Theater Teambuilding Guide (2021)

If you wish to find details on Theatre 5's new enemies, head just below for the Theatre 5 section. If you want to review anything from older Theaters, that information is below as before! Detailed guides on the tougher enemy compositions will be added in the following days. 

With the arrival of Theater 5 we see many new enemies. Some we briefly met back in Polarized Light, but now they seem far more intimidating than back then, while others are brand new to EN, and will be formally encountered in Dual Randomness!

Why should you bring 2 Mortar HOCs when up until now we recommended bringing 2 Shield Breaker HOCs?

Due to Theater 5 not bringing in many new shielded waves, and with the new waves focusing more on powerful unshielded enemies, Mortar-type HOCs will see much more use, as their ability to kill off groups of enemies easily and quickly makes them extremely useful. For your last HOC, an ATW such as AT4 or BGM-71 should be used, as their shield piercing abilities are extremely valuable, and they are not restricted by their shorter range in Theater.

What about AGS? They have a better AoE damage than BGM no?

While AGS can provide more spread damage over BGM, its shield pierce ability is very inferior to BGM's and AT4's when it matters (against Gundams or Patrollers, for example), and their actual damage is very low compared to 2B, M2, and even to AT4's burning Skill. For those reasons, AGS is not recommended to bring as the third HOC unit.

This enemy may seem scary at first, but it's so easy you can do it fairyless (not that you should though).

Note a few things, however:

• Wiggle your HGs so they shoot the Dactyls (the little spiders), so they don't blow themselves up on your team.
• It's likely that they'll survive long enough to plant mines. You can either save an HOC use to kill the Acheron (not recommended), take the L (also not recommended), or retreat everyone, save for one HG, and move it past the mines safely (Seriously, just watch the video, it's not even a minute long)

Despite this comp looking scary at first glance, it’s not too bad if you keep a clear head and know what you’re doing. Killing the Dactyls before they lay mines in bad spots is important, as is killing the Kratos since it can cause problems later if not killed fast enough. Minotaurs can be stalled with HGs (especially P22 and her shield buff to the front column) and are easily dealt with after most of the enemies are dead. Don’t worry about the x2 link Hydra, it can’t survive too much and your RFs should retarget to it after killing the Kratos.

So easy you can do it fairyless! (But that doesn’t mean you should).

Almost AFK except for one move made at the start to give more walk time to the bottom Minotaur. Minotaurs aren’t scary by themselves, it’s what they can provide cover for that is. You’ll see this wave in Intermediate 4 and Core 4.

While the fight in itself is easy, there are a few points worth mentioning:

• When Strider actives its Evasion mode, it shoots a pierce round, and because of it, Commanders should move the doll from Position 4 to Position 8 or 2 as soon as the battle starts.
• Its Piercing round also causes another issue: if using an SG as tank, Commanders have to move her out of the way when it shoots, as it bypasses Armor and can easily melt your SG. Seriously, use a Taunt.
• Countering it, however, is not hard: sure hit units or bamboo RFs can make short work of it, as bamboos have plenty of time to partially charge their shots. Units that bypass shields are also handy for dealing damage when it's on Attack mode, namely Deagle and NTWMod. More on Patroller secttion, under Theater 3&4.
• Around the 10 second mark, note how Deagle starts ripping off both the Strider's shield and HP. This is due to her passive that lets her bypass shields, on top of her Active skill buffing her damage.
• A fully leveled Taunt lets Commanders kill a Strider in two cycles without worrying about tanking damage.
• While NTWMod can pierce through its shield, she also deals a ton of damage, so Commanders might want to charge up her nuke shot during the first Evasion cycle, and shoot it afterward, as it ignores the Strider's shield.
• Lastly, this video was recorded with a 3 star Taunt at Level 60. Even so, it only took a cycle to kill it.

RF/HG makes short work of this enemy group.

Stopping the Nemeums early is important here, to have the space to stop/start them multiple times as needed. Try to avoid having them go out of engagement range of the RFs when pulling back, (I don't do a good job of this here) so they can be picked off while they walk. If you are trying to 0 Damage this wave, a few resets for Aegis Accuracy might be required, otherwise, treat this as entry-level kiting practice. 

This wave is not particularly complicated. I got fancier with the kiting than you actually need to be. Just move your main tank up forwards to stop the Brutes and Strikers, then back again. Retreat your tanks to buy some extra time for the ARs to lay into the Strikers. 

