is actually that good, and the fact that she’s at least weak to Water hinders her in cross content applicability, but what is certain is that she has the potential to have some of the highest DPS of any Adventurer. 

 

Chelsea’s S1 is a basic damage ability on it’s own, neither particularly hard hitting nor weak. However, once you roll her S2 Obsession into the mix, her S1 gains a self sustain aspect, healing for 5% of the damage done (capping at a maximum of 49% of your max HP for the entire skill). That’s pretty good already, but Obsession does a whole lot more. With a rather quick charge up time of only 7000 SP (low for an S2), you can activate Obsession almost immediately to gain a self buff of 30% Strength. This is on top of another 30% Strength buff from Chelsea’s passive Obsessive Love, though it also lowers her defense by 20%. This comes at a cost however, causing Chelsea to take 3% damage for every hit while Obsession is active. Or at least, it would be at a cost, if Chelsea didn’t get 20% Strength and 10% attack rate increase when her HP was 30% or below. This makes Chelsea very similar to Natalie, and players familiar with her will know that both Natalie and Chelsea will be high risk, high reward.

 

What this means is that Chelsea players will have to walk a fine line. They’ll need to use their S1 at the right times in a fight to keep themselves alive when they’re going to take a hit, like during Storm Chaser in HMS for example, but the rest of the time they’ll want to keep their HP low to maximise damage output. Since Obsession lasts 60 seconds, you can easily keep it up for nearly the entire fight, keeping in mind that you have 20% lower defense and are draining your own HP while Obsession is active.

 

Now normally, a character as powerful as Chelsea would get an unconditional Yes from me. A constant 30% Strength skill increase and an additional passive 30% Strength and 10% attack rate plus an HP conditional 20% strength and 10% attack rate lead to Chelsea putting up monster numbers. However, this comes with a caveat: Due to her lowered Defenses and the need to redline her HP, Chelsea has one of the highest skill floors we’ve ever seen. An inexperienced or poor player will simply have a bad time with Chelsea. Any additional avoidable damage, a mistiming of your self heal, or taking a big hit when your defense is reduced will lead to a dead yandere rabbit. And as the wisdom of ancient gamers says: “Dead DPS does no DPS.” 

 

If however you are willing to learn a challenging character and push your abilities to the limit, Chelsea has a ludicrously high skill ceiling and damage potential. Chelsea is poised to make a huge impact on the metagame, and though I’m hesitant to say she’s Gala Cleo levels of metagame warping (mostly because unlike Gleo, Chelsea’s buffs are only for her and not your whole team) she could very well be close to or even across that line. Thus, while Chelsea more than earns a “Yes” for summoning, it comes with a caveat. This is in comparison to Gleo, who requires relatively little skill to get maximal use out of, and has much broader cross elemental applicabilty. Gleo would be an unqualified yes, while Chelsea comes with a warning label. 

 

Verdict: Yes, but be warned. You are going to have to play at a higher level to get the most out of Chelsea. Inexperienced players or those with poor internet connections may want to pass instead. 

Woof. Just thinking about my darling prince makes it feel like things are heating up in here. Rena must be here to stroke the flames of passion! Or at least make me a new lance. I can’t be left behind from all the fun, darling!

Upon her initial release, Rena was somewhat lackluster due to her heavy reliance on Burn mechanics. With the reworking of how Afflictions work and now that both Mercurial Gauntlet 51+ and Master High Midgardsormr being vulnerable to Burn, things have drastically changed for Rena. She has gone from middle of the pack to the top of the food chain, beating out even Mikoto as the favored Flame Blade to take into Master HMS and high end MG teams. 

Rena is also favored thanks to her tanky nature, having both Primed Defense and Healing Doublebuff to increase her survivability in content that increasingly requires both high damage and the ability to take hits. Her Sleep resistance is a bit of a bummer for HMS, but in the current Omega Hypnos, it’s the perfect fit. And even in HMS, skilled play and a friendly Verica can essentially remove the downside to a lack of Stun resistance. 

Verdict: Yes. Rena is now a top pick for most Wind end game content. 

I was never one for bad boys myself. Sure, they’re pretty to look at and can be fun, but after the first couple of decades that sort of behavior wears a bit thin. Besides, I’m fairly certain Yuya is all talk and no walk. One little wisp of flame from me and he turned tail and ran. I did like his haircut though. Perhaps dearest Euden should visit the barbers with me soon.

We were promised something different, and this pompadour charioteer looks to provide just that. In a similar vein to Summer Ranzel, Yuya’s S1 Deadly Joyride sends him careening around the stage atop his “ride” for a short time. You can change directions and control him during this time, but it will take some practice and getting used to before players can get the most out of this skill. It also grants 20% attack rate for 20 seconds, meaning  you’ll want to use Yuya’s S1 as often as possible to maximise uptime. 

Rowdy Rumbler, Yuya’s S2, give a 10% defense buff and a 20% HP shield. He also boasts Primed Devastation, the Crit Rate primed skill that makes Yuya a good choice for Raids or Solo content to provide even more buffs to your controlled Adventurer. 

