Astra

Overview

Astra is a fairly common 3★ HG who is also the only RoF buffer in her rarity class. Her tile formation requires placement in the standard main tank position of 5 to buff the backline DPS in RFHG echelons, which is unfortunate because she is likely to take a lot of hits and become quickly damaged due to her notably low Evasion among HGs, if not supported by an Evasion tile buff or an enemy Accuracy debuff. Astra can serve as a low-rarity replacement for M950A (Calico) due to her similar tile layout and skill, albeit with somewhat lower multipliers due to her 3★ rarity.

For commanders who are either on a budget or do not wish to raise duplicates of the same T-Doll, Astra remains a solid Rate of Fire support option for RFHG echelons due to the relative rarity of T-Dolls who can boost the stat on their skill: Astra (20%), Five-SeveN (20%), Jill (22%, Moonblast), Stechkin (22%), and M950A (25%). Players who have the higher-rarity alternatives may not derive as much marginal benefit when raising Astra, and can opt to pass over this T-Doll if they do not need her to fill the role of an RoF buffer.

Strengths

Relatively High HP

Among Handguns, Astra has a notably higher HP than most. Of the 3 star Handguns, she is currently only beat out by Tokarev and C96.

Decent Tile Buffs

Astra provides a respectable 20% RoF tile buff on tiles diagonal to hers and can buff both backline RF from position 5, similar to M950A.

Good Skill

Astra’s Assault Command skill provides an uncommon boost to ally RoF, and makes her a potentially valuable member of RFHG Echelons who often benefit significantly from Rate of Fire boosts.

Weaknesses

Locked to Position 5

Astra’s tile formation forces her to be placed in the middle tile to make the most out of her buff, which requires her to tank incoming fire despite her low Evasion.

Wasted Evasion Tile Buff

While Astra’s tile buff provides a 20% Evasion boost that is normally quite good for tanking, it cannot hit any allied HG due to the awkward X-shape of Astra’s tile buff. 

Low Evasion

Astra has below average Evasion for a HG. Without support from an Evasion-boosting tile such as from Grizzly, Astra will be slightly more fragile than other HGs who tend to be placed in the front column.

Full Analysis

Astra has a decently high HP value of 400, but a relatively low Evasion of 68. These stats confer somewhat below-average survivability for Astra, who will tend to take more damage than typical tank HGs from standard enemy types, especially due to her forced positioning in the maintank tile of 5. Fortunately, she is an excellent buffer, so let’s take a look at her buffs.

Astra’s tile buffs comprise the 4 spaces diagonally around her that give 20% RoF and 20% Evasion. It’s an awkward layout, and will not provide more than the two buffs given to the backline DPS. Making use of her tile buff requires Astra to be in the center position, which will lead to her taking quite a lot of damage without kiting or swapping (which, in this context, means switching her out with the position 4 or position 8 HG at the start of the battle so that a HG with better tanking stats will be taking all the blows the enemy deals out). 

Note that if the position 4 HG buffer is Grizzly, the 20% Evasion tile buff is sufficient to bring Astra’s Evasion on par with Welrod Mk II. As they have an identical HP value of 400, in echelons with Grizzly it is not necessary to swap Astra out of the center in battle, unless she has taken critical damage. 

As a secondary buffing unit in a standard formation, Astra will almost always be buffing only one other unit. Since RFs are usually not run in the 4 position, the only time she could feasibly be used as a secondary buffer is in niche exodia-style compositions with 1 DPS and 4 buffers, a formation that is not typically recommended except for certain low-cost farming scenarios. 

Astra’s skill confers a 20% buff to RoF for all units, and is the best out of all 2★-3★ HGs. The buff is comparable to the few other HGs that offer RoF buffs, although with a slightly lower skill multiplier due to Astra’s 3★ rarity. This buff is usually useful for RFHG compositions due to the generally low base Rate of Fire of RFs, although the existence of M950A with her superior tile buff and skill multiplier means that Astra will typically not be the first pick for commanders who want RoF support in their echelons. 

Overall, Astra is decent T-Doll whose practical applications may be limited for commanders who already have access to superior alternatives. Astra’s common drop rate makes her an accessible option for commanders who are building RF teams on a budget, but since there are better options available, it’s not advisable to invest too many resources into her - especially Intermediate or Advanced Training Data, which are scarce and often better used on DPS units or 5★ support HGs. As such, while Astra can be used early on, keep in mind that she will likely be replaced by M950A late game if the commander either intends to raise duplicates of 5★ T-Dolls, or has no use for multiple RFHG echelons that require 2 RoF buffers. 

Team Options

SAA

M1911

Stechkin

Makarov

PPK

FMG-9

M14

SVD

WA2000

Lee Enfield

Grizzly

Welrod MKII

Five-Seven

Gr G28

Sei Asagiri

K31

Self-Buffing RFs 

Since Astra increases RoF, her buff provides a stat that RFs universally benefit from, due to their low base RoF values. RFs like M14, Lee-Enfield, and G28 can benefit from two RoF buffers, while RFs like WA2000, SVD, and K31 will typically reach near cap with only one.

Buffer HGs

RFHG echelons typically are made up of two DPS RFs and three HGs, with two to three DPS-boosting HGs and optionally a support that improves survivability through utility skills. As Astra is an RoF buffer, she can pair with at least one other RoF buffer like Stechkin or Five-seveN when the RFs do not boost their own RoF, or with Damage buffers like Grizzly or SAA otherwise.

Utility HGs

Instead of a third DPS buffer HG, it may sometimes be optimal to run a utility HG such as Welrod Mk II, Makarov, Sei, or M1911. Against the right type of enemies, their skills can often reduce the echelon’s damage taken much more than a third DPS buffer would.

Recommended Formations