So, what could Commanders bring to fight Coeus?

• SAT8 is a great ally, as she can provide shields to herself and two other dolls on the front roll, which helps reduce damage taken;
• Twin Fairies gives Coeus two more targets to shoot, which reduce the odds of them shooting your DPS units;
• P22, for the same reason as SAT8, on top of also providing Damage Buffs to your DPS units;
• HS2000 works in a similar way to P22, although less effectively since her Damage buff is smaller. On the other hand, she shields the entire team.
• Calico Mod II. Theater counts as neutral nodes, so it triggers the Speed side of her Skill 2, which greatly reduces the walk time to Coeus;
• Hanyang (Type 88) Mod II. Her pierce can deal some damage to Coeus if her Skill comes up while there are still Cyclops SG enemies alive, preventing you from attacking Coeus;
• R93, as she's ridiculously strong against beefy enemies, and Coeus is quite beefy;
• M500 Mod II, with Nagant and/or Python. Because M500 Mod's Skill 2 triggers a shield whenever she receives certain types of buff, it is possible to fight Coeus nearly damageless. Having Nagant helps trigger her Skill 2 more often, as well as reducing Coeus incoming damage.
• And, lastly, as Coeus is an Elite unit, we do not recommend Grape.

Coeus is not an impossible enemy to fight, just annoying. They're also coded to appear at least once per wave. So, if needed, set up an echelon specifically for fighting it. A few couple of points isn't worth risking losing an entire run.

How does SF teams fare against it?

Well, for starters you can't use Taunt or Twin Fairies, so they'll always be shooting your teams. If you can field two Manticores + Scarecrow, that spares them of AoE taking off multiple links. To be honest, this time you might be better off with your good old T-Dolls

Bringing at least 1 Mortar to this fight is recommended to quickly dispatch the Swap Jaegers in the backline. If more than 1 group (5 enemies) of Jaegers are alive, it is recommended to reset for HOC accuracy. 

The rest of this group is relatively straightforward. Kite as needed to reduce Damage from the SWAP Brutes, (I left RO forwards in the example because I know my ARs have enough DPS, but I suggest you move her back from 6 to 5 if you are not sure). AR/SMG is recommended over RF/HG for this enemy. 

RF/HG with a Twins Fairies. It's hilarious. 

RF/HG is recommended for this battle with a Mortar HOC, preferably 2B. If you are struggling, a Taunt or Twins Fairies can be used to slow down the Brutes. If your Mortar leaves too many Jaegers alive then you may want to reset for better Accuracy RNG. 

When kiting this enemy, do not try and stop the SWAP Jaegers more than once, they have a long enough range to make this tricky. Equally, try to avoid leaving a Handgun standing in front of the Brutes, they hit hard (High Accuracy and Damage) and will tear links off the HGs with ease. I recommend moving the HG you send forwards to stop enemies back to position 2 to let the Brutes run forwards for longer, although you can simply retreat them if you wish. 

If using P22, try to micro such that your Position 5 Handgun receives her shields.

RF/HG reigns supreme here, although you will need to more carefully manage your targeting. Mortar HOCs once again, although Twins/Taunt can also work. Resetting for HOC accuracy isn't as big of an issue on this wave, thanks to 0 Evasion enemies, as well as the ability for the RFs to deal with any leftover Nemeums with great ease. 

The primary trick here is stopping the Nemeums and move back before they fire, the same as a similar wave in Advanced 8. The timing is not exceptionally tight, but you do need to be careful that the Nemeums/SWAPs remain in range when you pull your Handgun back from position 6 to 5, to keep the RFs targetting the dangerous threats and not the Aegis.

AR/SMG is recommended for this wave due to extremely high Evasion enemies. Molotov SMGs will serve you well here, as this wave clumps up quite nicely. If you are struggling with DPS, using a Mortar HOC is an option.

SWAP Vespids buff their Damage while SWAP Rippers gain shields as Skills, so bear this in mind. SWAP Vespids also have a long engagement range, making kiting them more difficult, and so it is recommended to simply retreat your tanks from the battle, instead of moving them back. You can retreat the second frontline unit as well to buy a couple of seconds of walk time from the Vespids, but unless you are confident in your ARs, I do not recommend taking the risk of damage to the DPS. If you are not concerned about taking damage, letting your Main Tank sit and soak up some Damage as shown here is a viable strategy.