Yuya’s defining ability though is his passive, Chicken at Heart. This grants a 20% Strength buff when above 60% HP, but conversely also gives a -20% Strength penalty when you’re below 60% HP. This means that Yuya excelles in content where he can be kept healthy, but in situations where his HP will be consistently low he’s going to underperform. You’ll need to evaluate each quest and your own ability to avoid damage to determine if Yuya will be a good fit. It also undervalues Yuya’s primed ability somewhat, as the AI is notoriously prone to standing in bad and taking damage a player would have easily avoided. 

All in all, Yuya offers interesting choices, but he’s not going to be meta defining like Chelsea. He has strengths, but also weaknesses that offset them, and to a degree that they can be a serious drawback. 


Verdict: Maybe. Again, Yuya requires careful play to get the most of of Chicken at Heart, and there are plenty of stronger Adventurers that don’t come with a harsh drawback. 

Dear sweet Serena, she’s always getting tricked. I’ll have to make sure she stays away from ruffians. A tender child like her needs to be taken care of. Or else-

KLAATU! BARADA! NI-mph!

-or else one ends up as an object lesson in why you should never be too trusting. I’m afraid I’m going to have to gag poor Notte, else she’ll end up summoning the Ancient One, who is a dreadful bore to deal with.

Continuing the trend, Serena is another Adventurers who needs high level play to get the most out of her, though she’s closer to Yuya than Chelsea in where her ceiling lies. Serena’s kit is all combos and crits, all the time. If you can quickly build to 60+ combo hits, Serena’s Barrage Obliteration and Barrage Devastation will grant her a combined 9% crit rate and 18% crit damage buff. That’s a respectable amount, but it’s not an overwhelming leg up.


With double damaging skills, and an S1 that another 10% crit rate buff to her, Serena is a respectable middle of the pack choice for Flame DPS. She’s really outshone by 5* Adventurers like Rena or Mikoto, but as far 4* Flame choices go only Emma outstrips Serena, and really Emma outstrips everyone. That means that if you’re just starting out Serena is a good pick up, but if you’ve acquired a solid Flame stable already she doesn’t have much to offer. Notably, Serena does pair very well with bannermate Yuya, as she would love to have his Primed Devastation ability. 

Verdict: Maybe. Serena is a solid middle of the pack performer and a good pick up for newer players, but veterans will likely have a plethora of better options. 

My, this summoning business is hard work. I’m getting rather famished. Thankfully, Kagutsuchi always has a bucket of his chicken. He says he uses twelve herbs and spices, but personally I think it’s just eleven and he’s bragging.

Unfortunately Kagutsuchi is more Original Recipe than Extra Spicy. Like Hastur before him, he’s a Primed Strength dragon. This means that for solo or co-op content, you’re better off using one of Flame’s plethora of choices, the best of which are Sakuya and Cerberus. However, for the Mercurial Gauntlet or Raids, putting Kagutsuchi on an AI controlled Adventurer grants you an additional 15% Strength whenever your S1 is ready. This does mean that Kagutsuchi’s ability to inflict burn is rather irrelevant though, as you’ll rarely want to actually shapeshift into him. 

Verdict: A tepid maybe. Kagutsuchi has an extremely narrow niche, and in most cases you’re better off using another dragon. If you do want to conquer MG 51+ or smash Omega raids, he’s a good choice.

Ifrit continues to be a solid if boring choice. New players will want a copy or two to MUB with Moonstones, but after you’ve done that Ifrit’s usefulness is rather lacking. 

Verdict: Maybe, new players only.

Final Verdict

This is not a limited banner. Chelsea, Yuya, and Kagutsuchi have gone into the permanent pool.

  • Chelsea is irritated to share a 1% rate with Rena, and they are at .5% each. But Chelsea's .5% is the half Luca likes, so there.
  • Kagutsuchi has a .8% summon rate as the only featured  5★ dragon, but comes with a (digital) bucket of wings. 
  • The 4★ Yuya and Serena are at 2.3% each, as is Ifrit.

Well dearies, that about wraps things up on my end. Notte seems to be sleeping off her little possession, and should be right as brimstone come the next showcase! I do hope you acquire me some new Adventurers to play with. Although I must warn you, if you try to put Chelsea with my own dear prince, well, she's not the only one around here with a propensity towards violence. Ta-ta for now!

Final Verdict: A Weak Yes. Chelsea and Rena are incredible, but the other offerings are iffy.

 

If you're pursing Chelsea and Rena, this banner is certainly worth summoning on. Even the other offerings are at least decently strong, or have a specific niche they can fit into. However, if you already have Rena, I'd suggest passing. Strong as Chelsea is, unlike Gleo she's going into the permanent pool, where she can stalk Luca until you pull her. If you need both however, this banner suddenly looks extra crispy, and worthy of your wyrmite. 

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About the Author(s)

Hailing from Hawaii, a lover of gatcha games and geek culture.