This giant stack of SWAP type enemies is perhaps the most intimidating enemy in Theater 5 and 6. SWAP Rippers, Vespids, and Dragoons all have Damage boosting Skills, and SWAP Jaegers feature a high Damage bamboo shot. Dragoons come with a preactivated Shield, and Rippers will gain a shield shortly into the battle. As a result, you will need to prepare a team specifically for this wave, but with proper planning you can handle even this monster without too much hassle.

First, make sure both of your Mortar HOCs are raised and set up with enhanced Chips. These HOCs are very important to this fight, as they allow you to dispatch the SWAP Jaegers before they can fire.

 While you can use other team compositions, MG/SGs are highly recommended as you can raise a shotgun's Armor high enough to reduce incoming Damage from everything except the SWAP Jaegers to 1. 75 Armor is enough to take minimum Damage from all enemies (save SWAP Jaeger) here, which can be achieved in a variety of ways:

• A shotgun with 21 Armor and a 5* Armor Plate can hit this threshold with a 3* Armor Fairy at SL10 (4* SL3) and 2 MGs with 15% Armor Tiles. If you have an M500 Mod she really shines in this battle, with proper support you can keep your shield up almost continuously.
• For Armor stacking reasons, an Armor Fairy is recommended.
• Twin and Taunt Fairies can be used if you wish, but due to the high Damage against unarmored targets, neither of them will last very long.

Those with sharp eyes will no doubt spot the fact that KSG does not have 75 Armor in this clip. This fight is perfectly doable with less Armor, so don't be entirely intimidated by the requirement, but you will lose Links on the SG, so be aware of that. 

The fight itself is straightforward if potentially RNG laden. The primary point to reset is after the first Mortar volley. If the majority of the SWAP Jaegers are not dead after the Mortar’s first volley lands, hit the reset button or your SG is losing links, 75 Armor or not. One or two individuals can usually be left alive to risk the second volley/MGs killing them, but if more that 4 or 5 are still present, reset immediately.

 If the Mortars simply refuse to kill all the Jaegers immediately you can retreat or move your HG and move the SG back to Position 5 as shown here. This will buy you a little time as the SWAP Jaegers move up. 

Once the Jaegers are dead, the fight is relatively simply. Babysit any MG Skills that need babysitting (KFC should only activate her Skill 1 time), and let the MGs do their work. 

Consider this a formal 'Mod your M500' PSA. 

There are a few extra requirements to using M500, such as needing another Frontline unit (Special mention to SAT8, although you can absolutely using kiting to fill this role with an HG if you want something to do while the fight runs. Special mention to Python, for allowing easier Shield stacking antics with M500. 

As you can see, M500/SAT have a much easier time avoiding Damage, even though the Mortars absolutely refused to kill the Jaegers. (In half a dozen tests of this fight, this is the only one where a Jaeger managed to be the last living enemy). 

IF YOU HAVE DESERT EAGLE, FIELD HER.

Now that I have your attention, seriously, use Deagle. Her passive allows her to bypass the Patroller's shield, which means she can deal damage to it while its Evasion is not in the thousand. Having her on Patroller team trivializes the fight.

Remember Commanders, absolutely do not forget to bring HOC support, or you will be filtered by a barn. Even our resident top 50 PL ranker, xVarz, was filtered by a barn.

Core 8's enemies are substantially more dangerous than the previous zones. It is intended to be a playground for more experienced players, and it is assumed that players attempting the stage have some maxed gold equipment, some decent rarity fairies (3*+), and have HOC's at an appropriate level (60+) with sufficient skill levels.

Even though some of these enemies are not detailed in terms of methods to deal with them, assume you need at least Skill Level 8 on all units that you use.

It is possible to do these waves with units that aren't well developed. You just need to compensate with more skill. The following will not go into these requirements. I will repeat: the following assumes you have at least a 3* fairy (with Skill Level 10 on Taunt), that your dolls are well-equipped, and that your HOCs are appropriate for their strengths.

If you cannot do these waves without getting all your teams completely destroyed, consider dropping to Core 6. This doesn't mean you do not complete the event; what is important is that you get as many points as you can and try your best for future Theater events.

Do NOT bring your Uhlan team which has M200/SGs, and do NOT activate Taunt Fairy! 

Forward-positioned T-Dolls and Taunt Fairy will reduce the distance between you and the Doppelsoldners, causing them to fire off their Missile Barrage sooner! 

If you are not sure what to do, please consult the included Core 8 clear example videos and find one with a team that works for you.